CJ DeBarra is a journalist and author from West Cork in Ireland. They have been writing for Leftlion since 2017 and a journalist since 2008. Their first book, Neuroqueer: A Neurodivergent Guide to Love, Sex and Everything In Between came out in July 2023. CJ founded the Notts Queer History Archive in 2021. The archive comprises over 150 interviews with LGBT+ people in the city and two books will be published in February 2025. The interviews and media collection will be housed in the Sparrow’s Nest and the Bishopsgate Institute in London. As well as the books, there is an exhibition with the Sparrow’s Nest in Broadway Cinema opening on 25 July. CJ has also organised to bring the UK AIDS quilt with panels relating to Nottingham to the Central Library from 25 July.
CJ is the new History editor of Leftlion and is delighted to start writing about the city's secrets.
@cjdebarra
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Kill the bill!
Why is the right to protest important? An activist in Notts talks about the need for demonstrations, past and present
Park Life
Hacienda DJ Graeme Park talks Selectadisc, the evolution of clubbing culture and being a DJ in the 90s
Pride throughout the years
Photojournalist Alan Lodge shares his images from Nottingham Pride Festival over twenty years
Loud & Proud
Pushing boundaries of identity and sound, we explore the inclusive and creative LGBTQ+ music scene in Notts
Greetings once again lovely readers,
At last, summer seems to have finally landed, and we can indulge a little in that sense of satisfying calm that warm evenings usher in. Whether you’re pottering in the backyard, chilling in a park or having a cold pint in a beer garden, I hope you find this edition of LeftLion to be amiable company.
With Nottingham Pride coming up on Saturday 27 July, we thought it time to shine a spotlight on the LGBTQI+ community in Nottingham. Putting together this issue was a real joy - this community, in Notts and beyond, has always felt like a safe, welcoming space, and while curating and reading these interviews and articles I’ve noticed a deep sense of love and acceptance running throughout.
For many, it may now seem perfectly normal for LGBTQ+ people to exist, but the charity Stonewall measured hate crime against the community to have increased by 112% the past five years, while this figure is nearer 186% for
Safety, healthcare, and education - How one organisation is looking to make Nottingham a
of
Talking Tough
We find out about a local charity looking to foster community and mental health support in male-centric communities
Chain Reaction
How fashion designer Sara Christie merges representation, authenticity, and empowerment with her family heritage
Nottingham Food Tours
Burrata, focaccia, sangria - oh my! Whet your whistle and explore the Notts food scene with this tasty new tour in town
Gay-bourhoods
Disco joints and late night coffee bars, we look at the queer, gay and lesbian spots in Notts, from the 1970s to today
trans people. The right to live and love as you want to is something that can never stop being defended and fought for, but I also think the creativity, humour and resilience of the LGBTQI+ community is something to be celebrated.
It’s tricky to pick out favourite pieces this month, but I very much enjoyed reading about the importance of protests (p19), hearing from local legend Charity Shop Sue (p14), and getting to know Cheap Dirty Horse (p17) - a new favourite Notts noise for me!
I’m hoping for another beautiful sunny day for Pride this year and am looking forward to the streets of Hockley and Sneinton being awash with colour. Whether you’re celebrating with the community this month or off on your own summer diversions, make sure to bask in some leisure times and give yourself a nice break.
Boss Laydeh
Nottingham legend Charity Shop Sue talks shop, her career highlights and how to get on top
Last month's answer
The Xpression Hair & Beauty
Centaur of Attention
Talking politics, punk and pop-up gigs with Notts folk-punk band Cheap Dirty Horse
The Pastel Project
City
Trans Sanctuary
Stitch in time
She's doing a gender reveal party. Should be a father reveal party
I vaguely remember the face but I'm getting flashbacks from the trauma ten years ago
Rotterdam is like Amsterdam but different
Oo, I wonder what the lime and mint cooler tastes like?
It's basically hips downwards and incredibly furry
So she went to work naked…
They're made locally - in Scotland
Pick Six
For this month’s Pick Six, we turned to writer, entertainer, and all round creative type, the fabulous Nana Arthole
Man being offered a cheesy nacho: 'No thanks. I saw some cleavage reflected in a shop window yesterday. Turned out it was mine.
Person 1: 'You've not got a sporty bone in your body.' Person 2: 'I've just got the same bones as you.'
Man on phone at bus stop: 'Yo babe just calling cause you sent me like 10 texts message....yeah sorry but you sent like 100 texts messages.... it's not like that....you sent me 1000 text messages so I thought I should call you after those like 1 million text message...yeah...ok but why you sent me like a BILLION TEXT MESSAGES?'
The drinks list is almost always at the back of the menu despite the fact that it's always the first thing you order at a restaurant
Film
Now, I thought about this long and hard (careful, I’ll do the jokes!) before ultimately deciding to just be honest – what’s the film I’ve probably watched the most times in the past twelve months. Rocky Horror Picture Show or Hedwig and the Angry Inch? Queer films that opened my eyes and changed my life during formative years? Alas, ‘twas not. It’s the gay romcom The 10 Year Plan which I’m fully aware is utter dross. Acting so wooden you can see the strings moving. A preposterous plotline. Dialogue that turns you cringeside-out – this film's got it all, and I absolutely love it. More like ‘The 10 out of 10 Year Plan’! I’ll see myself out…
Book
I’m starting to wonder if I’m the worst person for this task of picking favourites – looking at my shelves and selecting only one precious paper baby seems impossible! I’m going to go with The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, it’s such a gorgeous love story featuring an adorable cast of misfits you can’t help but adore. I’ve never been disappointed by any of Klune’s books, but this one I specifically remember once I finished reading it that I genuinely missed the characters - the wyvern Theodore the most. I’m thrilled that a sequel is coming out later this year, I can’t wait to see how my friends are doing.
Song
My earworms change with the wind but looking at my ‘On Repeat’ on Spotify, holding top spot presently is The Order of Spiritual Virgins by Lingua Ignota. It’s quite surprising I haven’t given myself some manner of mental disorder the amount I’ve listened to this track, it’s quite the journey. Difficult to describe it in less than a thesis, it has to be experienced firsthand. If you do give it a go, I accept no liability for any emotional or psychological damage inflicted.
Notts spot
The much underrated and likely unknown Sausage Island (no, really – google it!) is a little slice of oblong paradise randomly plonked near where I live in Sherwood. It’s a moment of mindfulness to walk along it whenever I’m popping to the high street; long grass, lush trees, looking at the birds and bees and even the occasional squirrel or rat rustling about the borders. With headphones on you can momentarily forget you’re living in a city with a million and one things on your mind.
Notts meal
As a plant-based girly, I’m a total slag for Asian cuisine and its plethora of vegan options. If I’m out and about, I could quite happily unhinge my jaw to tip the tofu kimchi bowl at Broadway into my gaping maw at any time of the day. With extra chilli, of course. The hotter the better, because let’s be honest – if you wake up the following morning and your backend’s still speaking to you, was it even worth it? I’ll take my answer off the air...
Holiday destination
My band G4YB0Y (@alrightG4YB0Y on Insta) have a song called Berlin Darling where we bellow accusatory lyrics about Berlin being the centre of the art world, darling, which everyone simply must visit or else face ridicule. At the time of its composition, neither myself nor bandmate Franx had actually been. It was something of a spiritual pilgrimage to finally land in the city last year. There's a gorgeous energy and ease there that makes you realise our own capital London is truly rotted. Can’t wait to go back. To Berlin, obvs. If I never go back to London it'll be too soon.
words: Dani Bacon
photo: Tom Morley
Poets Corner
Camille McCawley: Setting Sail
I make excuses to stay onboard; check the tide times for safe passage, pour another round of rum to calm the nerves. Try to wash the glasses but endless salt splashes.
I slowly pack linger in his cabin doorway. I love you’s are broken bottle blessings.
Bid bon voyage to Granny from ashore she sways steadily amongst the waves, he hides below deck busy preparing for his big journey, not to be seen again.
On land, I pull the car away collapse onto the wheel drown in fear.
A week of seasickness legs unsteady falling into shadows swallowed by the dark.
In association with
Our captain is leaving, but maybe you need to see his map to believe it?
I learned all the knots, envisioned the depths, vacant stares into boundless skies
Granny is his anchor I am just a frayed rope.
When it’s time Granny releases her weight leaving him at the helm a solo passenger sailing north a final time.
I got to say goodbye but I didn’t see him leave.
UNDERCOVER ARTIST
We chat to the creators of this month’s cover art, Moonbuns…
Tell us a bit about yourselves… Moonbuns is a queer art collective. Our core members are Nikki, Em, Ritsy, and Dan. The short answer is that we are family. We’ve known each other for fifteen years, and live together in a two-bed flat in the centre of Notts. So far, we sell high quality art prints, cards, and stickers, focused on reinvesting our profits and supporting our community. We founded Moonbuns in the winter of 2023 after a redundancy, and we decided to stop investing so much of our time on this planet into people and companies who didn’t actually care about us.
What was the inspiration behind the cover?
nottinghampoetryfestival.com
Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers on...
Charity Shops
Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we are twins and we dress exactly the same. You can’t get anything exactly the same, it’s hard enough in a normal shop. We went to the Doc Marten shop and asked for two pairs of brown and two pairs of black. They said we’ve only got one of each, so we had to wait two months to get them. So we’ve never been to charity shops. We wouldn’t mind a secondhand piano, but the thing we’d probably get is records - they’re all for good causes aren’t they?
Protest
The right to protest is something we think everyone should have. They’ve been doing them for donkey’s years haven’t they, going back to the Luddites. As long as it’s not violent we don’t mind. But the problem is they walk at such a slow pace. You stop and stop, and get backache, and then if you’re an older man you have to stop to go to the toilet, so what do you do? If we started a protest it would be about supporting British car manufacturers. People should support British manufacturers in general.
Pride
We think people should take pride in who they are if they want to. The law changed in 1967 and it’s taken a long time, not for people to simply accept them, but that they can parade. It's marvellous that people can do what they like these days because in the 60s, 70s and 80s you’d be beaten up for it. Chuck Berry did say ‘live and let live’, and quite right too. You don’t want to be walking in fear because you have different views. But it’s always on a Saturday and we’re always in here of course.
We are really excited to design the cover for Pride month. The cover was inspired by platonic and romantic love, and the support we have for each other. As we were designing this piece, we realised we couldn’t feel pride without mentioning Palestine. We spent the night exploring Queering The Map, a website creating a global digital archive of queer memory, reading posts made by queer Palestinians. It’s heartbreaking, and we wanted to include a mention to our queer siblings doing their best to survive. We’ll be selling prints of this cover, and will be donating the profits.
How does it compare with some other projects you’ve worked on?
This is our first time collaborating on an editorial piece. The scope of how many people we could reach as a result of designing the cover for Left Lion had us thinking much more seriously about our values and how we want to affect the world around us.
What was the biggest challenge that you faced in creating the piece?
Condensing our ideas into one image was definitely a challenge. Until quite late in the game, we had a few different designs in the works. Thankfully, working as a team means we can do a lot of work in a small amount of time, and we are all really proud of what we have come up with. Trying to find a gentle, but impactful, sign of respect to Palestine really played on our minds. The watermelon has been used since 1967, when Israel made public displays of the Palestinian flag a criminal offence in Gaza and the West Bank.
Tell us about some projects you’ve worked on in the past…
This summer, we’ve been running zine making workshops and a mural for Lincoln Museum, open to view from July - October, focusing on celebrating the history of games. We adore gaming, from Elden Ring to Dominion to DnD. Our artists, writer and developer have been cooking up some game concepts and 3D character models!
We were lucky enough to sell our wares at the Ay Up Market this April and, thanks to the great footfall in Old Market Square and the support of locals, made enough to purchase one means Of production in the form of a second hand professional grade printer. We’re beyond excited about the possibilities this opens up, from ensuring the best quality is used in every step of making our prints, to publishing and producing our own zines, to collaborating with fellow artists to help them produce their own wares.
What have you got planned for the future?
Nottingham has so many beautiful buildings - high ceilings, arched windows. We want to, one day, own one of these spaces, host poetry nights and craft clubs, clothes swaps, workshops, as well as practical workspaces for Nottingham’s creatives to share resources and create epic collaborative art.
We are also collabing with local coffee shop, The Wandering Goblin, to produce some t-shirts coming out this summer. Keep an eye on our socials to pre-order your own!
Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers?
The creative fields are underfunded, with so many of our initiatives facing financial crisis and closure. Not to mention the rise of AI-generated art. Ultimately we'd like to thank you for supporting the small independents. It makes a huge difference!
INTERVIEWS
We’re starting a new thing: a series of live interviews at Nottingham Central Library with some of our favourite artists with connections to Notts. Join us for an early-evening conversation about creativity, led by our team with a chance for questions afterwards. These conversations will also be recorded as podcasts so you can listen afterwards.
Live interviews and performances from some of the city’s best-loved creatives, going into depth about their work and practice. Interviews conducted by journalists from LeftLion magazine.
Emily Catherine Friday 2 August, 7-9pm
An illustrator specialising in hand-drawn, hand-painted artworks and street art. Big in the hip-hop game. emilycatherineillustration.com
Live interviews and performances from some of the city’s best-loved creatives, going into depth about their work and practice. Interviews conducted by journalists from LeftLion magazine.
Tickets for these events are free. Find out more and book your place at leftlion.co.uk/library
Nadia on...
Ever since I was a young teenager, Notts Pride has been one of the highlights of my calendar. I remember first going with my school friends when I was thirteen - back then as a very enthusiastic ‘ally’ - and giggling as I collected free condoms from charity stalls, which I had absolutely no use for. As I grew up and realised I was queer, Pride became far more special: a celebration of my community and the freedoms we’ve won.
Last year, I was honoured to open Notts Pride, introduced by fabulous drag queens, and then had the time of my life at the Gladrags afterparty, dancing like there’s no tomorrow. But much as I love the music, costumes and glitter, it’s important to remember that Pride isn’t just a party - it’s a protest.
The first Pride was a riot. The Stonewall uprising began on 28 June 1969, when police raided Stonewall Inn, a popular underground gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. Fed up with constant harassment by authorities, the queer community stood up and fought back.
It’s important to remember that Pride isn’t just a party - it’s a protest
Among the rioters were gay men, lesbians and bisexual people. There were trans women and gender non-conforming people, who often had to live off sex work after being rejected from other jobs. There were homeless teens, working class people from immigrant backgrounds - a diverse group of queer people united by the experience of being marginalised by society. Their rebellion has since been commemorated with annual marches in cities and towns across the globe.
We’ve come a long way since the days of the Stonewall riots. Today, queer venues can operate openly and legally. Overt discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is banned by law. LGBTQ+ couples can get married and have children together. Young people learn about the existence of queer identities at school. These and many other advances didn’t happen spontaneously: they were won by people who had the courage to fight for them.
