Welcome to Nottingham Rebels

The city of Nottingham and the surrounding county, Nottinghamshire, have been known for centuries as rebel country.

Nottingham’s tradition of rebels and rebellion stretches back to before the Norman invasion, to the name that encapsulates it more than any other, Robin Hood, though since then, there’ve been plenty of others.

With over a thousand years of rebels and rebellion to sift through, we’re bound to kick up more questions and controversies than straightforward answers, and it’s also likely that what we find in Nottingham’s past might just tell us something about today’s city and perhaps even inform on its future.

Along the way, we’ll analyse what makes a rebel, within the context of their own time, and in the legacy they’ve left on the city and the wider county.

In each blog, we’ll also discuss whether it’s the rebels that have made Nottingham what it is, or if it’s Nottingham that makes rebels, since that also gives us breadth to talk about rebels who weren’t born in Nottingham but did so much to leave their mark: Laura Knight, Ned Ludd, Gary Sobers and Brian Clough spring immediately to mind.

Whether Robin Hood was man or myth isn’t really the point, since this blog is also rebellious and doesn’t aim to provide definitive facts, figures or answers. Rather, we intend to discuss how and why Nottingham continues to produce so many rebels – many of whom have become heroes by challenging rules and upsetting the status quo.