Fri 21st Feb 10pm-3am Cirque Du Soul: Fish56octagon
Fri 28th Feb 6.30pm-10pm Notts Pride Winter Ball
Sat 1st Mar 3pm-10pm R&B Mania
Fri 7th Mar 7pm-11.30pm Discos for Grown Ups
Sat 8th Mar 5pm-10.30pm Ashton Promotions: EBF Boxing
COMING SOON
Fri 25th Apr 6pm-11pm Bongo’s Bingo Sun 4th May 10pm-4am Pink Coconut Reunion Sun 25th May 1pm-11pm Dot To Dot Festival 2025 Fri 13th Jun 6.30pm-10pm Chemical Brothers v Daft Punk Experience
Sat 15th Mar 3pm-8pm Day Fever Fri 21st Mar 6pm-11pm Bongo’s Bingo Sat 22nd Mar 4pm Ultra White Collar Boxing Sun 23rd Mar 3pm Ultra MMA Fri 28th Mar 6pm-11pm Bongo’s Bingo Sat 29th Mar 3pm-10pm The Road to Nashville Fri 4th Apr 6.30pm-10pm Pretendulum vs Flint Fire Sat 5th Apr 6pm-11pm Bongo’s Bingo Fri 11th Apr 6.30pm-10pm The Fillers Sat 12th Apr 6pm-11pm Bongo’s Bingo Sun 20th Apr 6pm-12am The Palais Northern Soul Club Fri 27th Jun 6.30pm-10pm WHAM!DURAN Sat 20th Sep 6pm-10pm One Night In Nashville Sat 4th Oct 6.30pm-10pm Moving Pictures (A Tribute to Rush) Sat 11th Oct 10pm-3am PorkPie
Credits
Commun-Al Alan Gilby (alan.gilby@leftlion.co.uk)
Partnerships Manager Adam Pickering (adam.pickering@leftlion.co.uk)
Head Designer Natalie Owen (natalie.owen@leftlion.co.uk)
Music Co-Editor Karl Blakesley (music@leftlion.co.uk)
History Editor CJ DeBarra (history@leftlion.co.uk)
Community Editor Rose Mason (community@leftlion.co.uk)
Photography Co-Editor Sam Tariq (photography@leftlion.co.uk)
Distribution Dom Martinovs
Charlotte Jopling
Emma Ford
Fred Glenister
Arsenic & Old Lace
Manuel Harlan
David Hammond
Heather Kirk
Illustrators
Beth Gillespie
Emily Catherine
Zarina Teli
Jim Brown
Featured Contributor
Adam Pickering has covered a lot of bases since he officially joined the LeftLion team in the halcyon days of October 2019; Partnerships Manager, Environment Editor, office DJ, gardener, resident pizza chef and pun-supplier. However, he's really been part of the LeftLion family since founding Hockley Hustle back in 2006.
Other things he’s made happen recently include co-founding Green Hustle and Resolve Notts. The man is bleddy everywhere! Alas, Adam is moving on from his permanent role with us after this month to a new job putting the people back in Hockley’s 275 year old Grade II* listed People’s Hall and to begin life as an academic researcher. We’re sure it’s more of a case of “see you later” than “goodbye”.
123 Learning, 35A Creative, Alan Underwood, Alex McFarlane, Alison Gove-Humphries, Alison Hedley, Alison Knox, Anamenti, Andrew Cooper, Anne Johnson, Ant Haywood, Audrey & Lizzy & Margot, BadGrammar MakesMeSic, Barbara Morgan, Ben Martin Saxophone, Ben Stewart, Big Bob McPlop, Cat Kearney, Cerys Gibson, Chris Jarvis, Chris Underwood, Claire Foss, Clare Foyle, Colin Tucker, Cyra Golijani-Moghaddam, Dan Hemmings, David Knight, Dominic Morrow, Donna RoweMerriman, Eden PR, Erika Diaz Petersen, Fallowed, F C and E Ledger, Gemma Barfoot, Graye Wilde, Half Moon Holistics, Harry Sutcliffe, Harry Turner, Hayley Howard, Heather Oliver, Holden Johnson, Holly's Merry Moggies, Ian Carroll, Ian Phillips, Ian Storey, Ian Yanson, James Place, James Verran, Jane Dodge, Janine Lees, Jean Forsey, John Haslam, John Hess, John Holmes, John Kelsey, John & Jackie Scruton, Jonathan Day, Joshua Heathcote, Julian Bower, Julian McDougall, Justyn Roberts, Kay Gilby, Kaye Brennan, Kayzi, Kiki Dee the Cat, Lawrence Poole, Laura Wilson, Leigh Woosey, Lilian Greenwood, Livi & Jacob Nieri, Louise Duffield, Louise Obuchowski, Marc Weaver, Mark, Mark Barratt, Mark Bond, Mark Gasson, Mark Jacobs, Matthew Riches & Justin Clark, MC, Mike Carter, Miri Debah, Monica White, Nic, Nick Palmer, Nigel Cooke, Nigel King, NottingJam Orchestra, Paul, Paul Boast, Pearl Quick, Philip Renshaw, Rachel Ayrton, Rachel Morton, Raphael Achache, Richard Donovan, Richard Goodwin, Rob Arthur, Rose Harvey, Roy Manterfield, Russell Brown, Ruth Hoyland, Saara Maqbool, Sally Longford, Sam Hudson, Sam Stiling, Sandra Pink, Sarah Manton, Selectadisc, Simon Evans, The Sparrows’ Nest, Steve Benton, Steve Holland, Steve Lyon, Steve Wallace, Sue Barsby, The Edgar Family, TeaBag, Tom Huggon, Tracey Newton, Vanessa Shaw, Will Horton, Wonderbee PR, Richard Donovan.
Fancy seeing your name (or the name of your band, small business, loved one, pet etc) in this mag every month? It only costs a fiver and the money supports this magazine. Plus you get all kinds of other treats too.
and queer experiences through poetry and creativity.
Gates of Tomorrow
All round creative force of nature Tiffany Jade tells us about her work at Fisher Gate Point, and its upcoming launch party on International Women’s Day.
Upton Girl Nottingham-born playwright Jane Upton talks about her new play (the) Woman, on show at the Nottingham Playhouse this month.
A Foster Carer in Notts
A local couple speak about the experience of fostering children with help from Foster for East Midlands.
Market Economy
In advance of Ay-Up Market later this month, we look at how the stallholder market model could help revitalize independent retail.
They were Roommates
History Editor CJ De Barra explores the hidden histories and stories linked with the objects displayed at Nottingham Castle’s new LGBTQ+ Walking Tour.
Greetings LeftLion readers, and welcome to March! As the light slowly creeps back into the evenings it feels like glimmers of Spring are finally showing, and I hope everyone gets to enjoy a bit of sun on their skin after this arduous winter.
This month we have been inspired by some of our community hubs, from creative magic happening at Fisher Gate Point (p.14) to the greenery flourishing at Bulwell Forest Garden (p.33). As new spaces blossom however, others find themselves struggling. We were particularly saddened to hear that the legendary Marcus Garvey Centre has been ordered to close - turn to p.12 to hear from some of the tenants about what the building means to them and why they are fighting to keep it open.
We also celebrate International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March. Head to p.37 to read about a new initiative in Beeston to commemorate women in our local history with blue plaques, or read about Jane Upton’s new play about life as a mother, (the) Woman, over on p.17.
Under the Limelight
We go backstage at The Lace Market Theatre to learn about the workings of an independent theatre and the challenges they face as a volunteer community.
A Place Forest
We speak to the volunteers at Bulwell Forest Garden about the site’s founding back in 2011 and the impact that it’s had since on the local community.
Herstory retold
We learn more about the Beeston Lady Plaques initiative, a project that seeks to redefine our understanding of important women in Nottingham’s history.
Calling Sister Midnight
Local producers Alastair Clark and Anna Griffin speak about their brand new film
Sister Midnight: a fable about the female experience, set in Mumbai.
Bake it ‘til you make it
We meet the co-founders of Mapperley’s Coosh Bakery, who tell us about the origins of their well loved neighbourhood eatery.
Regular columnist and Labour MP Nadia Whittome talks about the history of this important day on p.11, and reveals how the government’s Employment Rights Bill will help tackle workplace inequality and the gender pay gap, among other issues.
Lastly, a few updates from LeftLion HQ. This month’s lovely whimsical cover was created by our in-house Designer, Natalie, who celebrates her 100th issue - happy centenary Nat! We also sadly say goodbye to our longstanding Partnerships (and puns) Manager Adam, who is moving on to exciting new pastures in Nottingham (notice the heron on the cover: a sculpture installed on Wilford Street by Adam’s own Green Hustle festival!). Lastly, a big thank you to all of our section editors, illustrators and contributors, without whom this magazine would not be what it is! Don’t forget, if you have a creative itch to scratch or a story to tell, we are always happy to hear from you.
Best wishes until next time,
Centre of the Community
We speak to the individuals fighting for the future of the Marcus Garvey Centre, a cultural hub for Nottingham’s Black community, as it faces closure.
Blue Therapy
The founders of wild swimming group Whole Health, at Colwick Park, tell us about the fast expanding appeal of this therapeutic pastime.
Following the Rabbit Notts based writer Dr Hongwei Bao talks about his newly published book and how he represents both diasporic
“I don’t really hate him, but I just wish he was dead and I could watch his mother cry at his funeral.”
“There’s that odd man across the road. Sleazy Stu!”
in“YehIjustwalkaround slippersthesedays.”
"Can everyone just please start listening in Nottingham."
"You can itcommunismsaybecause is communism, in a good way."
"I don't really wear clothes with organs on them."
“Sweet
nutty cheese cabbages.”
Person one: “What happened to you? You were so full of life!”
Person two: “No I wasn’t!”
"I like comedy.stand-up It's a laugh."
Pick Six
For this month’s Pick Six, we spoke to music promoter and 97.5 Kemet FM radio presenter Rastarella. Her organisation Cultural Vibrations (Unity Through Music) are curating the music programming at this month’s Ay-Up Market in the Old Market Square.
Book: A Deep Breath Of Life by Alan Cohen
This book has been a daily read of mine for about six years now. Each page is dedicated to a different date of the year, with an inspirational short story followed by a short quote for you to read and take into each new day. I find that it gives me a few minutes each morning to set my mindset in a positive tone for the day and helps me reflect on my past experience. This is not a self help book but more a daily reminder to have an attitude to gratitude and live in the moment.
Song: Your Spirit by Tasha Cobbs Leonard
One of my favourite songs and my daily meditation in music form!I find gospel music extremely uplifting and heart nourishing. This song and its lyrics, hits the spot. I consider myself to be a very spiritual person (rather than religious) and I do believe deeply in a higher power. This song resonates with me due to what I have overcome in my life and my deep rooted belief in holding on to faith rather than surrendering to fear.
A personal hero: Dr Maya Angelou I have loved the work of poet and civil rights activist Dr Maya Angelou since I was a teenager in the 90s. I first came across her while watching the Oprah Winfrey Show where I heard her speak about her abusive childhood and it resonated deeply within me. She was a survivor just like me. From that point onwards I have read her books and been inspired by her words and resilient commanding spirit. My favourite poems of hers are Phenomenal Woman, A Brave and Startling Truth and Still I Rise
Some
rich alien
has probably purchased our star in the
sky
Holiday destination: Tobago
My favourite place in the whole world that I continue to visit time and time again is Tobago, which is the smaller twin sister island of my country of birth, Trinidad. It is a very much a slow-paced, chilled and unspoiled island in the southern Caribbean. There are no big resorts and the island is still very much the place to experience simple island life surrounded by beautiful beaches, greenery and really friendly locals. My dream is to one day own a holiday home in Tobago. I love the vibe of the island. Capital T for Tranquil!
Notts Spot: Eden Hall Day Spa
My favourite place is Eden Hall Day Spa in Elston, near Newark. I love going on their spa days because you can enter from 9am and stay until 6pm. One of my favourite things to do in life is to relax and spend time in peaceful surroundings, Eden Hall ticks all my boxes. It’s not too far from my home in St Anns and the facilities are top notch and it never ever feels too busy or rushed. This is my go to place to simply reset and take a break from my daily busy life.
Meal: Chef’s Hut Jamaican Takeaway
A favourite for many members of the Jamaican diaspora in Notts, Chef’s Hut is run by Chef Mikey who is originally from Kingston, Jamaica. Selling a variety of well known dishes with no compromise on the authentic taste and seasoning of his food, his takeaway is a popular place for Caribbean folk as well as many locals. The vegan section is delicious and portion sizes are very good value. You can eat in and children portion sizes are available. I am from Trinidad but when I eat from Chef’s Hut, I do feel slightly Jamaican inside: that’s how good his food is. Yeah man!
words: Dani Bacon
Alan Kurdi (2012-2015)
like a sea lion, stranded on a sandy beach like a seabird, wings broken after a heavy storm like a sailor, falling asleep after a long voyage he lies there still facing the ocean, limbs stretched wet shirt and shorts glued to the body in colours of red, white and blue his ears erect, listening to booming sounds of the bombs falling on his home city waves of the Mediterranean Sea screams of men, women and children on the raft singing of the mermaid deep under the sea newsreaders repeatedly reporting yet another tragedy on yet another day
words: Hongwei Bao
Read our interview with Hongwei on page 32.
nottinghampoetryfestival.com
UNDERCOVER ARTIST
Our March cover artist is LeftLion’s own Natalie Owen. Here she tells us a little about what inspired her whimsical canalside illustration for this month’s cover…
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m Natalie, the Head Designer at LeftLion magazine. I was thrilled to take on the cover for this issue because it marks a huge milestone for me - this is my 100th issue! I first joined LeftLion on issue 71, and this year also happens to be my 10th anniversary with the magazine. I took maternity leave in 2022, so I’ve only counted the issues I’ve actively worked on - otherwise, my 100th issue would have been issue 171!
What is the story behind the cover?
For this cover, I wanted to create something whimsical and vibrant—something that would draw people in with a sense of wonder. After chatting with the lovely Sophie, she suggested illustrating a scene based on a location in Nottingham. Inspired by this idea, I took a stroll through town on my lunch break, letting my surroundings guide me.
I eventually wandered down to the canal near the train station, and it felt like stepping into a completely different world. The contrast between the peaceful waterside and the bustling, concrete-filled city was striking. Discovering this quiet, almost hidden space in the middle of a busy day felt like a little win - a reminder to pause and appreciate the beauty around us.
The little girl on the cover is a tribute to International Women’s Day in March, symbolizing strength, curiosity, and possibility. She’s also inspired by my own daughter, Silvia, making this illustration even more special to me.
What inspires you as an artist?
Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers on...
The Marcus Garvey Centre
What a fantastic building! We went in there when it was part of the Raleigh empire as our sister had a job there working in the offices. It’s so sad to see these community spaces at threat nowadays. Surely it’s obvious that if the council keeps closing down these community spaces then it will seriously affect people and their physical and mental health, and just make things much worse than they already are.
International Women's Day
There’s a lot of brilliant women from Nottingham. But one who often goes under the radar is Dame Stella Rimington. She was the head of MI5 you know? She went to Nottingham Girls High school and I think she’s written a few novels since. We’d also like to mention all the brilliant lady vicars we have around the city.
Wild Swimming
We have three or four friends who do it at Colwick Park. They love it and they must be totally demented to do so. It’s brave of them though and we’re all for it. It’s particularly good that they all club together to get a lifeguard on site while they’re doing it. We’ve considered doing it ourselves, but it’s cold enough in the shop to be honest.