Unfortunately, in recent years, it feels like this progress in the UK has stalled. The long-awaited ban on conversion ‘therapy’ - traumatising pseudoscientific practices attempting to change LGBTQ+ people’s identity - has failed to materialise, despite being promised by the government six years ago. Plans to simplify the process of legally changing one’s gender, first announced by a Conservative government, have also been dropped.
In other ways, things are unfortunately going backwards. The LGBTQ+ community, and trans people in particular, have been the target of a relentless culture war. Homophobic and transphobic hate crime is on the rise. We’ve seen protests against drag queens - a longstanding and much-loved part of queer culture (how many of us grew up watching Lily Savage?). We’ve heard government ministers use trans people as a punchline or speak of them as a threat. Now the Tories are trying to roll back the rights that trans people already have: from further restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare for young people (which already takes years to access on the NHS, and has been described by many trans people as life-saving), to telling schools to stop teaching about gender identity and ignore students’ requests to be called by a different name and pronouns.
Trans people are being branded as confused or mentally ill, accused of trying to ‘recruit’ children or described as sexual predators - despite the fact that they’re far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. But in spite of attempts to divide our community, polls show that the vast majority of gay, lesbian and bisexual people firmly support trans rights. That’s because we’ve heard it all before: all of these attack lines have been used to undermine the struggle for LGBTQ+ equality in the past.
Listening to some politicians and media figures, you’d be forgiven for thinking that trans people are a powerful elite controlling nearly every institutionrather than a tiny minority that faces discrimination in all areas of life. When I speak to my transgender and non-binary constituents, they consistently ask for similar things. They want to be able to access the healthcare they need, without having to wait years for their first appointment or spend thousands going private. They want to live as their true selves, feel safe and respected at school or in the workplace, and walk the streets without fear. They’d like to be able to turn on the news without once again hearing their very existence being turned into a toxic ‘debate’, which more often than not completely excludes their own voices.
As I’m writing this, we don’t yet know the outcome of the general election. But whoever is in power, we can be sure that those who want to reverse hard-won progress on LGBTQ+ rights will continue to organise. Notts Pride provides an opportunity to show that our city does not stand for this. Regardless of if you’re LGBTQ+ or not, I encourage everyone to join and take a stand against hate and prejudice. Let’s show up in huge numbers and send a clear message to all our queer and trans friends and neighbours - both those we know of and those who may not be out - that Nottingham loves, respects and celebrates them.
nadiawhittome.org
words: Nadia Whittome photo: Fabrice Gagos
With official Pride month behind us and Notts Pride coming up this month, we thought it important to honour a charity that has given nearly fifty years of its time to Nottingham’s Queer community: Notts LGBT+ Network. Beth Green is a current volunteer for the Network; they caught up with two others David and Rachel, to share their commendable work and dedication.
The story behind Notts LGBT+ Network began in 1965, with a person called John Clarkson, who had been put under investigation by the police, after they had found out he had been living with another man. “The end result saw Clarkson sent to trial and ultimately to prison at the age of nineteen, simply for the fact that he was gay,” explains founding member David.
By 1967, the Sexual Offences Act came into practice, which for the Queer community was highly problematic. The Act included over twenty areas where the law ‘actively discriminated’ against them. “You could be sacked for being gay, lesbians had their children taken away from them, and people would be turned away from restaurants and hotels,” David explains. In response, campaign groups were set up, and in Nottingham, in 1971, a group called Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) started, which David was a part of.
CHE quickly found themselves being contacted by people with a number of issues; “Problems at work, with the church, their homelife or accepting their sexuality or gender.” They recognised a need for a service, and so in 1975 a helpline was established called Nottingham Gay Switchboard, which answered calls (and occasional letter) one night a week. It was a place for people to call in, raise their concerns, or just to speak to someone and help tackle the loneliness felt by many in the community. Ten years later and the helpline had expanded; operating five nights a week, which it still does today, nearly fifty years later, under its new name: Notts LGBT+ Network.
Today, the Network’s roots remain the same; offering a contactable helpline Monday to Friday, between 7pm and 9:15pm. Today’s helpline is a one-stop shop for every queer resource you need in Nottinghamshire; whether you’re looking for a social group, upcoming events, LGBTQIA+ friendly professional services, or just a friendly ear. They also publish the QB newsletter which offers in-depth stories and updates on what is happening for the community in Nottingham. Phone calls continue to be an important part of the service, but today most communication is via social media, emails, or people finding information themselves via the website.
The Network has always been a collaborative effort and entirely volunteer-run; a rarity for charitable organisations.
Each volunteer is treated as an individual and roles are adapted to suit. Rachel, who has a background in graphic design, joined the Network in October 2023. Though in that short time, her role has expanded to meet her skillset. “I started off on the phone, answering calls, emails and messages. I’ve since moved my focus to social media and updating the website, making sure that the events are there for everyone to access.”
Despite having an (albeit loose) level of hierarchy, with its trustee board members, they too remain on the same level as ‘day one’ volunteers. From the first meeting, it was made apparent that regardless of a person being a trustee, their opinions are no better than anyone else's. This is the beauty of the Network, whether you are a volunteer or a person or place contacting them with a query. There is this sense of a ‘community’ within a community, where everyone is working together and most importantly, everyone feels safe. In that environment, it becomes clear why volunteers are so passionate about helping.
Reaching out can be one of the scariest things to do, especially when your circumstances at home are unsupportive. The Network stresses that there are zero judgements
A safe space should be mandatory in life, though sadly this is not always the case. Rachel spoke openly about her experience growing up in a religious community. “It was very anti LGBTQ, I had to leave when I was nineteen. I was shunned by my whole family and felt entirely alone.” It was the lack of help she had during this time that planted the seed; she knew it was something she wanted to be able to give back. “I got to a point where I felt more settled in life, and with my partner. I knew that I was ready to use my experience for some positivity.”
Rachel beams a smile when she speaks about being able to give back to the LGBTQIA+ community. On a personal level, becoming a volunteer has opened doors again. “I had the bravery to reach out to my parents, and we have a relationship now which is amazing. They’ve mellowed hugely, to the point where they have met my partner, which is something I never
saw happening in my life. Joining the Network has been a truly fantastic experience, and going forward I want to be even more involved where I can.”
Reaching out can be one of the scariest things to do, especially when your circumstances at home are unsupportive. The Network stresses that there are zero judgements, they are here to listen to you, not to advise or question what you share. Although that first move is the scariest, as Rachel said, “once you’ve done it, the relief you feel will be incredible.”
Their work hasn’t gone unnoticed either, as last year the Network was awarded the prestigious King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Equivalent to receiving an MBE, the KAVS is the highest award that local voluntary groups in the UK can receive. David shares how many of the similar organisations cease to exist. “Despite our growth, places like us are dying off. There used to be ones in Sheffield, Staffordshire and Lincoln; now they’re all gone. We are one of the few remainders, still thriving and expanding nearly fifty years later.”
David doesn’t give too much away on any plans in the works, though he does share that the Nottinghamshire Rainbow Heritage holds an event in February, so long as it gets enough funding. “It is highly likely that the Network will get an award for fifty years worth of work, and acknowledgement of receiving the King’s Award.” He also speaks on commemorating IDAHOBIT Day (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia), which is on 17 May. “I think we should be looking at LGBT+ plus hate crime, why it’s increasing and what we can do for people who suffer.” It’s a real testament to the Network’s volunteers, that even when we are speaking about marking their work for the city, they are looking at ways in which that anniversary can benefit others.
To read an extended version of this article, head to the LeftLion website.
Notts LGBT+ Network’s helpline is manned Monday to Friday, 7-9:15 pm, outside of these hours you can leave a voicemail, which will be picked up when someone is next onsite. For those who may be interested in getting involved too, David and Rachel recommend sending an email detailing your interest, as they are always looking for more charitable people. You can also catch their stall at Pride this month.
words: Beth Green
photos: Notts LGBT+ Network
interview: Sophie Gargett
photo: Tom Morley
Boss Laydeh
Fashion guru, DJ, LGBTQ+ icon, boss laydeh and star of her own TV show, it could be said that Charity Shop Sue is Nottingham’s biggest export. Having first graced our screens a decade ago, we thought it time to catch up, reflect on her illustrious career, and get some sahnd advice for living your best life.
Sue, it’s a pleasure to have you featured in the pages of LeftLionhow are you doing and what have you been up to recently?
Not good. Not good at all. Someone keeps dumping hospital waste at the back of the shop and it's really stressing me out. The things I have seen in those bags have given me nightmares. On a positive note, I’ve done some digging and have a short list of five people it could be, so if they are reading this, just know that your time is running out!
Tell us a bit about your former life as a celebrity stylist in Paris and Milan… How did you make it from market trader’s daughter to the international fashion world? What people don’t know is that selling fruit and veg isn’t too dissimilar to styling someone. Like bodies, vegetables come in all shapes and sizes and you need to know how to pear the right person with the right outfit. Business is the same from market trading to fashion - you have to convince people to trust your suggestions over their own and when you have as much expertise as me, it's a recipe for success. I spent a while styling Linda Evangelista in the 90s. I was the reason she got her short funky cut in copper. The problem is we ended up getting mistaken for each other. One time the paparazzi in Milan started chasing me round the city, taking pics of me, hounding me, thinking I was Linda. I lapped it up and worked the camera. She was seething and fired me that same day. She is so beautiful but I must say jealousy isn’t pretty.
Your charity shop Sec*hand Chances in Bulwell really put Nottingham on the map. Do you still have a connection to the charity shop world or have you moved on to bigger things?
There is nothing bigger than charity, it is the centre of my world, the reason I exist. I will never move on from my work in charity because I am all about helping unfortunate people. I’m still a charity shop manager in Bulwell. While I love
doing DJ sets and appearances, they will always be secondary to helping those in need.
The past few years have seen many retailers close down - we’ve certainly felt the loss of Wilkos in Notts (RIP) - if you were in charge what would you do to zhuzh up the high street?
There are loads of empty properties in Notts - why don’t we help more independent businesses by using these spaces as for indie pop-ups. It could really add to that retail buzz we used to have in Notts. I miss Wilkos too, its left a huge hole in Bulwell. I’m tempted to move my shop into the old building - Tuke’os - basically having everything you can have in Wilkos but second hand. I’ve got big plans!
I will never move on from my work in charity because I am all about helping unfortunate people. While I love doing DJ sets and appearances, they will always be secondary to helping those in need
You’ve been a star at loads of Pride events over the years - what’s it like being such an icon in the LGBTQ community?
It’s the biggest compliment I could ever have. My best friend Dean at school was gay and I was the first person he came out to. I got into many a skirmish shutting mouths up that weren’t kind to him. Kersch is also my work bestie - we look after each other and no one can calm me down like Kersch.
Dead Sweet TV, the filmmakers behind my show are also LGBTQ+. I have the community’s ‘back’, no questions asked and they have mine. It’s a magical mutual love.
You’ve starred in music videos, been on MTV Cribs and someone even did you on RuPaul’s Drag Race. What’s your personal highlight of your career so far?
Probably drawing up plans for a refurb
of the backyard area of the shop. I might not have got funding for it yet but just knowing I’m capable of doing very complex and intricate designs and architecture really makes me proud of myself. My volunteer, Viki, has also promised that she’ll start on it herself. She said she’s going to go to college and start learning how to be a builder. Oh my dreams could be coming true very soon.
You’ve recently published an audiobook, Charity Shop Sue's Tools for Management and Success, that some social media users have called ‘life changing’. Can you give us a sneaky taste of what to expect from it?
“Life changing”. “The ultimate book in business and success”. “The biggest thing since the internet”. These are just a few of the things that people are saying about it. Look, I just wanted to share all my knowledge and give everyone a leg up in life. Honestly, whether you want to know how to deal with snakey staff, how to break up a fight in the workplace or bring your Gran back from death it's all in there!
You also run exclusive coaching sessions - what‘s your top tip for anyone looking to gain confidence and get on top?
Recognise that those around you don't want you to grow because it makes them feel insecure about their own lives. Get rid of the drainers and learn as much about the New York stock exchange as you can! The stocks will be stacking up and the drainers will be flushed away.
We’re excited to hear what’s next for Sue… Do you have any exciting business ventures up your sleeve?
I want to make another documentary about my life and the shop but the TV industry is playing silly buggers with me. It seems the industry doesn't know what to do with a strong working class woman who's confident and in charge. They only want people they can laugh at but they aint gonna get that with me. I am a boss laydeh and I won’t dim my power or scuff my shine - and neither should YOU!
All episodes of Charity Shop Sue are available to stream on YouTube.
[Q]@charityshopsue
Centaur of Attention
I stumbled into The Old Bus Depot during the Dot To Dot Festival in May and came across my 'Best Find of the Day' award, as Cheap Dirty Horse played an anarchic set of songs, I was blown away by their attitude and their performance has stayed with me since. Imagine my pleasant surprise when LeftLion asked me to interview the band as part of the LGBT Pride special…
You seem to have a great time on stage and behave more like a family than a band, how long have you been going?
Sydney: Fin and I started writing songs and busking together with the name ‘Cheap Dirty Horse’ a couple years ago all because the punk band we were both playing in at the time was on hiatus while our drummer James was in Thailand for the summer. We wanted something to do and then doing this turned out to be way more fun and creatively satisfying so it ended up being all we wanted to do.
Fin: James came back from Thailand and we bullied him into continuing Horse with us rather than going back to the punk band from before. At that point, it meant our setup was just two acoustic guitars and drums; it sounded awful! We realised pretty quickly that we needed a bassist. Violet and I used to work together in Leicester and I knew she was an amazing bassist but also that she was looking for more trans friends so it was the perfect match!
Amy: I joined Horse for a single show at JT Soar on bass when Violet could not make it. I hadn't performed or played in a band in years and jumped at the chance. Fin and Syd later asked me to join as a third guitarist, I wasn’t sure about three guitars, so I tried trombone briefly but then bought a banjo and everything went from there.
Fin: And a similar thing happened when James couldn’t make a show on drums! Ellen was the drummer for another band I used to be in so I asked her to fill in - but then when James came back we didn’t want Ellen to leave so we convinced her to learn how to play the accordion. As you do… Recently we decided that James being all the way in Manchester didn’t work for the band anymore and so we’ve brought in Ada on the drums!
The queer community is where I've found my family, so anything we can do to support it is amazing. I hope us being loud, rowdy and unashamed of who we are and embracing our queerness, leads to other people making cool queer art in all its forms
Can you tell us about your early days as buskers? Did that help you gain confidence on stage?
Sydney: When Fin and I started busking we were going out almost every day and we thought that we could make anything close to a living from just busking full time. We had a lot of great days and if everyday was like those we could have lived off it definitely, but busking is so unpredictable. It led to us doing some open mics though, which led to some gig offers which ultimately lead us to being the band we are now. Busking also gave Fin and I a ton of experience playing together and gave us a low stakes environment to experiment and figure out exactly what Horse is which I think helped us tons during that beginning period of our band.
