Chestnut Villas

Our home is in Beeston near Nottingham, located on a quiet street close to the town centre. It is a three bedroom house, built in 1902. We have lived there since 1986 and have extensively renovated and modernized it over the years, whilst trying to retain its Edwardian era characteristics. It is fully furnished and equipped, including wi fi, and exchange partners will be free to use everything in the house. Two bedrooms are doubles, one is en suite and one bedroom is a single. There is also a family bathroom and a downstairs shower room with toilet. The large kitchen/dining room extension has tri-fold doors which open onto a patio and garden which catch the sun all afternoon during the summer.

About the location

Beeston is four miles from the centre of Nottingham, right in the centre of England. Nottingham is known as one of the best shopping centres in the Midlands. It is a sporting city with two football clubs and Trent Bridge, one of the best places in the world to watch Test Match cricket, and has great history as the home of Nottingham lace and Robin Hood! Beeston is a small town in its own right, is next door to the University of Nottingham and reaches down to the banks of the River Trent. The town has good facilities, including a great range of pubs and restaurants. Nearby to the north is the beautiful Peak District, to the south the gently rolling Vale of Belvoir boasting classic English foods such as Stilton Cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies, to the east the valley of the River Trent leading to Lincolnshire and the Humber estuary and to the west the city of Derby and the valley of the River Derwent.

Transport and travel

Beyond the local attractions, Beeston’s major appeal for exchange partners will be as a great base from which to explore England, the rest of the United Kingdom and even Europe. It has great road, rail and air connectivity.

Roads: From our home, a 10 minute drive takes you to England’s major north-south motorway, the M1. This gives easy, quick access to the national motorway network. There are also good connections via other major roads.

Rail: Beeston has a main-line railway station, also a 10 minute drive (or 20 minute walk) from our home, with trains every half-hour to London St Pancras international. The journey takes 1 hr 45 mins making visiting London’s attractions easy. Rail services also connect to all parts of the UK. For example, we have travelled to Edinburgh for the weekend by connecting to the East Coast mainline from Beeston. From St Pancras International, Eurostar services run to Europe, so weekends away in Paris, for example, are straightforward.

Air: East Midlands airport is a 20 minute drive away. East Midlands is a hub for flights to destinations in the UK and Europe. We have flown from the airport for weekend trips to places such as Dublin, Edinburgh, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Cracow, Prague and Budapest. You can park at the airport, take a taxi for a very reasonable fare, or use the Skylink bus which takes about 40 minutes.
For long haul flights Birmingham, Manchester and London Heathrow airports are all within easy reach either by car or public transport. For example, Manchester airport is a couple of hours drive away and connects to Melbourne, Australia with one-stop flights offered by Etihad, Emirates and Singapore airlines.

Other public transport: Beeston has recently been connected to Nottingham’s tram network and bus services are also very good.

Car: We have a manual Toyota Aygo which we will be willing to lend to exchange partners as long as we can sort out insurance.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit will be during the northern hemisphere spring and summer, from May to September. England during these months really is a ‘green and pleasant land’!

Conditions of exchange

Facilities

Nearby