LeftLion Magazine - March 2020 - Issue 123 by LeftLion

#123 March 2020

Credits

Contents

Queen VictoriAl Alan Gilby (alan.gilby@leftlion.co.uk) Editor-in-Chief Jared Wilson (jared.wilson@leftlion.co.uk) Editor Ashley Carter (ashley.carter@leftlion.co.uk) Assistant Editor Emily Thursﬁeld (emily.thursﬁeld@leftlion.co.uk) Editor-at-Large Bridie Squires (bridie.squires@leftlion.co.uk)

Events and Food Editor Eve Smallman (eve.smallman@leftlion.co.uk) Sub-Editor Lauren Carter-Cooke

Return to Sender

The chance discovery of a tin full of vintage postcards in Hopkinson Antiques led our Assistant Editor down a rabbit hole to ﬁnd out the story behind them, and why the practice fell out of fashion

Men of War

In a new podcast series, we’re exploring the stories of six Nottingham men who were at the turning points in world history, including Waterloo, Trafalgar, Rorke’s Drift and Little Bighorn

Sunken Treasure

Don’t know about you lot, but we’re obsessed with watching videos of people ﬁshing old stuﬀ out of canals. So much so that we invited ourselves along to see what it was all about

Designer Natalie Owen (natalie.owen@leftlion.co.uk) Sales and Marketing Manager Adam Pickering (adam.pickering@leftlion.co.uk)

An Archaeologist in Notts

Bygone Byrons

War of Words

Stand Up for Your Rights

Curiosity Shops

Mental Health

Under Cover Artist

Bone Cult

Homeward Bound

Object Walk

Creative Digital Assistant Curtis Powell (curtis.powell@leftlion.co.uk) Videographer Georgianna Scurﬁeld (georgi.scurﬁeld@leftlion.co.uk) Web Developers Tom Errington (tom.errington@leftlion.co.uk) Hamza Hussain (hamza.hussain@leftlion.co.uk) Community Editor Caroline Barry (caroline.barry@leftlion.co.uk) Fashion Editor Anna Murphy (anna.murphy@leftlion.co.uk) Literature Editor Kate Hewett (kate.hewett@leftlion.co.uk) Music Editors Eileen Pegg (eileen.pegg@leftlion.co.uk) Becky Timmins (becky.timmins@leftlion.co.uk) Screen Editors Jamie Morris (jamie.morris@leftlion.co.uk) George White (george.white@leftlion.co.uk Stage Editors Rebecca Buck (rebecca.buck@leftlion.co.uk) Dom Henry (dom.henry@leftlion.co.uk) Sports Editor Gemma Fenyn (gemma.fenyn@leftlion.co.uk)

If you thought archaeology was all about helping Baldrick ﬁnd swords, crowns and hoards of gold you’re in for a shock. Our Archaeologist in Notts sets the record straight

Having been missing for decades, the WWI diaries of Nottinghsm soldier Billy Richards have been found in an attic in New Zealand, and are now being used as the basis for a new play and exhibition

Nottingham might be known for its beautiful architecture, but dig a little deeper and you’ll ﬁnd that those buildings are home to some truly gruesome stories of poison, adultery and murder

Agnes Papp gives us the lowdown on her beautiful cover and poster art, which tells the story of Nottingham’s history through ﬁ ve diﬀerent eras

We talk to Albert Johnson, an 89-year-old member of the Windrush Generation about the socio-political scandal and his dream to return to his native Jamaica one ﬁnal time

/leftlion

Featured Contributor

Photography Editors Tom Quigley (tom.quigley@leftlion.co.uk) Fabrice Gagos (fabrice.gagos@leftlion.co.uk) Cover and Poster Agnes Papp

Interns Ollie Heppenstall Alex Mace Jack Saﬀery Ali Taylor-Morris Kaitlin Walsh Writers Molly Dodge-Taylor Jason Edgar Andrea Hadley-Johnson Jenny Joss Emilie Mendham Sam Nahirny Laura Phillips Adrian Reynolds Tuesday Shannon

LeftLion Magazine has an estimated readership of 40,000 and is distributed to over 350 venues across the city of Nottingham. If your venue isn’t one of them, or you’d like to advertise, contact Adam on 0115 9240476, email adam.pickering@leftlion.co.uk or visit leftlion.co.uk/rates

Legendary stand up comedian, presenter and satirist Mark Thomas talks ironing, pitchforks and the British Empire ahead of his dates at Nottingham Playhouse

Our Mental Health Nurse, with over thirty years of experience, and artist Leosaysays team up to give practical, accessible advice on how to let go of the past

Fabrice Gagos learns about the men behind the masks as he talks to enigmaticw electronic duo Bone Cult ahead of their debut album release

In a special extended Object Walk, we visit Usha Sood at Trent Chambers with the ﬁnal letter written by Charlotte Bryant before her execution for murder in 1936

@leftlionmagazine

Thanks to All Our Supporters Julian Bower, Frances & Garry Bryan, Nigel Cooke, Caroline Gilby, Rachel Hancorn, Rhys Hawkins, Friday Club Presents, David Knight, D Lawson, Barbara Morgan, Ron Mure, Reg & Lynette, Livi & Jacob Nieri, Dr Lesley Prince, In memory of Jenny Smith, Jed Southgate, Spicer, Ivy House Environmental, Nigel Tamplin, James Wright

Photographers Dani Bacon Martyn Cooling Mann Hans Zoe Jones Nigel King Tom Morley Tom Patterson Gary Spencer Steve Ullathorne Natalie Waite Matthew Wayman Illustrators Liv Auckland Leosaysays Jenny Mure Corrina Rothwell Alex Vine Carmel Ward

@leftlion

Not many people can trace their lineage all the way back to the Battle of Hastings, but our Lord Byron is one of them. Spoiler alert: he’s related to some proper wrong’uns

Love reading a free, independent magazine every month? Jamie Morris Jamie is a 20-year-old BA Journalism student completing his second year at Nottingham Trent University. Currently co-editor of the Screen section alongside George White, Jamie began writing for LeftLion last summer with a couple of online ﬁlm articles before working on the latest edition of the annual student guide. He is also editor of the Culture & Entertainment section of NTSU’s Platform Magazine, and runs his own blog about comic books. Jamie commutes to Nottingham from Derby for uni throughout the week and can often be found here on weekends visiting his favourite spots including Page 45, Rough Trade and Broadway Cinema.

Become a LeftLion Supporter. We’ll post you every print issue, plus treats. leftlion.co.uk/supporters

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 5

Editorial The two things made no difference to my (lack of) qualifications to do this job, but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t impactful. History has always fascinated me, and to find out that I was more a part of this beautiful city than I had ever realised made me feel less like someone who had simply moved to Nottingham because it seemed like a cool place to live, and more like I actually belonged here. Which, as any other children of military parents who moved house a lot would tell you, is quite a rare feeling.

As delighted as I was to be oﬀered the role of Editor last year, I’d be lying if I said that there wasn’t one niggling concern burrowing away in my brain, persuading me not to accept. LeftLion has ingrained itself as a part of Nottingham’s DNA over the last sixteen years, and to a lot of people is as much a part of the city as the Goose Fair, Robin Hood or Boots. And, well, I’m not. I was neither born or raised in this country, let alone Notts. I didn’t move here until I was in my twenties, and taking over as Editor of one of its cultural institutions left me battling a pretty hefty case of imposter syndrome. Then, about three months into the job, two things happened. Firstly, my wife bought me one of those do-it-yourself DNA kits, the results of which showed that, as well as Norway, Belgium and Ireland, a huge amount of my heritage came from right here in good old Nottingham. The second was a photo, printed above, that my Mum sent me. It showed my great-grandparents walking across Trent Bridge at some point in the 1940s. I knew that parts of my family had grown up in the area, but to actually see two people I never met walking the same roads I have was a pretty indescribable feeling.

History was also what I chose to study at University, rather than journalism, a decision that both you and I have come to regret since I’ve been given control of this magazine. But a history-themed issue of LeftLion was always going to be inevitable and, to be honest, we could create history-focused issues from now until December and still not begin to scratch the surface of the incredible events this city has seen. One thing I’ve learnt from putting this issue together is that Nottingham’s history is unique. There’s a rich vein of independence and rebellion running through its core, lending credence to the idea that geographical areas can almost have their own personalities that echo through the years, something that can be seen from the thriving, ﬁercely independent artistic scene bustling away still. To paraphrase Margaret Atwood, history might not repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes. Two tickets to the light show Tom Patterson - @tappato

Ashley Carter, Editor ashley.carter@leftlion.co.uk

Another one done Natalie Waite - @nrwphotographer

leftlion.co.uk/issue123

After hours Dani Bacon - @danijuliette_

Notts Shots

Chinese New Year, Chinese New Me Nigel King - @nigelking.photography

Best make it a decaf Matthew Wayman - @__________amw

Play timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s over Martyn Cooling - @martyncooling

Tunnel vision Gary Spencer - @gary.spencer.100

If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes back Mann Hans - @mannhansphotography

Want to have your work featured? Send your high-res photos from around the city, including your full name and best web link, to photography@leftlion.co.uk

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 7

Notts Goss

interview and photo: Georgianna Scurﬁeld

with Jenny Joss Want the scoop? I’m not one for wicked whispers, but my spies tell me that a certain outspoken olympian is still as vocal as ever, despite the nine months of conditional discharge and hefty fine he was forced to bow down to. Marching the streets, firing back at nay-sayers on Twitter, and insisting on saving the planet from the human race are still high on his agenda. While a certain gossip columnist may have gone gooey-eyed over the hunkish hippie, others think he might need to simmer down before he gets stuck up Stott’s creek without a paddle. It’s been a rough old month for food establishments in this town. While this columnist’s quill remains still on the specifics, eagle-eyed readers might be able to connect the dots. A certain Michelin-starred meat-chopper had trouble keeping his restaurant dry during the storm, while another West Bridgford eatery was overheard assuring customers of a foolproof cleaning routine after a one-star hygiene rating. And which waiter in a city-centre street food spot was caught taking fashion tips from our Editor, pairing a crumpled checked shirt with chinos? Someone get him to TM Lewin, quick smart. Finally, a little dickie-bird has fed me some of your grumbles about the Clifton Bridge work, and you lot aren’t half dramatic. Samantha from Ravenstone likened it to the highway to hell, nineteen-yearold Hannah thinks Nottingham is “actually dying” due to the traff ic and a sprinkling of snow, and the the eco-warriors have come out in their hundreds to push pedals as the alternative method of travel. That’s all from me for this month, I’m off to investigate reports of a particularly juicy Notts’ celebrity scandal that’s about to break. As ever, keep your lips loose, your ears to the ground and your eyes on the goss.

JJ x words: Adrian Reynolds illustration: Corrina Rothwell

leftlion.co.uk/issue123

Katie: We've known each other since we were about six. Best friends ever since. Sixteen years now. The best thing about Lola is that she's hilarious. No matter what. She'll wake up and sing opera to me ﬁrst thing in the morning. She's got a wicked style – that's one good thing that I never really say out loud. I don't ever need to. I wouldn't be who I am without Lola and I think she thinks the same. She's my soulmate. Lola: You need someone in this world to ground you and make things make sense. She's always there for me and we're on this journey together. Hopefully it won't be too torturous, but she's always gonna be by my side so it'll be alright. Debauchery forever! We both love this ﬁlm called Me Without You, which is about two best friends. They say to each other: "There's no me without you." She borrows a lot of my clothes too, those being my top and blazer!

‘

Pick Six

We’ve tasked Kristi Maria, promoter at Metronome, with choosing a few of her favourite things…

em "E xcus

k like e, I loo

d'Ar tag

nan? "

"Th ey ma ke th ree ty p e s of b e rou gh , ro er: u gh er and evil . It ’s li a bit ter b ke ut it look s like it ’s go Cornﬂ ake t s ﬂoating in it."

Woman: You liar! Man: I sw ea r o n D e rek ’s life! Woman: Well , you 've never liked h im .

y 's not m like... It be to " I was d e you ne . Your family ut ed abo iot for a r e h t bo an id 's r te h da u g star t."

p es e two h o nd "You hav .a .. e p o bH mate. Bo ouse!" h k n B ob Mo

"I just fart ed on tha t person's dog."

" This is ridiculo don't us. Yo wa nt t u og f u n e ra l a t h a o to a lf t wo d o es t . Who h a t? "

in g ny t h a nt a n . w 't n o "...did ith th e s of th e w e to d o a t s e t o n ." th A n d u e e ns oﬀ q d ra g

ke it to gotta fa "You've ce y o u n o n e Th a make it. TILL gott S e you'v make it, fake it."

"Nah . Lid l’s Mars b ars are bette r than Ald i’s."

tish y foot fe l "O h , m a t n e gm is goin ." w o n right

gerrus a "Can you for th is t o p c plasti ay it uck? I’ll d , e s a le p an i’ w t k fas for brea Old – ." p to eg g on i arn Tha man in T

stab r, sh e did ve "Howeve ha ’t n ld u o c h im , so it ad." tb been tha

"Th e judge says that the contract stands, even though I signed it at 11.30pm, drunk."

Book The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov’s book was the last thing I read that I just couldn’t put down. It’s such a fascinating story and the characters and dialogue are both brilliant. It inspired the Rolling Stones to write Sympathy for the Devil.

Song Hallelujah - Happy Mondays At the moment I would say Happy Mondays’ Hallelujah (Club Mix), remixed by the late Andrew Weatheral. His death has left a big hole in the hearts of music fans around the world, and this is one of his ﬁnest cuts.

Film 24 Hour Party People (2002) This one has always been a favourite. Any music ﬁlm with Peter Kay and Steve Coogan in is a big winner. It has so many great one-liners, and gives insight into Factory Records and the Manchester music scene.

Meal Anything from Café Roya I’d say anything from Café Roya in Beeston, which is the best vegetarian restaurant we have round here. They change the menu every month and there’s only ever three choices, but it is always so delicious.

Notts Spot Colwick Lakes I do like a walk, especially when it’s around Colwick Lakes when the sun is out. It’s a fantastic spot for a picnic or BBQ. It’s just a really chilled place to go and it’s just on our doorstep.

Holiday Destination New York I recently spent a week in New York and absolutely loved it. Williamsburg in Brooklyn is a cool place. There’s just so much to see and do, not to mention all of the musical heritage.

I feel fat. Bloke 1: You are. : 2 Bloke

"I always loo wh en I ﬁrs k at m en's hands t m eet th em . Is that wron g? Not in that way. but, you k .. now. Actu all really we ird. Please y that's d on't put th is in Ove rh eard in Notts."

in ly ‘av is on because r a n " N a o re f a g ly o n e m e s p e r a t e to d t o ’s l e u h o s g et y gorra h ." a bed n

"A pparen tly h e h otb oxed my m um and dad’s en suite bath room"

in’ it. t h av t h o n e r ’r to N o n , we "Coli n’t all go p a cat." u a We c na to pick li C a ro

Barista :M Custom il k? W h ich typ e? er: Just th com es out a co e stu ﬀ that w ’s tit, d u ck .

e ch is th a t c h u r f N ot t s h t , d " Yo blu urch in all o ch sickest em ber that!" m fam , re

Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers on... The Industrial Revolution It’s our favourite period of history ever. Look at all the fantastic things the Victorians did – they invented everything. Think of Nottingham Railway Station; it opened in 1900 and even back then you could get from there to London by steam in ninety minutes. It was a straight track back from here to there. Now we’re on a B-Line with loads of bends all the way, which is why it takes even longer than it did a hundred years ago. Favourite Monarchs Overall it has to be her Majesty of the present day. But there are a few other good ones: Elizabeth I helped to change our armed forces from tin-pot set-ups to proper standing armies. Henry VIII invented all the cannons on the Mary Rose that hit the other ships at sea level and thus made them sink quicker, a bit like the bouncing bomb. He also had quite a major effect on religion too, although the way he treated his wives was somewhat questionable. Isambard Kingdom Brunel He’s one of our favourite historical characters ever, mainly because he didn’t do half the things he gets credit for. His name is on the Clifton Suspension Bridge (in Bristol), despite the fact that it was built fifty years after his death. They might as well have let him claim Clifton Bridge here, although everyone would be moaning at him about the traff ic if they did.