I'm deeply inspired by fantasy-based artwork - there’s something magical about escaping into whimsical, imaginative worlds. I’m a kid at heart, and the early Disney illustrations have always captivated me with their charm, storytelling, and timeless artistry.
Tell us about some things you’ve worked on in the past…
The last cover I designed for LeftLion was a fusion of photography and digital illustration. I took photos at Tank Space and combined them with my artwork to create a Disney Villain-inspired cover, with Ursula as the central character.
If you’ve ever walked past the LeftLion office and noticed the lion with the vibrant, colorful mane - that was one of my illustrations too! More recently, I also created the Adam Johnson tribute illustration for the Nottingham Panthers, which went viral - a truly humbling experience.
Do you have any tricks for getting started and staying inspired as a creative?
Keep drawing, snapping photos, and creating - every piece you make is a step forward! The more you create, the more you learn and grow over time. I always have to remind myself to take a break from the busyness of the day and just create something purely for the joy of it!
If you could sit down and chat with any artist in your field, who would it be and what would you talk about?
I’m absolutely obsessed with Gretel Lusky! She’s an incredibly talented Argentinian illustrator whose artistic style aligns perfectly with my own tastes. Like me, she grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series and classic Disney films, which makes me feel such a connection to her work. I would love the chance to chat with her about our shared inspirations!
Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers?
Take your time - there’s no need to rush! Slow down, breathe, and truly appreciate the beauty around you. It’s easy to get caught up in the fast pace of everyday life, but there’s something special about pausing to take it all in. The Nottingham Canal, in particular, is a hidden gem - a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Whether you're taking a leisurely stroll, sitting by the water, or simply admiring the reflections on the surface, it’s a place that invites you to slow down and enjoy the moment.
[Q @natalieowendesign
Nadia on...
International Women's day
International Women’s Day is seldom remembered today for its radical roots. In a sea of social media posts about personal empowerment or campaigns that serve as a marketing opportunity for businesses, it’s easy to forget International Women’s Day started as a demand for women’s liberation in the form of better workers' rights and social justice. This year, I’d like to reflect on this important history and welcome the government’s Employment Rights Bill as a step towards the real gender equality those early activists fought for.
On 28 February 1909, during the Second Industrial Revolution, the Socialist Party of America organised its first ‘National Woman’s Day’ in New York. One year prior, 15,000 women had marched through New York City demanding better pay, shorter working hours and voting rights. Inspired by this movement, members of the German Social Democratic Party Clara Zetkin and Kate Duncker proposed the establishment of an annual ‘Woman’s Day’ at the 1910 International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen. They wanted to unite women worldwide in the struggle for equal rights. The conference of over a hundred women from seventeen countries unanimously approved the idea, and so the first International Women’s Day was born in the following year.
On 19 March 1911, over a million people observed the first International Women’s Day in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, attending rallies for suffrage and an end to gender discrimination. However, just six days later, the ‘Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire’ in New York City killed more than 146 garment workers, most of whom were Italian and Jewish immigrants. This tragedy drew even more attention to poor working conditions and labour rights in the US, becoming a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events and inspiring the famous Bread and Roses slogan – a call for fair wages and better living conditions.
International Women’s Day changed the course of history. Russian women first campaigned for peace before the outbreak of World War One in 1913. Then, in 1917, after two million Russian soldiers died in the war, the women’s protest sparked the Russian Revolution, which eventually saw the establishment of the Soviet Union. It wasn’t until 1975 that the United Nations first celebrated International Women's Day.
Despite the large political strides made since those early demonstrations towards gender equality, there is still much
work to be done. In 2025, global gender inequality persists in the form of pay gaps, healthcare inequality, the burden of unpaid care and domestic labour, as well as harassment and violence. Unpaid care remains at the heart of women’s economic inequality in the UK, with women carrying out 50% more unpaid work than men.
Factors such as racism, ableism, transphobia, and classism increase the likelihood of experiencing both violence and economic hardship. For example, not only are disabled people among those often hit hardest by cuts to public spending, but disabled women are also disproportionately at risk from all forms of violence and abuse from carers, partners and people in their community.
it’s CruCiaL to remember the history oF internationaL women’s day and the roLe unions and soCiaList moVements haVe pL ayed in seCuring progress – the Fight For equaLity is more than a 24-hour CeLebration
I am pleased to say that our government’s Employment Rights Bill will amend existing employment laws to better protect workers’ rights and improve gender equality. First, the Bill will introduce rights to guaranteed hours for those on zero-hour contracts, with reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for short-notice cancellation. This will provide job security to over half a million women.
Secondly, it provides better access to statutory sick pay (SSP). The new Bill will remove the threshold for eligibility and the three-day wait period. With women more likely to be ineligible for SSP than men due to systemic low pay, this could provide new sick pay rights to 1.5 million women. However, SSP still remains too low in the UK, especially to keep pace with the rising cost of living. In most EU countries, sickness payments are between 70-100% of average wages, while in the UK, this is at a shocking 17%.
Then, there are long overdue protections for pregnancy and maternity discrimination. The Bill will introduce new
protections from dismissal for a woman who is pregnant and for six months after her return to work. Research shows that pregnancy and maternity discrimination is the number one employment law issue with which women seek help. The government must also improve access to legal aid to further progress on this issue. Cuts since 2012 have created significant barriers, especially for women fighting employment discrimination cases.
Finally, there are efforts to reduce the gender pay gap through strengthened reporting, requiring companies to publish the difference in average earnings between men and women each year. The Bill will introduce Equality Action Plans, which will set out how to address gender pay gap issues and support employees going through menopause. The government must follow through on its findings because women earn less per hour than men on average and are more likely to work fewer hours due to unpaid care responsibilities. This gender earnings gap compounds over a lifetime, contributing to a gender pension gap that leaves women with fewer savings and less wealth than men.
Campaigners call on the government to also tackle the root causes of workplace inequality: the lack of quality part-time and flexible work, which hinders women’s progression into higher paid and more senior positions; discriminatory and biased recruitment practices and unpaid caregiving duties outside of the workplace.
The changes the Bill will bring about didn’t happen overnight – they are the result of years of effort by trade unionists and activists fighting for workers' rights and gender equality. That’s why it’s crucial to remember the history of International Women’s Day and the role unions and socialist movements have played in securing progress.
As a lifelong feminist, I know the government can - and must - do more for gender equality. In the meantime, I welcome the Employment Rights Bill and will remain committed to fighting for women’s rights, both in and out of the workplace, alongside activists and trade unionists. Together, we can ensure that the fight for our rights doesn’t just take place on one day, but continues every day of the year.
nadiawhittome.org
words: Nadia Whittome photo: Fabrice Gagos
Centre of the Community
words: Sophie Gargett
photos: Shutterhouse, Sophie Gargett
For over forty years, the Marcus Garvey Centre in Lenton has served as an important cultural hub for the Black community, providing a space for live music, celebrations, educational training, business growth and day care for Black elders. With recent news that the centre is facing closure, LeftLion went down to find out what it means for the community and why it is being fought for.
What comes to mind when we think of the word community? It could be a geographical location, like a neighborhood or city. Or perhaps a shared identity, interest, or goal. Or is it something deeper than semantics can point to? In our individualistic, commercially driven world, communities and the places they convene are undoubtedly something to hold on to; a place for connection and culture, where lives are entwined, help can be found, and history is preserved.
The Marcus Garvey Centre is a true example of this. Many will recognise the formidable brick building in Lenton, or will have heard about an event or other happening there. On my way to chat to its tenants, the taxi driver tells me he has a friend whose company is based at the Garvey. My mum went Ceroc dancing there in the 2000s and a chap I know from the local pub stores equipment for his PA business in the building. However, for over four decades, the beating heart of the centre has been Nottingham’s Black community. Generations of Afro-Caribbean families, friends and figures have used the centre as a place to meet and share their cultural heritage. Now, faced with the threat of closure, that community is wondering where its future will be found.
The centre began as the headquarters for the Raleigh Bicycle Company in 1931, designed by architect Thomas Cecil Howitt. Designated as a Grade II listed in 2018, the building features an expansive 600 capacity events hall and distinctive architectural details, including a frieze of cherubs assembling bicycles and an ‘R’ for Raleigh positioned at the peak of the stage.
Owing to the largely Black workforce at Raleigh, in 1981, the centre, which is based in the Howitt Building at the Lenton Business Centre (LBC), was repurposed and named the Marcus Garvey Centre, in honor of the renowned Black activist and journalist. Allocated as a space for the local Afro-Caribbean community, over the years it has provided all manner of community-based facilities, from recording studios, a creche, and a day care for the elderly, to a place for funerals, celebrations and concerts.
“It's not abnormal for you to meet an elderly person who would say ‘I met my husband or wife at the Marcus Garvey Centre’, because it was a place to go every Saturday or Sunday,” explains Tyron Browne, Secretary at the centre. “In terms of the ballroom, they've had some glorious functions upstairs - there’s been so many big artists who've played here. When Maxi Priest performed you couldn't get from
the stage to the bar. Then there was Yellowman, who again packed the place to the rafters.”
Along with Tyron, I am meeting Daycare Manager Roy Browne, Designated Premises Supervisor Ehimare Djobo, and Music Promoter Valerie “Lady V Rocket” Robinson. Together, they are heading up the fight to keep the centre open and maintain that there is much more to it than the crucial services it provides.
“With the Marcus Garvey Centre, as much as it needs to survive as a business, there's that predisposition to culture and history,” explains Ehimare. “So that's the difference where it now really actually matters more than most.”
In December 2024, Nottingham City Council ordered the centre to close, citing fire risks in the building, leading to many regular events having to be cancelled. At the end of January businesses in the centre were given a 28 day notice to vacate. Despite the City Council stating they were working with tenants to minimise disruption to businesses, no in-person meetings have been offered by the Council, and there is understandably much ill-feeling towards how the situation has been handled.
“There’s a decent and professional way in which to deal with these things,” says Tyron. “You can’t just send an email saying, ‘Don’t operate’. There’s an element of heavyhandedness about it, and there’s a better way to treat a community.”
Previously, the community has taken it upon themselves to fix issues in the building. When houses were built across the road in 2021, the community raised money to soundproof the ballroom, and more recently offered to fix fire risk issues themselves.
The group believes that the City Council have purposely run the site down in order to sell it in the future: “For over a decade now some of the tenants have been complaining that the City Council have neglected to do any repairs on the building,” Valerie explains. “There’s not been clear transparency and honesty. We deserve better than that.”
The PATRA building, where we meet, stands for ‘Positive Action Training Recruitment Agency’. Once used as a place where young people could pick up National Vocation Qualifications (NVQs) and improve their professional skills, the service was again depleted due to lack of funding.
Valerie’s daughter started at PATRA before training as a social worker, and Ehimare also found the centre useful in his career development, evidencing the potential of the centre to continue to aid future generations in the community. Now overseeing licensing, bar operations, and compliance with regulations, he was introduced to the Garvey in 2014 while working as a radio DJ and student promoter. With many city centre venues catering to students, he credits the centre as a welcoming Black space that has supported him after graduating.
“When I became a non-student, and of course so did my peers, it became much more difficult to develop what I had been doing into the local community,” Ehimare said. “Having a disposition to a Black audience within the history of the Marcus Garvey Centre, it helped me to sustain the events that I developed as a student. That became a business, and essentially what I do today.”
Ehimare notes that his experience of the centre is somewhat different to that of the elder community. “I've missed the glory days of all the big bands in the 80s and 90s, but over the years it’s still maintained that core of being a space for the Black community, where you have an advantage that you don’t in the city centre.”
“It’s a historical, iconic venue,” says Valerie, who has organised dozens of musical events in the prestigious ballroom. “I’d say ninety per cent of the soundsystems in the UK and overseas have performed here, and we’ve had legendary artists like Marcia Griffiths, Sugar Minott, Nitty-Gritty and Shabba Ranks. Tippa Irie recorded one of his records back in the day when the studio was downstairs. There’s been so many events… on New Year’s Eve, the queue would be out the front door and down the boulevard.”
Along with cultural and music events, the centre has been home to a day care centre for 35 years, a place for Afro-Caribbean elders to access specialist services, enjoy social activities, and escape isolation. Beginning as a luncheon club, the idea for providing day care came about after an elderly man in the local community died alone in his home.
with the marCus garVey Centre, as muCh as it needs to surViVe as a business, there's that predisposition to CuLture and history. so that's the diFFerenCe where it now reaLLy aCtuaLLy matters more than most
“It made me think, crikey, there must be a lot of black elders who are isolated at home,” explains Tyron. “That was very successful. We were attracting forty to fifty people a day - people who couldn’t afford the cost of living, or didn’t have families. They could come here, have a good meal, talk about the Caribbean or their life in England.”
The club attracted the attention of the City Council who began providing funding for day care, but cuts have been made to the service over the years, due to financial pressures. “The remainder of the elders in the day centre have now been moved out into a different centre that doesn’t cater to their cultural needs,” explains Valerie. “We believe they deserve better, because of the deep-rooted contribution that our great Windrush generation have made to this country and to Nottingham.”
With a limited time given to vacate the building, the services, businesses and events previously held at the centre are still waiting for the City Council to provide answers and support.
“I’d say there’s around 400 people employed on this site, and some of the businesses will not be able to afford to move on quickly and find somewhere else, so some of them will be out of a job,” says Valerie. “But it’s not just about the building, the erosion of spaces like the Marcus Garvey Centre is taking away our identity.”
At the time of writing, the City Council has yet to respond to LeftLion’s request for comment. The tenants have created a Black Community Action Group and organised a change.org petition, which has so far received over 10,000 signatures of support. They are also seeking legal advice as to how to proceed.
“We hope the City Council have acted legally,” explains Tyron. “But we will not stop until the Council sits and negotiates with us, until we get security on tenure, until it's quite clear that the legacy of this building is there for our children.”
Sign the petition to save the Marcus Garvey Centre at change.org/p/ save-the-marcus-garvey-centre-protect-nottingham-s-culturalheart. An additional paper petition which can be signed in person at Sherwood Business Centre, the Lace Bar, A&W Caribbean & English Café & Restaurant, and other locations.
Gates of Tomorrow
Over the past five years Fisher Gate Point has been slowly blossoming into a creative and cultural hub in Nottingham, home to numerous collectives, businesses and events, from the Hockley Hustle crew, to Circle of Light. With a new cafe, exhibition and events space, they are currently gearing up for their launch party on International Women’s Day. We spoke to one of the people at its helm, Tiffany Jade, about the many programs she’s facilitated at the centre.
Tiffany, where to begin - it sounds like you have your hands in many creative pies in Nottingham! What is your background and what projects have you worked on over the years?
I have indeed. I'm originally from Matlock and came to Nottingham to study art and fashion when I was seventeen. I just fell in love with the place so I decided to stick around. I was studying Fashion Communication and Promotion at NTU when I decided to throw a curve ball and join a local music project called Circle of Light. That's where I met Tricia and Ian Gardiner! We got on instantly and they invited me along for the ride. Since then I feel like I've lived about seven different lives... I started working in social media and communications, then I tried my hand as a Project Co-ordinator and now I'm a Director and Project Producer, supporting pretty much everything that goes down here at FGP.
I manage projects such as the Circle of Light music programme, HOAM studio (house of all music) which is the first female led studio in Notts and Sugar Stealers workshops for women and gender expansive people. I'm also a singer/ songwriter and performer - I've got a few awards under my belt for that.
Can you talk a little about some of the people involved in FGP and how the place has developed over the years?
