My favourite spots in Nottinghamshire by Alison Moore

This week we asked local author Alison Moore to share her favourite places in Nottinghamshire with us. Alison Moore is the author of The Lighthouse, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012 and for New Writer of the Year in the National Book Awards 2012  If you would like to share your ‘favourites’ with us, email us at social@experiencenottinghamshire.com or use the comment section below. You may feature on our blog and our various social media platforms. Lakeside Arts Centre is one of my favourite places in Nottingham. I worked there for most of my thirties and now enjoy taking my little boy there for children's theatre and workshops. Annual highlights include the International Children's Theatre and Dance Festival in the summer and the Chinese New Year fireworks. And Lakeside borders Highfields Park so while we're there we can go to the playpark and enjoy a walk around the boating lake too. Newstead Abbey is splendid - I could spend hours exploring all the different gardens and walking by the lakes, and the cafe's nice too. I often take my little boy to Rushcliffe Country Park in Ruddington. We like to see the birdlife on the lake and to play in the sandy playpark. We stand on the bridge and watch the trains, and on the far side of the bridge there's a really good sculpture trail. And if the kiosk is open, we have a choc ice. Broadway is a fabulous city-centre venue, for films, for lunch - I've had meetings and done readings there too. I also love Nottingham's caves and their visibility and accessibility here and there across the city, for example in the Trip (Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem), The Hand and Heart (great for Sunday lunch), Rock Cemetery, and the City of Caves attraction under the Broadmarsh. You can see Alison on Sunday 17 February as part of Nottingham Festival of Words, where she will be reading at Nottingham Trent University from 2.45pm.