LeftLion March 2023 Issue 157

Al-ympic Champion Alan Gilby (alan.gilby@leftlion.co.uk)

Editor-in-Chief Jared Wilson (jared.wilson@leftlion.co.uk)

Editor George White (george.white@leftlion.co.uk)

These people #SupportLeftLion

Assistant Editor Lizzy O’Riordan (lizzy.oriordan@leftlion.co.uk)

Head Designer Natalie Owen (natalie.owen@leftlion.co.uk)

Partnerships Manager Adam Pickering (adam.pickering@leftlion. co.uk)

Web Developer Tom Errington (tom.errington@leftlion.co.uk)

Head of Video and Photography Curtis Powell (curtis.powell@leftlion.co.uk)

Fashion Editor Addie Kenogbon (addie.kenogbon@leftlion. co.uk)

Stage Co-Editor Ian C. Douglas (ian@leftlion.co.uk)

Stage Co-Editor Dom Henry (dom.henry@leftlion.co.uk)

Screen Co-Editor Jamie Morris (jamie.morris@leftlion.co.uk)

Al Draper, Alison Gove-Humphries, Alison Harrison, Alison Hedley, Anamenti, Andrene Alejandro, Anne Jennings, Ant Haywood, Barbara Morgan, Ben Lester, Caroline Le Sueur, Catriona, Chloe Langley, Chris Jarvis, Chris Mead, Chris Underwood, Claire Foss, Claire Henson, Claire Warren, Clare Foyle, Colin, D Lawson, Dan Lyons, Dan Hemmings, Daniel Watts, Darren Harvey, David Knight, Dick Watson, Donna Rowe-Merriman, Eddie, Eden PR, Ellen O’Hara, Emma Lipinski, Erika Diaz Petersen, Felicity Whittle, Foxy Painter, Fred Glenister, Freddy Angell, Graye Wilde, Hannah Foskett, Hayley Howard, Heather Hodkinson, Heather Oliver, Helena Tyce, Ian Storey, Ian Yanson, In memory of Anna Novak (Bradford and Scoraig), In memory of Jenny Smith, James Place, James Wright, Janine Lees, Jayne Paul William & Pirate Jack, Jed Southgate, Jem Woolley, Jenni Harding, Joanna Furniss, John Haslam, John Hess, John Holmes, Jon Blyth, Jonathan Fenn, Jos Potts, Joshua Heathcote, Judy Gray, Julian Bower, Justyn Roberts, Kathryn Hewitt, Kathleen Dunham, Kay Gilby, Kiki Dee the Cat, Koprowskit, Lawrence Poole, Leanne Moden, Les Hayes, Livi & Jacob Nieri, Liz Knott, Lizzy and Margot, Lizzy Colyer, Louise Duffield, Marc Weaver, Mark Barratt, Mark Gasson, Matt Cliffe, Matt Turpin, Matthew Riches, Mighty Lightweights, MinorOak Coworking, Miri Debah, Moira Scothern, Monica White, Nick Donovan, Nick Waine, Nigel Cooke, Nigel Hudson, Nigel King, NottingJam Orchestra, Paul Boast, Paul Woodall, Pete Barker, Peter Coghill, Philip Miller, Rachel Ayrton, Rachel Hancorn, Rachel Morton, Raphael Achache, Rich Fisher, Richard Barclay, Richard Goodwin, Rob Arthur, Roger Hughes, Ron Mure, Ross Balzaretti, Roy Manterfield, Russell Brown, Sam Hudson, Sam Nahirny, Sam Rose, Samantha Culshaw-Robinson, Sarah Manton, Sarah Moore, Sarah Scriver, Simon Evans, Siobhan, Spicer, Steve Lyon, Steve Riordan, Steve Silver, Steve Stickley Storyteller, Steve Wallace, Stewart Berry, Stuart Wilson, Sue Barsby, Sue Reader, Tim Foster Hair, Tom Justice, Tom Patterson, Tracey Newton, Will

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.

Screen Co-Editor Oliver Parker (oliver.parker@leftlion.co.uk)

Food Co-Editor Daniela Loffreda (daniela.loffreda@leftlion. co.uk)

Photography Co-Editor Nathan Langman (nathan.langman@leftlion. co.uk)

Cover Payta Easton

Naternity Cover

Raphael Achache

Editorial Interns

Grace Maher

Lottie Murray

Josephine Ruffles

Writers Ken Adams

Dani Bacon

Bassey

Ryan Boultbee

Amelia Brookes

Rich Higton

Rich Johnson

Love CeCe

Harry Mangham

Music Co-Editor Gemma Cockrell (gemma.cockrell@leftlion. co.uk)

Food Co-Editor Julia Head (julia.head@leftlion.co.uk)

Art Co-Editor George Dunbar (george.dunbar@leftlion.co.uk)

