| Profile : Zinnia Bhattacharyya | I came to Nottingham Trent University from America to complete an MA in Creative Writing. It's a tough business learning about the sweat and tears of this craft. But Nottinghamshire's rich pool of talent, from novelists and poets to playwrights and screenwriters has made it all worth the while. My favourite place for storytelling is the Ye Old Trip To Jerusalem. A true passion for the teller and the tale exists in this town, a community of writers that continuously inspires residents and visitors long after they leave. |
Since 1822 a narrow door tucked among the crowded streets of Angel Row has been the entrance to one of Nottingham's historic gems – Bromley House Library, an anachronistic reminder of Nottingham's intellectual past. Founded in 1816 The library was founded in 1816 by a group of Nottinghamshire professional men. In 1820 they spent £2,750 on buying Bromley House, which had been built in 1752 by the banking Smith family. Famous visitors included Michael Faraday, the man who discovered the dynamo, the transformer and the direct current motor, whose signature can be seen in the old visitor's book.
 | | The library |
The main library is something out of an Agatha Christie mystery and houses a series of reading rooms with plaster ceilings, cornices and overmantels. The largest room has a gallery, accessed by a spiral staircase. There are fine clocks, barometers, a working meridian line and a recently restored wind direction indicator. To the rear there is a lush Victorian garden, open to members. The secret garden The charm of the Georgian building is enhanced by the hidden garden with its tall trees, one of the few remaining town gardens in the city, and a tranquil place in which to sit out in the summer. In fact the whole of Bromley House is remarkably peaceful: somehow the city noise does not seem to penetrate the serenity of the building.
 | | The garden |
A fine collection of Victorian fiction houses rare three-decker novels, which are difficult to find outside the British Library. There is also a fascinating section – F Class – up in one of the attics, which is a mine of information on 19th-century history including the period of the Napoleonic Wars. The theology section, in a large attic known as the Studio, contains more Victorian sermons than are usually read nowadays. The attics have a special history of their own. They once housed the studio of the first professional photographer in Nottingham, Alfred Barber, who opened for business in 1841 and some traces of his equipment can still be seen. Members only Nowadays the library attracts local Nottinghamshire writers, guests from Nottingham Trent and the University of Nottingham, and even the British Sundial Society who peruse the shelves for modern sundial theory, scratch dials, stone circles and astronomy. Members are encouraged to suggest titles to be bought.
 | | The spiral staircase |
A range of newspapers and periodicals is available for members to read over coffee in comfortable leather armchairs. More info Opening times at the Library hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5:00pm and the first and third Saturday of each month in winter 10:00am to 12:30pm (Phone 0115 9473134.) To gain access to Bromley House, a member must refer you but first try to find the doorway, not very obvious, next to Bernardo's Charity Shop. | 
