Nottingham Arboretum: The unchanged historic park that's thought to have inspired Peter Pan's Neverland

Last week, I wrote you an article about the links between Nottingham and J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan.

Although the two entities seem opposing, the Scottish author spent a fair amount of time in our lovely city and even started his career by writing for the Nottingham Daily Journal.

From the grounds of Wollaton Park to the stories of fairies that flutter around the city, it is perfectly plausible that our city would have inspired the wonderous adventures of Peter Pan.

Read more: Your Nottingham

And it seems you, dear readers, also enjoyed finding out more about the inspiration behind the famous fairy story. In fact, you turned out to be quite learned on the subject (clever clogs).

As one of our readers cleverly pointed out there are several parallels between Peter Pan's Neverland and Nottingham Arboretum.

So I decided to take a closer look...

Did you know that J.M. Barrie lived just a stone's throw away from the Arboretum? It is said he frequently visited the park on his route to or from work at the Daily Journal.

A blue plaque honouring the author's former home can be found near to the Arboretum on Birkland Avenue.

Many argue that the magical land is based on Kensington Gardens in London but we've got some evidence to the contrary.

Nottingham Arboretum is filled with little lagoons, exotic plants, looted cannons, and the familiar squawks of birds - all things that also ring true of that land far, far away.

The park has remained virtually unchanged for over a century (like the inhabitants of Neverland) and it is listed on the UK's list of historic parks and gardens. So we think it is entirely plausible the city oasis planted the seeds of imagination in the author's brain.

Over the years there have been several adaptations of Peter Pan (Hook, Peter and Wendy, Disney's Peter Pan) and with that, the appearance of Neverland has been imagined in several ways.

But one thing that remains steady in each adaptation is the presence of lagoons, often frequented by gorgeous lazing mermaids. Nottingham Arboretum is home to several tumbling lagoons (and no that's not just a posh way of saying ponds).

Let's not also ignore the presence of the cannons and other war-like memorabilia which could well have inspired Captain Hook's Pirate Ship! So watch out for crocodiles...

Although we may never (never) know if our magical Arboretum was the sole inspiration for Peter Pan's Neverland it does wonders for our pride and imaginations.

I can definitely see troops of Lost Boys running amok in the gardens and causing trouble for Captain Hook.