I watched you at the Dot To Dot Festival and your political messages were very upfront. Can you briefly explain your beliefs and describe what folks can expect at your gigs?
Fin: Lots of energy and too many instruments!
Amy: Everyone partying and having fun listening to powerful and emotive songs that might be angry or sad, but always have hope and a drummer that never sits down!
Ellen: Energy, dancing, sadness, happiness, moshing, dads, and friendship.
Amy: As a band our politics and social beliefs are front and centre in all of our music. We’re not afraid to say what we think, and share our political ideals. If we have to list a few things though it would be: inclusive and safe shows for everyone, a free Palestine, ACAB and we need trans rights and protections for ALL trans people right now.
June is the LGBT Pride month and Nottingham will have many celebrations. Do you have any comments on this or the LGBT community?
Amy: The queer community is where I've found my family, so anything we can do to support it is amazing. I hope us being loud, rowdy and unashamed of who we are and embracing our queerness, leads to other people making cool queer art in all its forms, and maybe helps them too.
Sydney: There's a huge overlap between the Queer and the DIY scene. The venn diagram would be almost a perfect circle I think, which makes sense. It's all about making do with what we got, being smart with the limited resources we have access to and relying on each other for support. There's an amazing community because it's impossible to do anything alone, and so you quickly become friends with the people around you because you're working towards the same thing, queer liberation!
Speaking of - you’ve done some pop-up gigs around Nottingham at places like the Tram Line Spot Skate Park, what's the vibe at these impromptu gigs?
Sydney: The vibe at the DIY punk shows is always immaculate! We've been heavily involved in putting them on from the start and we bring our gear for everyone to use but it's really the whole Notts City Hardcore scene that works together to put those shows on. It's a beautiful thing to see and be a part of because everyone is there purely for love of it. We want to play music with our friends and have a good time and champion each other and be able to do it exactly how we want it. We don't need permission or any money to be able to do it and they've just been getting bigger and better every time! The DIY scene is alive and thriving.
Do you have any releases or plans for the future?
Sydney: Yeah! We put out a sort of short album last month called Cheap Dirty Horse Raise Funds to Go On Tour. It features retouched and remastered versions of the 5 singles we've put out as well as two new tracks! It is currently only available on Bandcamp as either a digital album or physical CD because as the title suggests, we put it out to raise some money for our tour this summer. Starting the 26 July in Leicester!
Amy: But it will be coming to all streaming services in the near future - maybe around our tour dates…
Fin: We also have a live album that we recorded in Hackney a few weeks ago that we plan on dropping at some point in the next month and about 700 songs we just need to get around to recording!
You can catch Cheap Dirty Horse at Nottingham Pride on Saturday 27 July, playing Rough Trade with Gladrags and at The Angel with Dirty Filthy Sexy. Head to the LeftLion website for an extended chat with Cheap Dirty Horse
interview: Trevor Bassey photo: Fabrice Gagos
a protester in notts
This July in Nottingham we will celebrate Pride. The annual pride celebration is now so embedded in the culture of the city, that it is no longer seen mainly as a protest event. Similar events take place across the UK with the same level of engagement from across society, LGBTQ+ people and many more. But it is not that long ago in Britain, and is still the case in many parts of the world, that LGBTQ+ people were/are unable to protest against unjust discrimination and prejudice, let alone celebrate their identity.
We should not forget that Section 28 of the Children’s Act, prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality, came into law under the Thatcher Government less than forty years ago. Whilst section 28 has long since been repealed, largely due to huge protests movements made possible by the right to protest, the right to protest itself is now under threat in the UK and beyond.
In many ways, the right to protest is the key to all other rights, because protest has been at the centre of winning rights, often at great cost to protesters.
In 1819, 60,000 mainly working-class people marched on St Peter’s Field in Manchester, demanding the right to vote. The marchers were attacked by the military, and to this day the number of dead and injured is unknown. The ruling class and parties in 1819 were reluctantly willing to concede a limited extension of the franchise, but were determined to deny voting rights to those they regarded as the ignorant mass of the population. Nevertheless, it is no accident that universal suffrage was achieved a little over one hundred years after what became known as the Peterloo Massacre, culminating in equal voting rights for women in 1928.
The right to protest in Britain remains, despite legal changes in recent years. Here in Nottingham over the past two years alone, there have been regular marches and rallies, with little interference by the police to stop protests or, despite threats, restrict the messages of protestors. Between 2022 and 2023, there have been numerous big marches in the city, as well as many smaller events, over the cost-of-living crisis and demands by unions for higher wages.
As well as the big annual Pride celebrations, there have been Trans Rights protests at Brian Clough Statue on regular occasions. There have been protests and counter protests related to abortion rights. Since 2021, several protests have been organised against proposed new laws restricting the right to protest, with trade unions and other campaigners demanding Parliament reject laws restricting such rights. Alongside such restrictive laws, the Government has made huge cuts to local authority funding, leading to protests in defence of services such as libraries, concessionary travel
passes, community centres and more, with some considerable protest success stories, especially on libraries and tram travel. Finally, protests on international issues have been frequent in the city for many years, with recent marches, rallies and static protests on Iran, Kurdistan, Hong Kong, Ukraine and, since 7 October, huge protests about the ongoing slaughter in Gaza.
In the city where protestors burned down the Castle in 1831 in pursuit of voting rights, Nottingham is known for a spirit of rebellion and no rebellion has begun without protest, from the Peasants Revolt to the Chartists and onto the Suffragettes.
Protest rights vary from country to country, and can change over time in any country, for better or worse. The situation in the UK is worsening, whilst in countries like Russia, China, Iran, Myanmar, the USA and Sri Lanka mass detention of protestors is not uncommon.
In the city where protestors burned down the Castle in 1831 in pursuit of voting rights, Nottingham is known for a spirit of rebellion and no rebellion has begun without protest
In Europe the number of far-right authoritarian governments peddling anti-migrant nationalist, intolerant ideologies represent a direct and intentional threat to the right to protest. In this context nothing can be taken for granted but history shows that, if we continue to stand up for the right to protest and for human rights more generally, we can protect freedom of expression, the right to protest and defeat the far right.
Back in the 1980’s, the Thatcher Government began restricting the right to strike, restricting numbers on picket lines and banning secondary strike action like that which occurred in support of NHS workers in 1982. Those limits on the rights of workers to defend pay, conditions and services at work have continued up to very recent times, for example with the 2015 law introducing very high balloting thresholds to enable lawful industrial action. Even before Thatcher’s assault on trade union rights, workers found themselves battling the police on picket lines, such as at Saltley Gates in 1972 and Grunwick in 1976, where inspirational Asian women workers demanded the right to protest about appalling conditions at work. The Women’s Peace camps at Greenham Common from 1981 demanding the removal of US cruise missiles were often confronted by the forces of the law, but they continued against the odds and influenced similar protests across Europe. And who can forget the huge and
hugely successful anti-Poll Tax demonstration in 1990 which was instrumental in bringing down Margaret Thatcher and ending the poll tax itself. Unfortunately, an even bigger march against the approaching Iraq War in 2003 failed to avert that tragic conflict.
Recent crackdowns on protest are very concerning, with draconian legal actions taken against environmental groups like Just Stop Oil (JSO) and suggestions from the Government that regular marches against the slaughter in Gaza should be restricted. In March this year former Labour MP John Woodcock wrote in the anti-protest Sun newspaper that political parties “should instruct their MPs and councillors not to engage with anyone from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign until they get their house in order and cut the hate from their marches [or with] hardline environmental groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil…” Woodcock simply wants to ban marches where he doesn’t approve of the political objectives of the protestors.
The Conservative Government has become the mortal enemy of protest. In 2021, over thirty jail sentences were served following a Kill the Bill protest in Bristol. The prison terms amounted to more than 100 years of jail time. JSO protester Marcus Decker has served the longest sentence for peaceful protest in British history: 490 days when he was released on bail on 19 February. He now faces deportation from Britain. (He is a German citizen with ‘leave to remain’). The powers to jail Marcus derived from the Police Act of 2022.
Sadly, the years of Labour Government from 1997 to 2010 did not see any significant restoration of rights. For example all the anti-union laws from the 1980s and 90s remained on the statute book, thus severely restricting protest rights in the workplace. A Labour Government looks likely to be in power after 4 July, but despite vague promises on repealing some labour law restrictions, the Labour Party’s insistence that Labour is ‘not a party of protest’ doesn’t instil much optimism on improved legal rights to protest in the near future.
Nevertheless, we must continue to demand the repeal of all laws restricting the right to protest, including anti-union laws and those restricting our ability to organise on the streets with marches, rallies and similar events. We should demand from our millions strong trade union movement that they support campaigns in defence of the right to protest and encourage union members to join marches and rallies in defence of our protest rights and many other human rights. These rights were often won by protest and we have to fight to keep and extend such rights irrespective of the party in Government.
illustration: Marcus Gilmore
NOTTS SHOTS
Want to have your work featured in Notts Shots? Send your high-res photos from around the city (including your full name and best web link) to photography@leftlion.co.uk or tag #nottsshots on Instagram.
Wallriding the Rainbow Tom Quigley
Hey ewe
Laura Collie
Cheeky lad Hannah Treacher
11th Floor View Simon Turner
Batman's House Harvey Tomlinson
The Number 36 from Chilwell Charleigh Keemer
Streets of art Helen Lappin|
Trans identities have become a huge news topic in recent years. Despite only 0.5% of the population reporting their gender identity and sex to be different than when registered at birth*, the media often leads us to believe that trans people pose a risk to the wider society, while trans people are rarely given a voice. To learn more from the community themselves, we put some questions to Nottingham organisation The Pastel Project, to hear how they are looking to make Nottingham a Trans Sanctuary City, and understand their perspective on topics such as safety, law-making, healthcare, and education.
*respondents in the 2021 UK census
It’s been a while since we last caught up, can you tell us about The Pastel Project and what you are currently doing?
To catch up those who don’t know us, hi! We’re Nottingham Pastel project, a grassroots organisation led by trans people for trans people, hoping to make Nottingham the best city to be a trans, non binary, or gender non-conforming person. We’re still less than a year old, but it’s been a busy one - already we have established ourselves amongst other passionate and dedicated LGBTQ+ groups in Nottingham. We have settled on our core values of community, healthcare, and education to drive towards the goal of a Trans Sanctuary City.
Unfortunately, our work with the council has stalled slightly due to the introduction of the new commissioners, however we continue to maintain a strong working relationship with the council and support a positive future there. We recently recruited new voluntary team leads who are already using their incredible talents to further the project, and our recent fundraiser with local community theatre group Encore! Performing Arts at their stunning performances of Rent has raised over £400! This is so helpful for us to continue our work for the trans community of Nottingham. We were also recently honoured to have been invited to speak at Nottingham’s first ever Trans Pride event organised by the team at Nottingham Against Transphobia. We hope this is just the start of spreading more trans joy across our city and beyond!
Media coverage to do with trans issues seems to involve a lot of fear-mongering, and we rarely get to hear from the trans community themselves. For those who have never met a trans person, can you talk about some of the challenges that trans people face in day to day life?
First of all - you almost definitely have met a trans person. You may not have noticed it, but we are everywhere, simply going about our lives. In day-to-day activities we don’t shout our identities from the rooftops, we just want to get through our work day, run our errands, spend time with our loved ones, the same as everyone else. Unfortunately, these things are far more daunting for a transgender person than they may be for our cisgender peers. When was the last time you hesitated before using a toilet? A changing room? Simply leaving your house to walk down the street? This happens to us every day, particularly with the constant fear mongering and hatred spread by anti-trans activists. Our worries aren’t unfounded. Hate crimes against transgender people rose 11% between April 2022 - March 2023. It’s a scary world out there, and this is why we need the vocal support of allies more than ever.
Rates of people identifying as transgender in the UK have grown significantly in recent years, particularly in young people. Why do you think this is? Simply put, people feel more and more safe to explore their
identities, and as such come out to the world. The more acceptance spreads in society, the more comfortable someone will feel to share who they really are. If you look at graphs over time of left-handedness, it seems that numbers suddenly began rising in the early 1900s. This isn't to say that people weren’t left-handed before this time, but being left-handed was seen as evil, children were punished for writing with their left hand, and so they struggled through with their right. When society realised there was nothing inherently wrong with being left-handed, the punishment stopped, and so the rates rose and people weren’t pretending to be something there were not. The same is happening with trans people - they realise the world is a safer place to be themselves.
For anyone struggling to understand, why are chosen pronouns and self-ID important?
Again, this is something that can seem much more complex than it really is. Being transgender is just something that you know about yourself. It may take a long time to understand it, to realise it, or you may have known it all along but not known the words. You wouldn’t need a doctor to sign off on your sexuality, or your favourite music genre, it’s just a facet of who you are, and only an individual themself is best equipped to understand how they feel inside. Showing respect for each other is a key part of what keeps society going, and this respect should be inclusive of trans people in their identities. One of the simpler everyday examples of that is using the correct pronouns for that person – it just signifies you have listened and offer the same considerations you would to anyone else.
We find ourselves being used as a political football, when all we want is to live our lives
There are currently 20 countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay) that have self-ID with no undue issues recorded - it simply allows trans people to live their lives freely. Having self ID removes admin from trans peoples’ lives. Currently trans people have to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate, in that process an unknown review panel judges evidence of trans people living their lives to see if they are genuine or not. If it is decided they are then they are able to change their birth certificate, including sex marker, get married and eventually die with their correct self recorded. Anything else in a trans person’s life, access to public facilities, hospitals etc is essentially self determined and ensured under a protected characteristic as stated in the Equalities Act 2010
Part of The Cass Report, published in April, recommended the restriction of access to hormones for under-18s. Many people worry about the implications of young people questioning their gender taking medication to prevent puberty. Can you talk a bit about this and some of the misconceptions around trans health care?
Firstly, ourselves, along with many other individuals and healthcare agencies, are appalled by the implications of the Cass Report, that trans healthcare is dangerous to children. This is simply not the case. Puberty blocking medications are used on cisgender children with no issue - why not trans children? Gender dysphoria (the medical term given to those who need to transition due to a mismatch between their body and sense of self), is defined as the strong and persistent assertion that the patient's gender is different to that of their sex assigned at birth. Puberty blockers simply allow the patient and their clinician time to establish whether this is the case, and hence figure out the best course of action, letting them decide what it is they truly want, without being rushed into a decision.
The Pastel Project has spoken with parents who are deeply worried about their childrens’ wellbeing when their options are being stripped away from them, the NHS guidance itself admits that this will cause distress and
can damage childrens’ mental health. To us, that is a clear violation of the hippocratic oath of ‘first, do no harm’. The community response was immediate, which concerned parents rushing to offer each other support, and find ways they can help their children whilst remaining within the letter of the law. It should be noted that rates of regret for transition are incredibly low, at only 5-8% by most estimates. This is lower than regret rates for cancer treatment, at 14.4% by one study. Of those who regretted their transition, 62% are reported as restarting their transition at a later date, often citing societal pressures, rather than their own feelings, as one of the biggest factors in that decision to stop their transition.
