Bromley House

Not long after I first arrived in Nottingham, Lyle and I were walking along the street and I saw this sign:

Oh, that would be interesting, I thought. I love books, I love libraries, and I had already been disappointed by the thoroughly '80s library in Nottingham. Maybe this will make up for it!

I emailed them and asked about the tour. I was informed the next tour wasn't available until April 3, six weeks away. I scoffed, thinking I'd certainly have a job by then and wouldn't be able to attend a 2:30 pm Wednesday afternoon tour. But I had them put my name down anyway.

Well, the joke's on me, because the other morning I got a reminder on my phone that I had a tour at 2:30 pm and not a single other thing on my calendar. 

I debated whether to attend. I'd have to get dressed. I'd have to go outside. This is the longest I've ever been without a job, and I've realized how easily I could become a shut-in. Seriously. Which is why I have to talk myself into doing things, because as much as I dislike going outside, it's good for me to go outside.

Verdict: the tour was worth the £2 entry and I suppose also the personal cost of putting on real clothes and going outside.
 

                    

No one else was taking photos, which I thought was strange. One elderly gentleman asked if I was planning to break in later.

Bromley House was built for Mr. Smith in the 1700s. He had married a grand lady and wanted a suitable house. It was known as the finest house in Nottingham. Although my accusing friend got it out of the tour guide that perhaps there wasn't all that much at the time to be compared to.

Mr. Smith's son inherited the house, and changed his name to Bromley in hopes he would also inherit his childless mother's cousin's wealth as well. But Mr. Bromley né Smith got in trouble a few times for sexually assaulting his male servants and his greedy plans were ruined.

The library bought the house in the 1820s. All of their books can be viewed, though not all checked out obviously.

They are refurbishing the attic, so all of the books had been emptied out. This was actually the last tour of the year because of the renovations, so I guess I'm glad I put on pants after all. The attic was originally rented out as a photography studio. In fact, it was "the first photographic studio in the Midlands."

This rod is attached to a weather vane on the roof, which you can't see from the ground. Oops. But it is also connected to an indicator on the ground level.

When they were removing all of the books in the attic for the refurbishment, they discovered this fireplace for the first time! And I'm guessing a ghost or two.

Another fun fact - we were up in the attic and she told us to stay around the edge of the room. Apparently some many years ago, the owners put in a gas line for a chandelier on the ceiling below. When they did that, they removed a supporting beam, so there is a very obvious slope to the middle of the floor. Nothing to be worried about!

Very cozy, lots of impressively old books. She showed us a few that were beautifully illustrated.

               

This is a spiral staircase. It's very old and only held in by six bolts at the top. The rest is staircase magic. Despite assuring us of just how safe it is, they only let people go up or down one at a time. And you might feel it wobble when you get to the middle. But never mind that, just keep going. (We did not go down this staircase.)

This is a meridian line, one of only 3 or 4 others in England. You wait for the sun to shine through that hole in the board in the window, and when it shows a beam of light on the line on the floor it's solar noon. It's what they  used to set watches by until they came up with "railway time," because you can imagine trying to run a railway when every town is setting their watches according to solar noon.

The face of this clock says "Clocks in Nottingham are slower than at Greenwich 4 min 33 sec and slower than St. Pauls London 4 min 10 sec." Why, if they knew that, they didn't just split the difference and add 4 min 20 sec to Nottingham time, I don't know.

They check out books by hand, not even with a stamp like you might remember, but with handwritten notes. They keep it all in these green binders.

Remember the weather vane? Windy! Or not. I don't know how to read it or even be sure it's working, and I bet they don't either.

That's all. It's £104 a year to join as a member, so I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon. But if you need a place to work on your novel, it seems like a good deal. Plus you get free coffee.

Next field trip this weekend - caves! As a teaser, Nottingham is a city built on sandstone and there are over 800 caves in the city.