Here in Nottingham, we’re fortunate to have quite a few public parks within walking distance of the city centre.
These green spaces are perfect for escaping the hustle and bustle of the main streets, particularly at weekends when the city is at its busiest.
In fact, parks and open spaces cover an impressive 20% of the city’s surface - not bad when you consider Nottingham is the 11th-biggest city in England.
One of the city’s most popular green spaces is undoubtedly the Arboretum.
Nottingham’s oldest public park and the closest to the city centre, the Arboretum’s tranquillity has been a calming presence for millions of people since 1852.
Just a few weeks ago new research revealed that the Arboretum is officially the quietest place in the city.
With more than 800 trees, seasonal flowers and a large pond, it’s unsurprising that many visitors use the Arboretum to briefly escape from reality and become immersed in the wonders of nature.
One of the many visitors to have fallen under the park’s spell was Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie.
The Scottish author spent a fair amount of time in Nottingham and even started his career by writing for the Nottingham Daily Journal.
Barrie lived just around the corner from the Arboretum and is thought to have frequently visited the park on his route to or from work at the Daily Journal.
It’s said that these visits inspired Barrie to come up with Neverland, the fictional home of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinker Bell.
Intrigued to see what inside the Arboretum may have prompted Barrie to invent the famous Neverland in his mind, I had a stroll around the park myself.
Here are five things that caught my eye.

1. Brightly-coloured pigeons
After walking through the main entrance off Waverley Street, the first thing inside the park that caught my attention was the circular aviary. The aviary was built in 1889 and was Grade II listed by Historic England in 1995, but strangely it doesn’t contain any real birds. Instead, several metal multicoloured pigeons are perched inside the structure. | NW Photo: Nottingham World

2. Finally, some real birds!
Next to the circular aviary housing the strange metal pigeons is an oblong-shaped structure. This aviary actually contains real birds, which can be heard chirping away. The brick structure was built in the 1950s and during my time watching the birds they attracted plenty of attention from visitors. | NW Photo: Nottingham World

3. Spring has sprung
I headed north and noticed the stunning Victorian flowerbed. My visit fell on a dull April day, so it was nice to see some signs of spring. On a hot summer’s day, I can imagine the flowerbed looking absolutely beautiful. I do wonder if they provided any inspiration for a certain Mr Barrie. | NW Photo: Nottingham World

4. All the squirrels, so many squirrels
Despite only being in the park for around 30 minutes, I must have seen at least two dozen squirrels darting around. With more than 800 trees in the park, the little fellas are spoilt for choice when it comes to climbing. However, I’m not sure how comfortable I would be about sunbathing amongst hundreds of squirrels. | NW Photo: Nottingham World