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 9

On Wilford Hill At the boundary, consecration meets concrete; the ivy thickens and spreads as it pleases. Behind the lichen-dappled limestone, each monolith stands as a reminder of what will happen, and in white paint, on top of black, a scratched and faded warning – do not tread on the past, keep to the path.

Allotments Glass rooves reflect the fading daylight of the late winter afternoon. Gone are the white-haired men in flat caps turning over the topsoil, burying bulbs. In long months of cold the bracken has thrived, and on the edge of night these neatly-plotted patches seem almost wild. Soon, teenagers will arrive: long-limbed and awkward in hooded jumpers, clutching open cans, lit cigarettes. They’ll build a bonfire from that discarded door, tell ghost stories and forget they aren’t scared of anything. 10

leftlion.co.uk/issue123

Skimming Stones Along the track you stoop, collecting stones – the flattest, smoothest specimens bulge a pocket, those that didn’t pass muster discarded in a desire line behind you. At the water’s edge you retrieve them, turn one over between forefinger and thumb, then hold it aloft like a priest offering communion. In one swift movement, you pull back and let go: it skips its way to the centre. Then you choose one for me, show me how, hold my fingers. It breaks the surface with a splash, sinks like a penny in a well.

Snap Notts #21 poems: Tuesday Shannon photos: Zoe James location: Wilford Village

an archaeologist in notts Archaeology was, for me, an accident. I came into it late, after a career that had stopped challenging me a long time ago. After a stint at college I went to university to study History, not really knowing what to expect. I’d floated along for a while and didn’t really have any expectations. I thought I’d end up working as a scientist and, in a way, I did – archaeology can incorporate a lot of other disciplines in order for you to find the answers to the questions you’re asking. For instance, I’ve been working with volcanologists recently – definitely not what you expect for someone who spends their time digging things up. Every day’s a little bit different. It’s very outdoorsy; I’m no stranger to being covered in mud, sunburned or rained on while on a dig, but there’s a complete flipside to it over winter. It becomes very off ice-based, lots of research and cataloguing. It isn’t without its challenges either; staying on top of the way we think about our past is one of those – the way we think about and interpret our past never stays static for very long, and keeping tabs on that does feel like a mountain to climb sometimes. Of course, days in the off ice can be monotonous. I’ve not long finished entering 2000 fresh database entries, and by the time you’re done you want to claw your eyes out because of the tedium. But it needs to be done to get the results and answers to the questions we’re asking. It’s this slogging away in off ices that, I feel, goes unappreciated. People love reading about what we do but there’s little, if any, thought given to the hours spent not explicitly finding things. There are ways to keep it from getting monotonous though – changing tasks

frequently helps, and always, always reading wider. Whether it’s politics, history, sociology, it doesn’t matter as long as you keep building your knowledge base.

People think it’s all about treasure and glory… it’s more to do with contributing to a community of knowledge. It’s not really about your name, it’s about that small contribution to a bigger whole If you think archaeology’s a glamorous profession, you can think again. I don’t know anyone who wears make-up on a dig, and even though there are opportunities to travel you’re still doing the same thing that you’d be doing somewhere in the UK. That lack of glamour extends to the living conditions as well. Some friends of mine went to spend six weeks in a cave with a generator that would not stop blowing up – they spent those six weeks being immensely damp and cold. But it’s worth it for the ﬁnds. I was excavating a Roman well a while ago and found a stunning Iron Age glass

bead. It was incredibly beautiful, intricately made and obviously made by someone who was a master of their craft – it’s still one of my favourite finds. It’s not without pitfalls either. The culture surrounding archaeology has changed for the worse; it’s now ‘publish or you’re out’, and it’s only become harder for people who want to go into archaeology or academia. It’s even more of an uphill battle when there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever use the qualifications you get – it can, at times, feel like you’re being cheated. Archaeology’s a broad church, though – we work with other academics, specialists in given fields, museum volunteers, schoolchildren – anyone and everyone, really. In spite of the gruelling fieldwork and steep climb to academia, there’s something satisfying in what we do. People love reading about their own culture and, if I could change one thing, I would change the opportunities that we get to funnel what we find back to the public. People think it's all about treasure and glory… it's more to do with contributing to a community of knowledge. It's not really about your name, it's about that small contribution to a bigger whole. It’s part of what makes us human and, given that humanities have suffered in schools recently, any opportunity we get to offset that is a valuable one.

Illustration: Jenny Mure leftlion.co.uk/issue123 13

Return to Sender People pick up all sorts when they go travelling – pebbles, tea towels, keyrings. I’m no exception. I’ve never been one for fridge magnets, and I stopped buying shot glasses after I reached legal drinking age and realised they have no real use. The collection of mine which probably lasted the longest was postcards. I never wrote on them; they all sat in a box until I went to university, where I plastered them on my bedroom walls as a reminder of better times. I’m a bit of a handwriting fanatic too. As someone whose penmanship is regularly likened to a computer font, I think it’s such a shame that physical writing is becoming such a rarity these days. Combine all this with the fact that I’m a big history buff, and you have an explanation as to why I picked up a collection of old postcards on a visit to Hopkinson Vintage, Antiques and Arts Centre. They were stored in a small box on the ground floor. Labelled something like “Postcards. All early 1900s,” I was first drawn to them because of how creepy they are. Apart from the odd few which feature an illustrated landscape or a festive poem, the majority show the face of a small child – either dressed up in an extravagant outfit or staring blankly at the viewer. I was surprised to find that a lot of these cards had been written on – names, addresses and postage stamps all there. For a modern-history geek like me, this stuff is mind-bending; it’s hard to comprehend that these were real postcards sent by real people, not some historical prop created for a period drama. I looked at the names – Mabel, Joyce, Wilfred, Edie – and my interest was spiked. Who were these people? What happened to them? And how on earth did their postcards end up in a vintage store in Nottingham over a century later? £2.25 later, I set about finding out. First things first, I wanted to know more about their lives. I started with three cards – from 1908, 1918 and 1932. Our Editor Ash gave me his login for ancestry.com, and I began researching away – typing in every detail I could find about

words: Emily Thursfield

the person on that card. After a few days of scrolling, obsessive note-taking and feeling like a detective, the bug hit hard; I headed back to Hopkinson and bought five more. I soon realised I’d only be able to successfully trace the people who had some sort of familial connection to the sender of the card. It was all well and good searching for an Evelyn Rollinson who once lived in Netherfield, but that search brings up hundreds of options. At least if they were family, I had one way of confirming. Luckily, I had a few cards in my collection I could work with: there was Wilfred Ainsworth, sending greetings to his sister, a Miss L Ainsworth; a card for Joyce West from her Auntie Vinnie; and a scrawled letter for Gladys Bennett from her brother Percy. As the hours ticked by, I began to uncover their identities.

Who were these people? What happened to them? And how on earth did their postcards end up in a vintage store in Nottingham over a century later? The postcard was first introduced into the UK in 1870, inspired by incarnations already available in Austria, Germany and the US. The cards were plain with a preprinted stamp, all issued by the Post Office – it wasn’t until fourteen years later that picture postcards gained popularity, and other printers were allowed to produce them. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a card would cost a halfpenny (about 15p in today’s money) to send, and they were used as a short form of communication. Want to meet your mate for a pint tomorrow? Scrawl a quick message, pop it in the post and hope you hear back by the second postal delivery of the

Postcards were the “u ok hun?” texts of their day. Used by past generations to check in on their distant siblings, and by more recent ones to boast about exotic holidays to their friends, they’ve never really been blessed with messages worth a third or forth glance. Which is why our Assistant Editor, Emily, was shocked to discover cards dating back to 1908 sitting on the shelf of Hopkinson Vintage, Antiques and Art Centre. She decided to track down the families of their senders, to ask them why…

day. It’s a bit like Whatsapp, just without the blue ticks. One thought I couldn't get out of my mind was why used, century-old postcards were sitting in a box in a vintage store. Clothes, jewellery and furniture I understand. But postcards with seemingly-mundane messages on? I needed an answer. I arranged to meet with Brian Lund who, alongside his wife, has spent the past forty years collecting, trading and archiving old postcards as part of their business, Reflections of a Bygone Age. They host the Nottingham Card Fair multiple times a year and have written over 200 books on the subject. I arrive at Costa and thank Brian for taking the time to come and meet me. “No worries,” he says. “Thank you for buying my postcards from Hopkinson.” Postcard trading is no joke. Find a hidden gem and you could be looking at a three-figure sum, and join the hundreds of people doing the same – from the Postcard Traders Association to the amateur trading thread on Reddit. Turns out, the small box of creepy cards used to belong to Brian, who trades regularly with the vintage store. “I’ve had about eight boxes in Hopkinson over the years,” he says. “I personally buy them from fairs and other dealers, or sometimes at auction. We tend to run our fair around five times a year, and we have dealers and collectors come from all over the country, sometimes even abroad.” Brian believes there’s many reasons people collect postcards. Some like them due to nostalgia, or to aid their research on a famous actress or sportsperson. Others see them as miniature pieces of art, and there’s a solid argument as to why they are such important historical artefacts too. “A lot of postcards are the only reference for a particular event – in the days before newspapers were illustrated, they used to photograph events and put them on postcards,” Brian tells me. “I’ve got one of a train crash that happened in Croydon, where the photograph was taken in the morning, and put on a card by the afternoon,

and sent in the evening. Postcards were texts, emails and social media incorporated into one.” I laid out my collection on the table, and it was impossible not to address the sea of eerie faces staring back at us. I was hoping Brian could tell me a little bit about the artefacts, and his knowledge did not disappoint – picking up the cards one by one, he identified exactly which decade they all were made. “These two probably cost a penny when they were made,” he says, picking up the purple embossed cards from 1909. “The Edwardians were fascinated by children, they were pedestalled because of the mortality rate being so high. Kids were frequently used on postcards to represent adults, so you'd get a little boy and a girl on a date or having something to eat. They actually had lots of photographs of children in the bath, photos which you'd get locked up for having today. Every subject under the sun is on the front of a postcard – some collectors go after certain places or subjects, others aren’t so specific.”

ancestor, Anne, and she told me that, although they were very distant relatives, she knew that Wilfred had passed away in 1918 during the war, and Lydia went on to marry and settle in Nelson, just outside of Blackburn. Both Anne and I had doubts about her Wilfred being the author of the postcard – at the time of sending, this would have made the siblings eleven and seven respectively, and the language seemed a bit too complex.

I laid out my collection on the table, and it was impossible not to address the sea of eerie faces staring back at us

Brian stumbled into this world back when he was a teacher over four decades ago, and came across a selection of WWI cards in a stamp shop on Arkwright Street. He incorporated them into his lessons and the kids were fascinated. After buying a thousand card-strong collection from an advert in a newspaper, he began to trade them himself.

This left me with the second Wilfred – born in Bolton in 1898, with a sister named Lily. Hours of scouring the internet provided me with some winsome details about his life. After serving for the Royal Welsh Fusiliers from 1914-1920, Wilfred sailed aboard the New Zealand Shipping Line ship to Hororata with his wife Beatrice on 16 July 1925, then settled down in Auckland. He continued his career as a gunner in the military, and sadly his death was reported in 1941 in Egypt, with his burial in Libya. I was convinced I had found our man.

I’m not alone when it comes to finding the old messages fascinating, either. “Very often the messages are quite mundane, but it just makes the card more interesting. I’ve got one here from the Goose Fair in the Market Square, it was sent to Belgium in 1904. With postcards, you could get away with a brief greeting, six or eight words – it was just a way of recognising that the person you're sending it to is still a friend. It was almost an excuse for not sitting down and writing a full letter,” says Brian.

To get more information, I spoke to Alan Spree, another local author with an interest in postcards that was sparked by the discovery of a family artist. “I was browsing through books in WH Smith when I came across a booklet about Wollaton in the Yesterday’s Nottingham series,” he says. “I was born in that area so I flicked through it and was surprised to find some postcards with the name J Spree on them. Being an unusual surname, I assumed it could have been my great grandfather, which turned out to be true.”

Wilfred Ainsworth’s message to his sister certainly reads like a message he was forced to write to his sibling by a pushy mother. In 1908, he wrote: “Dear Sister. I hope you are having a jolly time at Bburn. You must help Aunt Emma to wash and be good whatever you do. Your brother, Wilfred.” The card was sent to Accrington Road, Lancashire.

Alan’s discovery brought back childhood memories of his own grandad teaching him basic photography in the darkroom of John Henry Spree. “I remember boxes of my great-grandfather’s photographs and negatives stored away in the corner of that room. Many years later I found that those boxes and their contents had been destroyed after my grandfather’s second wife died a few years after he did.”

My search for Wilfred Ainsworth brought up two potential people. The first was born in 1897 in Rishton, Lancashire, with a younger sister named Lydia. I contacted his

This began Alan’s journey of rebuilding J Spree’s postcard collection, sourcing them from websites and contacting

individual collectors with his story. After an article regarding J Spree was published in Picture Postcard Monthly, it gave Alan the desire to become a collector himself. Last year, he published John Spree’s Nottingham, a homage to his ancestor’s work. In 2020, he released Nottingham: The Postcard Collection. These books require a lot of research, especially when, like J Spree’s, the cards feature photographs of locations that have evolved over time. “I tend to use Google Earth to ‘walk’ the street or area to try and find any identifying features such as buildings or other prominent points on the image,” says Alan. “I also use side by side modern day and historical maps on some occasions to determine roads that have changed name or disappeared in time.” Unsurprisingly, the number of sent postcards has depleted drastically over the past decade, thanks to the development of mobiles, text messages and social media almost rendering them obsolete. It’s not totally the end yet – you can still find a healthy amount of cards for sale, and the past few years has seen the development of apps and websites that allow you to physically print and send your own pictures with messages to your loved ones. “Regrettably I think postcards will become a thing of the past,” says Alan. “But I do hold on to hope that they won’t. I do see them in shops still, which means at the moment they’re still marketable, but perhaps they will be used for historical keepsakes rather than sending as correspondence.” Brian is slightly more optimistic, though: “People thought we’d see the end of books after the invention of e-books, but more are being published now than ever,” he argues. “People are starting to get fed up with social media too – a lot of emails are spam and Facebook is losing ground. In the end people will think 'it'd be great to have a picture of that up on the wall', or a souvenir of something they might not be able to capture themselves.” I waited for a few months for a response from Wilfred’s ancestors, but I had no luck. Same for Joyce and Gladys – I’d gathered tibits of information about their lives, but it seems they’re set to remain a mystery. I’d hoped to reunite the cards with their distant family, but instead I guess I’ll keep them as a little token of the past, and feel comforted knowing Wilfred’s memory didn’t die with him in Egypt. And who knows – maybe in the future, there’ll be someone scrolling through terabytes worth of digital footprints who will come across my texts to my mother asking for cooking advice, and find them endearing too.

COMEDY EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT

nottingham featuring

SATURDAY 7th mar

jonny awsum + laura davis / emmanuel sonubi

SATURDAY 14th mar

gary delaney + travis jay / joe sutherland / phil ellis

SATURDAY 21st mar

paul foot

+ peter flanagan / tez ilyas / dave longley

SATURDAY 28th mar

nick page

+ jack gleadow / steve hall / guest

metronome Marco Island, Huntingdon St, Nottingham NG1 1AP All tickets & info: www.justthetonic.com

Men of War

It’s a sad fact of history that the fate of nations was often decided on the field of battle. In amidst the smoke of firing muskets, the explosions of cannonballs, the clashing of swords and the screams of dead and dying men, history was written in blood, and the world as we now know it was formed. In a new six-part podcast series, we’re bringing to life the stories of six Nottingham soldiers who were witness to these historical turning points, uncovering how life took them from the streets of Nottingham to some of the most definitive battles in world history…

Robert Lawrence, - The Battle of Trafalgar, 1805 From his rank of landsman – the lowest rung of the naval ladder reserved for those with less than one year’s experience – we can assume that Nottingham-born Lawrence encountered the very worst that Napoleonic naval warfare had to offer. If that wasn’t enough, the 22-year-old also witnessed the Battle of Trafalgar on-board the HMS Africa, one of Nelson’s smallest ships that fought the majority of the battle alone, having been separated from the rest of the fleet before the battle. Although he ultimately survived, Lawrence clearly didn’t fancy a life at sea, and went AWOL in Plymouth fi ve years later.