What can businesses, venues and workplaces do to become welcoming and accommodating to gender nonconforming and trans people?
This can be very simple - treat trans people like anyone else. Show them respect, stand up for them when they express concerns or are unfairly treated by others. HR policies need to be clear in their support and protection of trans people, and any anti-trans abuse should be taken seriously and those responsible should be punished appropriately. A small change, such as inclusive bathroom and changing room facilities, can be easily implemented and yet have a huge impact in the wellbeing of trans customers and workers alike.
For anyone who wants to learn more about the trans community or who may have questions surrounding their own gender identity, what resources do you suggest?
There are many resources a person could use to learn more about trans people, so it’s hard to narrow down to just a few. TransActual is a good place to start, their information is easily accessible. Also, wherever you are in the UK there are sure to be local LGBTQ+ groups that would help you learn more about yourself and support your gender journey, in Nottingham the most prominent are Notts Trans Hub (for adults), and Genderphoria (for those aged 13-18). There is also a helpline service available through Gendered Intelligence if you are reticent about meeting face-to-face. If someone is particularly struggling and this is causing mental distress, they should always reach out to medical professionals such as counsellors, who can help them unpack their issues and find the path that’s right for them.
Nottingham recently celebrated the city’s first Trans Pride Festival. What do you think the city is doing right surrounding trans rights and spaces?
The turnout for Trans Pride was absolutely wonderful to see, so many trans people and allies showed up, despite the appalling weather, to send the message that we will not be erased, that we are proud of who we are. That in itself shows the level of support Nottingham has for its trans community. Further to that, engagement with our work has been incredible, with places such as Nottingham Women's Centre, the local council, local MPs such as Nadia Whittome, the police, and numerous businesses showing their open acceptance and love for trans people.
What have you got coming up for The Pastel Project and how can people get involved?
We will, of course, be attending Pride on 27 July, and anyone is welcome to come down and ask us about who we are and what we do, and to join in celebrating the LGBTQ+ community of Nottingham. With the money raised from fundraising with Encore! Performing Arts production of Rent, we are able to secure our own stall, which is very exciting for us. We’re also continuing to work alongside local government to ensure trans rights are being truly addressed in Nottingham, with hate crimes being taken as the serious issue that they are posing, but also we want to spread trans joy within our community. We’re always welcome to comments from local people on what we’re doing well, but also what you would like us to change - we’re here to represent you after all.
To keep up with The Pastel Project head to their Instagram page where you can also find a link to donate to their fundraiser. Head to the LeftLion website to read an extended chat with the Pastel Project
interview: Sophie Gargett illustration: Kate Wand
Park Life
From starting out as a teenager working in a Notts record shop to DJing around the world and playing to 8000 alongside a classical orchestra, Graeme Park is one of the original founders of the UK’s clubbing and rave scene. We caught up with him ahead of two new shows in the city at Nottingham Pride and Hacienda Live at Wollaton Hall…
You first moved to Nottingham in the early 80s. What brought you here?
My parents moved our family from Scotland to Lincolnshire when I was fifteen or sixteen. My dad worked for Next and drove all around the Midlands for work, so I'd jump in with him and visit Nottingham. I’d worked in a record shop in Scotland as a Saturday job and I soon discovered Selectadisc. A few years later my family moved back up to Scotland, but by that time I'd decided I wanted to stay in the midlands, so I moved to Nottingham.
Tell us about some of the characters you worked with at that brilliant record shop?
Originally, when I first started, the singles and secondhand department was run by a guy called Melvin, but he left not long after I joined which was how I got promoted so quickly. There was Jeff who was the manager of the Bridlesmith Gate branch. He was great, I always thought he had really cool glasses and I was very envious of his thick black jet head of hair. There was Jim Cooke who was manager of the Market Street branch and was also involved in the London branch. There was a lad called Basil who worked at the Market Street branch and, like me, did a bit of DJing at the Garage. It was such a great environment to work in. Unlike HMV or Our Price, we stocked loads of rare and hard to find stuff. Working in the second hand department was particularly great for me as within eighteen months I'd built up this amazing record collection off the back of it.
In 1983 you cut your teeth as a DJ, playing opening night at The Garage nightclub.
Yes, Brian Selby who owned Selectadisc and was a great man, bought an old reggae club and rebranded it. His office was on the same floor as our bit of Selectadisc and he liked the music I played in the shop. I didn’t really want to DJ at first, but I also didn’t want to say no to him. After my first gig at the Garage I got paid £25 and it was all mine. Soon after I left behind the bands to give it a proper go. I quickly realised how much easier it was to be a DJ, you didn’t need to hire a van to cart all your gear around, you didn’t need to soundcheck and you didn’t need to pay the drummer's girlfriend to sell the merch.
In 1988 you began a ten year stint as a DJ at Manchester’s famous Hacienda club. How did that begin… Firstly I was a big Factory Records fan. I still probably own everything they released in every format because I was working in a record shop and could get my hands on them. I met Mike Pickering (Hacienda DJ and later founder of M People) at an ID Magazine photoshoot in London. They were running an article about this new breed of underground DJs. We hit it off straight away as we were the only non-southerners who were involved in the photoshoot. We shared a taxi to the train station and exchanged numbers, but agreed to keep in touch.
Everything was so London-centric back then just because that’s where all the press were based. Certain DJs from the south later claimed to have been to Ibiza and discovered house music, conveniently ignoring that it was already widespread in the midlands and the north, as well as in parts of Scotland. So we agreed to put on a night at the Hacienda called the ‘Northern House Review’ and invited everyone up.
What was it like hanging out with Tony Wilson, New Order and the Happy Mondays etc in those days?
Tony Wilson was an absolutely amazing person, who just inspired everyone. He inspired you without telling you what to do, he let you choose the music and empowered you to get on with it. Everything gravitated around him and Rob Gretton, who was New Order's manager. The Hacienda was basically their baby, which New Order funded without even realising. If you read Peter Hook’s book How Not To Run A Club, that pretty much sums it up.
Peter Hook now owns the name and the brand of Hacienda and I worked very closely with him on Hacienda Classical. Bernard Sumner and the others were there quite a bit, but they weren’t as enthusiastic probably because it cost them loads of money, as the club just lost money. Loads of bands like The Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets and the Stone Roses were all regulars. I think if you listen to their music you can tell as you can hear the rhythms of the house and techno coming through in their songs. If you talk to the Gallagher brothers they talk fondly about nights at the Hacienda. Likewise with Shaun [Ryder] and Bez, although perhaps they might not remember as much as they were so wasted. Even Mick Hucknall from Simply Red used to pop his head in. It was a very creative time and people were coming from all over the country and feeding off each other.
Did you, did you have any dealings with Nottingham’s infamous DIY Soundsystem crew?
I went to some of their parties. The Garage finished at two o'clock and you always wanted to find the afterparty. I didn’t go to DJ, I went just to listen, hang out, take it all in and indulge myself. I was aware of what they were doing, but I never really got to know them as they started up at around the same time as I left Nottingham and I was DJing around four or five different cities every week. I may have played at the odd illegal warehouse party in Manchester or the midlands though.
British clubbing culture has always been very, very inclusive. Nowadays even Pride is becoming a bit corporate with big companies putting out their rainbow logos, but at its heart there’s a really important message there about unity
In 2002, you were a consultant on the film 24 Hour Party People - tell us a bit about that film.
If you watch any film, whether it's a big Hollywood blockbuster or an independent film, they never get the club scenes right. For example the 1998 film 54 (about Studio 54) is a great film, but those club scenes look rubbish. However when Michael Winterbottom decided he wanted to make a film about Factory Records he took on board how important it was.
Ironically the Hacienda got demolished not long before filming started. Channel 4 invited Tony Wilson, Peter Hook and I to watch the interior being demolished. I can still remember a JCB clawing down the proscenium arch above the stage. It was so sad, I wish I'd never gone.
However, the architect Ben Kelly, had the original plans. So they found an abandoned warehouse in the Northern Quarter of Manchester and very faithfully rebuilt it. It was freaky how real it seemed. The lighting was the same, the smoke was the same and the DJ box was the same. The attention to detail was really incredible. Once the punters (extras) came in it really was like it used to be. The only difference is that we’d get someone popping into the DJ box telling us to stop the music, so they could do a scene.
When we watched the final film we loved it. People I know were surprised by how accurate and real it seemed to what we’d lived through. Steve Coogan was brilliant, although he was like an exaggerated version of the real thing. I’m in there somewhere, but if you blink you’ll miss me. For some reason Dave Haslam got all the screen time as the DJ in the film.
So you’re now in your fifth decade of DJing in clubs. How
have you seen the experience change over the years? Things go in waves don’t they? When I first started clubbing was so underground that you had to be really invested in it to know about it. Then in the late 80s clubs like the Garage and the Hacienda came along, as well as ecstasy, and the underground started to become more mainstream. Then there was a steady rise through the 90s where superstar DJs became a thing. That idea still does my head in, because when I started it was all about the music you played, but with Ministry of Sound and Gatecrasher, etc, everything just exploded.
In the late 90s the scene started to fragment and scenes like jungle, drum and bass and happy hardcore, which is an oxymoron if you ask me, started to appear and take bits of it back underground. By millennium eve you’d reached peak raving culture. I did about six gigs that evening and they were all disappointing. Things then bubbled along in the 00s, but in 2008 you had the big financial crash. That really messed everyone up. Clubs closed, promoters went out of business. We were all in our forties and started to wonder if we needed to get other jobs. The press weren’t writing about it anymore and people thought we’d retired. We hadn’t, but we were just playing to smaller crowds. Then social media came along and it started to rise again. I was quite an early adopter and we came up with the idea of the Hacienda Classical.
Tell us about Hacienda Classical. It’s something of a return to your days of being in a band, right? Minus the saxophone… Yes, although thankfully it’s much better as we don’t have to cart our own gear around and set it all up. The idea came up because people wanted Hacienda nights, but were always asking us to just play the same tunes and we were getting sick of it. So if we had to play them we wanted to do them in a different way. So we got a live orchestra to work with us. Now, when we play at The Warehouse Project in Manchester, You've got 8,000 people there and 80% of them weren’t even born when the Hacienda closed.
You’ve got a couple of gigs coming up in Nottingham, firstly Nottingham Pride. What does Pride mean to you? The club scene in the late 80s brought everybody together and it just didn’t matter if you were gay, straight, bi or whatever. I think British clubbing culture has always been very, very inclusive. Nowadays even Pride is becoming a bit corporate with big companies putting out their rainbow logos, but at its heart there’s a really important message there about unity. I’ve played Pride in Manchester before and I'm really looking forward to Nottingham. I’m also playing that with Alistair Whitehead, who’s also a local lad as he’s from Derby.
Then you’ve got the Hacienda Live gig at Wollaton Park? That’s going to be really special! Firstly because what a great venue. Secondly, because there’s live bands on, as well as us DJs, so you’ll get to see Soul II Soul, 808 State, Ultra Nate, Cece Rogers and Rowetta too. I also hear there might be an afterparty too. Returning to Nottingham is always special to me. Although I'm originally from Aberdeen, I lived in Nottingham at such a pivotal time in my life between the ages of eighteen to my mid twenties. I didn’t go to university, but Nottingham is like those years to me. My late brother moved there as well and I just feel a strong connection. So I’m looking forward to seeing many old faces from thirty years ago of people I know, remember and used to share houses with.
Graeme Park plays at the Hidden Warehouse for Nottingham Pride on Saturday 27 July and Hacienda Live at Wollaton Hall on Saturday 31 August. Head to the LeftLion website to read an extended interview with Graeme.
thisisgraemepark.com
interview: Jared Wilson photos: Voodoo Imaging
Pride & Joy
Originating from a free festival and traveller background, Alan Lodge has worked as a photographer for over fifty years, with a particular special interest in ‘alternative’ lifestyles and subcultures. Having covered Pride events for several decades, we thought we’d share some of his best images and ask him a few questions about life behind the lens…
Tell us a bit about yourself and your work as a photographer… I am a photographer dealing with aspects of ‘alternative’ lifestyles and subcultures, photographing many free and commercial events, 'free party' events ('rave culture'), environment protest, land rights with surrounding social concerns. I aim to present a more positive view of people and communities that are frequently misrepresented. I also cover political actions, concerns about civil rights and protest involving policing operations, especially in relation to surveillance.
A graduate of Nottingham Trent University with a BA degree in Photography, I specialise in issues surrounding representation, both in print and audio-visual format. I completed an MA in Photography, also at NTU,and have recently been presenting an exhibition of large-scale work at the Bonington Gallery there.
Pride is clearly a gathering not only designed for fun, but to highlight issues around the civil rights of the individual
How long have you been photographing Pride and what does it mean to you?
This set of photographs covers twenty years back to 2003. However, I had been photographing Pride events for years before digital photography, thus previous events covered will have been on black and white negative stock. Pride is clearly a gathering not only designed for fun but to highlight issues around the civil rights of the individual.
You seem to get into the thick of things and interact with the groups you photograph. How does this differ from being an observer on the sidelines?
I started in photography to counter much of what a ‘press photographer’ would see, having just parachuted into any situation. You have to spend time with people to better understand who they are and what interests them. This lets you see more honestly people’s behaviours with each other. I generally can’t stand posing people for a photo. If you miss a more natural shot, with a little anticipation sometimes you get a second chance.
Do you think Pride successfully continues to be a civil rights protest and a celebration while also increasingly adopted by commercial enterprises?
I have attended Pride events in Manchester, Brighton, London, Derby and Nottingham. As with any events, in the UK we have some quite strict laws and regulations on entertainment: notifying police, local authority licensing, insurance, booking acts, etcetera. It all costs money to put on even modest community events. Hence, they have to work within a budget and the money raised somehow. However, the commercial entities that sponsor events can sometimes overwhelm the contribution by smaller grassroots groups. I do sometimes wonder, for their contributions, if some companies [and authorities] might be engaged in pink-washing. It can drown out the central message of these events in standing up for individual freedoms and their civil rights. Prejudice still exists in wider society. Issues need to continue to be highlighted and stood up for.
alanlodge.co.uk
interview: Sophie Gargett
photos: Alan Lodge
Loud and Proud
words: Alex Curle
photos: Nigel King, Elena Torrano, Fabrice Gagos, Hunnisuckle, Rae Dowling
Within music and entertainment the LGBTQI+ community have always been at the forefront of creativity, pushing boundaries of identity, performance and sound. In celebration of these, we take a look at some of the musical artists hailing from Nottingham's vibrant LGBTQ+ community. Have a read, and explore some new sounds from these wonderful creatives.
Gender Envy
Bexx's 80's tinged alt-pop serotonin boosters have amassed a boastful following since her tenure in 2021 with anthem Hard To Love. A set-up befitting of any classic rom com soundtrack - the estranged guitar solos, reverb drums and synth-wave gleans - it’s safe to say that Bexx's colour and flair has shone a light on the ever-thriving community of Nottingham's LGBTQ+ community. Vibrant, sassy and a little bit troublesome, Bexx will be more than happy to take up the city's mantle as deranged alt-pop princess.
