28 – 30 Pelham Street

Where J. M. Barrie learnt his craft

James Matthew Barrie (1860

–1937),

Scottish creator of Peter Pan, came to Nottingham by happenstance in 1883. The story goes that his sister spotted an advertisement for a lead writer at the Nottingham Journal, and encouraged her brother to apply. He submitted some of his university essays in his application and, rather to his surprise, was given the job without delay.

At the time, the Journal was Nottingham’s pre-eminent newspaper, and it was here that Barrie soon won the respect of his colleagues with his well-crafted, often laconic articles written under the name of a Greek mythological figure, Hippomenes. In 1888, Barrie’s ruminations on his journalistic life in Nottingham were distilled into When a Man’s Single. The city may also have provided some inspiration for his later children’s writings, as certain parts of Peter Pan’s character may well have been inspired by the antics of a local street urchin the author had observed, and certain features of Neverland seem to have been inspired by the Arboretum (see ch. 8). That said, other aspects of Barrie’s life, principally the death of his older brother, and his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies boys, were much more influential.

In 1884, the Nottingham Journal dispensed with Barrie’s services and the author left the city, never to live here again. The paper itself didn’t last much longer – it was incorporated into the Nottingham Daily Express in 1887, though the name was later resurrected before finally disappearing in 1953. Nonetheless, the building the Nottingham Journal moved into on Pelham Street in 1860 – and where Barrie worked – has survived. Tanners estate agent occupies the premises today and, although the ground floor has been clumsily modernised, the double bank of brightly painted, neo-Gothic windows above are a flash of Victorian style.There’s a unassuming plaque celebrating the Barrie connection on the building too.

Address 28 – 30 Pelham Street, Nottingham, NG1 3EG | Getting there Local bus (most lines) or tram to the city centre | Hours The interior of the building has been turned into an estate agents, but the façade is always visible | Tip In the 1920s, Graham Greene followed in Barrie’s footsteps by working at the Nottingham Journal; his office was elsewhere in the city, a five-minute walk away at 19 – 20 Upper Parliament Street (see ch. 33).