John Shaw, The Battle of Waterloo – 1815 Standing over six-foot tall, Cossall-born Shaw’s boxing exploits had already made him a recognisable name. Having signed up at the 1807 Goose Fair, Waterloo was to be his only experience of battle; in amidst the carnage, Shaw’s enormous frame made him an obvious target for those seeking glory. The ﬁrst French Cuirassier to challenge him to single combat had his head split in two by a single swing of Shaw’s sword, and the eight that followed fared no better. Even when his sword snapped, the 2nd Life Guards Corporal fought on using his helmet, before ﬁnally being killed by a musket ball. He was 26 years old.

William Raynor, The Siege of Delhi – 1857 At the ripe old age of 61, William Raynor became the oldest ever recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Siege of Delhi. While it’s often referred to as the Indian Mutiny, the events of 1857 were more of a rebellion against the brutal sovereign British rule in India. During the siege, Raynor, a Lieutenant in the Bengal Veteran Establishment, was one of nine men tasked with protecting an ammunition storehouse against a force of over 1,000 rebelling soldiers. With all hope lost, they decided to blow up the ammunition, killing hundreds in an instant. Miraculously, Plumtree-born Raynor and three other defenders survived the explosion.

William ‘Mosby’ Collins, Andersonville – 1864 There are few periods in the history of human conﬂict that can rival the American Civil War for sheer brutality. And within those four years of bloodshed, no conditions were harsher than those at Andersonville, a notorious Confederate POW camp. Collins, a Corporal in the 88th Philadelphia Regiment, is rightly remembered as a villain owing to his role as leader of the Andersonville Raiders – a rogue group within the prison that thrived on robbing fellow captives. The Nottingham-born ne'er-do-well was eventually put on trial and hung twice, after the rope snapped ﬁrst time around. Unfortunately for Collins, the second attempt was successful.

Frank Stratton, The Battle of Little Bighorn – 1876 Stretton, a 28-year-old former postman from Notts, was witness to one of the most infamous events in US history. Rightly remembered as the ultimate punishment for General Custer’s arrogance, as well as a stunning victory for Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans, the events of ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ put a serious dent in the confidence of America’s Westward expansion. With fi ve of Custer’s twelve companies annihilated, Stretton counted himself amongst the fortunate, finding himself engaged in lesser skirmishes on the outskirts of the main battle, and escaping with his life.

Caleb Wood, The Battle of Rorke’s Drift – 1879 Britain’s Empire past has rightly come under more careful scrutiny under recent years, with the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 in particular being the focus of intense criticism. After killing over 1,300 British soldiers at Isandlwana, Ntshingwayo kaMahole of the Khoza sent between 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors to destroy the British outpost at Rorke’s Drift. Caleb Wood, a Private in the 24th Regiment, was amongst the 141 men defending the post and, in an action that was made famous in the 1964 ﬁlm Zulu, successfully held oﬀ an overwhelming force, losing just 17 men in the process. Wood survived, returning to become a curtain maker in Ilkeston.

Episode One of Turning Points, a LeftLion podcast series, will be available on iTunes and other podcast platforms from Friday 10 April

words: Ashley Carter illustration: Leosaysays

words: Ollie Heppenstall

For years they lay hidden away in the attic of a house in New Zealand. But now, the missing World War One diaries of Nottingham soldier Billy Richards have been discovered, and are being used as the basis for a new exhibition and play... A little over a century ago, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Four years of bitter bloodshed had left forty million dead, and a world in tatters. Amid the ashes, a new world order was forming – Russia’s communist revolution had swept away the former empire, while a shared sense of lost innocence was being felt across the rest of Europe. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the ways we have of connecting with that past are swiftly dissipating – the last veteran of the trenches, Harry Patch, passed away in July 2009. But thanks to the discovery of the diaries of one of Nottingham’s sons, there may be one last way to connect with a definitive part of world history. It’s one thing to discover a diary, intact having been used to prop up a water tank, in the loft of a Sherwood house. It’s another thing entirely for that diary to be the recollections of a dispatch rider of the Royal Engineers who served on the Western Front during the First World War. And even with that in mind, what are the chances of discovering the pre-war diaries of the same person? “I was made aware of the diaries a few years ago and as soon as I read them, I knew I had to do something with them. I couldn’t let them be left forgotten, as they had been for so long,” says Tricia Gardiner, a member of Offshoots, the charity who secured the funding to turn the diaries into something more. So with help from the Heritage Lottery and Arts Council, something is being done with them. Actress Tanya Myers, playwright Stephen Lowe, researchers Fred Glenister and Alex Smyth and a trio of young writers: Will Tobin, Alissia Di Cosmo and Sophie Bloor are bringing the diaries of Corporal Billy Richards, originally from Nottingham, to life in June 2020 at Fishergate Point Studios. “There are three diaries in total – two from before the war and one written during the year he spent at the frontline,” Tricia explains. “Remarkably we’ve been able to reunite the diaries after the wartime diary was found with extended family in New Zealand.” “It’s an extraordinary privilege to be able to have access to these diaries,” Stephen explains. “They’re observations from the bottom of the pile, among the rank and file rather than from the off icers of the time, which is where most First World War accounts come from.”

What’s also exceptional about Billy’s diaries is their perspective due to the specific role he played during the conflict. As a dispatch rider, his time would have been spent relaying messages between different positions along the frontline; his picture of the war is a lot more detailed and observant than a lot of the men who would have been in the trenches at the time. “One of the many things that’s so striking about the diaries is the detail,” researcher Alex Smyth explains. “Billy’s is one of the earliest written accounts of tanks being used in combat for the first time, as well as the use of the word ‘tank’ in that context. He sees things that other diaries may not have done, and the clarity and meticulousness is just incredible.” For the play’s young writers, they’re bringing history to life in a way they’ve not come across before. “It’s immensely detailed, like life playing out on the page in front of you,” Sophie says. “It’s something I feel we have to do right, and do justice to.” Alissia stresses, “We’re writing it to be heard, seen, and listened to.”

He sees things that other diaries may not have done, and the clarity and meticulousness is just incredible For researchers Alex and Fred, the process has been arduous. “There was no service number, no unit name or branch of service left in the war diary,” Alex explains. “Without those, trying to trace someone becomes so much more diﬀ icult. It was only a chance discovery on an ancient forum that we found what branch of service he was, and which division he served in – the 55th (West Lancashire) Division.” The 55th arrived in France in February of 1916, having been earmarked for deployment to Ireland due to the situation there becoming increasingly volatile. Their battle honours would include some of the most talked-about engagements of the entire war, including the Somme, Passchendaele, Cambrai and the last large-scale German oﬀensive of the war in April of 1918. The amount of research done has, according to Tanya Myers, “been phenomenal, Alex and Fred have worked immensely hard to give us such a detailed understanding of what Billy’s life was both before and during the war.”

This unique perspective of a life lived in the immediate calm before the maelstrom of the events between 1914 and 1918 is one that we aren’t often afforded. Billy is a perfectly ordinary young man. His diaries talk about being spellbound by colour films, about going on dates, and, despite suffering with rheumatism, playing football and cricket – recording the scores of the latter in outstanding detail. In civilian life he was a teacher, and also a keen cyclist. He was also decorated as a result of his time at the frontline – he was awarded the Military Medal in November 1917, a medal awarded to noncommissioned ranks for bravery in the field, as well as the Victory Medal and British War Medal. His life is one like countless millions of people around that time whose stories will never be told. It’s a sentiment shared by all those involved that this story must be told by any means. For Stephen, whose grandfather was also on the Western Front, it’s an especially poignant experience: “My grandfather worked with horses during the First World War, and was injured by them – badly enough for him to need to return home. The Red Cross ship he was on was the first to be torpedoed by the Germans. It’s been moving, at the very least, to be involved with the process and hear the voice in Billy’s writing speak to us.” And for Billy’s granddaughter Carolyn, who still lives in Nottingham, it’s been an unbelievable few months watching the process of the play taking shape: “It’s been an explosion, out of absolutely nowhere – and it’s all come from a chance phone call made to Tricia on a live radio show. Members of my family in New Zealand are going to be here when the play debuts, it’s going to be an immensely moving experience seeing my grandfather’s early years being brought to life in a way none of us really expected.” The Diaries of Billy Richards Facebook page has been set up allowing for stories and memorabilia to be shared – anyone with information either about Billy or life in Nottingham in the early 20 th century can contact the project. The exhibition and play created from the diaries will take place at Fishergate Point Studios in June.

Sunken Treasure From guns, knives and bombs to bikes, trolleys and train carriages, you wouldn’t believe what's lurking at the bottom of our rivers and canals. And with the practice of magnet fishing – the process of retrieving such objects with industrial magnets attached to lengths of rope – growing increasingly popular around the UK, we decided to tag along with East Midlands collective The New Magneterz to find out what all the fuss was about... There’s already a palpable sense of excitement as we approach the seven-strong group of magnet fishers, equally spaced out across an otherwise quiet stretch of canal beneath Chain Lane Bridge in Dunkirk. The weather is a foul mixture of rain and a cold, whipping wind, ensuring that our group arrived looking like we’d just been hauled out of the same body of water they were investigating. The group seemed neither to notice nor care about the conditions; they weren’t there for the weather – they were there to fish. Not in the traditional sense: their rods, line, hooks and bait were replaced with brightly coloured lengths of thick rope to which heavy-duty, purpose built magnets were attached. And their fish? Absolutely anything and everything metal that had found itself into the waterway over the years. By the sounds of things, they had something big.

We don’t go specifically looking for bombs, but you never know what you’re going to find We’d invited ourselves along to spend the day with The New Magneterz, a group of magnet fishing enthusiasts who traverse the length and breadth of the East Midlands searching for long lost treasure beneath the murky waters of its rivers and canals. It’s apparent that we’ve arrived at an opportune time, as one, then two, then three of them soon reel in their own magnets in order to help fish out whatever metallic Leviathan is the cause of the excitement. It feels a little like we’ve walked into a pub during a penalty shootout, and I suddenly feel like I’m in the way. The feeling doesn’t last long, however, as I start talking to Steven Matts, one of the group’s founders. In cold-weather clothing, including a New Magneterz branded hoodie and unicorn hat, it’s clear that he’s in his element, excitedly telling me about one of his most recent finds: an antique sign. “I had it appraised and found out it was from a particular promotion that ran from 1901 to 1905,” he says, with a smile. “The last one had sold for £350, but I don’t want to sell it. It’s a piece of history to keep hold of.” Their involvement in the hobby shows the increasing attraction of magnet fishing, which is growing gradually popular both with participants willing to get their hands dirty and those more comfortable watching the subsequent videos of their finds. A look at their own YouTube channel provides accounts of their previous adventures all over the East Midlands, not all of which have been incident-free. The weekend before, the group had been taking part in an expedition in Loughborough when they found a still-active stick grenade from World War One. “We have a procedure that we follow,” Steven tells me, “we instantly called the police to let them know that we’d found an explosive device, and they arrived within ten minutes.” Unfortunately for them, their find coincided with a university open day, and the arrival of the bomb squad caused a bit of disruption. “We did issue a public apology for that one,” he continues, “we don’t go specifically looking for bombs, but you never know what you’re going to find.”

leftlion.co.uk/issue123

With perfect timing, our conversation is briefly interrupted by a younger member of the group asking whether what he has just pulled out is a bomb or not. Half-joking I pray, and half-not, he puts us at ease by letting us know that it is in fact just an old car part. With relief, we make our way over to the scene of the ongoing struggle, only to find that, at long last, they’ve recovered what was causing them so much trouble. And it’s exciting news. “That’s a money box, no doubt about it,” Steven tells me, instantly recognizing the black, metallic cube that is now resting on the canal banks. “It’s from an old payphone, and it’s probably full of pound coins.” The initial mood of excitement quickly turns to one of duty, as the next stage of the process comes into action: getting it open. As a member of their party starts working it over with a three-foot long piece of scaffolding – an earlier find from the canal – Steven informs me of a similar discovery he’d had last year. “It was a safe, wrapped in a pillowcase. Once we got it open we found out that there was around £700 worth of jewellery, as well as cash, birth certificates, passports and a ring.” After informing the police, Steven was later told that the ring held enormous sentimental value to the owner: “To be able to reunite them with their ring was particularly satisfying,” he tells me, with genuine sincerity, “and the safe was actually linked to a series of break-ins, and was used as evidence for a conviction.” I wonder out loud what most people would, if they were being honest, and asked him if he’d considered keeping the cash? “People said that we were daft to return it, but we were doing the right thing.” It’s an ethos that runs through all aspects of their activities, and not one that all magnet fishers adhere to. Before all of their trips, Steven makes contact with local scrap metal dealers to ensure that all of their finds are safely cleared up. “I always try and find a local, independent scrap man to pick it all up. We don’t want the hobby banned because of people leaving waste everywhere.” His point is emphasised by four or five large pieces of scrap metal lying separate from their own carefully organised pile of finds, lazily left over from another group's visit to the same spot recently. “The Canal and River Trust are getting fed up with amateurs leaving their rubbish everywhere. I caught two guys in Leicester walking away from their pile. I got a photo and decided to name and shame them online. The council already have enough to do, it’s down to us to clear up after ourselves.” As the struggle to open the money box continues, other members continue to pull out an eclectic array of items from the canal: a large knife, some railroad spikes, a smaller penknife, old car parts and huge amounts of scaffolding. Steven tells me that the site was chosen due to its proximity to an old World War II barracks, saying that it is not uncommon to find weapons from the era. “I’ve found an old WWII-issue naval flare gun as well as a German-issue Luger pistol.” As we talk, a builder makes his way across the bridge, armed with a chisel and almost noveltysized hammer. Even from his side of the canal, the appeal to get inside the money box was too much

to resist. With renewed impetus, the attempts to open it continue, quickly rewarded with the first glimpse of a gap in its previously impenetrable armour. “This is all part of the thrill of not knowing what you’re going to pull out!” Steven tells me, and I couldn't agree more. I want to get involved myself, but am weary of getting even dirtier. It’s a song of innocence and experience: the New Magneterz are all wearing welly-boots and waterproof shoes, whereas my previously-pristine Stan Smiths look like they’ve been used as plates to serve a scatological sundae. The enthusiasm isn’t financially motivated, either. Rather the irresistible desire to scratch that curiousity itch and find out what’s inside. Someone dropped that box in the canal years, maybe decades ago, assuming it would never see the light of day again. And now we have it, and the need to know what’s inside is overwhelming.