@bexx.mp3
Best of luck looking anywhere else when this individual is on stage. A cathartic experiment blending hyper-pop and industrial techno results in Baby Tap - a producer, rapper and now-turned cyberpunk enthusiast. Amongst the whirligig of mayhem, comes a whimsical darkness to lyrics that both toy and cut deep in deliverance. Hypnotic in both sound and sight, Baby Tap stays true to his roots in camp defiance as a true individual doused in flamboyancy.
@baby_tap
Nottingham's four-piece Retina tear it up live with their raucous showing of brash and brazen gloomy grungerock. Despite only releasing two tracks so far, they have been branded as a much-needed adrenaline shot of vicious energy within Nottingham's emo-punk scene. Released just last month, Bullet on a Cross' dark delivery has tropes of Nirvana's debut, Bleach. Hopefully more to come from them!
@retina_bandofficial
A trio not to be meddled with, Gender Envy are a spunky-punk collective fronted by queer trans and non-binary people. With a raw triage of fast and flurried anthems, Jae, Sam and Luke sing songs they wish their younger selves could - and should haveheard. Their raw lived experiences are embraced and shared to a community fortunate that their voices are heard through fast, tetchy punk. Being loud and proud is the most effective way of letting the world know what you're all about.
@Gender_Envy_Band
Making his recording debut in 2021, Green crafts expertly-refined soul/ pop magic to write, unite and connect with an ever-growing and an everadoring audience. His most expansive EP to date, MANHOOD, was released last year and encompasses Green's perfectly armed set-up: a loop pedal, an acoustic guitar and his signature vocals - honeyed and irrepressible in performance. Receiving garnered attention from BBC Radio 6Music's Tom Robinson and Radio 1's Huw Stephens, his single LIFE GOES ON was featured on the BBC 6 Music's Loud and Proud LGBTQ+ playlist in 2021; a well-earned spot from an individual who draws great inspiration from his life growing up as mixed-race and gay in his 0115 hometown.
@robgreenmusic
HUNNISUCKLE / BIMBOfication
Birthed from Nottingham's underground queer scene, ARCH FEMMESIS are a force to be reckoned with. Made up of performance artist ZERA TØNIN and androgynous synthesist MEDDLA, the duo are slotted within the electro-punk department, with plenty of brooding charm to coax and coerce the audience. MEDDLA's undulating synth basslines and ZERA's psychosensual poetry are a perfect pairing. Their 2022 EP, Violents, is a powerful combustion of sound and identity, like a crooning Confidence Man
@archfemmesis
Cheap Dirty Horse are a rowdy Queertrash folk-punk six piece stirring up trouble on the very streets they used to busk on. Now, charting a bonafide career going from strengthto-strength, this lot and their fast flurries scream about gender, washing machines and almost everything inbetween. Led on by mighty anthem On the Rob, which has amassed a plentiful audience online, their recent single G For Gendetta is now receiving the same treatment. The group cemented an already successful year, by being part of Nottingham’s first ever Trans Pride celebrations in June. Read our interview with them on page seventeen!
@Cheap_Dirty_Horse
DiabloFurs
DiabloFurs are a true resemblance of the city's embrace to an individual music identity. The Nottingham group's brand of shimmering electro-glam-punk and skittish Sci-Fi workings-out have turned many heads since their formation in 2015. Their recently released second record of Welcome to the City of Fun has been well-received among fans, new and old, as they continue to light up Nott's underground scene like no other.
@diablofurs
Earnest pop poet and up-and-coming soloist Lyvia effortlessly weaves the use of spoken word and poetic rap behind an orbit of lo-fi beats, as she expresses her personal experiences via her music: an identity personable in itself. Posing the question if home was more a feeling than a physical place, recent single Homesick is a lush lull to the senses as Lyvia's soulful throbs carve a song full of raw emotion. Exciting times for the 23-yearold; long may she continue to help us dream.
@lyviamusic
Amplifying the magic of music from across the globe through their queer parties, gatherings and workshops, Hunnisuckle is a rich-diverse collective that focuses on creating a safe and inclusive space for the queer community. The project began in London working alongside iconic venue Dalston Superstore, which soon became their hub and home as a result of their residency. With such a strongly-welded community comes the magic of collaboration, too. Recently, having expanded their reach to the East Midlands, their recent collab event with Loose Events (BIMBOfication) at Nottingham's Tunnel Club saw a vast line-up of incredible DJs take to the decks. In a wonderful night of coming together for the love of music and identity, their sprawling events are just some of the amazing work that both Hunnisuckle and BIMBOfication are doing to create such a more sparkling and accepting community. It's time everyone knew about them!
@hunnisuckleevents
Amazing vocalist and performer Yay Maria lays claim to Nottingham's version of Christine and the Queens, both displaying traits of breaking the confines of gender, sexuality and identity with their passionate electronic-pop works. Maria and her angelic voice on songs WOEBOT and TEMPLATE is both powerful and hypnotic - letting it be known that being queer is indeed beautiful.
@yaymariayay
ROB.GREEN
Bexx
Baby Tap
Cheap Dirty Horse
LYVIA
Arch Femmesis
Yay Maria
Retina
pulp FriC tion
Running for fourteen years, it all started with one college leaver’s simple ambition - getting a job. Pulp Friction has now grown into a multi-faceted organisation offering learning disabled and autistic people across Notts opportunities to get into work. Strings to their bow include running a community garden, community café, catering service, and their nominative mobile smoothie bike. Now they can add several Chelsea Flower Show awards. We met the team to hear all about their work…
Pulp Friction is quite a name isn’t it? Well it all began with a bike, you see. Not just any bike - a smoothie bike. I’ll explain what that is in just a sec.
Whilst the bike’s an engaging inroad, what really drives Pulp Friction is the powerful mission they’re pedalling. That is to employ and support learning disabled and autistic people through developing skills - it’s about building their confidence, members will tell me.
They do this through a range of enterprises including a community garden to grow their own veg, and a cafe to cook it in, but also through other activities like running a choir, and heading to litter pick Glastonbury. It's rooted in care and sustainability, giving members a lifeline whilst reducing food waste by working with food providers across the Midlands.
But what is a smoothie bike? Picture a blender, add a bicycle and pedals instead of an electrical motor and bang, you’re away. It’s not until the end of a rambunctious video call ramble through Pulp Friction’s work that I get to speak with its spirited cofounder Jill Carter, who is, I’m told, a ‘proper doer’. When I do manage to catch her, I ask how it all began…
“So my daughter Jessie was about to leave college and she wanted to work at a posh restaurant, like Pizza Express, but she tried and they didn't have the support she needed. We saw a guy with a smoothie bike at the Robin Hood Festival at Nottingham castle in 2009 and we just had a chat with him. I said to Jessie (Jill’s daughter, Director and Co-Founder) you know what, I think you could do that and learn those skills. About a year later, she applied for some funding with a group of friends at her college, and they got it, which enabled them to buy a bike, a phone and a laptop.”
All of us have different things that we bring, and if the right environment is nurtured then all of us can make a contribution. It can be a path or it can be a choir, every single voice makes a difference
They’ve grown since and are now based at Nottinghamshire Police and Fire and Rescue Service Joint Headquarters (JHQ) at Burntstump - also the name of the nearby Woodland Trust-managed nature reserve, the site is near the stunning Blidworth Bottoms (not what it sounds like), and the much-loved Papplewick Pumping Station. If that doesn’t place it for you, then like me you probably need to spend more time visiting north Notts; it’s about bang on north as you can get from LeftLion’s Sneinton Market base, halfway to Mansfield.
Today I catch the team in their community garden around the back of Bestwood Park Church, where they also run a café. “This is where we did a lot of the growing for Chelsea (Flower Show) actually, in the polytunnel here” explains Beth Danks, their lead gardener. “We've got spuds and onions in, a few poppies self-seeded. This fleabane went into the garden as well.”
Beth’s keeping an eye on proceedings as we chat. “Please don’t chop the potatoes down! Just the edges… so Dan, if you rake it you can see where the edges are a bit better,” and we’ll chat to Dan shortly after he’s finished that job.
Yes, they’ve just been to the world famous Chelsea Flower Show. And they’ve not just been for a jolly - getting to meet the likes of Gardeners’ World legend Monty Don and Bake Off’s glistening Paul Hollywood. They’ve cleaned up too, with their “Growing Skills Garden” winning both a coveted Silver-Gilt award and the People’s Choice Award for Small Garden.
The first member I speak to is Claire, who’s been at Pulp Friction for fourteen years. “I originally went in 2010, with my dad at Hemlock Happening but I knew Jill and Jessie from youth club.” She ‘mostly does the garden side’, she says, and also works on catering.
Alex is another member who works with Pulp Friction. “On Mondays I go to JHQ and prepare food for the next day, and then on Tuesday I help cook the food” - for him it’s about creating an ‘independent environment’.
Claire tells me that the main benefit she’s felt is "probably building my confidence up, because I didn't have any when I first started." She speaks proudly of the garden she’s growing at home, skills she learned at Pulp Friction, “I’ve got runner beans, I’ve got kale, potatoes, courgettes.” Claire's contribution to the Chelsea garden was to plant the Gabion baskets - the metal wire cages filled with offcut stone and insectfriendly invitations, which give the garden structure.
Jill shares an analogy she liked about the baskets. “One of our parents Jackie pointed out that this stone is going to be thrown away because it's off cuts and it's no use to anybody, but if you think about it and put it together differently, then there's a beautiful path made here… all of us have got different things that we bring, and if the right environment is nurtured then all of us can make a contribution. It can be a path or it can be a choir, every single voice makes a difference.”
Dan, another member, tells me more about some of the challenges he has faced in work. “It was very difficult for me to get a paid job, because people in restaurants don't realise that other people have disabilities, and they can take advantage. Now I work for Greene King and have been there for two years.” For him, the key to success is having management that creates a welcoming place, firmly anti-bullying, where everyone can feel safe and supported.
“If you make that bit of reasonable adjustment, then everybody can achieve,” Beth says when considering how businesses can adapt to people with disabilities. “You just need to actually think about it and make that change. Sometimes it's about thinking about work in a slightly different way, like chunking up jobs.” From the members themselves, Dan says “everyone should be treated equally, and it’s about doing things as a community as well,” and Claire adds that for her it’s “everybody helping each other out.”
Part of that is also about members being alongside wider community groups - over 200 volunteers came down over a couple of weeks at the start of June to relocate the Chelsea garden, which lives on at the fire station at Stockhill celebrating Pulp Friction’s long standing partnership with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Jill and Jessie’s dream has come a long way, and Chelsea has hugely raised their profile according to Jill. “What I wanted was for the spotlight to be on our members, and for people to see the skills and the contribution that they have made to getting into the biggest flower show in the world. People who we work with are people who aren't valued hugely by society, but they’ve got so much to give. They show it everyday, but they showed it especially at Chelsea.”
words: Adam Pickering photos: Pulp Friction
Books broaden young people’s horizons, give them an educational leg up, and can even provide big health benefits - but sometimes reading gets costly. We learned about the Big City Reads project, which is giving away thousands of books to Nottingham’s youngsters…
At LeftLion we’re medically unable to turn down a freebie. Free trials, samples, gifts - we’ve been roped in before and we will be again - sometimes we go out for curry just to get mints with the bill. So dedicated are we to being gratis that you won’t even be charged for the premium mag you have in your hands now, if you can believe such a thing. But the team behind the Big City Reads project have decided to take freeness to a whole new level. This summer they’re giving out 2000 books to Nottingham’s young people.
The Romans knew a thing or two about free books. Liber is the Latin word for ‘free’. From there we get to liberate the enslaved, to deliver the goods - to be a liberal libertine flying the flag of liberty. But the same word liber also meant ‘book’for the ancient Romans, freedom was reading and reading was freedom, and it was hard to have one without the other.
These days, though, reading can set you back. A glossy two kilo hardback at your bookshop of choice might leave your wallet thirty quid lighter. For now, thankfully, we still have libraries (another word which comes from liber) like Nottingham’s new Central Library, although some of the city’s smaller libraries like Aspley’s are threatened by poor financial straits, and nothing should be taken for granted.
Sometimes it’s nice to own your own book as well - to deface the margins with scribbles, to fold the corners of your favourite passages, to accidentally melt a Galaxy Ripple onto page 37, to bend the spine when the plot gets tense by gripping too hard. And having books at home isn’t just a luxury - a recent study across 31 countries found that teens who had grown up around books displayed the equivalent literacy level of university graduates who hadn’t. Every bookshelf is a plank of wisdom nailed to the drywall.
That’s where the idea for the Big City Reads project, run by Nottingham City of Literature, begins. From 1 July until mid August, they’ve got 2000 free copies of some of the best Young Adult books, which they’ll be giving out to teenagers and young people, particularly focussing on some of the areas of Nottingham which can have more difficulty accessing books. These aren’t just any old dusty tomes either - they’ve been carefully selected from a longlist of 56 by Nottingham City of Literature’s Youth Board and young ambassadors, to be as gripping and enlightening as they know books can be.
Those four free stories (colourful covers pictured) are Vern: Custodian of the Universe by Tyrell Waiters, an intergalactic romp starring a protagonist who sets off to clean up ‘black holes, space-time anomalies and galactic ooze’. Then there’s Stand Up Ferran Burke by Steven Camden, a slice-of-life tale about a lonely high schooler told in a unique way, dealing with friends, fights, family and food.
There’s Electric Life by Rachel Delahaye, too, which follows master gamer Alana as she’s sent deep down to the mysterious city of London Under. The set is completed with Seven Million
Sunflowers by Malcolm Duffy, in which teenager Kateryno’s home in Ukraine is hit by a missile, prompting her and her family to set off with determination towards England. All four books can be taken home and enjoyed without paying a penny.
These four books, it seems to us, reflect the full scope of imagination and empathy that our young people have, and the theme for the project this year, says Nottingham City of Literature’s Executive Director Hannah Trevarthen, is ‘Belonging’.
“Books,” said Hannah, “can be a source of inspiration, comfort, and connection… We believe that by fostering a love of reading and exploring themes of acceptance and identity, we can help young people feel a stronger sense of belonging within their communities and the wider world.”
The team behind the Big City Reads project have decided to take freeness to a whole new level. This summer they’re giving out 2000 books to Nottingham’s young people
That’s the trick, isn’t it. To live somewhere is one thing, to belong quite another. To be a young person is often to feel in that precarious position - what’s my place, who are my people, where do I fit in? Part of the stress and joy of growing up is to work out where we’ll find our home, or whether we can make a home under our feet, in the place we’re from. At LeftLion we have a go at building up that sense of belonging in Nottingham, and so it’s a real pleasure to endorse Big City Reads this summer.
