My Favourite Spots in Nottinghamshire by Penny Reeve

This week we are sharing Penny Reeve’s favourite places in Nottinghamshire. If you would like to share your ‘favourites’ with us, email us at social@experiencenottinghamshire.com or use the comment section below. You may feature on our blog and our various social media platforms.   Penny Reeve is the PR & Marketing Co-ordinator for Notts-based renewable energy company Living Fuels  and is also LeftLion's Community Editor. "There are so many places that I love in Nottingham, which is why I’m still happy to call this city home even after a good few years. Some places I’ll keep to myself for now, such as the magical car park (more fun than it sounds) and the best place to get a snack after a night out, but here are a few that I adore, and hope you will too. Creswell Crags – Who would have thought that by stepping just outside of Nottingham, you could end up in the middle of the Ice Age? Featuring the only Ice Age cave art in Britain, Creswell Crags are both interesting and gloriously beautiful. I visited recently and ended up spending a few hours running around like a big kid, feasting on ice cream, having my photo taken with a real (stuffed) hyena, taking in the exhibitions and utter beauty of the gorge and THROWING A SPEAR AT A WOLF. Ok, it was a picture of a wolf, but I felt mighty; cave womanly, if you will. Fade/The Hard To Find Café – One of the smaller places on Mansfield Road (home to a whole host of excellent pubs), Fade is a little idyll. Serving a lovely selection of drinks and with a conservatory that allows for daydreams of being in some continental city during twilight hours it’s definitely one of the best places to catch up with friends who you haven’t seen in a while. Geoff Blore’s Bookshop – Located in Sherwood is a place that you don’t even need to enter to know that you are gazing upon a booklover’s haven. The window display constantly offers a collection of odd and rare gems to make you wonder and giggle, but then to wander inside you are gifted with an emporium to the written word. Warning to bibliophiles; I can’t be held responsible for the amount of money you will part with before you finally emerge, blinking, back into reality. Broadway Cinema – Broadway seems to be pretty constant on these lists, and there’s a reason for that. A cinema with a heart, not only does Broadway show the best in mainstream and indie films (often with cast and crew Q&As) and small film festivals, but it also gets involved with the local community, holding nights such as Show and Tell, Spoon Fed, a quiz and a book club. To me, this is what a true independent cinema should be, at once not only offering a great service, but at the same time becoming part of the community. Oh, and they serve great food, too. Lee Rosy’s – If you like tea and cake, this is the place for you. If you like somewhere to sit and watch the world go by or somewhere to knuckle down and get a couple of hours work done, then this is also the place for you. In fact, just visit, buy one of the many spectacular teas on offer and work out for yourself why this is the place for you. Trust me, you will find a reason. The Vat and Fiddle –Located near enough to the train station so that you can grab a quick pint or two before setting off on whatever adventure you have planned, the Vat offers a great selection of real ales, including Nottingham’s very own Harvest Pale, a former ‘Champion Beer of Britain’.  With a bit of planning you can even book in for a tour of the connecting Castle Rock Brewery and discover how those malt magicians work their magic to provide so many fabulous ales. Sundays hold host to some brilliant music too, to give your after-roast pint a gypsy jazz edge. Weavers Wines – Finally, there’s Weavers. Now I don’t pretend to be a wine connoisseur, so when I need a quick bottle for a dinner party, or well, just to finish a nice evening off with, a quick visit to Weavers ensures that I get the very best wine. Whether I’m splashing out on payday, or feeling a little frugal at the end of the month, the staff always take the time to give you the best service possible. There’s even a ‘tasting table’ on a Saturday, giving you a chance to try wines and liqueurs that you never would have previously."