I always try and find a local, independent scrap man to pick it all up. We don’t want the hobby banned because of people leaving waste everywhere… The council already have enough to do, it’s down to us to clear up after ourselves To our amazement, three hours had gone by during our time with the group, and every minute of it had been fascinating. The practice of magnet fishing may have its naysayers but, as Steven pointed out, those who do it responsibly are pulling thousands of tons of metal out of the UK’s canals and rivers every year, free of charge. What’s more, they’re making important historical discoveries along the way. Their group includes a father and son team, and the camaraderie between all of them is unmistakable. It’s relatively inexpensive to get involved in – with a goodquality magnet costing between £50-£70. As we start to say our goodbyes, I let Steven know that I’d love to join them the next time they’re in Nottingham. It’s been way too much fun to be a one-off visit, although I’ll re-think my footwear next time. And the money box? With the builder’s tools ultimately proving unsuccessful, one final attempt is made to get it open, using a more rudimentary method: dropping it off the top of the bridge. Falling to earth with an almighty thud, we close in to see if we’d been successful. Sadly for us, the box was still stubbornly refusing to give up her secrets. A week later, I received a Facebook message from The New Magneterz page. It was Steven letting me know that they’d finally managed to crack open the box. What was inside? 30p. I guess it’s all just part of the fun. facebook.com/thenewmagneterz

Once we got the safe open we found out that there was around ÂŁ700 worth of jewellery, as well as cash, birth certiďŹ cates, passports and a ring

words: Ashley Carter photos: Tom Morley leftlion.co.uk/issue122 23

From T C Hine to Watson Fothergill, Nottingham has had more than its fair share of renowned architects leaving their stamp on the city’s skyscape. But beyond the outer beauty of the structures they created lie stories of deceit, murder, poison and intrigue. These are the weird and wonderful true stories from some of Nottingham’s most stunning historic buildings...

CUR IOS I TY SHOPS

words: Emilie Mendham illustration: Natalie Owen

Newdigate House aka World Service The name might not immediately ring a bell, but Newdigate House is where some of Notts’ fanciest diners go to eat, under its current guise as the highlyrated World Service restaurant, situated on Castle Gate. Just a few hundred years ago, in 1705, it became home to Camille d’Hostun, duc de Tallard. And by home, we mean prison, as d’Hostun was captured by the Duke of Marlborough’s forces after the Battle of Blenheim, and kept in Nottingham for six years. As the Marshal of France and rich friend of King Louis XIV, his capture was something of a coup, and the French nobleman made the most of his forced stay. Taking the time to teach local women how to make white bread, he’s also the reason celery was introduced to the British diet. He missed it so much that, after ﬁnding some in the marshes in Lenton, he cultivated it to be grown for consumption.

4-6 and 8-10 Low Pavement Notts is a maze of honeycombed caves and alleys, so it’s no surprise to hear about new underground spaces being discovered beneath the streets. But what about secret staircases? Long before Cartwheel’s Coﬀee shop and Marks and Spencer’s took over Low Pavement, all sorts of businesses set up shop there. According to Inne England chairman Robert Hartley, the locations at both 4-6 and 8-10 were successful accounting ﬁrms that featured two hidden, winding staircases, built so that their ne’er-do-well employees could move their mistresses in and out during business hours without raising too much suspicion.

The Nag’s Head Pub, Mansfield Have you heard the one about the highwayman who, on his way to the gallows, was taken to a pub for a final drink? After sinking it in one gulp, he asked the barman for another, telling him, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you on the way back.” A little further afield in Mansfield, one pub found itself as the location for this rather macabre tradition. The building, which now calls itself The Nag’s Head Pub, was the spot where condemned men were taken for their final drink before being executed, owing to its proximity to the Church Cemetery. It’s rumoured that one man, presumably too preoccupied by his imminent expiry, refused the drink, opting to head straight to the gallows instead. Shortly after his hanging, a messenger arrived saying that he’d been pardoned, but it was too late. The moral of the story is: always take the beer.

Stanford House, Castle Gate Casting a shadow across the entire street, the architectural masterpiece Stanford House stretches back through an impressive amount of our city’s history, having been built around 1755 during the War of American Independence. In 1789, the building found itself as the home of Mr Stanford who, as a ﬁerce royalist, was so overjoyed at the news of King George III (The Mad King) recovering from his ‘mental malady’ that he distributed a half-a-hogshead - about 150 litres - of ale to everyone on the street. Neighbours just aren’t that friendly anymore.

Grey Friar Gate Hidden away in one of the oldest streets in Notts, Houndsgate was home to a now vanished wool warehouse back in 1788. It was here that a chap named Jowitt once had the shock of his life, after finding a mummified man in amongst his stock. The poor bloke, known only as Mr. Rogers, is said to have – for reasons known only to himself – tried to catch forty winks on the sacks, only to slip into the web of wool and suffocate while trying to get out, mummifying himself in the process. Rest in fleece, Mr Rogers.

The Salutation Inn While plenty of pubs in the city are ﬁ ghting over being named as the best or oldest in Notts’, there’s one piece of history that none of them are envious of. In 1820, the family that lived above The Salutation Inn had something of an unfortunate mix-up. With a rat infestation in full swing, they decided to try and rid themselves of their unwelcome guests with a healthy dose of arsenic. Somehow, the poison ended up in the family’s breakfast oatmeal, killing them all, except John Green, their landlord. Records don’t mention his involvement in the deaths but, you have to admit, this one does sound a little ﬁshy...

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 23

UNDER COVER ARTIST One of my earliest memories is of seeing the sea for the first time as my Dad drove over the brow of Sussex Hill when I was four or five years old. The horizon and the mystery of what lies beyond it really stirred something in me. Maybe all island people feel this to some degree but, for me, that first wondrous sight of seemingly endless space was truly breathtaking, and I’ve been chasing that sensation in my work ever since.

Colin Anthony Robson Prelude

As a painter and designer (as well as drummer and recovering Remainer!) I love the magical, ephemeral effect of light on our environment so every painting is an adventure for me and I’m experimenting and learning all the time. One of the biggest challenges with creating Prelude came simply from having to leave a warm bed to face the blank canvas.

Regular LeftLion illustrator Agnes Papp gives us the lowdown on her beautiful historythemed cover and poster art... Tell us a bit about yourself… I’m a Hungarian artist/graphic designer with a love for any kind of arts and crafts (sawing to sewing), music (creating and listening), experimenting in the kitchen to binge watching Netflix.

I worked in publishing for years before painting fulltime. The solvents used in traditional oils affected my breathing so I only exhibited small landscape watercolours. I’d always wanted to paint larger (I prefer 76cm or 90cm square) and tried using acrylics without much success. Now that water-based oil paints are available, I still use the traditional watercolour technique: layers of thin glazes to build up colours that allow the underpainting to glow through. After all the hours of self-doubt and fretting, I’m always surprised when a painting suddenly tells me it’s finished!

colin-robson-paintings.com

When it comes to plans for the future, all I want to do is keep going and enjoy the ride.

I’m a major procrastinator, leaving almost everything to the last minute or later. Somehow my production and creativity vastly improves under pressure. What was the inspiration behind the cover? As soon as I received this month’s topic I immediately started to get inspired by researching references from the different eras – this extended my pinteresting hours, which is by default, quite a few hours! Besides looking for images, a lot of TV shows and movies inspired the final result, including: The Durrells, Game of Thrones, Vikings, 1917, Peaky Blinders… How does it compare with other projects you’ve worked on? I’d never created historical themed illustrations, this was my very first time.

Zoe Kirk A Peaceful Whitby Waterfall

I usually draw in different types of subjects, involving more software, using whatever fits the need most. One day I’ll be using my Apple pencil on my iPad set to pencil brush to create traditional style, the next day I’ll be drawing shapes in vectorgraphic tools.

The painting was inspired by a visit to the countryside. I enjoy getting away from the cluster of cities from time-to-time, which is why I like to paint landscapes without any man-made objects included in the frame – to create a peaceful environment.

Tell us about projects you’ve worked on in the past… I recently started to work for a start-up company called Presonate. They work with companies to improve their presentations, making them better-designed and more easily digestible. We recently won an award for Best Storytelling at the Prezi Awards competition, with a presentation that I illustrated completely. Also, a few years ago, a friend and I created a movie which won us accreditation at the Cannes Film Festival. That is something I’m very proud of.

This was a challenge due to the fact that I painted it over three days to a tight timescale, and it was a new attempt at painting a waterfall. However, it was fun to do and I felt a sense of achievement after completing it. Another challenge I faced came from painting the water to look like it was flowing and moving with smaller brush strokes alongside the bigger strokes. To develop a good method for painting the water, I practiced multiple ways of different mark making before finishing the final piece.

What have you got planned for the future? Improve! As an illustrator, as well as a person, so that my ideas and long-dreamt projects can be materialised and can come out from the bottom of the ‘drawer’. Having an exhibition of my art; painting – with oil for instance – on my father’s easel with his brushes; getting back to regular yoga; sparing enough time to accomplish my musical desire. That’s just a little idea of what my plan looks like! Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers? I absolutely love Nottingham, I have loads of good memories. Beautiful, quiet, but buzzy at times, which I prefer. A lot of artistic and indie initiatives, and of course the cafes and restaurants. A heaven for a person like me. Also, I hid an easter egg in the poster – the woman’s face is actually a sort of self-portrait. @pappaggi.art

26 26

leftlion.co.uk/issue120 leftlion.co.uk/issue123

I’m from Nottingham, though I’m currently studying BA Fashion Design at the University of Lincoln. I have a passion for design, sewing and fashion, but I also love to paint landscapes alongside my studies. I submitted my painting A Peaceful Whitby Waterfall to the Open Art Exhibition at The New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, and it was displayed (and later sold) at the exhibition.

Most of the paintings I’ve previously created have been part of my Art A-Level as I was developing my style in painting. In my A-Level project I focused on painting landscapes from different places I’ve visited, and I’ve tried to build on that since leaving college. @zoe_kirk.art_photography

In the next few years I plan on continuing and finishing my degree in Fashion Design, and then I aim to pursue a career in the fashion industry while continuing to paint on the sidelines.

words: Ollie Heppenstall photo: Fabrice Gagos 28

leftlion.co.uk/issue122

Homeward Bound As a member of the Windrush Generation who came to Britain in the 1950s after World War II, 89-year-old Albert Johnson devoted his life to being a well-respected and productive member of society. His reward? Being threatened with deportation and denied his legal rights as part of the 2017 scandal. With the dream of returning home to his native Jamaica one final time, we talked to Johnson as he looks back on a life of hard work, endurance and survival… Towards the end of 2017, countless Britons were left shocked by a political gaffe of staggering proportions. It was unearthed that the Home Office, with Amber Rudd as Home Secretary, were threatening Commonwealth citizens with deportation. If the threat of deportation was not enough, many were denied legal rights and wrongly incarcerated through no fault of their own. Their crime? Lacking documentation that had not been required when they first arrived in the UK, which they have rightly called home ever since.

I came in 1962, with very little money. The only way I knew how to make that money was to work hard, and endure The scandal marked a watershed moment in British society. Was it acceptable for those who had called the UK their home for a generation if not longer, to be denied that right? What did it say about those who lead us – that they were able to decide who stayed and left arbitrarily? While the scandal has since died down, the repercussions are still being felt in a society where divisions have only widened and deepened. Albert Johnson is one of the Windrush Generation who made the UK their home in the wake of the Second World War. The 89-year-old, who originally hails from Jamaica, arrived in 1955 to find a country still reeling from a gargantuan conflict and desperately in need of a helping hand. Like millions of others from across the Commonwealth, he was invited by the British Government with the aim of rebuilding a country he had never expected to visit. “I was 25 when I arrived in the UK,” he says, after a long hard think. “To be frank, it was a huge, huge change – but I was able to take everything as it came. I’m still here, still strong.” “To be frank” crops up a lot when talking to Albert, and it’s an expression that sums him up well. He’s lived a colourful life, and lived it eclectically – but it hasn’t been without its hardships. “My first job was in Derby, mending roads, retarmacking them. I hadn’t done much work like that before, and it was made harder by the climate – I learnt pretty quickly to always wear a coat! But I managed to work my own way” he says, a wry smile on his face. The memories and recollections need some time to be coaxed out, but those

that remain still retain their clarity. “I remember, on my first day, being made a cup of tea and lighting a gas lamp to keep warm. It didn’t work though, and I ended up fainting.” On his way to the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, he would cross paths with a familiar face. “My cousin Lee had come over from Jamaica too – we met as I was being wheeled into the ambulance!” Lee, unlike Albert, would return to Jamaica and join the clergy; they would not meet again until Albert’s brief return in 1974. Albert arrived in Nottingham after seven years in the UK. “I came in 1962, with very little money. The only way I knew how to make that money was to work hard, and endure.” And endure he did; after working at Beeston Boilers for a number of years, he spent time working in Chigwell cleaning aircraft engines and other heavy-duty machinery. After a healthy amount of time spent working in industry, he took up painting and decorating, before a stint at Wellington power station. Indeed, Albert’s career spanned four decades – but not once in those four decades was he asked for documentation. Sibon Phiri, who works with United Legal Access, the organisation responsible for helping members of the Windrush generation around Nottingham, says: “I was immensely surprised to see Albert at one of our surgeries. I’d seen him around Nottingham before, looking as happy as anyone – and yet for all these years he hadn’t really existed. There was no paper trail, no birth certificate, nothing.” He’s not the only member of the Windrush generation who United Legal Access has come into contact with. Since beginning their surgeries, nine people have successfully completed applications for settled status; a further twelve are waiting on the Home Office’s Windrush Task Force to deliver their settled status. They’ve provided a mixture of support: some of it has been emotional, some of it financial, other aspects of it have been social. The work that United Legal Access has done has been indispensable. Albert’s story became even more complicated when he was made homeless. He would spend three months on Nottingham’s streets until new friend Betty Short stepped in. “I took Albert in and I’ve been there every step of the way. From getting in contact with my local Councillor to see what could be done, to helping him find any documents to build his case, to being on the phone

with solicitors and being interviewed by the Windrush Task Force in Sheffield – I’ve been there every step. It’s been a rollercoaster, but it’s been so worth it.” For Albert, Betty is everything now. “Betty’s my friend, she’s my family – she’s absolutely everything” he says, a smile as wide as can be on his face. “The time between Albert getting his British citizenship and getting his passport was so short,” Betty recalls with a laugh. “He got his citizenship through in May, and his passport in June of 2018.” The first thing they did? Book a trip to France and Belgium, the first time Albert had left the UK since 1974 when he had last returned to Jamaica. “France was alright,” he recalls. “The journey was by bus and ferry; it was wonderful to see the sea again.” There’s a plan afoot to go to the United States, too. “I have a cousin, Sammy, who I’ve been told still lives in Florida,” he says, with some hesitation. But Florida, France and Belgium are small beer compared to what else is planned. “I want to go to Jamaica, one last time,” he says. “I want to go to my school one last time, and see where I grew up.” Albert may still be here, and still be strong, but with his 90th birthday looming, time is of the essence. When asked how it felt to receive his British passport, the way he clasps it to his chest and smiles says more than any words can. “Albert’s been so limited for so long despite all these years he’s given to the UK,” Sibon explains.

I was able to take everything as it came. I’m still here, still strong Sibon also remarks that Albert’s story has given others the platform and motivation to come forward with their own stories. “I had a message from a lady over Facebook not too long after Albert received his indefinite leave, saying that her grandmother was in exactly the same situation” she recalls. There are still thousands of people who are waiting to receive a solution to a problem that should not have existed, under any circumstance. But with stories like Albert’s, the hope remains. Like he says, they’re still here, still strong. If you’d like to support Albert’s dream to visit his homeland of Jamaica for a final time, visit uk.gofundme.com/f/help-albert-get-to-jamaica

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 29

Bygone Byrons

In the complex, meandering maze of English history, few people that aren’t members of the Royal family are able to trace their ancestry all the way back to the Battle of Hastings. But luckily for Notts’ own Lord Byron, his family tree has roots that go all the way back to 1066, and branches that were every bit as weird and wonderful as he was...

Ralph de Burun (unknown – 1107)

Hugh de Burun (1112 – 1166)

As the ﬁrst in his lineage to set foot in the country, Ralph de Burun came to England with William the Conqueror either before his success at the Battle of Hastings, or shortly thereafter. If you happened to pay attention to Year 7 History, you might remember that Big Willy was successful in 1066 (his name is a bit of a giveaway), putting the Stormin’ Normans in charge of England for the next century. This was music to the ears of Ralph, who was rewarded with the title of Lord of Horertan Castle and granted lands in Derbyshire, Nottingham and Lancaster, creating a male line that lasted over eight centuries.