Well. I've seen this place grow from the bare bones. We got the keys to the building right before the first UK lockdown in 2020, with nothing but a bag of hopes and a set of faulty speakers. I remember marching down here with Tricia and Ian (who are the masterminds behind the idea) and it was a right old mess - but we made a home out of it. With our combined skills, network and cultural experience, we have fought through thick and thin, using every resource possible to see this project through. Over the last five years we have taken down the maze of walls and opened up two beautiful exhibition, workshop and event spaces, fitted a stunning cafe bar and a brand new kitchen, curated a local artisan gift shop and installed a much needed wheelchair ramp and stair lift.
We started with just the young people from Circle of Light in situ, and now we have a whole bunch of people based here, including Hockley Hustle, The Actors Workshop, ACT ON, Acoustickle, Nottingham CYF and plenty more! We've discreetly been putting on events for a while, and every time people come in they are like ‘I had no idea this place was here - it’s so cool!’. Now after our most recent refurb I'm just so excited to see what the general public think about what we've done with the space. You should come along to the launch party - 6pm on Saturday 8 March. Be there!
With five albums, several awards, and dozens of young people involved, The Circle of Light (COL) appears to be one of the most fruitful projects to be born out of Fisher Gate Point. Tell us more about it. How did you get involved and what have been some of the highlights?
I'm gonna be real, I joined COL because I wasn't having a great time with my mental health and I needed some respite, something different. Circle of Light started as a project where young people pretty much camp out and make a music album in just three weeks, and then release it on World Mental Health day. I was a participant on the first project, and from day one I was achieving things I didn't know I was capable of. I had such minimal experience in music before I joined, but I got to work alongside Grammy winning artists and professionals whose support allowed me to fast track into the industry.
The project has been running for six years now and grown to become more of an artist development programme. We still do the music album every year, of course, but we also do offer Rock School London qualifications, jam sessions, industry support and as a collective we are currently touring England with the support of Youth Music! The young artists involved in the programme have been able to capitalise on the network that exists within FGP and have had opportunities to work on film scores for the
British Film Institute, perform at Rock City, The Bodega and Nottingham Contemporary, they've opened the stage for BICEP at Rescue Rooms and bagged a bunch of national awards in the process.
There’s a strong focus on mental health within the project, which helps young people to express themselves creatively through music. How have you found creativity to aid in mental health, and how does the project do this specifically?
I think the biggest thing the project offers in terms of mental health support is a place to feel seen and heard for the truest version of you. Creativity is so nuanced and personal that it manifests in so many ways, but so many people exist without a place to just show up, explore and be appreciated for those sides of ourselves - whatever they may be. What is super special about the way we work is that it is so autonomous. Often people turn up expecting to be told what to do, because that is how we are raised by school and society, but not here. The entire FGP project, even beyond Circle of Light, is about facilitating people and communities to take charge of their own experience and begin to create and become the changes they want to see in the world.
There seems to be a beautiful thread of collaboration within Fisher Gate, and Sugar Stealers is another example of that. Can you tell us a little about what you get up to in this collective?
It's such an interesting space to be because there is so much diversity here in every possible way. When you first enter the building you're greeted with such love and welcome from the cafe-bar staff. Then you could wander around the building and pass ACT ON zipping around his studio plotting the next chip shop rave, or Jamal Sterrett teaching gliding in the downstairs workshop room. If you head upstairs you'll be bound to cross paths with the Hockley Hustle crew making festival decs, or The Actors Workshop perfecting their blood curdling screams. You might also bump into Nottingham CYF baking brownies with the kiddos, or the legend that is Princess Trium teaching the next generation of DJs how to mix.
I almost guarantee that if you show up on an evening, you'll find comedy antics downstairs from Wormhole Comedy, and live music upstairs from artists like Seas of Mirth and Sancho Panza. It's wild, and non stop, but we are all one big family and there is literally never a dull moment that goes by.
You have also been involved in HOAM, Nottingham's first female-led music studio who develop DJ courses specifically for women and gender expansive people. This sounds brilliant, tell us more!
Ah this is something really close to my heart. I've been really spoiled with the support I've received from COL, but the music industry is ferocious and even more so if you are a woman or gender expansive person. I've seen and experienced the ways in which people like me are not often invited to the table to even learn, let alone take charge in the studio or the live music scene, unless it's to stand around and make the place look nice. It can be quite an uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous place to be.
interview: Sophie Gargett photos: Charlotte Jopling, Emma Ford & Fred Glenister
We got some funding to train two young people to launch a music studio and I was so pleased when we ended up with an all-female team. We'd only ever been to music studios that were dark and masculine and it just made sense to create a space that people like us would feel safe at home in (no pun intended). Now it's bright and earthy - I guarantee you've never seen a studio like it.
We then caught wind of the DJ scene in Notts being quite exclusive, and so the HOAM studio team partnered with me over at Sugar Stealers to create DJ courses that were cost-effective and specifically for women and gender expansive people. I sat down with our DJ Mentor Princess Trium who is a huge advocate for the cause, then we mapped out a plan and the rest is history! Together we've supported the development of nearly fifty female and gender expansive DJs and we've got so much more in the works.
the entire Fgp projeCt, e Ven beyond CirCLe oF Light, is about FaCiLitating peopLe and Communities to taKe Charge oF their own experienCe and begin to Create and beCome the Changes they want to see in the worLd
You said in the BBC Inside/Out documentary on Circle of Light that you originally felt too shy to perform at an open mic. You’ve now featured on several records, created a film score for the British Film Institute, and are working on a solo project. What advice would you give other young creatives looking for the courage to share their talents? It's much easier said than done, but the first thing would be to become aware of any unnecessary limitations you are placing on yourself. It probably feels more comfortable to procrastinate and clear out your wardrobe than it does to go to an open mic or pick up an instrument that's catching dust. If I sound like an expert here, it's because I am. Have a moment with yourself and think, if the world stops today, am I going to regret not reorganising my sock drawer, or not exploring my creative potential?
The next step would be to get yourself out there and make use of all the free and supportive platforms in Nottingham: Circle of Light, Sugar Stealers, HOAM, and Nottin Industry to name a few! Community is everything, and we are all as nervous as each other. There is no right or wrong way to do anything and I'm yet to meet a creative person who hasn't got more to learn. Having the right people around you will keep you encouraged and committed through the times that you don't feel so confident.
What has Fisher Gate Point got anything planned for International Women’s Day this year? We are having an FGP launch party! It feels like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory because noone beyond our community really knows what goes on here and this is the first time we are welcoming the public into our shiny new space. The space is predominantly female-led and we have so many strong female initiatives here that it just felt like the perfect day for an opening. I don't want to hear any excuses, you should definitely come along at 6pm on Saturday 8 March for a free drink, a taster menu and live music, and be the first to experience it in all its glory. From then on, we'll be open every day for all your coffee, snack, creative and cultural needs.
Head to the Fisher Gate Point launch party and International Women’s Day celebration on Saturday 8 March from 6pm. You can find the centre across from BIOCITY at 3 Fisher Gate, NG1 1GD.
fishergatepoint.com
Upton Girl
Written by Nottingham’s own Jane Upton and shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize, (the) Woman is coming to Nottingham Playhouse this month. Following a woman struggling to balance her potential as a playwright with her responsibilities as a mother, it tackles hard truths about motherhood and conflicting identities. Jane was able to take the time out of her day to talk to us at LeftLion, having raced back from picking up arts and craft supplies for her children. But, as Jane herself puts it: “Sums it up, doesn’t it?”
In terms of the process, what has it been like collaborating with a creative team on such a personal play?
I started writing in 2021. It was a really hard time and I was clawing my way out of this intense period of change, really, of just a complete shattered sense of self. Then this guy, who I went out with in school said to my brother he’d seen me pushing a buggy around and had expected more from me than just having kids in my hometown. I know that's a feeling people have about mothers. I’ve thought it myself. But he’d said it out loud, and I just thought, ‘Wow, that has really lit a fire in me’. So I started to write the play.
New Perspectives wanted to commission and produce it, and that's when it became a collaboration. They said to me, who do you want to be your dramaturg? I said, I really, really want to work with Sarah Dickinson, who I had met years ago at a Soho workshop. Angharad Jones from New Perspectives, brilliantly, got Sarah on board. Honestly, I've never felt this feeling before of somebody who just got me. She's just like a midwife for my instincts.
We had an incredible group of actors doing the first reading, including Ray Fearon and Rosie Wyatt. Angharad did this special gift for me, because I’m a Sleaford Mods fan. She got lead singer Jason Williamson to do the reading, because he's also an actor, you see. From that reading, we just kind of stepped away from it. We could see what it was.
What has it been like to watch the reception of this play? You know, it’s funny, I don’t really know what’s wrong with me. People say ‘Oh, it’s brave to put those sorts of things on stage.’ I guess because people think it’s literally me - it’s not. I feel like getting to put this play on, and getting to say this, is such a relief.
I know a lot of people carry those feelings around, and when there is no outlet for that, what do you do with it? It would be brave to be holding them and not shouting about them. Yeah, it’s a chance to breathe. If you're an artist and you have those ways of expressing yourself, it’s a real kind of privilege.
I've been glad we've had good reviews, and I'm glad about that because of the subject matter. I want people to see reviews and think: ‘Oh, yeah, we'll go’. Because I do feel like a lot of people are turned off by the subject matter, and have these very quick judgments about what it'll be, and that it won't be very interesting. So I'm glad that, on that level, we've got good reviews.
so many peopLe Came up aF ter the show, LiKe, ‘you' Ve LiteraLLy taKen a ChunK out oF my head and put it on stage’, and it was men and women. there's a Lot oF meaty ConVersations From LiFe that are not gendered
This play will really resonate with women; with working mothers particularly. What are you hoping that men might get out of this play?
I really, really think that men should see it. Men will connect with it. Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods absolutely loved it, and was the most lyrical about how much he loved it. He went “Oh my God, I was reading this, and I went to my wife and just said, ‘I'm so sorry’”. So many people came up after the show, like, ‘You've literally taken a chunk out of my head and put it on stage’, and it was men and women. There's a lot of meaty conversations from life that are not gendered.
What was the thinking behind the ‘Dirty Laundry’ workshop being run at Nottingham Playhouse? What are you hoping will come out of it?
We were hoping to get a lead actress who was a mother, and we auditioned quite a few, then we got Lizzie Watson. We saw loads of talented people with kids, but we just loved Lizzie. Now, if I'm absolutely honest, there's no way someone with a little kid could have done it. They just couldn't have done it,
and I thought, ‘God, that's really reminded you again that it is so, so hard’.
Dirty Laundry is open to people with kids, to have the chance to be in a room with other artists. You lose your artist identity quite a lot when you have little children, because it's very hard to find the headspace, the time, and the energy to connect. Because you can bring kids along, it just makes it a bit more accessible to connect and have those artistic discussions.
Is there anything else that you would like people to know before they come and see (the) Woman at Nottingham Playhouse?
People should know that it’s fast, it’s funny, it's brutal, and it's honest. It doesn’t shy away from conversations that people don’t have, but probably should be having. I feel like you’ll go home and think, ‘Oh, I really want to talk to my partner in a different way, because we should be asking those questions of each other.’
People will hopefully connect with it. I used to be really tied up in knots, asking myself ‘am I a writer?’, or ‘what have I got to say?’. But now I know that when I get the feeling that I’m connecting with people through my work, it's literally the thing that makes me breathe. It's why I do it.
What's it like having (the) Woman be performed at Nottingham Playhouse?
I've had a few plays at Nottingham Playhouse now. It's cool - the Playhouse was part of my childhood, because we went to the pantomime there every year. Apart from that, I never really went to the theatre. It's obviously nice to have stuff on in your home theatre.
Catch (the) Woman at Nottingham Playhouse between Monday 10 – Tuesday 11 March.
nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
interview: Emma Hornsby
photos: Manuel Harlan & David Hammond
A Foster Carer in Notts
Our journey as foster carers seemed like a natural progression because my mum, when I was a child, fostered babies, and I remember the love, the warmth and the friendliness of the babies, when they came into the house. It was a very warm atmosphere, and I thought that in the future, I really wanted to do this.
It got to a point when our daughter wasn't at home all the time but at school, so we decided to take the plunge and go for it. Our son was born extremely premature, so we were in hospital for quite a while and saw other children coming and going that weren't going home to parents. We always thought that we’d do it after finishing having our children.
Being a foster carer is quite an interesting thing to do. If a stranger turned up at your door tomorrow with an innocent child in their arms and said, “this child just needs someone to love them and look after them for a few months,” I think that a lot of people would find it hard to turn them away. That’s basically what foster caring is: being that person that says ‘yes’.
When a child leaves, it is really sad and does affect us quite a lot in our family. But ultimately, it's not about our sadness. It's about the happiness that a child gets when they leave; being able to see them settled in a family, moving on from us is, ultimately, the reason we do it. The difference from when a child comes into your house to when they leave is absolutely amazing; the abilities and things they didn't have, the experiences that we've been able to give them, the difference is huge.
A few years ago we got an invite to a family celebration for one of the children we used to have. We were guests of honor at their family celebration, and when we got there, everyone burst into tears. It was one of the moments which, looking back, we'll always remember. It was about a year after the kid had left our home and they’d joined one of their siblings in a family. As soon as they saw us, even though we hadn't seen them for such a long time, they remembered us and came straight for a hug.
It's great when you take a child, who's probably been quite shielded and not had many experiences, on holiday, and they see the sea for the first time, and we watch their eyes light up. We've also had a lot of children who we've taught to walk, and they're probably the most absolutely special members we've got. Those sorts of memories, with most of the children we have, are fantastic. We can show up in their lives.
We have local hubs in our area where we can meet up, every two to three months, with other foster carers. We can talk shop, which we can't do otherwise. Social workers also turn up, so it's a chance to get together with foster carers. They also, a couple of times a year, have family days, which we can take our children to. They're
given a treat for the day, where they go to a different place, a water sports center or an adventure center. They’re given the day out without us and have a thoroughly good time.
In our local authority there's always someone on the end of a phone, even if it's out of hours. That can be another foster carer or a social worker. We’ve always felt really supported, and there's such a big team around us that there's always someone to be able to call. As a foster carer, the support we receive makes all the difference. From the very start, we are fully prepared and guided every step of the way. The training opportunities are excellent, helping us build the skills needed to support the children in our care. Knowing that we are valued and always have someone to turn to gives us confidence in our role. The ongoing support and sense of community make fostering even more rewarding, reinforcing the positive impact we have on children's lives.
the diFFerenCe From when a ChiLd Comes into your house to when they LeaVe is absoLuteLy amazing; the abiLities and things they didn't haVe, the experienCes that we' Ve been abLe to giVe them, the diFFerenCe is huge
A lot of people ask how fostering impacts our own children. Our answer is that, when we go to parents’ evening, the first thing the teachers say is: “Your children have so much empathy.” They see fostered children come in and make a wider difference, not just in their lives, and it impacts their own experiences. So, it’s nothing but a positive for them. I came from that background myself, and it made me a more empathetic and rounded person. So we can pass that to the children in our family.
The biggest highlight for us is meeting the children after they’ve moved on, seeing them settled into their family, the experiences they’re able to have and the memories they have with us as well. That’s fantastic. We probably keep in touch with probably 60% of the children we've had. It’s heartwarming to see them grow up through the years and be so attached to their families, becoming a unit; just as one. It's so natural and beautiful. It really is.
Foster for East Midlands, a partnership with local councils in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, are looking for carers to take care of children in need, across both counties. To find out more or start fostering yourself, head to their website below or call 03033 132 950.
fosterforeastmidlands.org.uk
illustration: Zarina Teli
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.
