All the way back at the beginning of February we were treated to Nottingham Light Night; an evening of arts and entertainment with the focus being on lighting up Nottingham’s brightest spots.  With music, projections and poi artists, the Market Square was the central point for the festivities.  Oh, and the Council had also managed to sneak a ferris wheel in too...

After a tired, broke January it was an innovative way to wake the city up to 2008.  The catchily-titled Nottingham Eye had landed - well, been constructed - with its cars still plastered with 'Cardiff' logos.  Standing at 200 feet and weighing in at 365 tonnes, it would have been big enough to hold its own at Goose Fair, but its rather obvious choice of name meant it automatically suffered from comparisons with other massive turny things.  

(A quick word on that;  Whatever.  There is no denying the original is bigger and shinier, but it’s also in London which is not really of much use to us in the Midlands.  Can I see all the way up Mansfield Road from the Thames? No? Ours was better, then.)

As for the actual experience, it was a little more daunting than the fairground ride we've been used to every October. Panic set in as soon as the gates were shut and the wheel began to turn, and you realised you had been encased in a swinging cage of torture.  A warning should have been issued before you were about to step on that you were going to be subjected to the moronic tones of Jo and Twiggy.  As they blathered on about everything we were about to see (that’ll be Nottingham then folks. Look! Just in case you needed it pointing out, that’s a bloody windmill!), I realised it was actually a cunning diversionary tactic.  You’re so busy inwardly sreaming at them to shut up and covering your ears that you don’t realise how high up you actually are.

The good news is it doesn’t last the whole ride, and when the blithering idiots finally shut up, you are dangling 200 feet above Nottingham, taking in a 360 degree view of our fair city.  There is Green’s Windmill to gaze upon. Nottingham Castle, which normally looks like an oversized shoebox, suddenly looks a bit imposing. You can even see as far as Radcliffe Power station. The Trent is like a mirror; on one side, the glowing green fields of the Meadows. On the other, the glowing green roof of West Bridgford’s County Hall. Pure symmetry.  

These may all be buildings that we see day in, day out but it’s the perspective that makes it actually worth the fare.  When else are you going to come face-to-face with the Council House clock, or see the amazing architecture of the roofs of Nottingham?  Watson Fothergill wasn’t daft; he knew when he was doing his thing that to leave a plain tiled roof would be lazy and someone would catch him out one day. All the effort he and other architects put in you can see from the wheel. 

At night it is a totally different experience, but still worth it.  Nottingham is a bright city and there is peace to be had high above the streets. It’s like looking down on a toy town - your toy town.  Call me an old romantic, but I think that it is a great place to break news to people.  You could invite your family along for a coming-out announcement or tell them that you’ll soon be expecting off that lad they don't like.

The Nottingham Eye was such a success that it got a whole month's extension, proving beyond doubt the deep and abiding love affair between the people of Nottingham and massive fairground rides. It was a great and unexpected  follow-up to the outdoor ice rink, and - like the latter - will be making a repeat appearance in future years.  If you can't wait until 2009 you have until the end of Sunday to get on board.

Nottingham Eye website

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