Sir John Byron (1526 – 1600)

Aﬀectionately known as Little Sir John with the Great Beard, Byron’s great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was a landowner and politician who was knighted by Elizabeth I in 1579. After inheriting Newstead Abbey, Sir John even blagged himself the job of High Sheriﬀ of Nottingham in 1596. As great as his beard was, it had nothing on his libido; after marrying Alice Strelley, the pair had no less than nine kids. If rocking the original hipster beard, sireing almost an entire football team and getting knighted wasn’t enough of a legacy for Sir John, he’s also said to have haunted Newstead Abbey for years after his death, with the likes of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow author Washington Irving claiming to have been spooked by him during a visit in the 1830s.

Richard Byron (1606 – 1679)

When the time came to pick sides during the Civil War, Richard knew which side his bread was buttered. A fierce royalist, he remained loyal to Charles I, fi ghting as a Valiant Colonel at the Battle of Edgehill - the first major battle of the conflict. He was knighted for his trouble, and went on to become the Governor of Newark. Keeping up with the Byron family tradition, Richard didn’t mess about when it came to passing on his genes, with he and his wife Elizabeth having six children.

Sir Robert de Byron (c. 1196 – 1221)

Sir James Byron (1300 – 1351) Richard Byron (c. 1329 – 1397)

John Byron (1386 – 1450)

Richard Byron (1606 – 1679) John Byron (1599 – 1652)

William Byron (1636 – 1695) William Byron (1669 – 1736)

illustration: Ali Taylor-Perry

Nicholas Byron (1416 – 1503)

John “Foulweather Jack” Byron (1723 – 1786)

Sir John de Byron (c. 1253 – 1339)

Sir Richard de Byron (1274 – 1346)

John de Byron (c. 1217 – 1279)

John “Mad Jack” Byron (1756 – 1791)

John Byron (c. 1583 – 1625) Sir John Byron (1562 – 1623)

Lord Byron’s father is deﬁnitive proof that the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. After eloping to Europe with Amelia Osborne, Marchioneess of Carmarthen, John persuaded his new love to divorce from her husband, which she duly did. After Amelia died in 1784, John, who was a Captain in the Coldstream Guards, married Catherine Gordon, a wealthy heiress whose estates were worth £23,500, taking her surname in order to be eligible for her fortune. After blowing his way through her money, John abandoned poor Catherine and their young son George, leaving them with an annual stipend of less than £150. John - unaﬀectionately known as ‘Mad Jack’ died in Northern France at 35, either of an overdose, tuberculosis or, as his son would tell people, by cutting his own throat.

Wi�iam “the Devil” Byron (1722 – 1798)

Sir John Byron (1526 – 1600) Sir John Byron (1488 – 1567)

John “Mad Jack” Byron (1756 – 1791)

John “Foulweather Jack” Byron (1723 – 1786)

If it wasn’t for bad luck, poor John Byron wouldn’t have had any luck at all. Something of a Jonah, he picked up the nickname ‘Foulweather Jack’ after constantly encountering terrible conditions at sea during an otherwise illustrious naval career. Chief among his misfortunes was his role in the infamous HMS Wager saga. Having set off as part of George Anson’s eight-ship flotilla charged with sailing around the world, the Wager, crewed by 300 men, became separated and, after the death of its captain, sank off the coast of modern-day Chile. A mutiny soon followed, and Byron was forced to try and make his way to safety with just nineteen men. After encountering an endless stream of perilous situations, including drowning, disease and imprisonment, John finally made it back to England in late 1746 - over fi ve years after leaving. He was one of only ten of the original 300 to make it back alive. You’d think that would be enough to keep a man on dry land for good, but Foulweather Jack was back at sea that same year, and went on to fi ght in the American War of Independence, eventually rising to the rank of Vice Admiral.

Byron’s old man might have been a bad egg, but he was nothing compared to his great uncle. In 1765, William killed his cousin and neighbour William Chaworth in a duel in London, after the pair had become engaged in a heated debate over whose estate contained the most game. After retiring to a private room, the pair continued to quarrel when a drunken Byron thrust his sword into Chaworth’s stomach. WIlliam was only charged with manslaughter and forced to pay a small ﬁne, spending the rest of his days revelling in his newfound reputation and nicknames, which included ‘The Devil Byron’ and ‘The Wicked Lord’. While the stories are most likely exaggerated, he also claimed to have shot his own coachman, built a miniature castle for lavish sexfuelled parties, built two forts in order to stage mock-battles with real cannons and mounted the sword used to kill Chaworth on the wall of Newstead Abbey. Geez Louise.

Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852)

William “the Devil” Byron (1722 – 1798)

Despite not being the “glorious boy” Lord Byron hoped for, Ada Lovelace arguably made a greater contribution to the world than any of her forefathers. She was a mathematician and writer who is mostly remembered for her work on Charles Babbage’s mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. History rightly remembers her as the ﬁrst person to recognize the potential of computing machines, as well as one of the world’s ﬁrst computer programmers.

Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852)

leftlion.co.uk/issue122 23

Comedian, presenter, political satirist, journalist, radio personality, libertarian anarchist... There aren’t many things that Mark Thomas can’t turn his hand to. With his brand new history-themed show, 50 Things About Us, heading to Lakeside Arts for back-to-back shows in April, we caught up with the stand up legend to get his thoughts on Nottingham, touring and the British Empire...

The 50 Things About Us tour is jam-packed, and you’ve been on the road sixteen days now... You’re right. I think it ends up being about 58 gigs or something stupid like that... Are you physically prepared for 58 gigs? I hope so! There’s a certain amount of looking after yourself that goes on during these things. I've done it long enough now to know what I need to do and I can recommend fresh fruit and porridge as part of the way of surviving the tour. What would you say to someone who is clueless about the 50 Things About Us tour? I'd say come along, it's a good old laugh. There’s stand-up, a bit of storytelling, communal singing and mucking about with a few quiz questions. It’s a sort-of quiz meets the History Channel with lots of swearing. How has the material been received so far? No-one’s booed me off. There's only been three pitchforks and one flaming torch so far, so not too bad. At the end of the tour, I’ll have been chased through a village by a mob. You're coming to Nottingham Lakeside Arts this April, how’d you like the place? Lakeside's a great place. The art gallery is really exciting and the exhibitions are great. Nottingham really punches above its weight. Nottingham Playhouse is really well run too. I always think, just go and see stuff. Give stuff a go. But if you don't use these venues, they will go. What have been the highlights of your research for this recent material? Probably the Charter of the Forest. England has the world's only economic charter, we have a charter that was written that gives us access to the commons, to share things that are commonly owned. We have a right to do so just by being born: to live, trade, work, survive, to sustain ourselves in

these common lands. It's this thing that links us emotionally and historically through to nationalised railways. In the show, you delve into various bits of history. What would you say is the proudest and also the most embarrassing moment in British history? I love local history, and stuff about working-class people. For me, the proudest things are fighting for the right to vote – I think that's a really amazing thing – and the creation of the NHS. It's 71 years old now. It's about how we see ourselves, how we see our history and how we see our part in it. For me, the Empire is a dreadful thing. We should look at that and own up to the fact that actually we weren't this great group of people who gave the world cricket, democracy and railway lines. Actually, we exploited their countries, we committed horrendous acts, we had huge implications, negative implications for those communities.

It’s a sort-of quiz meets the History Channel with lots of swearing. How do you feel about the current political climate? Well, I'm not a fan. It's a really bizarre time. It’s a climate in which we've seen an increase in racist attacks and racist harassment. We've got to find a way to get rid of the Etonians. Quite how we do it, I'm not sure, but I'll give it my best go. Mark Thomas’ 50 Things About Us tour comes to Nottingham Lakeside Arts Thursday 16 - Friday 17 April, 7.30pm. Tickets are £18.50 markthomasinfo.co.uk

interview: Alex Mace photo: Steve Ullathorne

Mental Health: Let ting Go I have struggled to write about letting go and, when I reflected on why this might be, I realised it was because I am not very good at it. I’m like a cat with a ball of wool; teasing and playing with my anger or upset until it’s a bigger mess than when I started. It made me realise how flippant it can sound to be told to ‘let it go’. Banksy’s image of the girl letting go of the heart-shape balloon makes it look so easy. But when you look closer, I’m sure she looks anguished and sad, or maybe that’s just my interpretation. So, where to start? It’s important to remember that holding onto pain and sadness doesn’t fix anything. Yes, you are familiar with these feelings as they have probably been with you for a long time. Continuing to nurture these negative feelings will keep you stuck in that moment and deny you the chance to change things for the better.

illustration: Liv Auckland

Moving forward, remember that no matter how hard you try, you cannot control the actions of others. You only have control over yourself, so try not to worry about what others think. It can be helpful to have realistic goals and expectations of yourself and others. That aside, you’re allowed to dream big. Problem solving is exploring all options, no matter how outlandish. Having your own goals will help divert attention away from life’s worries. Expressing yourself is an important part of feeling good about yourself and your relationships. Find your voice. You deserve to be happy and experiencing pleasure is okay. Nobody is faultless, so don’t take life too seriously and learn to laugh at yourself. Surround yourself with people who care about and know you. Resentment and unwillingness to forgive will keep you locked in the past and prevent you from moving forward with your life.

interview and photos: Fabrice Gagos

Formed in 2013, Bone Cult began after two members of a rock band decided they’d had enough. Time spent experimenting with productions in the studio – using synths, drum machines and more – led to the electronic duo, consisting of No.1 and Day2, finding that unique, fresh sound they were in search of, and settling on a new musical identity. Never showing their faces publicly, their only distinguishing feature comes in the form of artful tattoos covering their torsos. Even their tracked vocals are distorted beyond recognition. With an impressive cult following that has seen them perform across the globe and a debut album set for release this month, we talked to the Notts-based duo to uncover more about the minds that lie beneath the masks... You’re known for your strong visual presence on stage and those glowing masks. Have they always been part of Bone Cult? No.1: Yeah, we always had masks. Originally they were gas masks from a military surplus shop, but they were just terrible to play with; we couldn’t see or breathe properly. More importantly, other artists have used gas masks in the past and we wanted to find something unique. We thought about using Japanese masks but eventually we found some in Thailand with such a strong identity. It was just what we were looking for, so we stuck with them. Day2: We actually have different ones, depending on where we’re playing. Some are just black and white like a Yin and Yang kind of thing, but they all come from the same place. Your imagery is quite dark but your music isn’t really aggressive. Do you ever worry that people might be disappointed to find that the music isn’t as extreme as your look might suggest? No.1: It’s actually quite funny when people expect one thing and then get something completely different. It reflects what we want to do – bringing different sounds and messing around with people’s preconceptions. Day2: The electronic side really allows us to have this effect and experiment with genres more. When we used to have a heavier sound it felt quite limiting, so now we don’t want to conform to one thing or another. But yes, some people definitely hate the whole mask thing. No.1: Some people think it’s a gimmick, but it’s not; it’s just fun. We don’t want to be like everyone else and ultimately, our band is about the music and not “us” personally. It’s not about who we are, it’s about the experience we’re sharing when we play live. Day2: We prefer people to know us as an identity rather than as people. You had already performed all over the world before deciding to release your first album. Was that intentional? Day2: It just happened. We were asked to play in South Korea for Zandari Festa in 2018, and while

we were there we booked our own tour in Asia. We played in Japan and then Canada, and we also played in the US. It wasn’t conscious – the offers came and we agreed. No.1: That’s why we do music in the first place: to travel and to take our sound out as far as we can, rather than just playing the same venues. It’s much more exciting to go out and see the world. What can people expect from the album?

I don’t think we are a band that everyone is going to get into and that’s a good thing, because we don’t want to be ‘universal’ No.1: It took us a long time to get to this point. Now we can confidently say that this is the time for our album. We wanted to do something memorable and unique so, if anything, this is a statement – this album reflects our sound and what we do. I don’t think we are a band that everyone is going to get into and that’s a good thing, because we don’t want to be ‘universal’. We just want to do something we genuinely enjoy rather than trying to please. Day2: That’s the thing, being refreshing from everyone else; I don’t want to be in a scene. We also want to make it unpredictable. The album is going to be an experimental wide palette of sounds. No.1: We always think about how each track will translate to a live show. While some just write a record to be listened to at home, we’re always thinking about the stage; is it going to be energetic and how are people going to react to it? A regular criticism levelled at electronic music as a genre is that it’s just created from home on a computer, while a band is made to perform live... Day2: It’s really hard to think about how it will sound live when you’re writing electronic music. We don’t want to offer flat, club music. That’s also why

we have a live drummer on stage to make it more dynamic and interactive. Will you be going on tour to promote the album? No.1: Yes! We’ll be doing a full UK tour this year. With hindsight, we’ve been all over the world but we didn’t do a full UK tour last year. We’re also looking forward to playing UK-based festivals this summer, but it’s too early to announce which ones just yet. Day2: We are also going to Australia in September and October. Your sound is obviously personal, but are there other acts that inspire you? No.1: Even though we grew up listening to rock bands, we both play guitar as well as liking electronic music, so we try to bring the different influences together. There are a lot of nineties producers, such as Aphex Twin and the Chemical Brothers, that we really like. Daft Punk of course is a massive influence. On the rock side, we’re big fans of bands like Deftones and Incubus. Day2: For live shows, acts like Rammstein are up there because they have crazy productions and that’s what we want to achieve with the masks and the lasers. Bands like the Prodigy and Pendulum who blend that rock and electronic genre together have inspired us too. Is there anything else you’d like to tell LeftLion readers? No.1: A shout to some other Nottingham bands people should listen to: Eyre Llew, Baby Tap and A Hundred Crowns. Day2: I just hope that people listening to our album will find something different from any other band… I think a lot of people are going to hate the album. No.1: Yeah, it’s probably true! But that’s OK. Bone Cult’s debut album Death Electronica is released on Monday 30 March bonecult.com

REVIEW: THE HAND & HEART

TOUGH MARY'S BAKEHOUSE

Nottingham’s infamous caves weave through the belly of the city, and The Hand & Heart pub is one of the best places in the city to see them. The signal from our phones disappear as we step into the restaurant downstairs. Fairy lights luxuriously drape the ceiling, romantic candles and roses are on every table, and we feel like we’ve walked into something truly unique. After forking out £16.95 for a vegan Sunday lunch, we were expecting a meal special enough to match the ambience. The food came out in a surprisingly prompt ten minutes. Elements of the lunch, such as the nut roast and roasties obviously take much longer, so there’s clearly a well-oiled roast machine working behind the scenes. No less than you’d expect from one of the city’s prime Sunday dining destinations. To our delight, the speedy service was matched by some delicious highlights onthe plate.

words: Eve Smallman photos: Natalie Owen It’s tipping it down with rain on Derby Road. But among the dreariness stands the new version of Tough Mary’s Bakehouse – bigger and better, with its trademark yellow shopfront and sunshine hue still beckoning strong. Inside, the windows are steamed up, the space is bright, and the pastries are piled up high. Initially it’s quiet, but as twelve o’clock strikes the queue builds up with hungry punters. The staff move quickly and freely, and there’s still good stuff ’s stacked up by the time the crowd trickles out. After three years of stretching and proving, the little unit next door became diff icult to work in. “We had fridge doors opening and hitting things, and the mixing table had a tiny bit of room, so you had to slide under the bench if you wanted anything!” she laughs. “People were enquiring about more stuff, and we just couldn't deal with the demand apart from coming in at a ridiculous time and doing the day twice.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Tough Mary’s Bakehouse team consisted of owner Kate O’Shea and two part-time front-of-house people. “We've seen the staﬀ numbers slowly come on, which has helped build the brand and what we are,” Kate says. “We’ve also been building up a loyal customer base

which has been really nice, and a lot of them have seen the changes we’ve been through.”.” Now, there’s more space to sit and enjoy a pastry or two. “We've been so overwhelmed with how busy we are. It looks a bit more hipster, and I think people like that!” smiles Kate. There’s all number of treats lining the counter, so we ask for the expert’s choice. “If there's a Copenhagen left at the end of the day, I definitely jump on that,” Kate says. “That's a croissant pastry. We spread a layer of frangipane and then seasonal jam – at the moment it's rhubarb. Then we knot it all together, bake it, put on more jam and then icing.” Another one of Kate’s highlights is their cardamom Swedish buns that are filled with almond paste, and topped with an enormous swirl of fresh cream. If you’re debating the trip, there’s plenty of reason to divert away from your usual city haunts. “Coffee shops in town buy their stuff in or have it part-baked, but we make everything, from the breads to the brioches, right down to the jams,” says Kate. “You can watch us through the windows – we work so hard and I just want people to enjoy what we do.” Derby Road, NG1 5FD toughmarysbakehouse.co.uk