The Dawn of Electricity Karl Blakesley
A steamy dinner Nick Archer
All the Fun at the Football by James Armstrong James Armstrong @james_a_armstrong
Red Circle Angela Foxwood
Ghost Walk Jason Thompson @jason378
Shakespeare Street Phil Howcroft
Walk Through the Wood Charleigh Keemer of Echomountain Photography
Blue Therapy
In recent years the mental and physical health benefits of immersion in water have gained lots of attention across the country. Since 2019 wild-swimming group Whole Health have sought to disseminate those benefits to as many people as possible, leading open-water swimming and sauna sessions at Colwick Park. Frances Danylec visited West Lake to meet founders Cat and Wales.
It’s a crisp, sunny morning when I pedal through Colwick park to the West Lake. I’m on my way to meet Cat and Wales, two open water swimming enthusiasts who established their business Whole Health in 2019. Providing safe open water swimming experiences alongside woodfired saunas, they offer a rare piece of Norway in Nottingham, and I’m intrigued.
I’ve read about the work of Dr Susanna Søberg, a leading researcher in the field of ‘contrast therapy’ - intermittently exposing your body to hot and cold temperatures, causing the blood vessels to dilate then constrict. She evidences that our circulation, heart, lungs and skin respond positively to this and that it can have a beneficial impact on our immune system and metabolism. Sounds good to me.
I’ve been invited for a morning dip, and after warm introductions we wade into the chilly five-degree lake together. The cold punches every cell in my body, as I dip my shoulders under and otter about a bit, gasping. Ducks and swans bob past, looking larger than ever at eye level. The sun glints on the water and I’m surrounded by nothing but peace. As I head out of the water feeling like I’ve conquered Everest, Wales tells me about the beginnings of Whole Health: “We wanted a safe space where everyone could come and just give open water swimming a go. We know how great it makes you feel and wanted to share that with others. You can swim, dip, paddle – whatever feels comfortable for you.”
It was a trip to Oslo and the opportunity to see traditional woodfired saunas in action that inspired their next steps for the business. “We wanted to bring an authentic experience to the local area,” Cat explains. “We started a crowd funding campaign and bought our first sauna in 2022. It was shipped from Estonia and it was an exciting day when it was craned into position!”. Popularity grew and they’ve since installed two more saunas. “People tell us they enjoy the social aspect of coming here,” Wales says, adding, “some come with friends, but many come alone, because it’s a welcoming community where people say hello to each other.”
it maKes suCh a diFFerenCe to stress Le VeLs. you Know you Can Come here and go in the water, and you Come out and e Verything is taKen down a Few notChes. it’s so reL axing; you FeeL LiKe you’re a miLLion miLes away From the City
The saunas are also available for private hire, birthdays or other special events. Stag and hen dos focused around open water swimming are becoming more sought after, as people seek a fresh alternative to a stereotypical night out.
Everyone who arrives at the lake is greeted with a smile, as they place their membership card on the welcome desk and head for the changing area. “A safety measure,” Cat explains, “so we know who is in the water and can keep an eye out for them coming back. We always have a lifeguard on hand too. We’ve got over a thousand members now and actually know a fair few of them by name!”
I notice that people wear whatever they want: their regular swim kit, a wet suit, or just a t-shirt and shorts. There’s no judgement or pretence – you can be yourself here – and Cat and Wales go a step further to celebrate their members too.
“We used to have a flag pole - it sadly got damaged - we’d fly the pride flag, the trans flag, and fly our members’ country of origin flags too,” says Wales. “It was a great talking point, passers-by would ask us why we were flying the Jamaican flag!”
A woman wearing a swim suit, a knitted bobble hat and a huge smile tells me that her name is Fiona. She works nearby and has gradually brought colleagues down here. “I recruited them slowly!” she laughs. “I think initially they just thought I was a bit mad. But once I got a few people to come, they were completely converted. It makes such a difference to stress levels. You know you can come here and go in the water, and you come out and everything is taken down a few notches. It’s so relaxing; you feel like you’re a million miles away from the city.”
So what’s Cat and Wales’ next venture? “We have a moveable community sauna that seats twelve and we’ve started doing special events by the lake. We held a poetry reading and it was just magical seeing everyone’s faces lit up by the fire; everyone read out a poem they liked or had written. We’d love to do more events like that and also take the sauna to other places. Not everyone can make it down here and we want to take the benefits of the sauna to the people.” I’m beginning to think ‘whole’ health couldn’t be a more appropriate name.
If you have any health conditions, have a chat with your GP first to make sure open water swimming and sauna use is suitable for you. Swim sessions with Whole Health are £6 for members and £10 for guests. Visit whollyhealthy.co.uk for the session time table.
words & photos: Frances Danylec
words: Caradoc Gayer
illustration: Beth Gillespie
Market Economy
The decline of the high street and independent retail is an issue that weighs heavily on the UK, as grassroots traders often lose money and shut shop just as quickly as they open for business. However, with recent research, and examples available here in Nottingham, there’s a case to be made for stallholder markets as a saviour of independent businesses, providing that reliable sense of community and authenticity in shopping that so many of us look for today. Assistant Editor Caradoc Gayer takes a look at Nottingham’s history of markets, and how it could serve as an example for today.
There’s nothing quite like a good stallholder market. Visiting one, not only do we discover products and food, sold with love and care by local businesses, but they’re also one of the best, millennia-old ways of getting out of the house and connected with our local community. Whether we’re catching up with a mate down the road who sells handmade wooden animals in their spare time, or just taking in sights, smells and sounds, we always get a good feel for local goings-on. Despite the adversity independent retail is currently experiencing, the growing popularity of markets is something to feel good about.
This popularity is borne out by the stats: in 2021, the national turnover from UK stall and market traders hit the stratosphere (£741 million) compared to what it was in 2011 (£256 million). 2023 could also be safely labelled as ‘the year of clothing stalls’, which grew in market value by 26.5%, while clothing superstores only grew by %2. There’s definitely a growing appetite for these places, manifesting in greater footfall.
it’s deFiniteLy more ComForting when we Can trust that what we’re buying Comes From a pL aCe oF Care, and attention to detaiL
Sherwood Vegan Market is one event that perfectly fits that theory. Since its inception in 2021, founder and facilitator Adrian Baghat has seen the market draw swathes of visitors from all over Notts each month.
“Because I have the market next to my shop, it brings in a lot of customers, which works really well for me, as it works well for other traders in Sherwood,” says Adrian, who runs The V Spot, an all vegan shop in Sherwood high street. “It’s one of those things that benefits everyone, because traders have somewhere to do their business cheaply, and the local community gets to have somewhere to go for nice food and to meet friends. Sherwood gets money from the rental and I make money from organising it all. People are making livelihoods and also having really nice experiences.”
Adrian’s herbivore-focused-fête is part of a storied history of markets in Nottingham. From the mid 1800s Sneinton Market, home of LeftLion, was a pot market: providing space for traders to sell secondhand clothing, furniture and crockery. After its revamp in 1900, the site became a close-knit community of friends and families, putting local traders and bigger wholesalers on a level playing field.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Victoria Centre Market became another noted spot for independent traders to prove their mettle. After Victoria Centre sprung up from the former site of Victoria Railway Station in 1971, the market was swiftly added, serving as a spot catering for nearly every need, from fruit and vegetables, to butcher’s produce, to a stall entirely dedicated to Elvis Presley. Those golden days are of course now behind us, as the market is set to be dissolved by the end of this month. Our hope at LeftLion is that the city council are helping traders to set up business elsewhere, so that they can revive their struggling business model.
Nowadays, as we’re all aware, most towns and cities across the UK are overshadowed by that dark storm cloud labelled ‘the decline of the high street’. Expensive overhead costs, stemming from COVID aftershocks and the cost-of-living crisis, often means that community hubs and independent retailers run out of steam, and shut shop, while bigger, high street staples often move out the city centre to retail parks. The result is that many shops sit empty, silent and bereft of attention by customers or retailers.
Yet despite this decline, Adrian thinks that the appetite for fulfilling, interpersonal interactions with retailers hasn’t shrunk one bit. Regardless of how the internet and cost-ofliving often swallow up most people’s dreams of opening an independent trade stall, there’s still a desire for them. The market ‘model’ therefore couldn’t be more relevant today.
“There’s definitely a cohort of people who want to shop local, and want that connection with the trader,” says Adrian. “A lot of my traders ask me if they can stock their products in my shop. I say, well you can, but it’ll be sold very differently. When you go to a market stall you’re talking to the person who made that product. You can hear their story. But if it’s next to one hundred similar products you don’t get to know anything about the creator.”
There’s also evidence that stallholder markets could play a big role in helping UK retail recover from the crises that it’s recently undergone. UK-based food alliance ‘Sustain’ conducted a case study on markets in Newcastle and London, noting that for customers who might have lost jobs or seen a drop in income, affordable food and other products are more important than ever. It’s definitely more comforting when we can trust that what we’re buying comes from a place of care, and attention to detail.
“That’s the beauty of markets: the connection to the production process, the trust that flows from that and the appreciation of the quality,” says Adrian, adding “if you pick, say, a pasty off the shelf of a big shop you judge it by the packaging. You don’t think about how some guy called Steve made it his kitchen. There’s certain people who definitely appreciate that experiential side.”
At the end of this month, visitors to Old Market Square will be able to enjoy this ‘experiential side’ to its full extent, when Ay-Up Market comes to town. Founded back in 2021, the event is intended to celebrate all the best parts of independent retail: creativity and innovation in all kinds of crafts, from wine-making to baking to jewellery and skincare.
Heading along and making the most of the event, perhaps we can all do our bit in revitalizing independent business in Nottingham. Supporting traders could potentially allow for further events like Ay-Up Market to take place, which in turn could reinject that atmosphere of close-knit community into the city, which many of us direly need today.
Sherwood Vegan Market takes place on the second Saturday of every month at Sherwood United Reform Church. Ay-Up Market takes place from Friday 28 March to Sunday 30 March 2025, at Old Market Square.
words: CJ De Barra
images: ‘Lovers’ (1994) by Karen Atherley (b. 1961) and ‘Hibiscus Flower’ (1922) by William Bruce Ellis Ranken. Courtesy Nottingham City Museums & Galleries.
Out of Time: They were roommates
When it comes to queer history, there is a certain level of pressure to ‘prove it.’ How can you tell that an object, a space, building or area of a city has a queer past? There are so many hidden histories that are simply forgotten about over time but queer communities have always been here. CJ De Barra recounts the stories of some of the objects on show at Nottingham Castle, on their LGBTQ+ audio walking tour.
So many queer stories were never written down, whether that be because of the law, stigma, or homophobia in society, yet queer people have always existed and glimmers of their history are to be found in art and things around us. ‘They were roommates’ is one typical reading when looking at queer art - now a memeworthy joke online - but thankfully, we increasingly have historians working to collect stories, patch together fragments of forgotten queer histories and also, to teach us how to look at objects differently. To 'queer' them by applying, well, what if?
This is the case of Nottingham Castle, which has just unveiled a new audio history tour that takes in objects around the space and the space itself. Midlands4Cities and Nottingham Trent University PhD student Emma Fearon designed the tour while researching the collection the castle owns. The tour demonstrates how we can find and interpret LGBTQI+ histories and examine artworks and stories to find evidence of LGBTQI+ lives and lovers.
Nottingham Castle is a space of rebellion so it is only right that it would have stories of queer lives. After all, queer life is a rebellion and a protest in itself
Nottingham Castle is a space of rebellion so it is only right that it would have stories of queer lives. After all, queer life is a rebellion and a protest in itself - to exist and take up space in a straight world is not always easy when rights are being rolled back and Pride months erased from certain calendars.
Emma, who also narrates the audio tour, digs deep for the research, going right back to 1640 but also including recent histories such as Nottingham Pride (or ‘Pink Lace’ as it was initially called) from 1998 and 1999. The tour is called Nottingham Castle’s LGBTQI+ Lives and Lovers and can be accessed for free via the Nottingham Castle guide on the Bloomberg Connects app. The tour has eight stops, each marked on a floor plan accessed on the app and takes less than half an hour to complete.
One of the most intriguing items is the Lover’s Bowl created by ceramist Karen Atherley in 1994. The bowl was commissioned by the family, friends and colleagues of Neil Millner, who worked at Nottingham City Museums as a trading manager until he died in 1993. The bowl was created by Neil’s partner, Andrew Chamberlain. Neil fell in love with an identical piece called the Lover’s Vase by the same artist. He was heartbroken to learn it had sold, but overjoyed to find out his partner had bought it for him.
The beautiful ceramic bowl has painted depictions of lovers as a celebration of love and sexuality. It is a stunning object that almost appears Greek in design. The earliest piece is the painting Hercules Vanquishing Diomedes, which is the earliest-known work by the French artist Charles le Brun, painted in about 1640. This was one of a series, depicting the ‘Labours of Hercules’, which were commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu for the Palais Cardinal (now called the Palais Royal). Although there is no queer history behind the painting or painter, Emma’s tour highlights how there are famous stories that resonate with LGBT+ lives. After throwing his friend Iphitos over the walls of the city of Tiryns in a murderous rage, Hercules is ordered to live in servitude to Queen Omphale. Omphale orders Hercules to dress and live as a woman. This resonated with a transgender artist who designed a performance piece based on this artwork in 2022.
Nottingham Castle has been a part of Pride celebrations over the years, including being the location for the event itself in the late 1990s. The second and third Prides were joyful celebrations, and where is more Nottingham to hold such an event than our castle? Hundreds of local, and some not so local, LGBT+ people visited the space for the event, which had stalls, live music and performances.
In fact, thanks to the deliberate choice to hold Nottingham’s Pink Lace festival in September, it meant that it was the last celebration of the season. This also means that in 1999, Nottingham Castle was the location for the last LGBT+ Pride celebration of the century. Saving the very best for last.
To listen to the audio tour, visit Nottingham Castle, download the Bloomberg Connects app and search for Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery. nottinghamcastle.org.uk
stage
Under the Limelight
From a dilapidated 1970s paint store in an old chapel to a cornerstone of Nottingham’s independent theatre community, The Lace Market Theatre (LMT) has been staging shows for almost fifty years. Like many creative communities, the LMT has a constant churn in members and recently made an appeal for support from the local community. We spoke to long time volunteer and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Gareth Morris, on the ebb and flow of a creative community, the challenges a volunteer organisation can face, and what keeps a theatre alive.
Fourteen shows a season, year in, year out, for about 48 years. It’s an enormous volume of work for volunteers and a testament to the longevity of The Lace Market Theatre, but it's a bit like Trigger's broom from Only Fools and Horses. All the parts have been replaced over and over again, but they still call it the same broom. What keeps bringing new people joining the theatre and staying involved?
Most of our new members are here because they've just been cast in a show. So they're interested in acting. You get people moving to Nottingham that might have had experience of theatre elsewhere, and found the Lace Market Theatre as a good place to keep that hobby up. And we're doing fourteen shows a year. Every three to four weeks, there's another one coming on. I think if we did it less often, people would almost forget we're here.
The key is encouraging them to be part of the Lace Market family, making them feel that they want to stay on and do more things. Whether they'll rejoin next year, that's the key. Once you've got two or three seasons under your belt and you start doing more things, then I think people are more likely to stay.
Various communities have been experiencing that post-COVID slump, and we’ve all faced that challenge of digging down and pushing ahead. What drives people to help something like the Lace Market Theatre survive, especially without being paid?
There’s a certain determination to keep going. We've talked about those members that have been at it for a long time. Those people who were coming in during lockdown and they were checking the dates of the beer bottles in our bar, clearing out our prop stores and stuff. It's the people with that sort of mind set who want to keep it going. It's just that determination.