The four authors of the selected books have felt some of Notts’ magnetic pull too. The three British authors will be coming here to appear at local schools, while Tyrell Waiters, author of Vern: Custodian of the Universe is beavering away creating a bespoke piece of artwork to send across the Atlantic just for us. Perhaps they’ll all feel a bit of Nottingham belonging when the project concludes.
“This I would fight for,” said the Californian writer John Steinbeck, “the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes”. Freedom and books, libertà e libri, they complement each other nicely. Pick up a freebie, open a story and find you’ve belonged there all along.
You’ll be able to get hold of the four books at 150 locations around Nottingham. For details of these sites, and other events connected to the Big City Reads project this summer, visit nottinghamcityofliterature.com or follow @nottmcityoflit.
words: Andrew Tucker
A summer of football and politics descends upon us - neighbours butt heads, pints and milkshakes are thrown, promises are made and dashed. At the time of writing, a lot of people in Westphalia and Westminster are about to get out of their seats. Rivalry is at an all time high.
As pub quizzers know, Forest and County have the closest two grounds to one another in England, divided from one another only by the Trent (and several divisions of English football). For the geekier fans among us, being held apart by a river is pretty satisfying on an etymological level - the word rival comes from the Latin rivalis - meaning the person who has the cheek to use the same stream as us. Both rival and river can be traced back to the same source, rivus. I think it was good of the architects at the City Ground and Meadow Lane to dig into their reverence of the Classics.
Most Forest supporters go soft on the Magpies, saving their venom for Derby. And where’s the line between enemy and frenemy? The Sheriff wanted Robin Hood’s head, but Keith Allen did seem to lock him in towers that he could easily abseil down. And rivals can push each other to new heights: most of our knowledge of dinosaurs comes from the skeletons discovered in the ‘Bone Wars’ between archaeologists Marsh and Cope, who, armed with dynamite, drove each other coocoo in Colorado. They needed one another.
Edison and Tesla, Gladstone and Disraeli, Optimus Prime and Megatron - perhaps there is a place for goodnatured loathing. Maybe England and France need to wind each other up, and maybe we shouldn’t lay siege to Derby, although it should be said, if we’re tempted, that there’s no river in the way.
Q @andrewtucker.uk
talking tougH
words: Caradoc Gayer
photo: Jacob Batterham
Since forming in 2022, Notts based charity Tough to Talk has already been making positive waves in workplaces and male-centric communities. With his own personal mental health struggles giving him first hand knowledge of the struggles some men have with talking, founder Steve Whittle tells us about their successes so far and strategy for the future.
In early 2022, Steve Whittle underwent a mental health crisis that drove him to the edge of despair. Two months later however he saw a light at the end of the tunnel; a sense of ‘purpose’ as he describes it.
“When the crisis team arrived on my suicide attempt, they told me ‘You’re not alone’ and I didn’t believe it at first because no men in my life had said they felt the same way as me,” says Steve. “But after I researched and realised that they did, my purpose then became to serve the men around me and make sure they know that they can take action and find solutions to their own crises.”
Steve is now the face of Hucknall based charity Tough to Talk, which he founded in March 2022. Since then, he has chaired the company, working tirelessly to raise awareness around men’s mental health and, most importantly, to ‘break the silence’ around male suicide.
Steve’s beliefs about mental health are central to the charity’s mission. There is undoubtedly an enormous amount of mental health discourse today in all manner of spaces, from workplaces to education. But when it comes to men’s mental health specifically, Steve is convinced that conversations around the issue are confused and not always framed correctly, particularly in workplaces mostly occupied by men.
“Men are brought up to be strong, stoic and a provider. We worry therefore that if we speak about our mental health in the workplace, the boss might pass us on a promotion, not give us the next project, or our colleagues might go after our job,” says Steve. “Companies often have good mental health systems in place, but men won’t approach or use them because of how they feel. Most HR teams are also women, putting out amazing resources for their staff, but men don’t feed back to them. So, it’s a marketing problem: the wrong things are being said to the wrong people. We’re trying to get the right people talking to men in a language that they understand.”
2017 research on UK employees carried out by Mind confirmed that men are twice as likely to have mental health problems due to their job, compared to factors outside of work. That same year, the Men's Health Forum found 191,000 men per year were reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety worsened by work. Beyond this, suicide continues to be a tragic, recurring social problem among men in the UK, with the Office for National Statistics finding in 2020 that men still comprise three quarters of registered suicide deaths.
Tough to Talk addresses these issues from many different angles. Their website is regularly updated, with a blog containing a variety of writing on male suicide, from personal stories to concise analysis, while their YouTube channel puts these same stories in emotive video form. The charity’s #manup journals also provide insights, practical tools and tips for opening up mental health discussions within male spaces.
Mainly, however, the charity strikes at the heart of these issues by partnering with many different male-centric workplaces across the UK. In understanding that mental health issues often manifest somewhere inside of the work-life balance, Tough to Talk have partnered with everyone from construction and manufacturing companies, to Football Associations in and around Nottingham.
“We’ve only been going fourteen months but we have lots of evidence that what we’re doing is working,” says Steve. “We start off with intervention: how do we communicate better with men struggling with suicidal thoughts? Then, how do we engage with men before they have those thoughts? I often see 3000 word long communications going out in companies which people won’t read in detail, and aren’t direct and solution-driven enough. If they were, then they’d be more engaging for men.”
Their overarching aim is to foster that sense of community, clarity and mutual support which male-centric communities today are so often deprived of
Close engagement with men on a one to one basis is a central part of the charity’s strategy. Steve emphasises that this principle appears in many of their approaches to spreading mental health awareness in the spaces that the charity has partnered with.
“We’re working on a peer-to-peer journal with young men, where they work through and write about their issues with a leader figure, in their space, whom they respect. We trialled it with a college near us and the results were off the charts in terms of success. One young man was bullied and wouldn’t eat in front of other people. After doing the journal for three months, with a college leader, he recovered from that problem and became much happier.”
Still a relatively young charity, Tough to Talk has big ambitions for the future. They are soon to introduce an extremely detailed, surveying strategy that accurately measures how aware and communicative employees in a certain company are about mental wellness. However, whichever strategies they introduce and whichever partnerships they make, Steve describes their overarching aim: to foster a sense of community, clarity and mutual support, which male-centric communities today are so often deprived of.
“We need to create tough-talking men who are masculine and strong, but can be vulnerable, talk about these things with their peers and feel supported by their community,” says Steve. “With the right messaging, from the right people, it will force a change in culture.”
Culture C ombo
words: George Dunbar
A dynamic display of different cultures and styles are currently on show over at Nottingham Contemporary, showcasing floaty, folkish patterned hangings to musical instruments you can pick up and play. We went for a visit to enter the worlds of three very different artists, Hamid Zénati, Claudia Martínez Garay and Julian Abraham.
Titled Two Steps at a Time, the first room showcasing works by Algerian-German artist Hamid Zénati is highly vibrant, colourful and playful. Zénati worked in multimedia throughout his career and the room shows a mixture of ceramic works, sculptures, textiles and photographs. His art exists on the boundary between design and fine art, with highly abstract rhythmic patterns that generally cover the entire surface area of his artworks. With forms sometimes recognisable as animal patterns, the patterns and colours in his work draw inspiration from folkish artworks from various areas of Algeria and north Africa and Sahrawi patterns. His work feels nostalgic for this cultural heritage and while there are some political aspects, his work is highly intuitive and therefore is difficult to pin down as being about specific ideas or political concepts. The rhythms and motifs in his work portray a certain musical synaesthesia and as you enter the next space of the exhibition you are met by drumming music in a relaxing samba beat.
The public are invited to play with, with a piano, some guitars, an accordion, a microphone and numerous strange musical devices. The walls of the gallery space are filled with signs inviting the public to ‘co-experiment, co-explore, coimagine, co-produce’
Following through to the next space showing Zénati’s work, we have numerous pieces hanging from the ceiling, which swing gently in the breeze of the air conditioning in the room, almost as if swaying to the music. The artworks jostle for space and are placed in a shotgun spray around the room. This is a very interesting way of displaying artwork because most art galleries show a lot of deference for their art and have them carefully and clearly mounted in frames. As is often the case at Nottingham Contemporary, the display is more of an interactive experience you can walk through. The artist had a similar intuitive feel about how he made his art and we get to have a sense of being immersed, while walking through the colours and sounds of his world.
Street Art Festival
Surface Gallery
Deadline: Saturday 6 July
The Street Art Festival at Surface celebrates and supports Nottingham’s thriving alternative art scene by showcasing some of today’s best local, national, and international street art. They are looking for graffiti, illustration, paste‐ups, graphics, yarn Bombing, sticker tagging, print, lightbombing and more. Submit up to six pieces of work before 6 July then get down for the opening on Friday 19 July.
Moving into the next exhibition room, we can see the work of Peruvian artist Claudia Martínez Garay. The room is filled with a giant pile of (what looks like) earth with sculptures sticking out of the top soil and two large pencil drawings of a cat and a fish protruding out of the top of the pile. The work is entitled; WAKCHAKUNA / We Who Share Everything and Nothing. The pile of earth appears to be a pile of ‘archaeological spoils’; in other words, artefacts discovered in an archaeological dig in a huge pile. The artist references pre-Columbian aesthetics and her Andean heritage, while the sculptures in the mound are replicas of real artefacts from the British Museum dating to this period of history. The artefacts would have certainly carried religious or spiritual value in their original context and that makes the viewer wonder whether the mound could be viewed as a kind of spirit mountain, or, more likely, a spoil heap of history. This makes the viewer question how we view history and how we treat cultural heritage. Garay invites the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the work and to think about how we treat lost world cultural heritage. In this sense the earth mound might be described as a postmodern spoil heap of history or as ‘art in situ synthesised’.
Finally, the third large exhibition space in the gallery contains works by multidisciplinary artist, musician and social researcher Julian Abraham. Entitled; 'Togar': REꓘONCILIATION, this is a specially enjoyable part of the exhibition, the room is filled with musical instruments that the public are invited to play with a piano, some guitars, an accordion, a microphone and numerous strange musical devices. The walls of the gallery space are filled with signs inviting the public to ‘co-experiment, co-explore, co-imagine, co-produce’. The room is a collective musical instrument for the public to make spur of the moment music. Sometimes this results in a cacophony, which I can personally attest to, but the exhibition is certainly a very fun and interesting idea. I think the artist succeeds in their goal of directly engaging with local communities of young people in the city by getting them to participate in the artist's exploratory sonic world. Despite every room being very different from each other, the exhibition does have a coherency because each artist makes us reflect on heritage and community.
Hamid Zénati: Two Steps at a Time, Claudia Martínez Garay: WAKCHAKUNA / We Who Share Everything and Nothing and Julian Abraham 'Togar': REꓘONCILIATION are showing at Nottingham Contemporary until 8 September.
Member’s Show
Backlit Gallery
Friday 12 July - Sunday 4 August
Featuring an eclectic mix of 52 contemporary artworks, showcasing the creativity and talent of Backlit’s diverse artist community. Discover the creative processes taking place in the artist studios, including collaboration, play, experimentation and innovation with mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, film, soundscape, performance, textiles, and more.
Clown life drawing
Handmade Nottingham
Sunday 28 July
Over at Handmade Nottingham on King’s Walk you can do a lot more than pick up locally made arts and crafts. Led by Ziggy, there will be a clown themed sketch warm up before the main event... drawing the model and clown, Shan! Clown outfits are encouraged and the model will be clothed. Also worth mentioning, Handmade Nottingham provides a queer and neuro-divergant safe space.
arCH Femmesis
Punk meets Club Kid with the genre-defying queer outfit, Arch Femmesis. Izzy Morris chatted to Zera Tønin and Princess Stephen about visual inspirations, Nottingham’s queer spaces and the city’s LGBTQI+ scene.
Describe your sound to anybody that’s never heard you before.
Zera: Eclectic Electro Punk.
Stephen: We’re influenced by lots different genres, but there’s always an electronic side to it. It’s always quite a little bit experimental.
Zera: Very queer, very punk.
Stephen: Techno, industrial, garage, goth... a bit of Darkwave, Synthwave... you know, all the waves!
How did you both meet?
Zera: We met at a spoken word night at City Arts because our mutual friend was a young producer. I was stepping in because someone had dropped out and Stephen was headlining. I was like, ‘Oh, I like this person on the synth doing their stuff.’ We had a meeting and decided to collaborate because we just felt really aligned with what we were doing, each other’s aesthetic and artistry.
Stephen: We had a little jam together. Zera had already written lots of poems, so it was a bit easier. But in the first jam, we got three or four songs pretty well fleshed out. Obviously, we've come a long way since then, but you don't often find that with collaboration, just to click and get things done so easily. And even now, when we're in the studio, we get basics down in a couple of hours.
Zera: As time has gone on we’ve intertwined and understand each other more creatively. Stephen’s more of a Disco Sade Queen and I’m more of a Yoko Ono screaming down a microphone, pretending to be a fly.
Stephen: Zera comes from an art background and I don’t, so they’re always bringing more of the experimental edge, and me, well, I just like to dance.
As time has gone on we’ve intertwined and understand each other more creatively. Stephen’s more of a Disco Sade Queen and I’m more of a Yoko Ono screaming down a microphone, pretending to be a fly
Where are your favourite arty and dancey places in Nottingham?
Zera: Backlit Gallery. I really love and appreciate them. Had some amazing experiences at Contemporary as well.
Stephen: We're not in Nottingham as much anymore but Jamcafé is one, and the Lofthouse, where there used to be a lot of Northern Soul.
Zera: I used to work there. Trish and Ian Gardner, who run Fishergate Point, that was the first kind of establishment they had. And that’s where I worked at uni as a student, as a barmaid.
Stephen: The Chameleon has gone now, but that’s a special place for us as well. RIP!
Any favourite queer memories in Nottingham?
Zera: The first ever pride event I did as a club kid was opening for Sasha Velour and Hungry at the Nottingham Contemporary and it was the first ever lip sync I did. It was so wonderful and amazing. And also working with Laganja Estranja for a queer showcase called The End of Gender where I met my current best friends. I actually found out I was queer, well, she told me I was queer and I was like ‘Okay.’ Also some really beautiful memories with DirtyFilthySexy - where it started for us as a band.
Stephen: And that’s who we’re playing with this year, DirtyFilthySexy.
Zera: Yes, at The Chapel. The last time we played there was for Queer Utopia. The tech staff were all queer and femme as well, which is rare to see. It’s a really good space.
Which other queer Nottingham artists excite you at the moment?
Stephen: G4y B0y, which is a collab between Franx and Thom, they’re amazing. They’re so funny and camp and out there.
Zera: We thought we were silly and camp, but they’re next-level ridiculous.
Stephen: And Baby Tap has been doing it for years. We love Baby Tap. Amazing techno slut soundscapes.
Zera: There’s been a big resurgence of queer/trans punks as well. Gender Envy, Retina, Cheap Dirty Horse, MINATORE and YAY MARIA too. Nottingham’s very underrated.