The meal’s focal point, a mushroom and almond roast, was rich, earthy, and had just a hint of crunch. Mashed potato is often overlooked on a roast, but this one was so smooth and gorgeous, I would have been happy with a plate full of just that. The red wine and shallot sauce was also lovely, fullbodied and the perfect pastor to marry each element together. Considering the price, elements of the dish – such as the cabbage, soft roast potatoes and carrots – could have been a little better. But, given the enthusiastic praise from the meat-eating table seated next to us – who complimented them on being excellent as always – that’s less a reﬂection on The Hand & Heart in general, and maybe just that elements of their vegan roast needed tweaking slightly. With that said, there was still more than enough to enjoy. Eve Smallman Derby Road, NG1 5BA thehandandheart.co.uk

New Restaurant Waterside Bar + Kitchen

Event Sausage and Cider Festival - Sat 28 March, NTU

Must-Try Food Slumdog Millionaire - Das Kino

This Forest-match regular Southbank has glowed up into a glam place that will be all over your Insta feed. Whether you want food, nibbles or fancy cocktails, Waterside has got you covered. waterside.bar

We all love a good sausage fest, don’t we? Swig down a load of cider and you’ve got yourself a party. As well as tasty food, there’ll be live music and eating competitions. Phwoar, we’re sold. sausageandciderfest.co.uk

Stuck between Indian food and something more Little Italy? This pizza is a delicious compromise. With chicken-tikka sauce and a minty yoghurt drizzle, you’ll be drooling before you order. das-kino.co.uk

REVIEW: PICCOLINO

BUILD YOUR OWN NOTTS’ CHEESEBOARD

Certain types of food match up with speciﬁc drinks so perfectly that their pairing is almost a foregone conclusion before you’ve even entered the restaurant. Indian? Kingﬁsher. Thai? Tiger. Stodgy winter pub food? Guinness. Italian? Red wine. However, on this occasion, having already been well lubricated during pre-meal visits to Tier (Espresso Martini) and Saint Bar in the Lace Market Hotel (more Long Island Iced Teas than I cared to count), it felt natural to break tradition with my usual Malbec and see what Piccolino’s cocktail menu was all about.

Stichelton Stichelton Dairy Ltd Stichelton Dairy is the only British cheesemaker that produces a rawcheese stilton and it’s a belter. The different parts of the cheese - the rind, the blue, the creamy-white - all have distinctly different fl avours, making for one exciting mouthful after another. stichelton.co.uk

Kismet, it would seem, had smiled in our favour, as no sooner had we asked the waitress for a cocktail menu that she invited us to join ‘ Club Individual,’ enabling us free-range at their extensive cocktail menu for just £6 a pop, seeing as it was Thursday. One quick ﬁlling out of a form later, and the reduced-price drinks were on their way. Grazie mille.

First Love Rose Hanwell’s Estate This delightfully light rosé is a refreshing balancer to your board of cheesy goods. It’s made with grapes grown in South Nottinghamshire, and has notes of apples that give it a sweet bite. Cheers to that. hanwellwine.co.uk

Shropshire Blue Colton Bassett Not only will this rich blue cheese look gorgeous on your board, it’s lovely to gorge on, too. The beautiful orange colour comes from annatto, which also gives it a nutty ﬂ avour. As well as that, you’ll get pops of tanginess, creaminess and sharpness. Delicious. coltonbassettdairy.co.uk

While awaiting my Friends with Beneﬁts (Vodka and peach with raspberries, passion fruit, lemon and pomegranate juice – usually £9), I was pleased to see that Piccolino’s vegetarian and vegan menu was far more extensive than I had expected from an Italian. Vegetarian eating is usually issue-free, but as one of our party was vegan, pizza, pasta and everything in-between usually ensures limited and basic options. But, I’m happy to report, we were both spoilt for choice, having been presented with two full pages of delicious-sounding choices.

Sourdough Bread Tough Mary’s Bakehouse Forget about the crackers, Gromit. If you’re gonna have carbs, you may as well have the best carbs in town. Grab a fresh loaf, warm it up just a touch, and have a hearty hunk of it. The symphony of crackle when you break into it will tell you just how good it is. toughmarysbakehouse.co.uk

We plumbed for a shared tomato and fresh basil pane all’aglio (hand-stretched garlic bread - £5.50) for starters, before choosing a Fiorentina pizza (£12.50) and gnocchi al forno with grilled red pepper, tomato and basil (£11.50). The food was fresh, delicious and quick to arrive and, as the cocktails continued to flow at a steady pace, the entire dining experience was a joy, aided by an incredibly eff icient and friendly staff that took care of our every need. It was classic Italian cuisine, done to perfection. Jason Edgar

Caramelised Red Onion Mr. Pitchfork’s Pickles In a pickle looking for the perfect chutney? This one is a twist on the classic. As well as that lovely richness from the onion, it has red wine and balsamic vinegar for that extra bit of punch. Spread it onto your favourite creamy cheese and enjoy. mrpitchforkspickles.co.uk

7 Weekday Cross, Nottingham NG1 2GB

Castle Gate Gin Weavers Not a wine fan? This gin is also a winner in the drinks books. Acorns foraged in the Nottinghamshire area and in the Shires of Central England give it a subtle nuttiness, pairing very nicely with the tartness of the juniper and citrus fruit. weaverswines.com To Follow Lucy and Lentils For tasty vegan recipe inspo, Lucy is your girl. Her dishes are inventive and her photos are beautiful. We recommend the banana bread. Easy to make and perfect with a cuppa. @lucy_and_lentils

words: Eve Smallman illustration: Ali Taylor-Perry leftlion.co.uk/issue123 36

DOUGHNOTTSOFFICIAL.COM

#DOUGHNOTTS 14 King St, Nottingham, NG1 2AS

Mixed, glazed & crafted by hand

Gallery 47 East Street (Album) Could Gallery 47, aka Jack Peachey, be Nottingham’s answer to Mark Oliver Everett? Quite possibly, if this prompt follow-up to 2019’s Chaos Ensued is anything to go by. Recorded at his family home over Christmas, East Street fuses an Eels-inspired lyricism with Thom Yorketinged vocal layers, resulting in a bizarrely uplifting record. It’s at once minimal and lush, most prevalent on Embers. At a moment when acts tend to agonise over releases, Peachey’s proliﬁc approach is rather refreshing. Becky Timmins

HEURT Cathedral (Album)

Clonk Badhand (EP)

This is a dense, variegated and often astral soundscape that’s painted across Heurt’s fervent and fifth full-length installment. Cathedral, ever in a state of euphony, flirts with differing shades of the same overarching blend of post-rock and shoegaze – never cowardly in its desire to explore. While the wavering vocals and delicate guitar leads provide unfettered levels of melancholic sentiment, Cathedral’s real triumph lies in a seven-minute instrumental epic that lays Heurt’s talents bare. Alex Mace

This new EP goes to show why Clonk gained a reputation as one of the loudest bands in Notts. Described as hardcore post punk, it features four explosive tracks full of Clonk’s classic hooks, vocals and ability to get any crowd jumping. Badhand is raucous, powerful and, most importantly, bold. Surprisingly this is Clonk’s ﬁrst EP – judging by the standard and reputation that’s building around the band, it’s obvious it won’t be their last. Molly Dodge-Taylor

ARCH FEMMESIS Forgery (Single)

Exchecker ft. Wilted Flower Rainchild (Single)

The second single from the electro art-house duo, Forgery, the follow up to debut single, Sapiosexual, epitomises contemporary experimental music’s ability to truly oﬀer something original. Vocalist ZERA TØNIN launches into spoken-word lyrics before a punchy drumbeat kicks in, building layers of erotic avant-garde electronica with sensual vocals spitting sincere poetry. Having garnered a cult following within the Nottingham scene since last year, this is only the beginning for the post-punk pair. Laura Phillips

This exciting new collaboration from Exchecker and Wilted Flower - Notts’ singer-songwriter Micki Woods’ project - is a raw, soulful exploration of the mental health implications of striving for success. Blending pop, rap and a smooth-as-silk series of chord progressions that wouldn’t feel out of place on an early Avalanches album, it’s got all of the elements to blow away live audiences. And with the collaboration set to make their full band debut at Albert’s in April, I predict it’s going to do just that. Jason Edgar

If you’re from Nottingham and want to get added to our music writers list, or get your tunes reviewed, hit us up at music@leftlion.co.uk

NUSIC BOX

Your new Notts music tip sheet, as compiled by Nusic’s Sam Nahirny. Want more? Check out the fortnightly podcasts and live sessions on the Nusic website.

Molly Surﬁng the line between soul and pop, with dollops of Motown and hip-hop on top – Molly has crafted a beautiful collection of sounds together to make a super slick cocktail. Not some boring mojito, more like a classy Negroni with a candy cane on top. Okay, enough metaphors – we’ve only heard a few tunes from Molly so far, including a gem of a collab with soul prince Oliver Davis, but what we have heard is mad exciting. Classic sounds. Reinvented. Get on it. instagram.com/mollhinds

leftlion.co.uk/issue123

Shvvn R&B pop so sick that BBC Asian Network have already gone and put it on the B-List. Mixing bits of contemporary R&B, super-slick chart pop, with an added sprinkling of some hip-hop sass on top, Shaan already has everything in place to be a massive chart dominator in the near-future. Latest single I Wanna Know is Top 40 megastar-worthy, the kind of tune that borders on annoyingly catchy, but tips the right side of ‘I wish I knew how to write hooks this good.’ facebook.com/shvvn

Book Reviews And What Do They Call You Anthology Nottingham Trent University MA Creative Writing And What Do They Call You is an anthology of work by the cohort of Nottingham Trent’s MA Creative Writing course. While the entire collection is an exciting array of new work, there are some standout pieces, and all of the work demonstrates that these writers are committed to their craft. The individual works in this anthology have roots in the theme of naming and identity; in one story, a baby is found and adopted at Christmas, and subsequently questions their identity while growing up. The collection also contains many poems exploring the relationship between identity and time, specifically the changing relationship we have to our own identity as we get older. And What Do They Call You would suit any reader, from the avid read-it-in-one-go type to the sort who might read it more leisurely on holiday. It’s one that can be returned to time and time again, with each read promising to reveal a new and exciting gem that may have been missed the first time round. Kate Hewett

Jimmy Logan: The Life and Career of a Notts County Legend David Fells Moorleys Publishing With the dark cloud that hangs over Meadow Lane following Notts County’s ignominious drop out of the Football League last season, it might seem hard to think of a time when the Magpies were flying high and winning the FA Cup. But it did happen, albeit all the way back in 1894, and the man whose hat-trick gave County a 4-1 win over Bolton is the subject of a comprehensive book from David Fells. Charting his life and career from its beginnings in Scotland, through his incredible cup-winning success at Notts County, to his untimely, tragic death aged just 25 and the posthumous attempts to create a legacy to the footballing legend, The Life and Career of a Notts County Legend is definitive in its scope. Fells’ prose is clear and concise, and his attention-to-detail is remarkable. The sheer amount of research involved in creating a book of this depth, including endlessly interesting supporting photographs, should not be underestimated, and Fells has done a hugely impressive job in collating it together into an exhaustive, compelling narrative. Whether you’re a Notts County fan looking to remember better days, or have a passing interest in football in general, there’s something fascinating to be found within the pages of Fells’ well-crafted book about a man who, simply put, does not get the credit he deserves for his contribution to establish Notts County as a footballing presence. Ashley Carter

Nottingham: The Postcard Collection Alan Spree Amberley Books If our Emily’s odyssey through postcards past on page 14 wasn’t enough to scratch your itch, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Alan Spree’s beautiful book, Nottingham: The Postcard Collection. Spree has collated an incredible collection of old postcards that takes the reader on a visual time-travelling journey through Nottingham from the late nineteenth century to the early fifties. While it’s fascinating to see how much has changed over the years, it’s equally as interesting to see what has remained the same. There’s something almost bizarre about seeing Nottingham’s iconic architectural landmarks, be they St. Peter’s Church, Palais de Danse (now PRYZM), Flying Horse Walk or the Council House in a completely different context. The bricks and mortar are the same as we’re used to seeing on a daily basis, but the surrounding buildings, people and clothes are completely different. The comprehensive collection of postcards is joined by a welcome array of supporting text providing titbits of information about the buildings, including when and by who they were built, and what purpose they served. Not only was it a thoroughly enjoyable read, but it also made me appreciate the architectural beauty of this city that I admittedly take for granted. The next time I’m walking around town, I might just spend a bit more time enjoying the buildings that were here long before I was born, and will most likely still be here after I’m gone. Jason Edgar

Nottingham’s Film History Many people consider Robin Hood to be Nottingham’s greatest contribution to the cinematic industry – and for good reason. In total, there have been over 25 films based on the virtuous vigilante, with the latest coming out in 2018. Some of these have been brilliant, while others have been mind-numbingly dreadful, but there is no doubting the region’s bow-wielding anti-capitalist has had a major impact in Hollywood and beyond. Yet Mr Hood is not the city’s only great contribution to the big screen throughout the years. Nottingham has hosted a number of high-profile movies within its borders in the past, providing the setting for filmmaking talents both local and global. Notts legend Shane Meadows shot his comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in the Midlands here in 2002. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood may have had the San Fernando Valley and Brad Pitt, but did it have Gedling and Ricky Tomlinson? Didn’t think so.

Mr Hood is not the city’s only great contribution to the big screen throughout the years Perhaps the most famous movie to come to our turf was 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, when Wollaton Hall was turned into Wayne Manor for Christian Bale’s Batman. The local village of Gotham also inspired the nickname for New York, which eventually became the fictional city the caped crusader calls home. Nottingham has also produced a number of ridiculously talented performers on the big screen. Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton was born here in 1977, and has since worked on films such as Minority Report and In America. BAFTA winner Vicky McClure has had major success on the small screen, but has also starred in movies such as Redemption with Jason Statham. And Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie has repeatedly appeared on the silver screen, including in 2017’s Dark River alongside Sean Bean and Ruth Wilson.

words: George White

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 39

BEST OF MARCH The Television Workshop 2020 Season When? Tuesday 3 March – Saturday 4 April Where? Various venues How much? Various The Television Workshop is Nottingham’s training ground for the UK’s best acting talent; the likes of Samantha Morton, Vicky McClure and Joe Dempsie all having learnt their craft there. This month, Workshop are putting on a selection of incredible theatre: On The Shore of the Wide World, Emilia, Roald Dahl’s The Witches and Macbeth all running throughout March. Cheap tickets. Plenty of performances. No brainer.

Talk: The Representation of Race and Slavery in Gone with the Wind When? Friday 7 March, 6.15pm Where? Nottingham Playhouse How much? £3 Nottingham Playhouse are currently showing Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson – a play based on the Hollywood Golden-Era ﬁlm Gone with the Wind. LeftLion Editor, previously Screen Editor, Ashley Carter is picking apart the representation of race and slavery in the picture for a talk in the Playhouse’s Ustinov Room in light of the scrutinisation it’s come under for its stereotypical characters and nostalgic view of the Southen slave trade.