You talk about the fact this building was purchased in the 70s. You know, we're just the current custodians. We've gone through all these other different guises, these previous generations of volunteers who have had these ideas and pushed them through. There's a certain responsibility that a lot of us feel to keep that going and leave it in an even better condition for the next generation to enjoy. It's a credit to these volunteers. There's a lot of pride. Quite often, when we have had recruitment issues, people suggest we need more incentives. But the people that are already giving a lot feel that their contribution will be devalued if there's any sort of payment or incentive involved.
If someone wants to contribute, what do they need to do to get involved?
Ways to get involved this spring include our remaining auditions for the 2024/25 season for Ring Around the Moon on 11 March, and The Prince on 15 April. You can also come to our open day on 12 April to have a chat about what backstage or customer facing roles there are. All areas could use some helpbox office, making props, set building, stage management, and no experience is necessary.
I would always recommend people come and see a show and after the show, if you like somebody's performance, go and tell them. Chat to people on the bar - they're very approachable people, and that's how I got involved. I'd made friends, as you do in these groups, with the head of sound at the time, Martin Curtis, who went on to [work at] the Playhouse. I asked him how you get involved in sound, because I thought it would be interesting to learn how a mixing desk works for the benefit of my band. And he said, “I've got a show coming up, I’m doing lighting. I need someone to do sound.” That was for A Clockwork Orange. He said, “Do you want to help out?” So I did, and he taught me the ropes. That's kind of how things work here. You show a bit of an interest, and people will help you to gain skills.
we're just the Current Custodians. there's a Certain responsibiLity that a Lot oF us FeeL to Keep that going and LeaVe it in an e Ven better Condition For the next generation to enjoy
For what keeps a community like this going, you’ve mentioned determination, responsibility, and habit, but a word you mentioned that sticks with me, and that comes across in your tone, is ‘pride’. What does that mean for you to have pride in this theatre?
It is a level of ownership. I think some of our audience members understand some of that ownership as well. And there's a lot of attitude around here of ‘if something needs doing, we do it or find somebody who can’. All the lights are on because people have maintained the bulbs when they've gone. It's been organised by somebody because they love theatre and they love the Lace Market Theatre.
That's really interesting. So it's not just that a person gets this opportunity. It's that the Lace Market Theatre belongs to them. They own it a little bit. And that's part of the kind of magnetism that keeps people coming back, keeping a volunteer theatre alive.
Yeah. Seeing people come up into the bar afterwards and their friends and family are there to greet them. It does give you a really warm, satisfactory feeling in your heart. I know so many people here, if I want to come and see the theatre, I don't need to find a couple of friends to come with. I can just walk in the door and there'll be familiar faces. It’s like, ‘Oh, I'm going back to see my family at the Lace Market Theatre. I'm part of that family’. I love that.
The Lace Market Theatre has its next open day on Saturday 12 April from 2 - 4pm. More details about upcoming shows and how to join can be found via their website.
words: Richard Minkley
photo: Sam Tariq
aLL an weber: my order
words: Charlotte Pimm-Smith photos: Jade Vowles
Brazilian multi-disciplinary artist Allan Weber makes his international debut at Nottingham Contemporary with a solo exhibition: My Order, a show exploring the many meanings of the word ‘order’ with its focus spanning orders enforced by police in Rio de Janeiro to orders received by food delivery drivers.
Weber’s work pays close attention to the favelas in Rio, which are areas where people build their own homes from materials like sheet metal and plastic in close proximity to one another. Favelas tend to have a poor reputation in Brazil where they are considered dirty and crime-ridden. Weber aims to correct these prejudices by highlighting the ripe culture within these low income communities, specifically the presence of ‘bailes funk’ (or ‘funk parties’ in English). These parties happen in tents made from tarpaulins where residents gather to listen to loud music and dance.
Despite the vibrant cultural benefit to these events, Brazilian officials have banned funk parties, oftentimes arresting attendees and cutting apart these tarpaulin structures. My Order shows work made from deconstructed tarpaulins to represent the injustice of this criminalisation of culture in Brazil, and to criticize the oppressive law enforcement responsible for the destruction of these tarptents and obstruction of community expression.
Weber has explored the profession of the food delivery driver, both in his home country Brazil, where he worked as one alongside his artistic pursuits, and more locally, through his month-long residency in Nottingham. During this time, Weber spent time observing and interacting with Nottingham-based delivery drivers, attending popular social spots for drivers, such as the cafe, Made in Brazil, and barbershop, Arabian Barber. Including various delivery driver paraphernalia, specifically carriers and motorbike parts, Weber’s largest piece is a deconstructed motorbike hung in nets and spans an entire room. This work represents the precariousness of a career of working for a food delivery service due to the lack of both job and financial security. His time at Arabian Barber led to the creation
of a work made completely of razor blades generally used to cut fades, which are popular haircuts in Rio. This piece stands in the exhibit, while another work of the same medium hangs in the barbershop itself.
Football is a key component of Weber’s artwork. In Rio, Weber started an art gallery called Galleria 5 Bocas and within it, a football team called Cinco Bocas FC. The club aims to provide job opportunities for young locals in art and football in the hopes that they will then avoid turning to illegal activities to make money. My Order shows a collection of football shirts, each inscribed with words and phrases in Portuguese, some from Weber’s writing, some proverbs, and others from the Bible. During Weber’s time in Nottingham he worked with Art of Football to create the football scarves for sale in Contemporary’s shop. These scarves have ‘Cinco Bocas’ written on one side, and on the other, ‘nenhum lugar do mundo e igual nosso lugar no mundo’: ‘no place in the world is like our place in the world’.
Catch Allan Weber’s My Order at Nottingham Contemporary until Sunday 4 May. nottinghamcontemporary.org
Popping up at this month’s Ay-Up Market, Heather Kirk of Hallo Ceramics talks us through their journey to becoming a ceramic artist.
I’m a proud Nottingham-born maker with a deep passion for creativity. Growing up, I was always the one with my hands busy, constantly inventing, imagining, and creating. After completing my A-Levels, I pursued an Arts Foundation course at NCN Stoney Street, followed by an Illustration degree at Cardiff School of Art & Design.
After graduating, I found myself struggling to align with the world of illustration. I realised that my heart wasn’t in 2D work, but in 3D creations - where I could get my hands messy and experiment freely. My job in the car insurance industry felt like a creative dead-end, so in 2020, I took the plunge and joined a pottery course in Cardiff. I embraced the world of hand-building and slipcasting. I am now, proudly, a self-taught ceramicist (with special thanks to YouTube).
In 2021, I returned to Nottingham. I bought my first kiln, attended makers markets and hosted events around my day job. By October 2023, I was full-time with my ceramics. It’s been an exciting, fulfilling (and sometimes terrifying) journey, but I’ve never looked back.
I now make and sell handmade ceramic earrings, mugs in many shapes, vases, tableware, dog bowls, plant pots and so much more. As I approach my fifth year running my business, the ideas I’m exploring feel like some of my most honest and thrilling yet. I’ve been diving into my love for colour. When designing the shapes for these new pieces, I’ve kept the playful spirit alive, with mug handles that break the norm and brand new products like clocks and balloon vases.
In the world of ceramics, patience is key. You can try to rush things, but it often leads to setbacks down the line. My kiln is a large 100L furnace, and I prefer not to fire it until it’s full to save on costs and energy. From start to finish, a piece can take anywhere from one to two months to complete, not including the extra steps like
photography, editing, listing online, and preparing for a launch.
I’m beyond thrilled to announce that I’ll be trading for my fourth year at Nottingham’s Ay-Up Market! Hosted by It’s In Nottingham, this event showcases a wonderful selection of the city’s finest small businesses. It’s an honour to help turn our Old Market Square back into the vibrant, thriving market community it was always meant to be.
weber spent time obserVing and interaCting with nottingham-based deLiVery driVers, attending popuL ar soCiaL spots For driVers, suCh as the CaFe, made in braziL, and barbershop, arabian barber the ideas i’m expLoring FeeL LiKe some oF my most honest and thriLLing yet. i’ Ve been diVing into my LoVe For CoLour
If you’d like to try your own hand at ceramics, I run a monthly Pots and Pints event, alongside my best friend Emma, also a ceramicist. We transform Rough Trade into a pottery paradise, where we play games with clay, create a main piece, give out prizes, and treat you to a free drink on arrival. We’re so proud of the community we’ve builta kind and welcoming atmosphere, full of support.
For those looking for something a bit more intimate and technical, I offer monthly hand-building workshops at independent venues across Nottingham. During these sessions, I’ll teach you the essential skills to create your own piece, guide you through your design ideas, and you’ll finish by painting your work. They’ll be fired in my kiln and returned to you.
Read an extended version of this article on the LeftLion website, and find Heather at Ay-Up Market between 28-30 March in Old Market Square.
words & photos: Heather Kirk
L iterature
Following the Rabbit
Raised in Inner Mongolia, Dr. Hongwei Bao is now a Director of Research at the University of Nottingham and the industrious community organiser of events like the Queer Chinese Arts Festival, Poetics of Migration, Ode to Notts, plus many more. He’s also one of our most exciting creative writers, so we decided to invite him for a coffee…
When did you realise you might not fit into a heteronormative role - were you quite young?
It was a bit older. When I was a school child there was a deep sense of discomfort, but more because of my personality; I was extremely introverted! I couldn't carry on a decent conversation, so I buried myself in reading. People considered me to be a nerdy, nerdy pupil - I would also consider myself to be so. It was the bigger city, Beijing, of course, that opened my eyes. You have more information, meet more people - especially when I discovered gay websites, things changed. I started to actually reflect upon my own identity. And of course, in China, it was not possible for me to write anything queer, simply because there was no place to publish them. It wasn't until I went to Australia, when I did my PhD, that I decided that I want to do a queer topic for my thesis. And there, everything started.
In your poem Leather Man you talk about fabulous, fierce drag queens. Do you think there’s a place in gay culture for your introversion, as well?
I think there is space for both. Now I'm envious of the younger generation of LGBTQ+ people - they are extremely bold in expressing themselves. I admire them, but of course for me, growing up in a kind of environment where you have to suppress yourself; where you have to live a double or closeted life, it was never possible for me actually to be so straightforward. And growing up, reading the kind of queer literature from before the Stonewall era - there was always a kind of hidden sentiment, which I find beautiful, and I'm actually attracted to, the kind of constraints that are put on one's writing and on one's sexuality. Although I hope I will never go back to the closet again.
Do you think that transfers itself to learning how to use metaphors, because you need to be more clandestine?
Yeah, definitely, it's a good training device. One might say that it's a constraint that makes for more interesting writing, because if a piece of writing is too straightforward, then probably it loses some of the tension and dynamism. But of course, that is different from living a life. When one lives one's life, one hopes to be as free as possible.
Do you ever have a case where you can think of the perfect way to express something in Mandarin and it's just not quite happening in English, or vice versa?
Yeah, all the time, because English is not my first language. So I constantly feel that I can't express myself in English completely. But this is not to say that I can express myself in Chinese completely. I actually think that this is not necessarily a bad thing, constantly feeling and working through the limits of language. I think that sometimes the expressions of ideas are more important
than their form. For minority writers, such as queer, Asian writers, etc. I would say, don't be too daunted by the perfection of language. The first thing is to have your own voice, and to speak it out.
Your first collection, The Passion of the Rabbit God, has a unique voice to it. You go from listening to Ed Sheeran on a train, deep into mythological ancient China. What was the thread that carried you through it?
All those poems were written separately within the three or four years - mostly during the pandemic. They are all about queer Asian experience; the Rabbit God is probably the kind of best visualization of that kind of identity and that spirit. But also it shows that kind of the act of defiance despite adversity. The gist of the Rabbit story is: however harsh the environment is, to stick to whatever belief or whatever love. Many of the poems are about contemporary political issues, whether it's about women's rights or queer rights of self-expression. I think that this thread, the pursuit of one’s authentic self, is still relevant.
One might say that it's a constraint that makes for more interesting writing, because if a piece of writing is too straightforward, then probably it loses some of the tension and dynamism. But of course, that is different from living a life. When one lives one's life, one hopes to be as free as possible
And where should a beginner start if they want to learn about your academic work?
I have been writing about Chinese queer history for about fifteen to twenty years. The newly published book Queering the Asian Diaspora, published by Sage in December, is a pocket-sized book, and you can get it at Five Leaves bookshop or the Nottingham City Centre’s Pride shop. The purpose was to translate academic knowledge to a general readership - what I'm most proud of is the topic. In the past few years, we’ve seen the intensification of xenophobia and anti-Asian racism, especially during the pandemic. My focus is also on the other side - how Asian communities responded - artists, activists and writers have produced fantastic work. That book is a survey of Asian community activism. I try my best to make the language and style very accessible, so I hope people will read that book.
Q @PatrickBao1
Spring has sprung and people are, for whatever reason, starting to do things again. While I’ve been whiteknuckling through social events, some people still tell me that I don’t seem like an introvert. They don’t see me the day after, doing pursed lip breathing to Enya’s Orinoco Flow, rocking gently in a seven-foot sensory robe with a pack of frozen peas velcroed to my sinuses.
‘Introverts’ were born in 1909, when Carl Jung first used the word in a lecture in Massachusetts. ‘In a large gathering,’ said Jung, ‘he feels lonely and lost. The more crowded it is, the greater becomes his resistance.’ But of course we have been around a lot longer. I relate quite closely to the Stylites in ancient Syria, who climbed up to the top of giant pillars and lived the rest of their lives there; the first being Simeon the Elder, who claimed his pillar in the year 423 and stayed up there for 36 years. Cold callers and annoying neighbours could no longer reach him, but it was also a massive problem if he wanted to order a kebab.
A 2002 study found - a little concerningly - that instructing introverts to behave in an extraverted manner increased selfreported positive affect: it seemed to make them happier. Rather annoyingly this gives some leverage to those labradorish friends who want to twist our arms and make us go speed dating on a catamaran, or whatever’s new this week. But unfortunately it ties in with my own experience - resisting the urge to sit inside for a year playing Civilization VII does make you feel a bit more warmly disposed towards the world. Face it ‘til you ace it, and all that. But if you have a pillar I can live on, with a way to winch a Pizza Pilgrims dinner up to me every three hours, then I take it all back.
Q] @andrewtuckerleavis
illustration: Jim Brown
words: Andrew Tucker photo: Fabrice Gagos
a pL aCe Forest
Bulwell has had its struggles in recent decades, but one place providing a hopeful hub of community is Bulwell Forest Garden, which won a 2024 Nottingham Award recognising their contribution to the city. We caught up with Operational Manager Barbara Bates about how it all started, and the impact one of the largest community gardens in Nottingham has on local people.
One of the things that gives community gardens a magical feel is that they’re often tucked away in unsuspecting places, and that’s just where we find Bulwell Forest Garden (BFG).
For those who don’t know where Bulwell is, stand at the Council House’s right lion; as it faces north west, Bulwell is a 1.5 hour walk out of town. Or if you follow the River Leen up from its Trent basin it’s about half way to its spring at Robin Hood Hills in Annesley... Nowadays you might simply opt for the tram. Over 10% of the people who live in Nottingham today live here, but Bulwell was first settled around 800AD. Pioneering residents clustered around the then first local bridge across the River Leen built around the same time, which created a direct road to Nottingham from the northwest. Its toll offered a haven from highwaymen-plagued surrounds.
