These three gig venues, which are all connected to each other, have a lot of music heritage. All the big bands play here. I’ve seen David Bowie, Radiohead and the Chemical Brothers at Rock City and I still go now; I’m seeing Foals play next month. Inside Rescue Rooms, there are walls of vinyl and books and exposed bulbs hanging from the ceiling. I spent a lot of time there as a teenager. We used to go down every Thursday night and see how many girls we could kiss. Every May, there’s a great music festival that takes place across all three venues – the Dot to Dot festival. There’s a great atmosphere – I’ll definitely be there.
• Dot to Dot festival, 26 May, dottodotfestival.co.uk Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
This is where I got my first job when I was 15; I used to work here on Saturdays and in the school holidays. It was here that I got to hang out with people who were older than me and I became a bit more urban – before that, I only knew village life really. It’s a very popular shop and the first stop for students to go shopping. Everything here is vintage American. You can’t miss it – there’s a massive pair of oversized Levis hanging outside the door.
• Wild Clothing, 4-6 Broad Street, NG1 3AL Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
This is the oldest pub in England and it’s a really, really good pub. It’s built at the foot of Nottingham Castle and is carved out of sandstone. It’s full of loads of little stone caves inside, which is amazing. One thing though – you have to make sure you cover your pint glass with a beermat – sometimes the sandstone falls into your beer.
• Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Brewhouse Yard, NG1 6AD, triptojerusalem.com Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
The castle is now an art gallery and I’ve been in an exhibition there, about famous people from Nottingham. My picture was between Vicky McClure (from This is England) and Torvill and Dean and when I saw it, I thought to myself “Yep. That’s about right. I’m probably in between them.” It’s quite nice around the castle. Very smart. There’s also a great hotel called Hart's which is probably the best place to stay.
• Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Off Friar Lane, Off Maid Marian Way, NG1 6EL nottinghamvisualarts.net
Hart's Nottingham, Standard Hill NG1 6GN hartsnottingham.co.uk/ Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
Hockley is a very cosmopolitan part of the city, with cobbled streets, designer shops and boutiques. There’s lots of cheap eats around here – I’d recommend a really good sushi place called Sumo San on Carlton Street. It's right next to the old lace markets, which is where all the Nottingham lace used to be made (my dad used to manage a lace factory), and it’s quite picturesque walking around there too. Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
This is a really cool cinema which shows arthouse films. If I’m going out in Nottingham, I’ll always start the night here with a drink in the bar; there’s a nice restaurant too. It’s Nottingham’s equivalent of east London’s Rich Mix.
• Broadway Cinema, 14-18 Broad Street, NG1 3AL Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
Market Square is a huge square full of fountains and nice buildings, like the old council house. Here’s some insider knowledge for you: if you ever need to arrange a meeting point with someone in Nottingham, tell them to meet you at the “left lion”. It’s one of two big stone lions overlooking the square. For some reason, no one ever meets at the right lion, only the left one ... Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
There’s also some nice pubs off the square. Malt Cross (pictured), which has an amazing art-deco glass roof, and the Bell Inn, which is another really old pub.
• Malt Cross, 16 St James's Street, NG1 6FG maltcross.com. The Bell Inn, 18 Angel Row, NG1 6HL bellinnnottingham.co.uk Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
I always come here for food. It’s quite high-end, and they do fancy stuff like artichoke soup. My friend Ed is the bar manager, or you can call him a mixologist. He does this thing where he puts Campari, which is my favourite drink, in the oven and reduces it to this pink powder and then coats the rim of the glass with it. It’s very cool, though you end up with pink powder everywhere.
• World Service, Newdigate House, Castle Gate, NG1 6AF, worldservicerestaurant.com Photograph: Helen Cathcart/Guardian