Rose Mason

Iulia Matei

Jaden Morton

Ben Normington

Rosey Thomas Palmer

Mae Rischer

Nadia Whittome

Photographers

James Armstrong

Aaron Badkin

Bernard Caille

Tommy Durham

Focus & Shoot

Colin Haynes

Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Tyrone Lewis

Helen King

Martin Makowski

Jonas Mortensen

Bev Pearson

Music Co-Editor Amrit Virdi (amrit.virdi@leftlion.co.uk)

Photography Co-Editor Fabrice Gagos (fabrice.gagos@leftlion.co.uk)

patreon.com/leftlion

Featured Contributor

Ciaran Burrows

Art Co-Editor Marta Tavares (marta.tavares@leftlion.co.uk)

Simona Peneva

Tom Quigley

Angela Shepherd

Zoe Smith-Neale

Paul Swift

Pete Taylor

David Watts

Illustrators

Ciaran Burrows

Pete Gray

William Harvey

Iulia Matei

Tracey Meek

Ilinca Sivoglo

Kate Wand

Editorial Illustrations

Emily Catherine

I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. I graduated from The University of Lincoln with a first in Illustration back in 2021 (my final year unfortunately ended during 2020 and since then I have been working at B&Q designing kitchens and bathrooms to pay the rent). I grew up in Mansfield after being born in Maidstone, Kent. I aim to be versatile in everything I do, but when it comes to art I am drawn massively towards Neo Traditional and Japanese Tattoo aesthetics. My love for art comes hand-in-hand with music, with both my favourite musician, Plini, and his illustrator, Alex Pryle, influencing both how I play the drums (my first love and passion) and how I see surrealism in my artwork.

Check out Ciaran’s Out of Time illustration on page 43

Raising the Bar

Emily Campbell made history when she won the first British Olympic medal for female weightlifting. Now she chats us through her journey to silverware

A Gaffer in Notts

The Notts Dispatch

If you’re a regular Hockley-ite then you’ve probably spotted Dispatch Coffee - the perfect spot to read a book or catch up with friends

Covering All Shorts

No, this isn’t about a mob boss in a Guy Ritchie movie - the gaffer plays a vital role in filmmaking, making sure every scene is lit to perfection

The Canon of Shannon

Samantha Shannon created a best-selling sensation in The Priory of the Orange Tree. Now she’s back with a prequel to that smash hit novel

A Successful Younge Man

Journalist, author, sociology lecturer and former Editor-in-Chief at The Guardian, Gary Younge is a pretty talented guy

Baking It Big

We take a trip north east to check out the Little Brunette Bakery, a familyrun business that overcame the odds

On the Grind

Our skaters are renowned for their sense of community and lack of fear, but in Karim Keita, they may soon have an Olympian among them

Utilising classic dystopian, sci-fi and fantastical themes, Nottingham’s Giselle Leeb has just published her first short story collection

Cobra Guy

We catch up with Aidan Trimble: the first European to win a World Karate Title in Japan and owner of Beeston karate school The Dojo

Terr-ific Idea

Perfect for those who can’t manage to keep a cactus alive, Chan from Sap Plants has started hosting regular terrarium workshops

Out of Time: James Prior

You probably know D. H. Lawrence, you’ve most likely heard of Alan Sillitoe, but does the name James Prior ring any bells?

Editorial Leftlion in the wild

Hello there,

It’s always a tough one to ramble away in these things when we have no set theme. I could use it as an opportunity to shamelessly chat about myself, of course - after all, this is my space. But I’ll save you the pain. Besides, through our cover, a wonderfully wild ode to Nottingham, Payta Easton has given me something much better to work with: a focus on the transition to sunnier times.

It’s been a long old winter. The news has been flooded with rough stuff. The Nottingham Panthers haven’t quite had the resurgence we all hoped for. The Government are coughing up a new crisis every week.

Yet brighter days are on the horizon - weather-wise at least. And with it comes the smell of beer by the canal and a World Cup at the right time of year. That’s enough to make even this old cynic crack a smile.

Plus, we have loads of top stuff in this issue which ought to lift the spirits.

Whether talking to inspirational authors like Gary Younge (p21) and Samantha Shannon (p20), inspirational athletes like Emily Campbell (p16) and Karim Keita (p23), or more inspirational authors like Jasbinder Bilan (p29) and Giselle Leeb (p30), we’re spotlighting plenty of properly great people this mag.

So, enjoy the longer days and warmer climate, and enjoy tucking into this issue too. We’ll catch you on the next one.

Big ups

Yer gal got PUBLISHED, is an actual ILLUSTRATION, andddddd more adults are now TAKING UP SWIMMING. Notts lot, pick up a freeeeee copy at yer local pub/cafe/ Uni etc.

@summaya.mughal

George White, Editor george.white@leftlion.co.uk

Tag us on Instagram @leftlionmagazine to feature in a future issue

LeftLion Ltd is a carbon neutral company, having reduced our direct emissions by 99% since 2018. We offset the rest via direct air capture from Climeworks. LeftLion Magazine is fully recyclable and compostable, made from recycled or FSC® certified (C015932) sources, and printed using renewable energy. The emissions of this paper are offset via the World Land Trust.