This past is important in understanding this place, in particular its industrial history centred on the vast Cinderhill Colliery which opened in 1841 - the first large-scale coal mine in the UK - and closed in 1986. It left a visible footprint and social scars. Today’s interviewee Barbara Bates (AKA Babs) describes the area as “the most deprived bit of Nottingham”, a place widely considered left behind since deindustrialisation. In 2011, Babs and a group of residents decided to do something positive about it…
“It was me, Robert Watchorn, and Wendy House. We all lived on the same street and were really keen to create a green space for neighbours to come together and get to know each other, a safe space for children to explore and get close up with nature. My little boy was two at the time, now he’s sixteen, so my motivation was very much about him, and he did spend the next five years up a tree, really, while we developed the land and cultivated it.
“We badgered the council for about eight months, got a working group together and they gave us this 3.7 acre space. It’s not a little patch, and for reassurance they just allowed us to work on a third of it at the time. We had no water, we’d wheel it up in wheelbarrows with big milk bottles to water the plants. But I think our success has been that we've consulted the community with everything we've done. From day one, it was about door knocking our local streets, finding out what people thought of the idea of a community garden, what they wanted to grow, what they wanted to happen here. We’re set right in the heart of a neighborhood.”
Fast forward to 2025, Babs explains, “We’ve got about seventy volunteers on our books, lots of part time staff and regular artists and expert gardeners who help out. There’s about twenty raised beds, our polytunnels, community orchard, wildflower meadows, a sensory garden, medicinal garden, woodlands, and a wildlife pond. So there's a really massive mix of food grown and biodiversity, which is great. We've also got eighty households in Bulwell that are growing their own food because of the scheme that we run.”
“Primarily we grow fruit and vegetables together,” Babs continues. “But in all honesty nobody’s really coming because they want to learn how to grow tomatoes. They're coming because they recognise a shift in their mental health, and they know that being in a green space is really good for them, or they're feeling lonely and isolated and they want them to come down and forge social connections.”
In their original wooden garden shelter, community artist Anna Wheelhouse is here working with their regular ‘Saplings’ group of 11-16 year olds. “It’s the first time I’ve met the Saplings so I’ve come at it with an open mind because I know whatever I come up with, young people will have a better idea than me,” Anna explains. Today is about turning rubbish into beautiful and beneficial things. “The work I do as a street artist is about complimenting the environment, but it creates a lot of waste too, so it’s about recycling that into something that compliments and is beneficial to the space it’s in.”
Primarily we grow fruit and vegetables together, but in all honesty nobody’s really coming because they want to learn how to grow tomatoes. They're coming because they recognise a shift in their mental health, and they know that being in a green space is really good for them
I ask the young people to talk me through what they’re up to.“We’re experimenting with different eco-friendly water-based paints, and we’re going to make something for the garden - it’ll be something for nature,” Heston explains. What do they get out of it? Rowan answers that they come here for “some free time and a safe space” and they get “confidence, while becoming friends with the best people.” “People”, another says abruptly. “Understanding and investigating humans, and how they interact.” They enjoy running workshops with the younger kids, a last young one adds, which “really allows you to make a difference.”
Looking to the future of this Bulwell beacon, Babs says: “our new eco build (two new all-weather garden rooms) is very exciting. It’s a warm hub in winter, it means that our kids clubs, yoga - everything can go inside and be a bit more comfortable, and we can raise a bit of extra income.
“When we did our crowdfunding campaign for this new building, we hoped to raise £15,000 and we ended up raising £35,000,” but although Babs designed the crowdfunding campaign really to be attractive to businesses “it wasn't businesses that made up this 35 grand - mostly it was local people whose kids were baking cakes, donating a little bit of their benefits, who really, really want to invest into the place because they have a sense of ownership of it.”
Bulwell has its struggles, Babs muses, but BFG is an example of local people taking initiative and doing something to rebuild lost social infrastructure. “Since I moved to Nottingham in 2000 one of the key things I’ve known is that Bulwell gets a really bad reputation, there's a lot of negativity around, and what this project shows is that there’s a hell of a lot of people that want to make Bulwell a fantastic place. This has been built by local people and is still managed and is still developed by local people. That really helps to change the narrative.”
Find out more about Bulwell Forest Garden at bulwellforestgarden.co.uk
en V ironment
words: Adam Pickering photos: Bulwell Forest Garden
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME
Study online and gain a qualification, all from the comfort of your own home
Learn a new skill and study at your own pace, to work around your busy life
Choose from over 80 course areas and options GET STARTED
Health and social care
Including counselling, adult social care or dementia care
Mental health and wellbeing
Understanding autism, anxiety, stress or depression, food safety or learning difficulties
Business and accountancy
Learn about conflict management, GDPR, leading and motivating a team or digital marketing
Early years and education
Improve awareness of bullying, internet safety, safeguarding or children’s mental health
English and Maths
Understanding mortgages and pensions, money management, budgeting or functional skills in English and Maths
Construction and the built environment
Learning risk assessments, sustainability, health and safety or manual handling in the workplace
ONLINE LEARNING
Knot your aVerage
words: Addie Kenogbon-Harley photo: Arsenic & Old Lace
Notts tie maker Emma Moore has been redefining the humble neck tie for almost a decade, with her statement handmade ties serving the perfect eye-catching piece to complete any outfit. Fashion editor Addie KenogbonHarley caught up with her to find out more about her business Arsenic and Old Lace, and how she’s putting her spin on this timeless classic with her collections inspired by Midlands towns.
With a name like Arsenic and Old Lace, it’s hard not to conjure up images of dapper gents of yesteryear. And, given the Nottingham brand’s namesake: a 1940s dark comedy from the silver screen, it’s easy to see why. Owner Emma Moore chose the name due to its old-age feel and its subtle nod to Nottingham’s historic ties to the lace industry. However, just like the film and play which in many ways went against the grain with its release to critical acclaim, Emma is far from your traditional tie maker, and is pushing the boundaries of what was often considered to be a masculine accessory.
“There are lots of [tie] suppliers out there that are still really focusing on that true English gent with their brand, their language and their photography,” Emma says. “We always, from day one, tried to step away from that. I really did want it to be about ties for everyone. I don't want it to feel stuffy but be a bit more inclusive.”
Sporting a collection of colourful handmade neckties and bow ties for all genders, Arsenic and Old Lace is redefining what has historically been a symbol of wealth and the quintessential English gentleman. Fuelled by a deep passion for quality, creativity and originality, its signature pieces feature bold prints, splashes of colour and joyful blooms.
Born and bred in Nottingham, Emma’s love for the city and the surrounding region has been poured into each of her creations; each piece taking inspiration from a different Midlands town, city or village.
These include the Shipley which features a Liberties Lodden print in greens, creams and blues, originally designed by William Morris in 1884, and the Sherwood which features fabric from the latest Summer House Collection of Liberty fabric designs, drawing inspiration from 17th and 19th century orangeries with soft mauve, sage green and pale blue conservatory fruits. Meanwhile, the Nottingham sports a vibrant version of William Morris’ iconic Strawberry Thief print, with navy, shades of blue and bright pops of eye-catching neon.
Emma says, “For our Nottingham range we were inspired by quite a few of the businesses that have been based and founded in Nottingham, Paul Smith obviously being one of them. So it had to be bright, it had to be a little different. We always try and choose prints that are a little bit more obscure and look for ones that aren't overly popular and that aren't already being done.”
Recent years have seen perceptions of tie wearing shift, with the accessory no longer just worn by men in boardrooms or at weddings. Today, celebrities such as Grammy award-winner and rapper Doechii, are shifting the dial on femininity and style, with iconic gender-blending looks. Her recent Grammy red carpet look was one prime example, featuring a grey pinstripe ball gown coupled with a crisp white shirt and matching grey pinstripe tie from Thom Browne. It’s a trend that feeds into the Arsenic and Old Lace ethos of creating timeless pieces that can be worn by all genders.
“I think that's the thing now, it can be much more fun,” Emma explains. “It doesn't have to be formal, it doesn't have to be for a white collar event. There are no set rules now, so ties don't have to specifically be for men. And we try to incorporate that into the brand. The landscape's changing completely. I think people are stepping away from fast fashion too. They want to be unique. They want pieces that no one else is going to be sporting.”
It doesn't have to be formal, it doesn't have to be for a white collar event. There are no set rules now, so ties don't have to specifically be for men
“We now get requests from females from all different age groups,” she adds. “It’ll be people for prom in their teen years, right up to people that are going to formal dinners. But the whole demographic has changed over the years because I think people are freer to just do themselves, and wear what they want.
“I've sold lots of bow ties to females for same sex marriages and there was a girl recently who wanted a bespoke tie to wear for her prom because she didn't want to wear a dress, she wanted a sparkly self tied bow tie. Our customer base is quite split, which is interesting with the brand because I never wanted to make it too masculine.”
The necktie has roots which date back as far as the 17th century, with the Croatian cravat ushering in a new accessory for European noblemen. While it had many iterations over the centuries, including the introduction of the Steinkirk and the bow tie, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the modern necktie that we’re all familiar with came to being.
The past hundred years have seen the necktie take on many shapes and styles including the bold wide based ties of the ‘80s and ‘90s and the classic indie, skinny tie of the ‘00s. However, it is still in many ways a male-centric industry, with many of the UK’s popular tie manufacturers still headed up by men. This is something Emma has come up against herself as a female tie maker.
She says, “I think it's hard to break that perception of it being a hobby. So if a male were to launch a business and say, ‘Right, I'm making ties and bow ties’, it would be considered a business, but that’s not always the case for females.”
The brand has shipped pieces to customers in 42 countries, with people all over the globe keen to get their hands on a treasured piece. But, despite this, Emma remains true to her roots, helping to fly the Midlands flag through her pieces, something she says has resonated with so many of her customers.
“I now get a lot of customers who contact me and say, ‘My wife's grandfather was from such an area, or I know this place’ and buy pieces with prints named after that place which is really lovely,” she says. “Even though we ship all over the world, we still try to pay homage in the brand to the Midlands, by keeping the authenticity and the heritage of Nottingham. We also do this by incorporating a duck in our branding and in our language. It was quite a brave move because a huge proportion of my customer base is from the USA and I wasn’t sure whether they’d get it, but we did it and it seems to work.”
As well as her core range, Emma also offers bespoke ties, with her ‘family ties’ pieces being particularly special for her.
“Our family ties pieces mean people can supply garments from perhaps a past loved one such as a grandpa's old shirts. Or, a treasured garment from somebody that’s passed away, or it might be a baby's first birthday shirt and they don't want to store it away in a cupboard. I then take these and transform them into keepsakes, which can be quite emotional. I'd like to think that when someone purchases them, they would stay within that family for a long time.”
Buy one of Emma’s eye-catching pieces on her website at arsenicandoldlace.co.uk
Q @arsenicandoldlaceaccessories
DISCOVERY DAYS
Thurs 13 March & Thurs 15 May
From Media to Games, Esports, Events, and Music – if you’re serious about a job in the Creative industries, you need Confetti.
Our College-level Discovery Days are not your typical Open event. Expect an immersive and interactive experience designed to show you what life as a Confetti student is like, and what you can expect if you score a place with us.
See you there.
Book on to a Discovery Day
Herstory retold
Since 2009, the Beeston and District Civic Society has installed 35 plaques to commemorate figures who are important to the local area. Despite this large number, every single one of these plaques honored a man. In January, this tradition was broken when the first ever plaque honoring a woman was unveiled. We spoke to Tamar Feast to find out the origins of the Beeston’s Lady Plaques initiative and what this could mean for the way we understand and commemorate historical figures in the future.
How do we remember history, and who actually gets to tell our stories? These are a few key questions that initially drove the Lady Plaque initiative, which is about more than just recognising women’s contributions - it’s about reshaping the way we look at our community history. Lady Plaques is part of a larger movement to challenge traditional narratives, make historical recognition more inclusive - not just focusing on the scope of women but also beyond that - and inspire future generations to take an interest in local history.
Tamar Feast is a graphic designer, creative planting designer and wildlife gardener, based in Beeston. She’s also one of the key figures behind Beeston’s Lady Plaques. She explained how the idea came to her in 2019, when she then started a campaign on International Women’s Day to try and receive nominations for women, local to the area of Beeston, who could then have a plaque commemorating them. Indeed, Tamar was not alone in noticing this pattern - a pattern which had reserved the plaques for very similar looking men with property. Tamar recalls leading guided walks for the Civic Society, where participants frequently noticed the absence of women among the plaques.
After the campaign launched, the next step was to compile a list of notable women to be recognised, but it proved more challenging than was expected. “Women’s contributions to history are often less documented,” Tamar reminded me, which made gathering information significantly harder. She pointed out other challenges, like women’s historical lack of autonomy, which has shaped the way we understand the past. For example, while men’s property records or credit scores provide tangible evidence, women often left fewer formal traces, making it more difficult to trace their contributions. It is important to recognise that although it would be simple for the criteria to simply be ‘women’, there are other requirements in the mix from Historic England:
the person must have been dead for twenty years, have made a significant contribution both locally and nationally.
Still, there were women to be found. The first Lady Plaque was dedicated to Eleanor Littlewood MBE, a trailblazer in local politics. Born in 1879, she became Beeston’s first female council chairwoman, served as chair of the Beeston committee for five years, and was the first female overseer of the county at age 37. Her plaque was unveiled at Manor Lodge on Middle Street, a location closely tied to her legacy.
Tamar was not alone in noticing this pattern - a pattern which had reserved the plaques for very similar looking men with property
The second plaque, currently in progress, will honor Nan Green, a Beeston-born humanitarian and political activist. Green was a key figure in improving British hospital care, particularly during and after the Spanish Civil War. She was known for her medical aid campaigns in Spain and China, but while her work is recognised internationally, her contributions had remained largely uncelebrated in Beeston - until now. For more information on the Lady Plaques, head over to the Beeston Civic Society website where they have provided a concise outline.
As mentioned, there is a stark difference when it comes to obtaining information on historical men versus women. Tamar speaks very honestly about the fact that the Civic Society does not consist of professional historians, which resulted in a research approach based on trial and error. Tamar and her team tapped into various sources including: Nottingham Archives, local newspapers, and historical catalogues. Fortunately, partnerships with
organisations, such as Nottingham Women’s History, provided crucial support.
Beyond the challenges when it came to research, logistical hurdles also emerged, such as approval from property owners for the plaque installations. However, this is an issue which was promptly met with a solution as plaques had the power to increase property value, thus providing an incentive for property owners.
Looking ahead, Tamar envisions the Lady Plaques project expanding to honor a broader range of women. With social media platforms such as TikTok already being used as real-time historical records, she hopes to see greater engagement from younger generations. Tapping into the potential of social media could not only spark interest and encourage nominations, but also offer people new ways to engage with the past, helping to make history feel immediate and personal, rather than distant and forgotten.
Public involvement is also crucial: by inspiring locals to research and recognise women from their own communities, the initiative can grow organically and ensure that hidden histories come to light. Tamar also recognises how including women in these conversations has the ability to diversify the plaques on a larger scale, such as including people from BIPOC communities.
Ultimately, Lady Plaques is about more than just Beeston and is rather part of a much larger conversation about representation and historical memory. By putting a spotlight on those who have been overlooked, the project challenges longstanding biases in how history is recorded and remembered. The goal is not just to add women to the historical narrative, but to change the way history is told altogether.
words: Kayla Sibanda
photos: Lewis Stainer, Green family archive
In Fine Feather
When people think of great Manchester bands, alt-rockers Doves can often be overlooked. But across their six albums and multiple decades together, the band have rarely put a foot wrong. With their latest opus Constellations of the Lonely just released – their first in five years - and a show at Rock City on the horizon, we sat down for a catch up with drummer Andy Williams.
