Locals on why Nottingham's 'happiest suburb' really is as great as it's said

It's rush hour in Wollaton and as the cars fill up the gaps between each other in stationary queues, there's a chirpy whistling coming from somewhere. You'd think it'd stop after a short while, but it cheerily continues for ten, twenty, then thirty seconds.

Clearly the man responsible for the whistle, resonating out of some rolled-down-window has no qualms about being stuck in hordes of traffic at 4.30pm on a Thursday afternoon. He's heading home to Wollaton, after all.

The suburb is the happiest in all of Nottingham, according to a survey of 5,000 people conducted by furniturebox.com - pipping West Bridgford, Beeston, Chilwell and Toton to the post. It's Wollaton's second accolade in a year - after one of the streets, Parkside, was rated one of the 50 best in the UK last December.

But what makes it so good?

"We put our house on the market about 11 years ago when we retired," explains one local couple, who didn't want to be named. "We were going to move to the West Midlands where our daughter lives and be closer to our grandkids.

"We had 40 viewings in three days and so many offers. And we did all the viewings. So we were showing people round and telling them that there's lovely fruit trees in the garden, vibrant colour at every season of the year, that there are lovely neighbours, that it's south facing.

"And after doing that 40 times we thought: Why the heck are we moving?"

The pair moved to Wollaton some 37 years ago from Aspley, when their two young children were nearly ready to start school. They've remained ever since.

"When we told people who we knew that we were planning on moving, they also were asking us: Why? And we couldn't answer them. And when we were looking, we couldn't find anything better than what we've got here.

"We've got everything. We've got the shops here. We've got a hospital just down the road. The tennis club. There's sporting facilities where we play table tennis and croquet.

"Fantastic neighbours as we said, and loads of friends who've been here a long time too. It's a lovely community. And It's one quick train to London. It's close to the M1.

"We've got everything here. Apart from our family! And a big supermarket - but we can walk to the Sainsbury's in Beeston and we wouldn't want one slap bang in the middle of Wollaton anyway. It is great. There's so much going on. We're extremely lucky."

As the afternoon ticks on here, the darkness creeps in. The clocks went back a few weeks ago, so daylight hours are scarce.

But there's still plenty of people walking along the pavements. They all seem to be heading in the same direction.

"I use it about twice a day," says Geraldine Rudham. She's talking about Wollaton Park, of course.

The 500-acre greenland is the suburb's crowning attraction. It's visited by tens of thousands of people every year.

But on days like this, when the sky is grey and the leaves have fallen off the trees, the park is not so busy, and its a peaceful sanctuary for locals.

"It's why Wollaton would beat, say, West Bridgford for me," says Geraldine. "I love it. I come here all the time. It's very nice."

Also heading that way is NHS worker Kay Shah. She attests.

"In summer, we were at Nottingham Castle, and we some people there who'd travelled to the UK from Australia," says the 50-year-old. "They said they'd travelled up to Scotland to look for deer. I told them to just go to Wollaton Park!

"It's just great. With the deer and the lake and the ducks, just for your mental health when you're working from home it's fantastic."

Both Ms Shah and Ms Rudham agree that the suburb has other perks, too.

"The other thing I like is that you can walk to the countryside from here and I think thats lovely as I do that quite a lot," says Geraldine, who moved from Bramcote seven years ago. "We feel quite safe and nice here. Is it better than Bramcote? Yes, I think it is. Bramcote doesn't have shops or a park like this as close."

"The kids have flown the nest so it does cross your mind now: What are we doing in a big house like this?" says Kay. "But we've got friends round here, we've got the park on our doorstep and so many things, like the shops and everything, within walking distance - the Erewash trail, the garden centre, the nature reserve off Bramcote Lane.

"Can I understand why it's the happiest? Yes, I guess I can."