The Nottingham Eye

Nottingham is to have its very own ‘eye’.

This enormous big wheel has been constructed in the Old Market Square and is our take on the famous London landmark. It certainly imposes over the city. I got the bus into Nottingham earlier and the first thing I saw as we approached the station was the wheel, looming large over the top of the Broadmarsh centre.

It’ll be in the square for a month and will cost just a fiver, which for about a half an hour ride is reasonable value. When I first saw it being put up last week I did think it was part of the tacky ‘Valentines Fair’ that always seems to appear this time of year, but the wheel is so big that there won’t be space for any rides – thank god.

It is also good to see the square being put to good use. I felt that in the months after they completed work on redoing the square, the council then did nothing until the Ice Rink was put up in December. The square was busy in the summer, but only down to the novelty of the water fountain and probably the fact that we had our open space back. Since then, we’ve had christmas fairs and farmers markets, plus the rink, and now we have the wheel to draw in the crowds.

I think it’s important to use this square wisely, and create a focal point of the city for people to come to. They spent millions doing up the square (or ruining it, depending on your point of view!), let’s hope that the council start doing more with it!

I’m now fully clued up on the Star Wars saga. It’s taken a week or two, but I’ve watched all six films and will now not have people express their shock at my confession of never having seen any of the movies. They’re all good films, obviously the original three are the better ones, but ‘prequel’ trilogy aren’t as bad as I’d read. The last of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, sets up the story nicely and is easily the best of the three.