Achieving real happiness is, like anything truly worth having in life, often gained by taking risks. Standing backstage at the other end of the A50 in Stoke’s intimate Sugarmill venue last November, Doves’ genial drummer Andy Williams knew he was on the precipice of perhaps taking on one of the biggest ventures of his 55 years.
With frontman and childhood friend, Jimi Goodwin, unable to commit to touring with the band due to health reasons, Williams and twin brother guitarist Jez, had to decide whether to take the plunge and pick up the indie-rock veterans’ mantle and rejuvenate the band’s live legacy. So, with a sixth studio album in the can, it was crunch time.
“Towards finishing the album we realised really that Jimi wouldn’t be able to tour. We had to re-think everything, so we took the decision, me and Jez, and I’m so glad we did that because it enabled us to play live,” Andy attests, with understandable pride.
“We tried it out because we wanted to know if it was going to work – we got together with a couple of friends in the backroom of my house and started jamming. It became quite apparent that we could not only do it, but also do it real justice.”
“It’s always been the case that me and Jez have sung on the albums and live, so it feels like a real continuation of that,” Williams adds. Transported then to said dressing room with a sold-out crowd waiting in the Midlands, how was it?
“It was a bit nerve racking, I won’t lie. We’d been blessed with a lot of positive reaction to the new lineup, but there was some negative stuff too which you try to avoid like, ‘they can’t do this, how dare they?’ but that was minimal - most people were very encouraging.”
Bolstered by three new live musicians, Nathan Sudders (bass), Jake Evans (guitar and backing vocals) and Christian Madden (keyboards), Williams is delighted by the new set up.
“They’re great musicians – Jake we’ve known for about ten years, Nathan we’d had loads of people recommending him and the same with Christian. They’re all from the Manchester area – we’ve all really lucked out. They’ve really fitted in.”
The quintet are now set to hit the road again for
a full UK tour, featuring a Rock City show on 10 March, and it’s been a while since Doves have visited Notts, as the drummer hazily recalls.
“My memory’s shocking, but I think we played there with Radio 1 and The Coral, which would’ve been about 25 years ago.”
LeftLion can confirm this to be the case, as this writer has vague memories of spotting Radio 1’s Evening Session DJ Jo Whiley bowling out of the old O’Neill’s bar at the top of Market Street on route to the gig in question, which was part of One Week Live in October 2002.
There is a saying ‘St Teresa’ and Jimi was telling us about a story that parts of her body are all over Europe, so we thought it’d be interesting to write about it and it would probably make our parents chuckle
“It was very early doors for us and very early doors for them – I’m just trying to think if we’ve played since but I don’t recall it.”
A trawl of an online fan gigography unearths later dates at our legendary venue in 2005 and 2009 but, with a sixteen-year hiatus, a long overdue return will actually mark 25 years since they first landed here to play The Social (now Bodega).
The community that live music provides was criminally overlooked both financially and for mental health reasons by the previous government during COVID and it’s no coincidence that Doves’ new long player is called Constellations For The Lonely. The title’s genesis came from Williams himself.
“I’m afraid I’m responsible for that! I thought of that when I had COVID. I was in bed with it and we were half way through writing it and I was just thinking how to a certain extent, in modern life, a lot of people are quite lonely really - we live very digital lives which are quite remote from hanging out.”
“I did want to bring that word into it and I just liked the idea of constellations and, to me, it’s like a map to navigate this (feeling) – that was my thinking of it.”
One of the track titles which stands out is single, St Teresa LeftLion puts to Williams whether that’s a doughty friend, or relative that’s often stepped up to the plate for them? But, no. “Well, we’re all Catholics! I think it was Jimi who came up with that title – none of us are religious by the way, we’re all very lapsed – but all our parents are Catholic.”
“I wrote the verse lyrics for that and Jimi wrote the chorus and they kind of fit together. There is a saying ‘St Teresa’, and Jimi was telling us about a story that parts of her body are all over Europe, so we thought it’d be interesting to write about it and it would probably make our parents chuckle.”
It’s not just Jez and Andy from the Williams’ clan who are receiving acclaim in 2025 either – the brothers’ modernist architect father Desmond is gathering plaudits too, as the drummer confirms when LeftLion raises the subject of performing in one of the 1960s’ churches he designed.
“I’d love to play in one of his places – maybe that’s something we need to look into. There’s one in Manchester which is listed called St Augustine’s and there’s one in Dunstable which I need to visit. Two or three of them are listed now – so I’m really pleased that in the latter stages of his life, people are really discovering that period of architecture.”
Bringing things back full circle to Goodwin’s health, LeftLion asks how he’s doing.
“He’s alright at the moment. He’s in recovery still; it’s a long process. He’s working on getting himself right. For him to go on tour would just be too much at the moment – he’s not out of the woods yet, but he’s a lot better.”
Forty years after the trio hooked up at a high school in Wilmslow and bonded over a love of The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, The Fall and Talk Talk, Doves’ flight path may be in a new direction, but the journey is still proving to be a worthwhile and intriguing one.
Doves play Rock City on Monday 10 March 2025. Constellations From The Lonely is out now.
words: Lawrence Poole
photo: Brian Stevens
ALT BLK ERA
Rave Immortal (Album)
Sisters Nyrobi and Chaya launched their energetic debut record Rave Immortal in January, leading to their win for Best Alternative Music Act at the 2025 MOBOs in Feb. A project packed with big beats, earworm choruses and polished production, it’s sure to impress fans of adjacent bands like The Prodigy, Pendulum and Enter Shikari. Some non-single highlights include the rambunctious Upstairs Neighbours, the bass-heavy Crashing Parties and the orchestral stylings of Catch Me If You Can. Add in popular singles like My Drummer’s Girlfriend and Run Rabbit, and you have a fantastic debut that successfully spotlights their massive superstar potential. Karl Blakesley
Divorce Pill (Single)
Notts indie alt-country dynamic foursome of nature released this entrancing single which is featured on their debut album Drive to Goldenhammer (out on 7 March). An experimental chamber-pop rock ballad over five minutes long, Pill is an auditory, transformational standout from Divorce, with its three stark instrumental sections and forthright lyrics from co-vocalist/bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell, as they share their intimate tendencies from the perspective of a long-distance relationship, as well as their prevailing euphoria of being seen. Expect textured string arrangements, frenzied guitar riffs and earnest harmonic vocals accompanying a gentle piano interlude – it’s a queer, euphonic portrait of love, self-discovery and acceptance. Katherine Monk-Watts
Idolvein
Logic Bomb (Single)
Like a hammer to a landmine, Idolvein have barrelled to the forefront of the Nottingham music scene with their latest single, Logic Bomb. Through chugging riffs, powerful vocals, and an intense drumming groove, Idolvein have definitely turned heads in the metal community. While influences from bands like Bring Me The Horizon shine through, the band add their own unique twists; a surprisingly effective sax solo springs to mind, almost causing whiplash on the first listen! There were many exciting new concepts in this latest single that, if explored in more depth, could bring a raw new angle to the metal genre. Certainly a band worth watching closely. Philippa Walsh
Confyde
A Coward’s Stitches (EP)
Confyde are a band holding individuality and rawness at the very forefront of everything they do, bringing a punk-rock sense of freshness to their musical presentation while delivering a thoughtfully curated arrangement of songs. Their latest EP, A Coward’s Stitches, gives an unfiltered and visceral portal into the emotional experiences of lead vocalist Martin Jackson, exploring self-preservation, guilt and personal growth. The succinctness of the EP paired with its relatable rawness really makes it feel like something which should be experienced in full and leaves a lasting impression as one ponders their own comparable emotions and experiences.
Matt Pratt
Marseille History (Single)
Derby indie outfit Marseille have returned with a brand new single – History. Swirling with rich, acoustic-driven instrumentation, some scintillating guitar work and young frontman Will Brown channelling Liam Gallagher’s drawl on the chorus, it is without a doubt the band’s most accomplished single to date. Lyrically, it sees Brown lay down the band’s collective desire to achieve greatness and leave their mark on the music world before their career is done. So, while folks up-and-down the country get ready for Oasis’ highly in-demand reunion later this summer, we may just have the next Oasis ready to break through in 2025 – and from only thirty-minutes up the road no less. Karl Blakesley
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
Elevate is a place for men and LGBTQ+ people aged 1622 who have been affected by domestic abuse. It’s a safe space where you can learn about healthy relationships, get support, and meet others who have experienced something similar.
Practical support with CVs and university applications
Confidence boosting and mental health improvement
Domestic abuse and healthy relationship guidance
To join, visit equation.org.uk/elevate or scan the QR code. Call us on 0800 995 6999 if you’ve got any questions.
calling sister midnight
words: Sofia Jones
photos: Altitude Films
Nottingham producers Alastair Clark of Wellington Films and Anna Griffin of Griffin Pictures have a wealth of projects to their names: A House in Jerusalem, Calibre, and The Leveling to name but a few. Ordinarily, their home is Nottingham’s very own Broadway Cinema, but their latest project Sister Midnight took them a little further afield. We met them to hear all about it…
On a hot day in Mumbai, two East Midlands film producers arrived to produce a feature: Sister Midnight, a fable about the female experience, set in India’s largest city. The duo, Alastair Clark andAnna Griffin, began work on the film in 2016, but Griffin was first introduced to its writer, Karan Kandhari, even earlier in 2013 when she watched his short film Flight of The Pompadour at Bristol’s Encounters Film Festival. Griffin was drawn to Karan’s depiction of an outsider, a theme which they continue in Sister Midnight
When I met with the pair, I asked them to summarise the film and what makes it so special and they answered decisively: it’s Uma, the film’s central character. Brought to life by Radhika Apte, the distinguished Bollywood actor, who Griffin insists embodies the role. She affirms simply, “You don’t have Uma without Radhika.”
Uma is “unapologetic, she is chaotic, and she takes no prisoners, she’s a rebel,” they tell me. And the cause against which she rebels? Well, on the surface it’s her arranged marriage and the new life she finds herself in - “she doesn’t know the man she’s married to, she’s in a place she’s never lived” - but peel back a layer and it’s the feeling that she’s different. It’s the theme that initially attracted Griffin to Kandhari’s first short, that of the outsider. Uma doesn’t fit in, not into the mold of marriage, or with the neighbours on her street, and rather than alter herself to fit in, she rails wildly against her surroundings.
Uma doesn’t fit in, not into the mold of marriage, or with the neighbours on her street, and rather than alter herself to fit in, she rails wildly against her surroundings
It would be reductive to say that Sister Midnight is simply a feminist fable. In Kandhari’s own words, the film explores the idea that “there is no manual for life, no one tells you how to navigate this world.” Yet Uma’s struggle is distinctly female, as she rallies against having to cook and clean. A close bond with her neighbour, Sheetal, provides solidarity. Griffin explains: “they occupy the space and mundanity of wives and through their dialogue and role-playing they poke fun at the world around them in a social critique kind of way.”
The street that Uma and Sheetal share is important for the development of their relationship, and acts as a vital limb on which the wider film stands. During the film’s earlier stages, Clark and Griffin explain that Karan’s dream was to use a street in Mumbai for shooting. But when the reality of blocking off a busy street became clear, the writer’s fanciful wings were rightly clipped by the practical producers. The result was a point of triumph, and the praise rests with their “amazing production designer” who skillfully re-created the original street; “it’s a mirror version of the street, it’s just phenomenal.”
This street was so intrinsic to Sister Midnight, that Clark and Griffin describe how it’s so baked into the film’s meaning that it is part of its ‘DNA’. Griffin talks
frequently about the “DNA of the film” during our chat and it strikes me as an important phrase because it paints the film as a living thing - something with distinct characteristics with air in its lungs. Seeing the film in this way means that the setting in Sister Midnight is more than simply a backdrop for characters to exist in front of, and instead like a character all of its own.
For Clark and Griffin, Mumbai took on different characters during the filming process too - their drive to set during the day could take almost two hours and just fifteen minutes at night. “It suddenly becomes a ghost town at night,” Clark explains. “That’s why when you see the night scenes the film is just very sparse with just dogs barking.” Karan knew this shift between Mumbai’s night and day personally, and “he used that as a shifting character that Uma then occupies to her benefit, sometimes to her detriment.” It’s during these times of “detriment” that something happens to Uma, a twist teased at by Clark and Griffin - one to be eagerly discovered by viewers.
Griffin Pictures and Wellington Films often focus on injustice and hardship in their projects. In a previous LeftLion interview, Griffin said: “I never make stuff solely for entertainment’s sake. I always want to make something that can start a conversation.” When I asked what kind of conversations, if any, they were hoping to start with Sister Midnight, one thing was conversations about poverty. “The poverty in Mumbai is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Griffin explains. “You see that with Uma and her husband because they are functioning within a very poverty-stricken environment which is just normal out there, so that’s a conversation starter.”
Another was Uma’s experience in Mumbai’s patriarchal society. Uma is “occupying a very patriarchal system and just in her very nature she’s not a textbook woman, so even before the shift that occurs, she’s already at odds with her world.” This is not simply a conversation about how men and women interact, but also about the complexity of women’s relationships with each other within a patriarchal system because, for Uma, “even the other women view her in a way they don’t view themselves.”
Often we talk about British cinema as being in a troubled place - there isn’t enough funding and often films are London-centric. Without negating this, Sister Midnight proudly comes from Nottingham-based production companies, is filmed in India with Indian actors, and the script is entirely in Hindi. It is a mixture of different places, of cultures, and should help us to feel hopeful about the future of film.
“As we show with this production, there are exciting voices outside of London,” says Clark “More than just championing the midlands, this film shows that “we don’t have to just shoot in the UK either. There are stories that British teams can tell all over the world.”
Head to Broadway Cinema on Friday 14 March to watch Sister Midnight with an introduction from Alastair and Anna.
[Q @wellingtonfilms
Bake it ‘til you make it
Based in the heart of Mapperley, Coosh Bakery serves up freshly baked artisan delights to the carb loving masses. From perfectly flaky pastries to showstopping sourdough loaves, each creation is crafted with love and the finest ingredients. We caught up with the co-founders, couple Rachel and Tom Egan, to find out how the project went from their kitchen to a thriving bricks-and-mortar bakery, now a neighbourhood favourite.
Let’s start at the beginning – what’s the story behind Coosh? What made you decide to enter into the world of baking?
Rachel: In 2019, I decided to leave my corporate job. I’d known from a young age that I wanted to get into food, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like or which avenue to take. I think chefs on TV scared me, as did the idea of working in service, and I knew that wasn’t for me, I’m too much of a softie. Then we discovered the School of Artisan Food.
By the end of the first year of the two-year course, we had already decided we were going to open a bakery, and started working out the logistics so we could launch Coosh as soon as the course was done. We first started trading from home in our kitchen, just the two of us, baking bread and selling it. We would bake all night, so we could open our door to customers at eight in the morning. It was chaos, we had flour everywhere! We dedicated our whole selves to it, including our personal space and life.
Loads of people dream about running a bakery, but what was the moment where you went, ‘Right, we’re doing this’? Did it feel like a leap of faith or was it more of a natural step?
Tom: There was one leap-of-faith moment, and then the rest of it snowballed from there. After the open day at the School of Artisan Food, I could see in Rachel’s eyes that this was it - this was what she was meant to do. We went to Welbeck Farm Shop, got a coffee and a sausage roll, and basically said, “Okay, you’ll leave your job, and I’ll support us while you train for two years.”
