This photo was taken from the walls of Nottingham Castle. It struck me as appearing like a miniature village, but of course, it is real.
Located in a commanding position on a natural promontory known as "Castle Rock", with cliffs 130 feet (40 m) high to the south and west. In the Middle Ages it was a major royal fortress and occasional royal residence. In decline by the 16th century, it was largely demolished in 1649, with the Duke of Newcastle later building a mansion on the site.
Located up against the Nottingham Castle walls, this building is claimed to be England's oldest pub (one of about twenty pubs making the same claim). The Trip (as it is known locally) is at the foot of Castle Rock in Nottingham's City Centre. According to local legend it takes its name from the 12th Century Crusades to the Holy Land: legend has it that knights who answered the calls of Richard I to join the crusades stopped off at this watering hole for a pint on their way to Jerusalem. The pub is famous for its caves, carved out of the soft sandstone rock against which the building is set. The larger ground level caverns are now used as the pub's rear drinking rooms. There is also a network of caves beneath the building, originally used as a brewery. They seem to date from around the time of the construction of the castle (1068 AD).
