The Flying Horse Arcade is well known for independent shops and boutiques that sell everything from cheese to art. The building has a long history stretching back to the 13th century but it has only been a shopping arcade since 1989.
The historic building was originally built as a home for wealthy merchants but it has also been a pub, coaching inn and hotel over the decades. The Grade II listed building has 1483 on the front which is the date it was established.
It was built on the site of a former house established by the Plumtre family when they came to the city in the 13th century. John De Plumtre set up hospitals and almshouses locally.
After it celebrated its 300th birthday, the building became a coaching inn where travellers could rest, get some food and care for their horses mid-journey. There were many of these around the city centre including The George Hotel on George Street.
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Stagecoaches could enter at the South Parade entrance on Poultry Arcade. Interestingly from 1332 to 1799, the street was once referred to as Cuckstool Row as the historic public punishment stool was once kept at the marketplace.
By 1791, the house was now known as 'The Traveller's inn with a great dinner held there in 1813 to celebrate victory over Napoleon. A figure of Napoleon was brought up from London and then burned in Market Square amid celebrations that saw sheep and oxen roasted.
As with a lot of Nottingham's streets, there are a series of caves below although the ones below Flying Horse Walk were filled in during building works. There have been attempts in recent years to renovate the caves. There is also fragmented of medieval stone walling in the cellars along with timber that has survived the decades.
The hotel underwent structural alterations in 1937 as the demand for accommodation in the city centre skyrocketed. There were planned alterations that included bedrooms added to the first and second floors with a new staircase built. The hotel also took on new staff including a manageress for it's 'smoke bar' although there was no clue in the adverts as to what that actually was.
In its later years, the hotel provided accommodation for actors who performed at the nearby theatres as well as cricket players. One story which has become a bit of a local legend is that the council ordered the council house bells to be muffled before matches so that the players could sleep without being woken.
The building has been home to five pubs during its lifetime including the Punch Bowl Vaults, the Blue Ball, Eight Bells, the Ship Vaults and the Flying Horse Inn. The Punchbowl Vaults date back to 1758 and the entrance on St. Peter's Gate stands on the site of the Old Blue Ball and Punch Bowl Inns.
The Flying Horse Inn had another life during the 1960s that its regulars may not have known about. A bar to the left of the premises was known as an early gay venue with many of the staff also thought to be LGBT+ themselves. Renovations in 1969 meant the gay bar was moved to another part of the building along with new restaurants, bars and coffee houses established.
The hotel often held dinner dances in the early 1960s which cost two guineas to enter and visitors needed to be in 'evening attire'. In 1961, a policeman walking past the building spotted smoke coming from one of the windows. A mattress had somehow caught fire although thankfully, the damage was minimal and no one was in the room at the time.
Towards the late 1960s, a public inquiry was held to determine the future of the hotel. Letters to the Evening Post showed that local people were concerned that it could be demolished.
Trust Houses had expressed an interest in demolishing the hotel to replace it with shops or offices but they then sold it to Grand Metropolitan Hotel for £200,000 with the new owners saying they would like to keep it as a hotel. They also planned to create four restaurants and eight new bars.
Richard Branson, John Mortimer and John Lydon of the Sex Pistols visited the bar to celebrate Virgin Records being found not guilty of blasphemy at Nottingham Magistrates Court after displaying the infamous Never Mind the Bollocks album in 1977.
The building became part of the Berni Inn chain in the 1980s and was one of the most popular places to go for food and drink in the city centre. Developers offered the chain money to close the pub in 1988 so that it could be made into a shopping arcade according to an article in the Nottingham Post.
Today, many parts of the original building exist such as the wooden fireplace which can be seen in the 200 Degrees Coffee Shop. There are around 13 different shops within the building.
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