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Art gallery visit: The Leen, Nottingham's River

Black and white photograph of a flooded railway crossing with people walking and cycling through the water.
Exhibitions | Trips

Join NTU Arts for a free private tour at Lakeside Arts to explore the exhibition The Leen. Open to NTU students with advanced booking required, the tour will be led by Activist Sarah Colborne from the University of Nottingham Library.

  • From: Tuesday 18 November 2025, 10 am
  • To: Tuesday 18 November 2025, 12 pm
  • Location: Bonington Gallery, Dryden Street, NTU City Campus, Nottingham, NG1 4GG
  • Cost: Free (students pay their own tram fare)
  • Booking deadline: Tuesday 18 November 2025, 10.00 am
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Event details

This event is only open to NTU students.

Join us for a private guided tour of the exhibition The Leen- Nottingham's River in the Weston Gallery at Lakeside Arts. The tour will be led by Sarah Colborne, Activist from Manuscripts and  Special Collections at the University of Nottingham Library.

The Leen
From its source in the Robin Hood Hills above Newstead Abbey to the River Trent at the Meadows, the River Leen connects places and communities. This exhibition puts the Leen at the centre of the story of modern Nottingham.

Drawing on the archives of the Trent River Authority and its predecessor bodies, the materials on display show the challenges created by the growth of places like Bulwell and Basford and the expansion of industry.

These included pollution from chemicals and sewage, and changing flood risk from urban expansion. New management challenges shaped the redrawing of Nottingham’s political and economic boundaries, and in the 1960s a substantial engineering ‘Improvement Scheme’ diverted the river and fixed the channel behind steel pilings and flood walls.

The exhibition evaluates the legacies of historic interventions along the Leen for those who manage and live beside it today. Join us to explore the history of the city in which you are studying.

Timings

  • 10 am meet at Bonington Gallery, NTU City Campus, leave promptly, and catch the tram to Lakeside Arts together (students pay their own tram fare)

Booked but no longer able to make it?
If you can no longer make it, please let us know so we can open up this opportunity to other students.

NTU Arts

This activity is offered by NTU Arts, the University's extra-curricular and public arts programme.

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Location details

Address:

Bonington Gallery
Dryden Street
NTU City Campus
 Nottingham
 NG1 4GG
Reserve your place

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