How do you find balancing music with day jobs, as a DIY band?
Zera: It feels impossible, but somehow it’s happening. There’s a lot of burnout involved. Stephen's working as a data analyst and is lucky enough to have a four day working week. So every Friday he goes on a little hike.
Stephen: And to the studio! It’s such a difficult industry to do full-time. We’re not all nepo babies or can rely on our parents to help us out.
Zera: The DIY struggle is real. Doing your own admin, booking tours…
Stephen: A lot of our merchandise and band stuff is designed by Zera as well, which is good in a way, because if people buy the merch, they’re also buying a piece of our art.
What inspires you visually?
Stephen: I love Vivian Westwood and Alexander McQueen. I try and incorporate fetishy type stuff as well. But my mood always changes. I always bring a couple of outfits to every gig. Sometimes I feel a bit more goth, sometimes I feel a bit more androgynous or flamboyant.
Zera: I’m really inspired by 70s/80s punk, new wave and blitz kids. While I’m a punk dishevelled mess, I always like to add that bit of elegance and opulence. I treat every show like a runway and each outfit is conceptual. Bin bags are my favourite.
Stephen: You’ve got a good eye for a vintage dress.
Zera: Rest in peace Sue Ryder on Hockley High Street. I was in mourning; I have so many iconic pieces from that shop!
What are your plans for the future musically?
Zera: We've got new music on the way. We're finally recording some of the old tracks, but being a long distance and DIY band, like, it's been hard for us to record stuff as quickly as some of our peers. So we're finally getting the classics down whilst also recording even newer stuff. Very retro, early 2000s like garage, hyper pop stuff and we're looking to see how our dynamic as a duo is going to evolve. BUT a special mention goes to our Rebellion Festival Debut which we are super pumped about!!
What is your advice for young queer musicians?
Zera: Beige indie boy bands aren’t all that. You’ll get gigs and find your community across soooo many different demographics. People from all different backgrounds will love and appreciate your art. Know your self-worth and be unashamedly authentic.
And any last words for LeftLion?
Zera: LeftLion are sexy legends xoxo
Arch Femmesis play Notts Pride for DirtyFilthySexy at The Angel on 27 July, plus Leodis Requiem gothic festival in Leeds on 13 July and Rebellion Festival, Blackpool on 4 August. They also have a couple of very tasty single releases coming up in the next couple of months, so keep your eyes peeled!
@archfemmesis
interview: Izzy Morris photos: Spence Hackett
The Roster’s new song Headstrong is a summer anthem, despite being released back in the winter. It is a blend of indie rock with a dash of jazz, creating a unique listening experience. The track has a cinematic quality, feeling like it could be the perfect fit for the ending credits of a film. The vocals are beautiful and memorable, not overpowering but leaving a lasting impression. The groovy drum beats add a punchy rhythm, creating a moving and enjoyable musical journey. Headstrong showcases The Roster’s ability to seamlessly fuse different elements into a harmonious and memorable piece. Conall Stacey
Red Sea Flow (Single)
Infused with optimism and inspired by the world around us, Flow, the latest release from jazz band Red Sea, serves as a positive reminder to respond to life’s challenges like the rivers, going with the flow. Audible mindfulness exudes from this band which is being felt throughout the Midlands; after their two year tour saw them broadcasted across both BBC Introducing and BBC East Midlands multiple times. The soulful harmony of Flow tells us that we are both the leaves that fall and the flowers that bloom and throughout it all we should continue to sing like the birds in the trees. Charlotte Gould
Hailing from Derby, these indie rockers bring a Fontaines D.C. vibe, but with their own edgy twist. The song's dynamic mix of instruments and thoughtful lyrics creates a powerful experience. If you're into indie with a punch, The Wire is a must-listen - it's like The Public Eye have mastered the art of capturing emotion in every riff and lyric. Conall Stacey
2079
Sky Blue Happiness (Single)
Building up in layers, beginning with some moody, melancholy guitar strums before the drum rhythms drive the track forward, Sky Blue Happiness by 2079 is a track which is tinged with emo influence. It perfectly captures the essence of the band's signature sound, blending raw energy with introspective lyrics, discussing the struggle of having to give up your dreams to work towards something more stable - something that many fellow musicians and creatives will sadly relate to in these turbulent times. Gemma Cockrell
Ben Mark Smith’s voice sounds mellow but subtly tinted with life experiences as he settles into this long, lazy, caressing groove. As it builds carefully around a beautifully simple melody, the song deftly combines tried and tested songwriting techniques with a strong sense of purpose as Ben sets out his heart-rendingly emotive tale. It’s a timeless story of the two sides of love - its healing grace and the sacrifice it requires - and ultimately of realisation and surrender. This is powerful and relatable, and a fabulous listen. Phil Taylor
Lightweights
Village
Nottingham duo Jem Woolley and Paul Greevy give us their second album Potemkin Village and it's a killer. Imagine a parallel universe where The Buzzcocks and The Libertines decided to join forces and stage a play off against their rival Brian Eno, who is a session musician with Magazine, stick with me on this one. Well crafted ambient pop sounds, great moving bass lines that weave through catchy chord progressions, lyrics with a social conscience and two hands full of songs that deserve many plays. My personal favourites on the album are Left Behind, Dear Joe, Standards and Trouble In You, but I'll probably add more on a second listen. These guys have developed into a must see local band, miss them at your peril! Bassey
If you’re from Nottingham and want to get added to our list of music writers, or get your tunes reviewed, hit us up at music@ leftlion.co.uk
The Roster Headstrong (Single)
The Public Eye The Wire (Single)
Ben Mark Smith Afire (Single)
Mighty
Potemkin
(Album)
CHain reaC tion
words: Addie Kenogbon
photos: Ursula Kelly
Nottingham designer and entrepreneur, Sara Christie, is no stranger to turning heads with her iconic, bold, statement accessories and signature chunky chains. Since the launch of her label BYSARACHRISTIE in 2020, her pieces have garnered a cult following. Fans include the likes of global superstar Kelis, popular singer-songwriter RAYE and actress Sarah Niles to name a few. Following the launch of her latest collection, The Empress Collection, we caught up with Sara to find out more…
It’s not every day that you get to speak to someone that exudes such natural charisma and charm, while being authentically, unapologetically themselves. Yet, speaking to Sara Christie on one particularly chilly summer day, it was the perfect treat for the soul. Like her statement pieces, Sara is inspirational and empowering and it’s something she’s worked hard to channel through her work.
The Sara Christie story has been twenty years in the making, following a career in mainstream highstreet fashion that saw Sara designing for many top household names, including the likes of NEXT and Kookai. However in some ways, it’s been a story with roots that started much earlier in life when Sara was just a child.
Growing up with grandparents from the Windrush generation, she was always taught about the importance of showing up and looking your best, and Sara believes it’s this ethos that planted the seeds of her interest in self expression through clothing. “BYSARACHRISTIE is heavily influenced by my upbringing,” says Sara. “Dressing well was seen more as a sense of pride, rather than dressing in the latest looks and trends.”
“My Jamaican grandparents were of The Windrush Generation and so dressed with respectability and self-importance. I was always told to “Luk fi yuh bess an hole fi yuh head high’,” she continues. “When our forefathers and grandparents arrived, it was a very different landscape to what it is now. Pride, self importance and respectability were at the top of how they could present themselves and stand out, while holding their heads a little bit higher in the face of hostility and adversity. That was really instilled in me quite early.”
“For my mum, also being a British white woman married to a black gentleman, there was a lot of stigma, especially from her own parents, that alienated her from the family,” she explains. “So again, she wanted us to turn out with confidence and instilled in us a profound sense of pride in our appearance - a belief that how we present ourselves reflected our inner worth and strength.”
However, it wasn’t until lockdown and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement that Sara decided to spur into action. “The tragic death of George Floyd and the powerful momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement stirred a fire within me to be courageous and unapologetically bold,” she says. “I just remember being really emotional, but also feeling like there was a ball of fire in my gut. And I made the decision to stand up, be seen and represent myself, my community and my culture, and put my brand out there.”
“My brand isn't just about fashion; it's about representation, authenticity, and empowerment. I wanted to show up, to be seen, to be heard, and to stand for something greater than myself. And it’s this confidence that I want other women to feel when they step out too.”
BYSARACHRISTIE collections feature an array of bold and eye-catching bags, purses, earrings, necklaces and bracelets, which often feature the brand’s iconic chunky metal chains and details. Her creations have a distinct, simple aesthetic that exudes versatility, elegance and functionality, and lots of nods to classic styles, with a modern reimagining.
“The boldness of my jewellery is instantly powerful, creating a positive impact on the women that wear them. Styling with simplicity without having to reinvent the wheel time and time again is a key part of my brand.”
Each piece is designed to be timeless and seasonless, with low stock levels for less waste - something Sara was really passionate about after spending many years working behind the scenes for big brands over the years and seeing firsthand how damaging the fashion world had become.
“BYSARACHRISTIE is about investing in pieces that you are going to love and cherish, and wear for years to come. That, for me, is the best way to invest. It also builds into that idea of practising being sustainable which is really important to me. I always encourage people to buy less and to invest in better. My collections aren't new-in all the time. Instead, I’m all about keeping the collection really tight and purposeful.”
It's about representation, authenticity, and empowerment. I wanted to show up, to be seen, to be heard, and to stand for something greater than myself
Serving as a reminder of the values of empowerment and strength that BYSARACHRISTIE pieces champion, considered thought has also been given to what each piece or collection is called too, with names such as ‘Mighty Rebel’, ‘The Boss’ and ‘The Queendom’. Meanwhile, other collections take their name from Sara’s close ties to family, with examples including ‘Warrior’, an homage to Sara’s mum, and ‘The Duchess’, a modern take on a pearl necklace, named in honour of Sara’s grandma Speedy, who was always seen sporting a pearl necklace of her own.
Explaining more, Sara says, “When we first launched, I made sure to think about the names given to each piece. It was all about bringing in that language to resonate with some of our customers. You’ve got ‘Grace’ which is all about having more grace, less fear and ‘Clutch Control’ which is about taking control of life, for example.”
She adds: “Then you also have The Waste Not, Want Not collection which was about making something from nothing, just as my grandparents would have done. They didn't just rebuy. So that's where that collection came from. It was about collecting all the leftovers from the made to order pieces and creating something special.”
Over the past few years since Sara first made the decision to launch BYSARACHRISTIE, her pieces have cultivated a huge following, attracting much interest from a range of global celebrities and high end buyers. Her career highlights include securing a spot at the iconic Bond Street Fenwick department store when the brand first launched before expanding to four other Fenwick stores across the UK.
What started off as a way to celebrate her story while encouraging others to be brave enough to live theirs, has now turned into a hugely successful independent Nottingham grown label with stockists across the UK. But for Sara, the core of the brand will always stand for empowerment, authenticity and family.
Check out Sara’s iconic pieces at bysarachristie.com and read an extended chat with Sara on the LeftLion website.
nottingHam Food tours on a roll
A new treat for cuisine connoisseurs in town is EAT: Nottingham Food Tours. Our two intrepid Food Editors, Julia and Lucy, take a wander through the streets of Nottingham to sample some of the best food the city has to offer - and along the way, they uncover historic tales that bring Nottingham’s past to life.
Twelve strangers gather at a Nottingham city centre meeting point, waiting for our host to arrive and take us on a food tour through the streets of Nottingham. We know where we are going, but exactly what we will be eating remains a mystery.
Leigh Campbell runs EAT: Nottingham Food Tours, which offers a gastronomic journey through the city, stopping at six independent venues to sample some of the best food Nottingham has to offer. As the first food tour of its kind in Nottingham, you’ll also learn about the city’s rich history, hear inspiring stories from its business owners, and, of course, enjoy some delicious food along the way.
When asked what inspired her to start a food tour in Nottingham, Leigh said: “Whenever I go on holiday, I book a food tour for my first evening. I get to fully experience the food scene and immerse myself in the culture, and it's always my favourite part of the holiday.
“After running The Nottingham Bucket List blog for nearly ten years, it's safe to say I'm fully immersed in Nottingham's food scene. There are so many incredible businesses to show off, and a food tour is the perfect way for both visitors and locals to get the true flavour of Nottingham in one afternoon.”
I’m joined by our new Food Co-Editor, Lucy Campion, and after some nervous yet excited introductions among the guests, we make our way to the first stop just around the corner: Pizzamisu, an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in Nottingham’s historic Lace Market.
Since we still have five stops to go, we don't want to fill up too much on carbs and cheese—a difficult but necessary sacrifice for the greater good of the tour. Our guide has chosen well, starting us off with the light, fluffy dough of traditional Neapolitan pizza. We each get two slices, just enough to whet the appetite, along with a quick demonstration on the best way to eat Neapolitan pizza (cut with a knife and fork and folded over, for those who don’t know!).
Between the lively chatter amongst the group, I ask our host how she came to choose each restaurant and why: “The first thing I wanted to make sure of is that I was featuring independent restaurants on the tour,” she tells me, emphasising the importance of supporting local independent businesses in the current climate. “I wasn't about to lead a tour group over to Pizza Express!” she adds, laughing.
Getting into a deep discussion over our slices of pizza about Nottingham, a subject we are both enthusiastic about, she tells me: “The culinary scene is by far my favourite thing about Nottingham. We're a city that is overflowing with taste and talent and it sometimes feels like you'll never get around to trying it all.”
By joining a tour, you don't have to commit yourself to just one restaurant. Instead, you get to experience six of the city’s best independent venues, and hopefully find yourself a new favourite. “If I can help people to see more of our city, I'll be happy,” she adds.
Our second stop takes us through the back streets of the Lace Market, with a short pause at St Mary’s Church for a brief history lesson and some fascinating tales of Nottingham’s Lace mills. Just around the corner, we’re led down some stairs to an underground hideaway and find ourselves in a vibey Spanish tapas bar, ViDa by Lorentes.
This is for the purists who insist on traditional Spanish tapas, and that’s exactly what you’ll get here. After all, the owner, Vincenzo, is from Valencia, and takes his stuff seriously, cooking dishes that date back to his childhood. We’re treated to a selection of tapas, including their famous paella, and a jug of sangria awaits us at the table, which our group happily cheers with.
The venues Leigh has chosen are a mix of her personal favourites and places that she believes would give people a great tour experience and the chance to discover somewhere they might not have tried otherwise. For now, I’m told the venues for future tours will remain the same, with plans later in the year to run a second, weekday tour featuring different venues.
We’re ready for our third stop on the tour, and it’s at one of my favourite restaurants in Nottingham: Mesa, a small fusion plates restaurant in the heart of Hockley. Here, we sample creamy burrata, focaccia that the group comments is the best they’ve ever tried, and chargrilled Hispi cabbage, while the meat eaters of the group get to try the legendary Mesa cheeseburger. If you know, you know.