Nusic Academy Workshop When? Tuesday 3 March, 5:30pm Where? Metronome How much? Free

Acoustickle Spring Season When? Wednesday 4 March, 7pm Where? Peggy’s Skylight How much? £10-£15

Interested in getting your latest single on the airwaves? Nusic’s Academy Industry Workshop is a brilliant place to start, featuring: Tinea Taylor of KISS FM; Arielle Free of BBC Radio 1 and Love Island; Jason Carter, the founding father of BBC Music Introducing and John Kennedy, Radio X’s new music messiah. This is as good a chance you’ll ever get to pick the brains of some of British radio’s heavyweights.

Nottingham’s premier jazz, soul, folk and hip-hop night kicks oﬀ its Spring Season with a bang at Peggy’s Skylight. Featuring the likes of Haiki Loki, Benjamin Luhis, Nicolette Shaé and more, Acoustickle continue to deliver the perfect blend of exciting, emerging new performers and established, formidable live acts. Good food, beautiful surroundings and funky music. What more could you ask for?

Diva: The Limelight Orchestra When? Sunday 8 March, 7:30pm Where? Theatre Royal Concert Hall How much? £19.50 – £29.50

Chaos in the CBD When? Friday 13 March, 10pm Where? Stealth How much? £6

International Women’s Day is right around the corner, and Theatre Royal are celebrating with a stellar array of songs from some of the most well-known women in music. Join the Limelight Orchestra for an evening of show-stopping music by the likes of Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Lizzo. With anthems of every shade from the sixties to the present day, boogie on down to the Theatre Royal to belt out some femalepowered anthems.

Ravers of Nottingham, prick your ears up. Kiwi duo Ben and Louis HellikerHales are bringing their unique brand of techno to Stealth once again. Having ﬁrst played in 2013 and raised the roof on the Boiler Room, they’re back as their steady rise through the ranks continues. Expect solid grooves across the board, and bag a ticket while you can. Likely a sellout, and a night you won’t forget.

Bras Not Bombs and INFL Celebrate International Women’s Day When? Saturday 7 March, 12pm Where? The Angel, The Lacehouse and more How much? £5 Looking to celebrate International Women’s Day in style? Bras Not Bombs and I’m Not From London have got you covered. With female artists of all kinds playing in and around Nottingham, you’ll ﬁnd something to get stuck into. Whether it’s music, poetry or ﬁlm, there’s a whole host of awesome performers descending on Notts, and it’s all in aid of charity.

SheAfriq Nottingham African Market When? Saturday 14 March, 12pm Where? Rough Trade How much? Free Following on from a successful market in 2017, SheAfriq are returning to Rough Trade and bringing their market with them, oﬀering the chance to get up close and personal with Africa’s rich and varied culture. Expect to see jewellery, fashion, homeware, literature, and music. Plus, there’ll be a DJ and live storytelling, bringing tales from the heart of Africa into the heart of Hockley.

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 41

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on? SUNDAY 1 MARCH

TUESDAY 3 MARCH

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH

THURSDAY 5 MARCH

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

â&#x2122;Ť Cosmic American present Jesse Malin Band The Old Cold Store ÂŁ16 ,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Š Archaeology Now Talk: The Enduring Story of Troy Lakeside Arts ÂŁ3,Â 1pm

â&#x2122;Ť Free Lunchtime Concert University Hall Free,Â 1pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Pardon My French! Language Exchange Pepper Rocks Free,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł The Representation of Race and Slavery in Gone with the Wind Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ3,Â 6.15pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş James Campbell: The Funny World Of... Lakeside Arts ÂŁ6.50 - ÂŁ8,Â 1.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Moonlighters Big Band Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ6,Â 6pm

MONDAY 2 MARCH đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Reiki Nottingham Womens Centre ÂŁ5,Â 2pm â&#x2122;Ť Elvis Costello & The Imposters Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ52.50 - ÂŁ97.50,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D; The Great Big Dance OďŹ&#x20AC; The Albert Hall ÂŁ12.99,Â 6pm

â&#x2122;Ť Funk: A Music Revolution Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ17 - ÂŁ25,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Jayde Adams: The Ballad of Kylie Jennerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Old Face Nonsuch Studios ÂŁ12,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Verbal Imaging Tour & Workshop New Art Exchange Free,Â 10am

â&#x2122;Ť Knight and Spiers City Arts ÂŁ16,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł NUSIC Academy Workshop: Radio Metronome Free,Â 5.30pm đ&#x;&#x161;˛ Race Night (Scalextric) The Dragon ÂŁ5,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Phil X and The Drills Rescue Rooms ÂŁ13.75,Â 6.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Social Practice Social: INSTAR Primary Free,Â 6pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Stitch and Bitch Crafty Crow Free,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Heron Music Cafe The Willowbrook Free,Â 10.30am â&#x2122;Ť BBC Music Introducing Metronome Free,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Michael Cashman: One of Them Five Leaves Bookshop ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ6,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; The Taming Of the Shrew Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ35.50,Â 1.30pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Tai Chi for Health and Wellbeing The Nottingham Mechanics Institute ÂŁ48,Â 1.45pm â&#x2122;Ť Rolling People + Special Guests The Chameleon ÂŁ8,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Crime Club: Angels of Death The National Justice Museum ÂŁ12, 6pm đ&#x;&#x17D; Man on the Moon Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ12,Â 7.45pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Calligraphy Workshop Handmade Nottingham ÂŁ55,Â 6.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Root Down! Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight Free,Â 10pm đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Q&A with Gregory Doran Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Free,Â 5pm â&#x2122;Ť Susan Boyle Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ47.50 - ÂŁ57.50,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Fempowerment New Art Exchange Free,Â 9.30am đ&#x;&#x17D; Measure for Measure Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ35.50,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť The WildďŹ&#x201A;owers Alberts ÂŁ2 - ÂŁ3,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛ Quiz Night The Playwright 38 Free,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Acoustickle: Haiki Loki + More Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ11.37 - ÂŁ16.76,Â 7pm

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

SUNDAY 8 MARCH

MONDAY 9 MARCH

TUESDAY 10 MARCH

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Artisan Fair for International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day Lutterell Hall Free - ÂŁ1,Â 11am

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Interviews + Panel with Nottinghamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Business Women Metronome ÂŁ7,Â 4pm

â&#x2122;Ť An Evening with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ47.50 - ÂŁ67.50,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛ Pub Quiz The Sir John Borlase Warren ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Nottingham City WI International Community Centre ÂŁ4,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť JS Bach: St John Passion Nottingham Cathedral ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ16,Â 7.45pm

â&#x2122;Ť Diva: The Limelight Orchestra Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ19.50 - ÂŁ29.50,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; Within This Dust Lakeside Arts ÂŁ14,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Ľ Wild Tales: Film & Food Nonsuch Studios ÂŁ7 - ÂŁ16,Â 6pm

â&#x2122;Ť Peach Fuzz + A Made Up Sound The Chameleon ÂŁ13.50,Â 11pm

â&#x2122;Ť Sunday Jazz & Meze Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ5,Â 12pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Practical Art-Exploring Painting with Chris Lewis-Jones Nottingham Writers Studio ÂŁ66,Â 10am

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Explore Art Club New Art Exchange Free,Â 4pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Beginners Oil Painting with Liz Wood Patchings Art Centre ÂŁ52,Â 10am

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Just the Tonic: Paul McCaďŹ&#x20AC;rey Metronome ÂŁ11,Â 6.15pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Paint a Pot The Harley Gallery ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ22,Â 10am

đ&#x;?´ 1920s Speakeasy Cocktail Tasting Malt Cross ÂŁ25,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Women Say StuďŹ&#x20AC; 5 Sobar ÂŁ3 - ÂŁ5,Â 4.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť New Pagans Rough Trade Free,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;Ť The Southmartins Rescue Rooms ÂŁ16.50, 6.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş World Book Day Activities Waterstones Free,Â all day â&#x2122;Ť Fem-Powered Club Night Rough Trade ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ5,Â 7pm

42 leftlion.co.uk/issue123

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Sunday Session: Graceland The Lord Roberts Free,Â 2pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Iain Stirling: Failing Upwards Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ20,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Ghetts Rescue Rooms ÂŁ18.15,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§ The Language Philosophers Use with Bettina Lange The Nottingham Mechanics Institute ÂŁ54,Â 6.45pm â&#x2122;Ť Mondo Generator Alberts ÂŁ16.50,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť The Script Motorpoint Arena ÂŁ32 - ÂŁ56.64,Â 6.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Porridge Radio Rough Trade ÂŁ10.99 - ÂŁ19.99,Â 6.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş March in March Get your knees up Stamina, all day

đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Words for Wellbeing Nottingham Writers Studio ÂŁ45 - ÂŁ55,Â 10am

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Poetry from Peter Gizzi and Sarah Hayden Five Leaves Bookshop ÂŁ2 - ÂŁ4,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;Ť PSYmbiosis #02 The Angel Microbrewery ÂŁ8,Â 9pm

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

đ&#x;&#x17D; Some Mothers Do â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ave â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Em Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ20.50 - ÂŁ38.50,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; Night of the Living Dead: Remix Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ8 - ÂŁ24,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ 1525 Ugly Art Club: Experiment with 3D Form Nottingham Contemporary Free,Â 5pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; An Evening with Will Dean Waterstones ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ5,Â 6.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Jazz & Meze: Lewis Wright & Kit Downes Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ8 - ÂŁ12,Â 8pm

â&#x2122;Ť The Picturebooks The Bodega ÂŁ15.95,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Rainbow Stripes Stonebridge City Farm ÂŁ2,Â 11am

TUESDAY 11

â&#x2122;Ť Seprona and Clear Vinyl Billy Bootleggers Free,Â 7.30pm

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

SUNDAY 15 MARCH

MONDAY 16 MARCH

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Book Club Live: The Novels That Shaped Our World West Bridgford Library ÂŁ6,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Mat Collishaw: Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Introduction Lakeside Arts ÂŁ3,Â 6pm

â&#x2122;Ť Merrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tusk + Covent + Thick Skin + Matthew Moore The Angel Microbrewery ÂŁ6.60,Â 10pm

â&#x2122;Ť NTU Big Band Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ6,Â 6pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Life Drawing with Tas Severis Patchings Art Centre ÂŁ52,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł CAMPUS Talks: Anselm Franke Bonington Gallery Free,Â 6.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť The Boys Are Back! Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ25 - ÂŁ35,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; AlďŹ e Moore: Fair Cop Unleashed Canalhouse ÂŁ12,Â 6pm

â&#x2122;Ť Chris Batchelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Zoetic Beeston Library ÂŁ10,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Martyn Spencer Trio Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ6,Â 8pm - 10pm

â&#x2122;Ť Freddie Mercury and Queen: Greatest Hits Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ24 - ÂŁ27,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť You Want Fox + Shaman & The WitchDoctors + Michael Upton The Golden Fleece Free,Â 8.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Fast Car to Florence The Chameleon ÂŁ8,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Simon Evans The Glee Club ÂŁ14.75 - ÂŁ16.75,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Shawn James Rock City ÂŁ16.50 ,Â 6.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Danny Bryant The Bodega ÂŁ16.60,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť John Lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Recreations Bonington Theatre ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ12,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Matt Richardson: Imposter Nonsuch Studios ÂŁ16,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Print Fair 2020 The Space, Nottingham Contemporary Free,Â 6pm đ&#x;?´ Chocolate and Booze D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum ÂŁ15,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť The Regrettes Rescue Rooms ÂŁ15.40,Â 6.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D;Ľ Bad Boy Savoy Cinema ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ6.95,Â 8.45pmFRIDAY 14 FEB

â&#x2122;Ť Gabrielle Aplin Rock City ÂŁ22,Â 6.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş SheAfriq Presents: Nottingham African Market 2020 Rough Trade Free,Â 12pm â&#x2122;Ť The Jackobins with Whisky Stain & Lois Rough Trade ÂŁ6.60,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Generating Systems: Day Two Broadway Cinema Free,Â 10.30am đ&#x;&#x17D; Wind/Rush Generation(s) Bonington Theatre ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ7,Â 6.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Ľ Der Fliegende Hollander Broadway Cinema ÂŁ13 - ÂŁ20,Â 12pm đ&#x;&#x17D; The Gilded Merkin: Burlesque & Cabaret The Glee Club ÂŁ19.75,Â 6pm â&#x2122;Ť John Shuttleworthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Back Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ19.50 - ÂŁ21.50,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť JFDR Rough Trade Free,Â 2pm đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Ben Fogle Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ30,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Ella & Ellington The Federation Club ÂŁ10,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Poems from Alan Sillitoe Five Leaves Bookshop Free,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Acoustic Rooms: Danny Starr Rescue Rooms Free,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Nott Noise Rough Trade Free,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť The Course of True Love: An Introduction to Art Song Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ11.50,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D;Ľ First Blood Savoy Cinema ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ6.95,Â 8.30pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ The Language Philosophers Use with Bettina Lange The Nottingham Mechanics Institute ÂŁ54,Â 6.45pm

TUESDAY 17 MARCH

WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH

THURSDAY 19 MARCH

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

â&#x2122;Ť Open Mic Night Pepper Rocks Free,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛ Quiz and Open the Box The Lion at Basford ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; Casino Zero Remix Nottingham Playhouse Free,Â 6pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛ Pub Quiz The Sir John Borlase Warren ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Ten Moments That Shook the Film World Broadway Cinema ÂŁ35 - ÂŁ70,Â 2pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; Opera North: The Turn of the Screw Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ16 - ÂŁ65,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Paul Carrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stabat Mater and Saxophone Concerto Southwell Minster ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ17,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x17D; Pricks Lakeside Arts ÂŁ12,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť The Ultimate Battle of the Bands Metronome Free,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Teenage Flicks Broadway Cinema ÂŁ35 - ÂŁ70,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x201C;Ł Hearing: An Introduction Nottingham Contemporary Free,Â 6.30pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Siobhan Phillips Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ19.50,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Danko Jones The Bodega ÂŁ17.60,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;Ť Soundinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; OďŹ&#x20AC;: Partikel Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ6 - ÂŁ10,Â 8pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Often Funny: Comedy Night The Running Horse ÂŁ3, 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Soft Issues + Lacrima + Kuebiko JT Soar ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ7,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť SlĂ¸tface The Bodega ÂŁ11,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Skillshare: Houseplants Primary Free,Â 6pmWEDNESDAY 19 FEB đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Gothic Delights Waterstones ÂŁ4,Â 6.30pm

â&#x2122;Ť Cosmic American Present: The Hanging Stars The Old Cold Store ÂŁ12, 7.30pm đ&#x;?´ Salsa & Sangria Baresca ÂŁ20,Â 6pm đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Candle Making & Glass Painting Debbie Bryan ÂŁ35,Â 5pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A; Tom Stade The Glee Club ÂŁ17.25 - ÂŁ19.75,Â 6.45pm â&#x2122;Ť Survive + Kill All The Gentlemen Ye Olde Salutation Inn ÂŁ7 - ÂŁ10,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Get Your Voice Heard in Parliament! Nottingham Womens Centre Free,Â 6pmTHURSDAY 20 FEB

â&#x2122;Ť Multimodal: Into Abstraction Metronome ÂŁ8 - ÂŁ14,Â 8pm đ&#x;&#x17D; with bread Nonsuch Studios ÂŁ12 - ÂŁ15,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;?´ Whisky Tasting The Golden Eagle ÂŁ30,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;Ť Louis Croft The Chameleon ÂŁ6.60,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Poetry Slam Workshop Nottingham Playhouse Free,Â 4pm â&#x2122;Ť Short Weekends + Day of the Moon + Saints Bay Rough Trade ÂŁ8,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Haggard Cat The Bodega ÂŁ11,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Kickstart your plot with Stephen Booth Mansfield Central Library ÂŁ5,Â 11am â&#x2122;Ť Nottingham Harmonic Choir Present: Musical Seascapes The Albert Hall ÂŁ15 - ÂŁ18,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Yoga Sound Movement: Warming Nottingham Contemporary ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ25,Â 11.30am đ&#x;&#x201D;§ Criminal Quilts: Embroidered Images Workshop The National Justice Museum ÂŁ59,Â 11am â&#x2122;Ť Shadows Like Strangers The Bodega ÂŁ7.70,Â 7pm â&#x2122;Ť Partiboi69 Stealth ÂŁ6, 10pm