Rachel: After that, it sort of spiralled. All these ideas came about, and it became a natural progression to do something in food. Tom has this ‘anything is possible’ mantra and a deep faith in me that I can achieve more. That was partly the moment that felt like a revolution - an ‘anything is possible, go and do it’ kind of thing.
What’s a typical day at Coosh like? Paint us a picture: are we talking pre-dawn starts, a million croissants in the oven and coffee on tap? And out of curiosity, what’s the most bakes you’ve ever smashed out in a single day?
Rachel: It’s standard for us to smash out around 500 bakes on a Saturday, and we serve nearly 1,000 customers a week now. I feel like we’re always running hot, especially as demand keeps growing. We actually start prep the night before at around midnight because we cold prove everything we do for control purposes and to get a more consistent product. We can start baking as early as 2am, and the other bakers will start coming in around 4am. We’ll be perfecting the display and getting everything ready for our 8am opening.
That’s a really early start. How do you survive and what keeps motivating you to do it?
Rachel: I’d say to anyone thinking about starting a bakery: be warned, it’s definitely hard work. But it’s also incredibly rewarding. Motivation-wise, and this may sound cheesy, I genuinely don’t think I need any. I just love doing it. I also love the people we work with. We’ve chosen a great team, and they’re so dedicated and so much fun. I look forward to it every day and can’t wait to get into the bakery. I’ve never felt like that about a job before.
Nottingham’s food scene is buzzing right now – how does it feel to be part of it? Have the locals embraced Coosh in the way you hoped?
Rachel: It feels surreal because I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly cool person. Bakeries are often run by super trendy people, so I always imagine customers coming in expecting that and then it’s just me and Tom! I find it really funny.
Tom: Since day one, we’ve had so much support. People were willing to come into our house to get our products. When we first started, we had 181 messages on Facebook from people asking for loaves of bread. That kind of response makes it all worthwhile. It’s an amazing feeling when your neighbours say, “Thank you so much for choosing Mapperley.”
We can start baking as early as 2am, and the other bakers will start coming in around 4am. We’ll be perfecting the display and getting everything ready for our 8am opening
What’s been the biggest surprise or challenge about running a bakery? Any unexpected moments that you’ll never forget?
Tom: It’s been a real surprise how many people it takes to do this. It takes a small village to produce the food we do now and at the scale we’re working at, because everything is so hands-on and labour-intensive. In a way, that’s a really good thing because when you buy our product, the money is going back to the people who made it, which is absolutely fantastic. But on the flip side, it means it takes a lot of people to do what we do, because everything is so carefully crafted.
By the way, the name Coosh – it’s catchy, but what’s the story? Is there a secret meaning, or was it one of those ideas that just clicked?
Rachel: A couche (pronounced “coosh”) is a French word and it’s a baker’s cloth or linen, used to prove your bread and hold its shape. I remember when I heard the word, I thought it sounded funny, so we changed the spelling to make it more friendly and approachable. It’s a soft and squidgy word and we feel like we are soft and squidgy too, so it fits. It also sounds a bit like an innuendo and that makes people curious about it.
Finally, and perhaps the most important question of all: You can only eat one pastry for the rest of your life - what is it?
Both: We think that’s an unreasonable question. We’d have to say our eclairsyou think you’ve had an éclair and then you eat one of ours and there’s your life before this éclair and then your life after this éclair. Our most sold product would be the cinnamon buns and we’re strangely known for those - we’ve had an actual Canadian who said they taste like Canadian cinnamon buns, which is very high praise to be honest.
Visit Coosh Bakery at 153a, Breck Hill Road, Mapperley, NG3 5JP.
Q @cooshbakery
words: Julia Head photo: Lottie Clark
Helping you move forward after domestic abuse
Domestic abuse can leave survivors feeling confused, disempowered, and alone. At Equation, we’re here to support you on your journey to safety and recovery.
The Gateway Programme is a free, eight-week support group for men and LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic abuse
Connect with others who understand your experiences
Learn more about why and how abuse happens in relationships, identify control tactics, and explore its impact on parenting and children
Discover support resources, safety strategies, and plan your next steps forward
Scan the QR code to find out more.
Reasons to be Cheerful
words: Caradoc Gayer
The news is normally negative, but here are some nice things that have happened in Notts this month.
On the House
At the start of February, staff at the Gedling Inn got a slightly more eventful shift than they bargained for when patrons came to watch the Premier League showdown between Nottingham Forest and Brighton. The Inn posted prior to the game that there’d be pints on the house for each goal by Forest: an offer that backfired when the Reds scored every fifteen minutes. A 7-0 win resulted in 300 free beers for lucky pubgoers. The shift was apparently a fun one for staff, with lots of community spirit flowing alongside the alcohol.
Wealth at the Workshop
After fifty years in business, Nottingham-founded Games Workshop has ascended to the FTSE: an index of the 100 most valuable companies on the London stock exchange. Now valued at £4.6 billion, the now globally renowned craftsmen of Space Marines, Orks and Chaos Knights have a lot of exciting ventures on the horizon, with all-the-more video game licensing ahead plus an Amazon deal for a Warhammer TV series.
Sky’s the Limit
Around November last year, there was a mass exodus from the Musk-owned social media platform that-must-not-be-named to alternatives like BlueSky and Threads. Many businesses around Nottingham partook, yet few seem to have found as much success as Old Market Square’s resident radical bookstore Five Leaves. During February 2025, a source at Five Leaves told LeftLion that their BlueSky following had surpassed 10k, oddly with many of these new followers residing in the States. It’d be almost impossible to verify the genuineness of each of these accounts, but it’s nice to see people around the world getting a taste for independent, grassroots bookselling all the same.
Something made you laugh in the lavs? Send your funniest quips to editorial@leftlion.co.uk
Guess the answer to this Notts themed riddle…
Find my first in the hair
If you go take a Peep, My second is light
The time you don’t sleep, My third is a sound
That babies do say, In whole I’m a place Where music does play
Last month’s answer: The Major Oak
THE CASE OF Penny Loaf Day
I think I speak for most people when I say that we have all fallen victim to the occasional existential crisis early into the A.M, whether that be as a result of a reputation-ending encounter with a school crush or just general overthinking. However, I’m pretty confident that no one has undergone late night paranoia quite like Alderman Hercules Clay.
During the English Civil War, Hercules Clay, once Mayor of Newark, dreamed on the 9 March 1643 that his humble abode was to be burnt to ashes. Presumably he just put this horrifying dream down to ‘one-too-many-meads,’ but when this surreal nightmare continued to haunt him for two more nights, he decided to leave his home in an attempt to save his family from the horrors which kept him awake at night.
On the 11th March 1643, his dreams unfortunately became a reality when his house was struck by a bomb fired from invading Parliamentary forces who allegedly were aiming for the Governor’s residence, just next door to Clay’s family home. Following the destruction of his home and the particularly spooky warning from beyond, in an act of gratitude for his warning, Hercules Clay left a £100 fund in his will which was to supply the less fortunate people of Newark with penny loaves (a measurement given to a loaf of bread during the 17th Century), shoes and boots. The catch, however, was that in order for residents to receive a penny loaf, they must first listen to a sermon carried out by a local priest.
The fund established by Hercules Clay has since depleted, given that £100 would probably get you four loaves of bread and half a Freddo nowadays. With that being said, however, Penny Loaf Day is still celebrated every year in Newark on the Sunday closest to the 11 March, with loaves of bread handed to charities in support of the homeless. The sermon Clay initiated, whereby penny loaves were served as rewards for attendance, is rather comically referred to as the Bombshell Sermon. During the 19th century, almost 150 years after its conception, over 3000 loaves of bread were given to those less fortunate.
There is also a plaque in Newark’s Market Place commemorating Clay’s donation which also details his ghastly premonition on the front of the building, where his house once stood. I can only imagine that his visions from the beyond did not include the recording of his legacy on the front of a NatWest Bank, just around the corner from a Specsavers - a shop which I can only assume the parliamentary forces should’ve gone to.
words: Matthew Blaney
best oF the month
FGP Launch Party!
When: Sat 8 March
Where: Fisher Gate Point
How much: Free entry
Fisher Gate Point is that building on the corner down from Nottingham Arena which always has interesting artwork in the windows. Ever wondered what happens inside?
Now is your chance to have a nose inside at the cafe bar, gig venue, artisan shop and dozens of creative projects it houses. They’ve had quite the refurb over the last year and, as they’re predominantly femaleled, earmarked International Women’s Day for their big re-opening. Expect DJs, live performances, a taster menu and a free glass of vino.
Younique Festival
When: Wed 12 - Sat 15 March
Where: New Art Exchange
How much: Free
A free four-day celebration of young creative talent from Nottingham, curated and held at the New Art Exchange. Pop along throughout the week and check out some films, poetry, live music, DJs, workshops and craft stalls. We’d highly recommend stopping off in the lovely NAE cafe bar too. As always, you can expect a high energy finale to it all on Saturday evening. All ages welcome.
(the) Woman
When: Mon 10 - Tue 11 March
Where: Nottingham Playhouse
How much: From £12.50
Join ‘M’ as she struggles to tackle the balancing act of being a writer, a mother, and a woman, in Jane Upton’s hit play (the) Woman. Directed by Angharad Jones and starring Lizzie Watts, the performance promises to be ‘fiercely funny’ and ‘brutally honest’ in its exposing of the messy truth of motherhood. Keep an eye out for the accompanying Dirty Laundry workshop, which promises to bring together ‘Mothers in Theatre’ for a day of inspired discussion and writing.
Day Fever
When: Sat 15 March
Where: The Palais How much: £11
The Queen of Nottingham herself Vicky McClure, her filmmaking beau Jonny Owen and Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation) have been putting on some right good knees-ups recently. It’s a daytime disco where you can dance til you drop, with plenty of time to get the bus home and back in time to watch Match of the Day. Now lighting up The Palais after a year or so at Rock City.
Picture You Dead
When: Tue 11 - Sat 15 March
Where: Theatre Royal
How much: From £20
Following the latest instalment of ITV’s GRACE, Superintendent Roy Grace is back in Peter James’ stage adaptation of Picture You Dead. With 20 Sunday Times’ Best Sellers to his name, Picture You Dead, with its star-studded cast, marks Peter James’ seventh thrilling onstage work. Peter Ash (Coronation Street) joins Fiona Wade (Emmerdale) and George Rainsford (Casualty) in a tale that investigates the secretive underworld of fine art, riddled with deception and murder.
Tunng 20th Anniversary Tour
When: Wed 19 March
Where: Metronome How much: £18
Join London’s own genre-blurring, ‘pagan folktronica’ seven-man band in concert this March. This tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of Tunng’s first album This is… Tunng: Mothers Daughter and Other Tales, and lands in Nottingham’s Metronome on 19 March. The concert will feature songs from the band’s eighth studio album: Love You All Over Again, which marks their first in 5 years. Wild, witty and whimsical, this is not one to miss!
eXTC
When: Wed 12 March
Where: Metronome
How much: £22
XTC’s legendary drummer Terry Chambers is on the road once again, performing alongside new band eXTC in an iconic tribute to his former group. XTC emerged in the late 70s, riding the wave of post-punk and new wave taste, but sadly stopped touring in 1982. While his tour honours the legacy of XTC’s past, capturing the excitement of their heyday, it also paves the way for the band’s exciting future, as they begin to work on new material.
Writing for Life
When: Wed 19 March
Where: Wollaton Hall
How much: Free
Wollaton Hall is hosting a creative careers event for students aged 14-25, bringing together a range of professionals from various fields. This event will be hands-on, featuring a series of talks from speakers including Nottingham’s first Young Poet Laureate, Georgina Wilding, and LeftLion’s own Jared Wilson. These talks will be followed by an opportunity for attendees to visit stalls hosted by local organisations such as Nottingham Playhouse and Nottingham Justice Museum.
best oF the month
Opera North Spring Season
When: Thu 20 - Sat 22 March
Where: Theatre Royal
How much: £34 - £71.50
Opera North presents two classic operas, alongside a lighter v ersion of Mozart’s The Magic Flute for those new to the genre. Sung in English, The Magic Flute is one of the greatest operas ever written, Packed with fantasy, romance and daring, who can resist the stunning aria of the Queen of the Night? Then there’s Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman; set in a world where money, power and bureaucracy hold sway. Only one woman, Senta, seems committed to the truth. But can she bring redemption?
Beer Debunked
When: Sat 29 March
Where: Various venues
How much: £15
The No Half Measures Collective and Let’s Beer are on a commendable mission to champion Nottingham’s beer scene and women in beer.
They’re putting on three events on the last Saturday in March. First up is Serious Beer Business (1-4pm), a panel discussion event at Canalhouse. Following this there are tasting sessions hosted by Joanne Love from BarthHaas X hop suppliers (at The Newshouse) and Beer Sommelier Natalya Watson (at Barley Twist). Beers included in ticket prices.
WWE Live: Road To Wrestlemania
When: Sun 23 March
Where: Motorpoint Arena
How Much: From £48.15
WWE returns to Nottingham for Road to Wrestlemania as part of its unprecedented 11-city tour, in an iconically unique blend of sport and entertainment. The event will feature superstars including undisputed WWE champion ‘The American Nightmare’ (Cody Rhodes), Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan and many more. Anything could happen as these stars prepare for Wrestlemania, so don’t miss out!
Ay-Up Market
When: Fri 28 - Sun 30 March
Where: Old Market Square How much: Free
Nottingham’s Old Market Square doing what it does best; hosting a big weekend market stacked with local traders. Curated by It’s in Nottingham, over 90 independent stallholders are taking part, offering food and drink, vintage clothing, cosmetics, homeware, arts and crafts and much more. As well as the shopping there’s live music from the main stage too. It’s bigger and better this year, expanding to Smithy Row and all completely familyfriendly, with face-painting, workshops and balloons for the kids.
Calamity Jane
When: Tue 25 - Sat 29 March
Where: Theatre Royal
How much: From £22.50 - £57
Calamity Jane has just blown in from the Windy City, and will land in Nottingham’s Theatre Royal this March. With multi-award winning tracks such as Secret Love and Just Blew in from the Windy City, West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher brings us the titular Calamity Jane. This touring company is set to dazzle audiences in a lively Western classic filled to the brim with comedy, romance and drama. Book your tickets now for a whip-crackin’ good time!
Theatre Live: Dr. Strangelove
When: Thu 27 and Sat 29 March
Where: Savoy Cinema How much: £11-18
If you couldn’t spare the time and hundreds of quid it would have taken to see this in the West End, then here’s the next best thing. Armando Lannuci is the brains behind TV shows such as The Day Today, The Thick of It and Veep. This is his adaptation of the classic Stanley Kubrick film, starring Steve Coogan in the role made famous by Peter Sellers. An explosively funny satire about a rogue US General who triggers a nuclear attack.
Stuart Pearce
When: Sat 29 March
Where: The Bodega
How much: £11
No, it’s not the legendary Nottingham Forest and England left back. Stuart Pearce are a Notts-based band who have drawn comparisons with The Fall and describe themselves as “Gas band of substance immemorial in an era of temporal content.” Some of their releases like Nuclear Football and Red Sport International have echoes of the nation’s favourite sport though, so if anyone does turn up in a red shirt with a big number 3 on the back they might not leave disappointed.
When: Sun 30 March
Where: Arc Cinema Beeston How much: £17.95
Based on the classic coming-of-age film, this musical has won the hearts of millions since opening in the West End in 2005. Set in a 1980s northern town, against the background of the miners’ strike, Billy’s journey takes him out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class. It’s there he discovers a passion that inspires both him and his whole community. The film’s original creative team were joined by music legend Elton Johnto create this live theatre experience.