Our group is delirious with food and drink by now, as we all huddle together to toast Leigh on an incredibly successful launch
By now, after three courses, we are all in the mood for something sweet, so a stop at Studio Chocolate is on the cards. Located on Thurland Street, close to Market Square, the studio is run by the lovely Ellie, a chocolatier who studied Patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu London. Ellie delivers a wonderful introduction to chocolate tasting, where we get to sample seven different types of chocolate, ranging from 100% cocoa to white. This part of the tour is also really interactive and gets everyone talking and sharing their opinions on what matters most in the world - chocolate.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be overjoyed to end the afternoon with something savoury: cheese. Our final food stop takes us to Nottingham’s renowned Delilah Fine Foods, a deli that is a stone’s throw from Market Square, with an impressive cheese counter. The deli is housed in a grade II listed beautiful former banking hall, and we enjoy our cheese platter on the mezzanine overlooking the shop.
The final crescendo takes us on a short walk back to Hockley to cocktail bar 31K for a night (or afternoon in our case) cap. If you haven’t yet tried the masterpiece that is the Crème Brulé cocktail, you haven’t experienced true happiness. Our group is delirious with food and drink by now, as we all huddle together to toast Leigh on an incredibly successful launch.
Before we bid our farewells, I quickly grab her to ask her how she has found the whole experience, moving from casual food blogger to businesswoman. “I've been so blown away by how supportive and enthusiastic all the venues involved have been. Not only is our culinary scene gorgeously tasty, it's also so friendly and accommodating of people who are new to it,” she says. “To go from reviewing Nottingham's food businesses to trying to run one myself has been a bizarre transition, but I already feel so supported by the community.”
Cheers to that! More tour dates are being added soon, with the next one due to take place in July.
@thenottinghambucketlist
Good to know:
Price: £75 pp
Duration: Four hours
Stops: Six
Number of guests: Twelve
Dietary requirements: Meat and vegetarian for now, but vegan options are
words and photos: Julia Head
Gay-bourhoods
It has long been established that Broad Street is Nottingham’s official queer area complete with the rainbow crossings to prove it. Home to Lord Roberts, Rough Trade, Broadway, the Transgender clinic and health shop, it has the highest number of queer and queer adjacent businesses and support services. It hasn’t always been the only queer area of Nottingham throughout the decades… Here’s a brief history of queer spots in Notts.
Broadmarsh area
Heading down Broadmarsh direction may not conjure up the image of queer nightlife but in the 1970s it was a different story. The shopping centre built in 1975 separated two nightclubs, Marios on Stanford Street and La Chic on Canal Street on the other.
La Chic opened in 1973 offering a glitzy, sophisticated two-storey disco complete with restaurant upstairs. Part owner, John Glover, a builder, even added a sauna to the upper floors. The nightclub had the distinction of being the first club in the UK with a licence solely for gay and lesbian people. Glover’s family also ran the Newshouse on Canal Street which became an unofficial queer drinking spot before the club opened.
Mario’s outlasted La Chic which closed in 1977. As clubbers entered, they were greeted by drag queen Vicki La Plume, and would need to have a meal before they could go into the club. Marios played a mix of disco, and Motown with regular performers.
In more recent times, Canal House held a lesbian disco in the upstairs room called ‘Fannies’ in the noughties. The last queer club in the Canal/ Broadmarsh area was Downtown 64 which opened in 2016 in the Irish centre before moving to Saltbox.
Lace Market gay quarter
As La Chic closed, another club owner saw a gap in the market for a new queer venue. The Sandpiper, better known as a live music or punk venue, had a brief stint as an LGBT+ club which proved to be unprofitable. When it became a live music venue, the transgender musician Jayne County played there twice commanding one of the highest fees the Sandpiper had ever paid.
In the late 80s and early 90s, Mick’s bar (later Steve’s bar) became a lesbian hang-out. A small dive bar, it had an unlicensed jukebox that would need to be switched off at certain times to avoid detection. It was well known for its pool tables and was also a spot to pick up a copy of the free newspaper, Pink Paper. Steve was eventually caught for not having a music licence and brought to court, which may have been the end of the bar.
Propaganda opened its doors in the famous Birkin building in 2009. A chain nightclub, it instantly rivalled NG1 as the place to be. Later, the club opened Fuel and Foundation at the side of the building with all three places connected by doors and hallways. The team were savvy enough to lean on locals drag acts to work at the club, including as shot girls.
Fuel and Foundation did not work out in the long run, closing less than a year later. However, there were other nightclubs attempting to make a go of it. F.A.G, Club Unique and Broadway (different from the cinema) all opened in the 2010s. The allure of the clubs and bars in close proximity gave established venues such as @AD2, NG1 and Central a run for their money. After all, you could fall out of one bar into Propaganda where, on a Wednesday, drinks could be as cheap as £1. Propaganda became the last club standing amid a sea of apartments and offices, eventually closing in 2020.
Mansfield Road
Mansfield Road has one of the strongest, and longest-running, queer histories. It starts with early drag performers at the Forest Tavern in the 1880s. Lola and Francis were described as ‘female impersonators.’
Fast forwarding to the 1960s, the Bamboo Coffee Shop opened amid a craze for espresso as the new machines made their way to Britain. After the pubs closed, the coffee bars absorbed those looking to continue the night, including a queer clientele. The Bamboo was a favourite often with a long queue outside once people made their way up the hill from The Flying Horse Inn on Cheapside. It wasn’t unusual to see a drag queen or two smoking outside or hanging out near the jukebox.
Into the seventies, the Lesbian and Gay Switchboard operated out of a room in the NCVS building. It provided a drop-in space and a phone line where volunteers could offer advice. If you made it up the flights of stairs, you could also pick up a copy of Gay News. Volunteers would often pop over to The Roebuck for a drink after a shift. The Roebuck was a rough and ready pub run by lesbian landlady, Maxi. Maxi would take out adverts in Gay News asking customers to let her know if they were gay, as she was too.
In the late 80s/90s, The Forest Tavern regained its queer clientele as it was taken over by lesbian couple, Mary and Vickie. It became THE place to go, possibly because it had pool tables which encouraged competitive games among the women. Not only that but it held meetings from queer groups such as the writing group, Pink Ink. The pub changed ownership in the late 90s eventually becoming The Maze. Notts Activist Wellness and 15:25 Collective would later host an alternative queer Pride party called ‘Happy Birthday Mamma Marsha’ in honour of Marsha P. Johnson, who is believed to have started the Stonewall riots.
Further up the road, The New Carrington Inn also became a queer pub for a brief period in 2010. Despite advertising in the Pride and Gai Guide booklets, it failed to work out. Although some Pride committee meetings were held there.
The Bamboo Coffee Shop opened
amid a craze for espresso as the new machines made their way to Britain.
After the pubs closed, the coffee bars absorbed those looking to continue the night, including a queer clientele
Huntingdon Street
Huntington Street was home to Love Zoo/Lost Weekend in the late 90s and early 00s. This mixed club welcomed everyone queer or straight as long as they loved dance music. The ‘anything goes’ club had a lot of queer staff, from bouncers to DJs to those working the door. It often had a long queue of clubbers desperate to get in. Although not a dedicated queer venue, it was gay-friendly and had several transgender regulars.
Next door, The Foresters Inn also had a brief period as a queer space in the 1990s. It’s not known how far back the queer history goes with this venue. It was a short walk from Gatsby’s which was run by Hilda Bradley from 1983 until 2001. Although it had several name changes, Central, Niche… the pub remained a queer space. It was also a valuable pre-drinking spot for NG1 in its later years.
words: CJ DeBarra illustration: Veronica Nilsson
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
photo: Phil Langley
News is normally negative, but here’s a short round up of nice things that have happened in Notts in the last month
Over on Old Market Square we had the delightful Green Hustle Festival in June. Growing year on year through the collective efforts of 113 green-fingered organisations, volunteers and creatives looking to make an impact on this year's theme of 'Common Ground'. The one day event saw 26,000 visitors pass through, with over 1,500 plants planted in the square's beds or given away, 13 new local artworks on the planters, and 650 pay-as-youfeel meals served. Head down to admire their work or get involved at greenhustle.co.uk!
Sherwood is certainly one of the city’s most creative districts, with a growing amount of street art and pops of colour adorning the streets. In late June the area celebrated their annual Art Week, which saw the shops embrace the work of local artists in their windows. The cherry on top was the unveiling of a stunning new mosaic mural The Sherwood Tree of Knowledge by Anna Dixon, which now proudly sits outside Sherwood Business Centre next to the phone box library.
If you like your garms ethical, check out the new clothing line, Framework Fashion, from Nottingham’s homelessness charity. The bespoke range of T-shirts, hoodies, jumpers and bags are made with natural and organic materials, printed on-demand in order to reduce waste, and all profits go to support people facing homelessness and other complex needs across Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Sheffield.
Toliet Humour
My first is a woman
And a boy in part
My second is to natter
My third of the heart
In the trees of the east
They thought me outrageous
But perhaps my affair
Was a little outrageous
TRUTH OR LEGEND?
THE CASE OF THE ARBORETUM
The year that the author of the acclaimed children’s novel Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie spent writing for the Nottingham Journal, in 1883, is a big point of interest for people interested in literature and urban legend. At 23, the Scottish writer moved from Edinburgh to Nottingham, where he lived at Birkland Avenue. Every day he would walk to the Nottingham Journal offices, at Pelham Street, and write anonymous, often controversial opinion columns for the paper.
For most urban legend fanatics however, the interesting part of this story is not Barrie’s job at the time, but his journey to work everyday which took him through Nottingham Arboretum. The century-long rumours say that the park was the inspiration for Neverland: the setting for Peter Pan, which appeared on the London stage in 1904 and was published as a novel in 1911.
Walking around the Arboretum, you can certainly imagine the mind of a young writer going into overdrive encountering the strange combination of looted Crimean War cannons, a lake near the road, a flower garden and 65 different species of tree crammed against each other at the heart of a city.
Today, the cannons surrounding a bell tower are still one of the Arboretum’s most striking features, even though the original bell taken from China in the 1850s Opium War, was in 1956 moved to a museum in Preston. Two of the cannons are the original weapons captured in the Crimean War. We could definitely speculate on how JM Barrie passed these looming guns on his way to work and perhaps imagined pirate ships in the middle of a forest, seeding the idea of Captain Hook and his villainous pirate crew pursuing Peter Pan and the Lost Boys through the trees.
Further below the bell tower, the Arboretum Lake was a central part of the park’s original design botanist Samuel Curtis, with water supplied by a nearby reservoir on St Anne’s Hill. When Barrie was writing Peter Pan, years after living near to the Arboretum, he very likely could have thought back to the decorative fountain at the centre and blossom trees overlooking the water’s edge, when he wrote about the mysterious mermaid lagoon that Peter Pan encounters early in the story.
We of course can’t say for certain how inspired Barrie was by his time living in Notts, when he wrote Peter Pan after moving to London, but it’s to speculate all-the-same as history is everywhere, even in the most subtle and unexpected places.
words: Caradoc Gayer
BEST OF THE MONTH
Waterfront Festival
When: Sat 6 July
Where: The Canalhouse
How much: £8.80
Chill by the water in one of the city’s most unique pubs whilst being entertained by four stages of music. Playing at the Waterfront this year are Bored Marsh, Baby Tap, Sancho Panza, Dusty 4 Track plus loads more. For those who like to get in the festival spirit the costume theme is simple - hats! Big hats, brash hats, top hats, bottom hats and everything in between! Now in its twelfth year, the festival has previously raised over 30K for charities, with this year’s profits going to Emmanuel House and The Music Venue Trust.
Soapbox Science
When: Sat 13 July
Where: Speaker’s Corner
How much: Free
Soapbox Science returns to bring cutting-edge science to Nottingham city centre, in an accessible, fun, free and unintimidating way. The idea is simple - from 11am at the Brian Clough statue, a group of twelve inspirational women and nonbinary scientists present short talks from the world of science, technology, medicine and engineering. Head down to see what they have to teach, blow your mind with some amazing facts and go home with bags of knowledge.
Sneinton Festival When: Sat 6Sun 14 July
Where: Various venues
How much:
Celebrating forty years this year, the Sneinton Festival returns with a week of community fun. Throughout the week, events include The Great Sneinton Bake Off, a tour by the curator of the William Booth Birthplace Museum, a garden party and an afternoon of retro gaming, before the main carnival day on Saturday 13 July. This year’s theme is ‘There’s no place like home’expect live music, drumming circles, dancing, stalls and lots more. Check out the website for more information.
When: Thurs 11- Wed 17 July
Where: Various venues around Mansfield
How much: Various prices
Described as ‘a carnival of neurodiverse creative expression’, this week-long arts and culture festival looks to smash the stigma and segregation that learning disabled and autistic people face. Beginning with a Learning Disability conference, there’s also theatre, comedy, talks, workshops and music to enjoy, with an excellent line up featuring acts such as Girlband, the Petebox, Charity Shop Sue, Rob Green and more. Open to everyone to learn and celebrate difference.
Under the Rainbow Exhibition
When: Thurs 25 July - Sun 4 August
Where: Broadway How much: Free
Presenting an array of vivid and positive depictions of culture, life and love, of a community that not only survived, but thrived in the face of discrimination, this exhibition brings together documents and artefacts from five decades of the LGBTQI+ community. See items from Nottingham’s Sparrows’ Nest Archive and photographs from photojournalist Alan Lodge. Accompanying the exhibition is a talk by CJ DeBarra at the Central Library on 1 August where the Nottingham panels of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will also be displayed.
Sunsets, nostalgia and a little sprinkling of bohemian magic, Boho Festival is an intimate family-friendly festival taking place within the scenic woodland of the Millview camping and events site. With Martin Kemp throwing an 80s party to kick start the weekend and a disco yurt to dance the night away in over the three days, Boho festival is the ultimate forest party. With tribute acts, wellness classes, bouncy castles and much more, there’s not a dull moment to be had.
LeftLion Live Podcasts
When: Fri 12 July | 6pm
Where: Nottingham Central Library
How much: Free
In a new series of events, we at LeftLion will be hosting a series of live interviews with some of Nottingham's most prolific creatives. Our first guest, THePETEBOX, is a live looping human beatbox artist and multiinstrumentalist who has gained global notoriety as an innovator of loop pedal created music. We’ll be speaking to Pete about his two decades in the music industry, from winning BBC Radio 1 Beatbox Championships in 2005 to his recent success as a semi-finalist on ITV’s The Voice UK, and the talk will be followed by a Petebox performance.
Nottingham Pride
When: Saturday 27 July
Where: Various venues How much: Free
Don your glitter, dig out your most colourful attire and join the march for a day of celebrating Notts' LGBTQI+ community. The march begins in Hockley at Carlton Street at 11am and has a new end point in Sneinton Market where there'll be an eclectic roster of live music and performances on the Pride main stage. Meanwhile, the second stage at Hockley will also feature music from live DJs at Broadway's mezzanine bar, with other events taking place at the New Foresters, Rough Trade, and The Angel Microbrewery.