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on? SUNDAY 22 MARCH

MONDAY 23 MARCH

TUESDAY 24 MARCH

WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

THURSDAY 26 MARCH

â&#x2122;ŤÂ University Philharmonia Lakeside Arts ÂŁ14,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§Â Reiki Nottingham Womens Centre ÂŁ5,Â 2pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Open Mic Night Pepper Rocks Free,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Aquinas Piano Trio University Hall ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ25,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Tina May & Andrew Wood Trio Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ8 - ÂŁ12,Â 6pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Beginners Watercolour with Chas Wood Patchings Art Centre ÂŁ52,Â 2pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛Â Pub Quiz The Sir John Borlase Warren ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Heron Music Cafe The Bread And Bitter Free,Â 10.30am

đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ State of Bass Book Launch Party The Angel Microbrewery Free,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Explore Art Club New Art Exchange Free,Â 4pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Catherine Bohart: Lemon Nonsuch Studios ÂŁ13.50,Â 8pm

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Virtual Walking Group for People Living with Dementia Wollaton Park Free,Â 12pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Mas Y Mas Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ6 - ÂŁ9,Â 8pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Retro Video Club The Chameleon ÂŁ9,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ David Liebe Hart JT Soar ÂŁ12 - ÂŁ35,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Plain White Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rescue Rooms ÂŁ22,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Teen Book Club: Diary of a Confused Feminist Waterstones Free,Â 2pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Dave Chawner: Mental Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ9.50,Â 8pm đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Practical Art-Exploring Painting with Chris Lewis-Jones Nottingham Writers Studio ÂŁ66,Â 10am đ&#x;&#x201C;ŁÂ Sexuality and Translation in World Politics, with Ibtisam Ahmed and Ben Holland Five Leaves Bookshop Free,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013; Â An Evening with Sebastian Barry Waterstones ÂŁ4 - ÂŁ5,Â 6.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Mater Christi: Venetian Splendour St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ15,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Fowl Humourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Comedy Emporium The Playwright 38 ÂŁ5,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ The Fourmasons Peggyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skylight ÂŁ6 - ÂŁ8,Â 8pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Catbamboo JT Soar ÂŁ5,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Kaleido The Chameleon ÂŁ6.60,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Stiff Little Fingers Rock City ÂŁ24.75,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Character Design for Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Books The Carousel ÂŁ16.76,Â 6pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Dancing on Tables The Bodega ÂŁ9.90,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201C;ŁÂ The Climate Emergency West Bridgford Methodist Church Free,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Hands Off Gretel Rough Trade ÂŁ8.80,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Jonas Kaufmann: My Vienna Savoy Cinema ÂŁ9 - ÂŁ11,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§Â Exercise & Massage Nottingham Womens Centre Free,Â 6pmSUN

â&#x2122;ŤÂ The Lottery Winners The Bodega ÂŁ11,Â 7pm

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

SUNDAY 29 MARCH

MONDAY 30 MARCH

TUESDAY 31 MARCH

đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Little Movers IC4C (Dance4) ÂŁ3 - ÂŁ5,Â 10am

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Just the Tonic Metronome ÂŁ7 - ÂŁ13,Â 6.45pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Episodes Lakeside Arts ÂŁ8,Â 7.30pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§Â Reiki Nottingham Womens Centre ÂŁ5,Â 2pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Open Mic Night Pepper Rocks Free,Â 7pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Live Music The Plainsman Free,Â 9pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Xzibit Lakeside Arts ÂŁ8,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x17D;ŠÂ History and Imagination Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Day Beeston Library ÂŁ15 - ÂŁ17,Â 9.15am

đ&#x;&#x201D;§Â DSLR Photography: Embedding Your Skills Broadway Cinema ÂŁ90 - ÂŁ100,Â 6pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;˛Â Pub Quiz The Sir John Borlase Warren ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Headsticks Alberts ÂŁ8.80,Â 7.30pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Irish Traditional Folk Music Session Malt Cross Free,Â 3pm đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ Ages & Ages Tales: Tricky Sticky Stuff City Arts ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ25,Â 3pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Practical Art-Exploring Painting with Chris Lewis-Jones Nottingham Writers Studio ÂŁ66,Â 10am

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra: Brahms & Rachmaninov The Albert Hall ÂŁ15 - ÂŁ18,Â 3pm

đ&#x;&#x201D;§Â The Language Philosophers Use with Bettina Lange The Nottingham Mechanics Institute ÂŁ54,Â 6.45pm

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Ash Rock City ÂŁ24.75,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Jay Som The Bodega ÂŁ14.30,Â 7pm

FRIDAY 27 MARCH

â&#x2122;ŤÂ Dead Cell Records: Open Mic Night The Chameleon Free,Â 8pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Oh What A Night! Nottingham Arts Theatre ÂŁ23,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Bama Lama Sing Song Rescue Rooms ÂŁ7.70,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Sobar Spring Rave Sobar ÂŁ5.98,Â 8pm đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Nottingham Comedy Club Bartons ÂŁ10,Â 7.30pm

44 leftlion.co.uk/issue123

â&#x2122;ŤÂ I Prevail Rock City ÂŁ22,Â 7pm đ&#x;?´Â Heritage Gin Tasting Malt Cross ÂŁ25,Â 7pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Histories of Listening The Space, Nottingham Contemporary Free,Â 12pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Lawrence County Album Launch The Foresters Arms Free,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Zeo The Angel Microbrewery ÂŁ11.25,Â 7.30pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ UKEM Disciples Of Extremity Ye Olde Salutation Inn ÂŁ12,Â 1pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ INFLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All Day Spring Takeover The Lion at Basford Free,Â 2pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;ŠÂ Watson Fothergill Walk: Debbie Bryan Edition Tourism Centre ÂŁ12,Â 10am đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â World Comedy Clash UK Tour The Glee Club ÂŁ21 - ÂŁ32.49,Â 6.30pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Johnny and The Raindrops Bonington Theatre ÂŁ6,Â 2.30pmA

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013;Â Poetry from Sam Riviere Five Leaves Bookshop ÂŁ2 - ÂŁ4,Â 7pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Neon Waltz The Bodega ÂŁ8.25,Â 7pm đ&#x;&#x17D;˛Â Pub Quiz Malt Cross ÂŁ1,Â 8.30pm â&#x2122;ŤÂ Lemonade Mondays Pryzm ÂŁ5,Â 10.30pm

đ&#x;&#x2DC;&#x201A;Â Sam Avery: Toddlergeddon The Glee Club ÂŁ19.75,Â 6.45pm

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Explore Art Club New Art Exchange Free,Â 4pm đ&#x;&#x2018;Ş Virtual Walking Group for People Living with Dementia} Wollaton Park Free,Â 12pm đ&#x;&#x161;˛Â The Nottingham Panthers Awards Night Motorpoint Arena Nottingham ÂŁ4,Â 7.15pm đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ Rainbow Stripes Stonebridge City Farm ÂŁ2,Â 11am đ&#x;&#x17D;˛Â Quiz Night The Playwright 38 Free,Â 7.30pm đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ Wow This Month Has Gone By Fast Complaint Cafe Same time every month

ONGOING STUFF LIKE EXHIBITIONS AND PLAYS AND THAT đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Moonlight And Magnolias Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ8.50 - ÂŁ37.50 Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sat 7 Mar

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Brick by Brick The Harley Gallery Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 19 Apr

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â As You Like It Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ35,Â 7.30pm Thu 27 FebÂ -Â Thu 5 Mar

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Crying Shadows, Flesh and Bone Surface Gallery Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sat 7 Mar

đ&#x;&#x17D;ĽÂ 24 Frames: the Films and Influences of Martin Scorsese The Space, Nottingham Contemporary ÂŁ5 - ÂŁ20,Â 6.30pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Wed 29 Apr

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â The Taming of The Shrew Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ35.50 Tue 3 MarÂ -Â Sat 7 Mar

đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Measure for Measure Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ10 - ÂŁ35.50 Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sat 7 Mar đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013;Â Paper Crane Poets: Poetry Collective Beeston Library ÂŁ2 ,Â Â 5.30pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Tue 17 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨ Matt Woodham: Sensing Systems Bonington Gallery FreeÂ Â Â Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sat 28 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;ŠÂ Georgian Delights: Life During The Reign of George IV (1820-1830) Lakeside Arts Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 29 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;ŠÂ Peaks and Pots: The Life and Work of Felix Oswald Lakeside Arts Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 29 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Criminal Quilts The National Justice Museum Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 29 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Off the Wall: From the Inside Looking Out Lakeside Arts Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 29 Mar đ&#x;?´Â Home Cooked Heritage D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum Free,Â Â 10am Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sat 18 Apr

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Denzil Forrester: Itchin & Scratchin Nottingham Contemporary FreeÂ Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 3 May đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Diane Simpson: Sculpture, Drawing, Prints 1976â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2014 Nottingham Contemporary Free,Â 10am - 6pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 3 May đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Sung Tieu: In Cold Print Nottingham Contemporary Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 3 May đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Constraint Restraint Exhibition The National Justice Museum Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Sun 31 May đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ Storytelling Stay and Play Hyson Green Library Free,Â Â 1.30pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Thu 16 Jul đ&#x;&#x2018;ŞÂ Storytelling Stay and Play The Dales Centre Library, Sneinton Free,Â Â 1.30pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Mon 20 Jul đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Men, Women and Things The Harley Gallery Free Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Fri 31 Dec đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Art Investigator Max Djanogly Art Gallery FreeÂ ,Â Â 12pm Wed 26 FebÂ -Â Fri 2 Dec đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Nottingham Lace AppliquĂŠ Brooch Crafternoon Debbie Bryan ÂŁ28 Thu 27 FebÂ -Â Sun 1 Mar

đ&#x;&#x201C;&#x2013;Â The World is For Everyone With Nottingham Refugee Women Five Leaves Bookshop ÂŁ2 - ÂŁ4,Â Â 4.30pm Sun 8 MarÂ -Â Tue 10 Mar â&#x2122;ŤÂ Audiobahn + Hodge Bar Eleven ÂŁ3 - ÂŁ8,Â 11pm - 4am Fri 13 MarÂ -Â Sat 14 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Your Changes Could Not Be Saved Backlit Gallery Free,Â Â 6pm Fri 13 MarÂ -Â Fri 27 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Mat Collishaw Lakeside Arts Free Sat 14 MarÂ -Â Sun 7 Jun đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Riverdance: The New 25th Anniversary Show Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ37.50 - ÂŁ53,Â 7.30pm Mon 16 MarÂ -Â Wed 18 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Opera North: Street Scene Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ16 - ÂŁ65, 7.30pm Tue 17 MarÂ -Â Fri 20 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â The Marriage of Figaro Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ16 - ÂŁ65,Â Â 7pm Wed 18 MarÂ -Â Sat 21 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Punk Rock Nottingham Arts Theatre ÂŁ12 - ÂŁ15,Â 7.30pm Thu 19 MarÂ -Â Sat 21 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Poet In Da Corner Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ12 - ÂŁ14,Â 7.30pm Thu 19 MarÂ -Â Sat 21 Mar

đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Wire-Work & Textile Flower Crafternoon Debbie Bryan ÂŁ15 Thu 19 MarÂ -Â Sun 22 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day Weekender: Floral Crafternoon Debbie Bryan ÂŁ17 - ÂŁ41.50 Sat 21 MarÂ -Â Sun 22 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day Weekender: Illustrated China Plate Brunch Craft Debbie Bryan ÂŁ11 - ÂŁ19 Sat 21 MarÂ -Â Sun 22 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â New Youth Theatre: Seussical The Musical Jnr Bonington Theatre ÂŁ8.50 Sat 21 MarÂ -Â Sat 28 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Private Peaceful Nottingham Playhouse ÂŁ8.50 - ÂŁ30.50 Sat 21 MarÂ -Â Sat 11 Apr đ&#x;&#x17D;Â Mamma Mia! Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ24.50 - ÂŁ59.50 Tue 24 MarÂ -Â Sat 4 Apr đ&#x;&#x17D;Â As You Like It Lace Market Theatre ÂŁ11 - ÂŁ12 Wed 25 MarÂ -Â Sat 28 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;¨Â Nottingham Lace Punchcard Crafternoon Debbie Bryan ÂŁ18 Thu 26 MarÂ -Â Sun 29 Mar đ&#x;&#x17D;Â A Murder is Announced Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall ÂŁ12.50 - ÂŁ34.50 Mon 30 MarÂ -Â Thu 2 Apr đ&#x;&#x17D;Â The Television Workshop Presents: Macbeth Metronome ÂŁ13,Â 7.30pm Tue 31 MarÂ -Â Fri 3 Apr

For the full rundown, visit leftlion.co.uk/listings

leftlion.co.uk/issue123 45

object walk photos: Fabrice Gagos

We’ve teamed up with the National Justice Museum to put objects from the past into the hands of people of the present. This month, in a special extended edition to celebrate our history issue, we visited Usha Sood at Trent Chambers with the final letter written by Charlotte Bryant before her execution for murder in 1936…

Born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 1904, Charlotte Bryant was executed for the poisoning of her husband, Frederick, in 1936. This letter is believed to be the final one sent by Bryant, who left behind five children, as she awaited execution. Penned to her mother, it gives details of her trial, and asks that she “must not believe everything she reads in the papers.” The letter finishes, “I have no more to say now, only pray for me and God bless you all.”

I’ve actually read this letter before. It caught my eye the last time I visited the National Justice Museum. It’s very poignant. It’s a remarkable letter, and it’s hard to imagine what would have been going through her mind when she wrote it. From what I understand, she was illiterate, and only learnt to read and write in prison, and part of the evidence presented in her trial was connected with having to sign to obtain the poison.

During her trial, the prosecution lent heavily on the fact that Bryant was caught in a love-triangle with her husband and another man, Leonard Edward Parsons. Forensic evidence presented by Dr. Roche Lynch demonstrated how arsenic could be dissolved in Oxo, the method by which Bryant was alleged to have killed her husband. Even two of Bryant’s children were called as witnesses.

We’re told that it was an open and shut case, but there were so many aspects that are questionable and don’t tie up. Most significant is the further evidence that went to the Court of Appeals, where it was medically contested that what happened was impossible. At that time, they didn’t have the power to overturn the conviction – they do now. It’s like everything combined against her, and that’s the bit that’s really hard to stomach.

Charlotte spent almost six weeks in the condemned cell, during which time the stress of her impending execution turned her hair from raven black to stark white. After much deliberation, she decided against seeing her children for a final time, considering the situation too much for them to bear. After her pleas for clemency from the King were denied, she was executed at 8am on Wednesday 15 July, 1936, leaving the small sum of five shillings and eight pence (around 29p) to her children.

It’s not just the personal loss for Charlotte, but it’s also her children who are victimised. As a human rights lawyer, I take that very seriously. She clearly had no different maternal links than any other mother. I think obliteration of the family lives of Charlotte’s children were even more significant because there was no surviving parent. I deal with it in my work all the time, and, while it isn’t quite execution for the children, it is a definite loss.

During her time in prison, Charlotte penned a letter claiming that the murder was another person’s fault, but their name was censored by the Home Office. Coincidentally, the day before our visit to Trent Chambers, The National Justice Museum discovered an unopened, wax-sealed letter inside a diary in their museum stores. It was written by Bryant and labelled “Private - Do Not Open” with instructions to open only in the year 2036…

The point of the name being removed is quite significant because it may name the individual responsible, and there were two suspects at the time. There’s very little chance of finding anyone directly connected with her, but my suggestion is that this is no different from the private papers of people who’ve written things and not given permission for them to be released – all you would be doing is casting new light, so my view is yes, open it...