It’s an alluring thought for many a male facing the prospect of moving to Nottingham.
But how true is the notion that there are seven females to every male in the city?
It’s thought that the idea originated from the lace industry, which was predominantly made up of women.
Another strand of thought is that there were many more females when males went off to war.
But surely that could be said of any town or city?
Hilary Sylvester, executive chair of Nottingham Civic Society, shed light on how the idea came about.
She said the ratio was intended to apply to the working-age population, rather than as a whole.
Hilary added: “I think it may be because of the industry in Nottingham, and not just the lace industry.
“Once that declined, you would think the inequality in numbers also declined.”
She added that there was no heavy industry in Nottingham like there was in places like Sheffield, with steel, or Birmingham, with the motor industry.
Nottingham instead had the hosiery and clothing industry.
Hilary added that the tobacco industry employed a lot of women, as did Boots and other pharmaceutical companies, as well as bicycle manufacturers, like Raleigh.
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In terms of textiles and fashion, she said places like Meridian, a big factory which was on Haydn Road, employed a lot of women.
“What happened to men?” asked Hilary.
“A lot went to jobs outside Nottingham, certainly places like the mines, which were in areas like Wollaton, Gedling and Cotgrave, as well as brick-making - it seems to be forgotten.
“There was a big brickworks in Woodborough Road - bricks from there were used to build London’s St Pancras Station.”
She added: “It does sound very unlikely, that one time one city should suddenly have all these women. Whether that’s women working or just living here, it’s not clear.”
There are actually more men than women in Nottingham.
At the last census in 2011, the city’s population of 305,680 was made up of 153,777 males (50.3 percent) and 151,903 females (49.7 percent).