M1 to Watch

Going Underground

Our mole on the ground isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to bring you the Notts stories you might have missed...

illustrations: Kate Wand

We’ve all been sat in traffic on the M1, wishing you could just get out of the car and run - or, in my case, burrow - home. Yet Notts County fan Jamie Austin took it upon himself to turn those rage-induced daydreams into reality, raising money for tackling diabetes in the process. By using parallel back roads, the 49-year-old headed from London to Leeds via Nottingham - and, if we’re being honest, probably managed the journey quicker than most on four wheels. You’re smashing it, you beautiful madman.

No Work and All Play

Kids really live the life, don’t they? No energy bills. No mortgage. No job. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they now get playgrounds with zip wires and trampolines. That’s right, Colwick Rectory Play Area is set to become an activity-filled haven for the little ne'er-dowells as part of a £100,000 investment project. A zip wire? Give me strength. Back in my day we had a tin can and a plank of wood. Best days of my life. World’s going to pot.

Hotel for Hogs

Step aside, Bella Ramsey. You might be winning over audiences across the globe with your performances in The Last of Us, but there’s a new Bella in town. You see, nine-year-old Bella from West Bridgford won the ‘A Home for Wildlife’ competition, with her design for a fancy wildlife retreat - which includes a hedgehog house, a bug hotel, a birdhouse and a pond - impressing judges of the Nottinghamshire County Council awards. No love for moles, I noticed, but I guess I’ll let it slide.

Kid 1: “You are such a cheeseburger.”

Kid 2: “Well you're a pepperoni pizza!”

"They’ve already done an autopsy but I reckon they’ll need to do an inquisition."

Man to pigeon: "Alright, pidge?"

Woman in Broadway to her friend, waiting for the film to start: “I’d love to be a film critic.” Friend: “How can you be a film critic? You can never remember anyone’s name. You can’t review something saying ‘thingymagig, that was in wotsit’.”

your ex missus was a bit not the smartest."

"He got so close to me he condensated my glasses."

"Respectfully,

“Yourunlikeyou're madeentirelyofelbows.”

“Seeyalaters…Gonnagoget feral with the freaks on the N34bus,mate.”

“Hewasn'tvery Buddhist,hekept orderingDomino’s.”

illustration: Pete Gray

Spotted Ilkeston town

Got my wife a new fridge should have seen her face light up when she opened the door

Spotted Eastwood

phone found in greggs in kimberley its in the safe waiting to be returned to owner if you are Steve that text the phone calling me a scrote and I best ditch the phone before you get to me well then I'm not a scrote that has stolen your mums phone I'm trying to get it back to her

Retford Information Page

Disgusting if I'd got hold of him I would have battered him

Spotted Ilkeston town

Scrap the lingerie! Get her an air fryer! Like a really good one though.

Arnold Community Group UK

In Sutton in Ashfield you can get mini fish, chips, sauce and either a small battered sausage or fish cake for £4. I’ve genuinely spoke to my partner about moving up there

Spotted: Stapleford

She thinks it’s funny to be jumping infront of moving cars! I’m telling you now, if she thinks it’s funny again, I’ll see how funny she thinks it is when I don’t slam my breaks on next time!

words: Dani Bacon

Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers on...

Nottingham Castle

They should open it back up and charge a minimal amount of money for people to enter, because they got it wrong beforepeople couldn’t afford to go. Let the people of Nottingham enjoy it; it shouldn’t be private, it’s ours. If they put on special events, like beer festivals, then sure, charge for them. But anybody should be able to visit the grounds.

Coffee Shops

Stewarts is the best coffee in the land, it’s gorgeous. And it’s near you lot at LeftLion! We got some Christmas presents for people; ground and unground. They went down very well. The people inside Blend are very charming and helpful too. We don’t have much coffee, though. We have it maybe once a year? We drink loads of tea. Simple. Breakfast. Tea. It’s unbeatable.

Emily Campbell

Do you know what’s so good about Emily? She shows that if you’re keen and put your mind to something, you’ll get on. She’s done a marvellous job for women in weightlifting. And she doesn’t talk posh, she’s a normal person who’s achieving great things. She did Bulwell proud. They need to name a gym after her, or a council building, or a tram!

Carlton Hill Community

he looks an interesting character. I hope he didn't poop on your towel

Spotted Ilkeston town

If you want to see some animals, wait until Tesco start putting the yellow reduction stickers on chilled food in the evening.

Spotted Kimberley & Eastwood

I’m just an ordinary Eastwood resident with no ambitions

Retford Information Page you’ve got a popcorn fetish so this would be ideal for you bud

Carlton Hill Community

That potato looks immense!

Arnold Community Group UK

All their family is commenting now inboxing me and threatening me great chippy.

West Bridgford Community (and Surrounding Areas)

Hello, just been out on West Bridgeford area and there is a bad stench every where...any idea what is that about. Plz check.

Sherwood in Nottingham Community Group

The roaring was very loud. So strange.

Retford Information Page

Welcome to Retford, you might get in but you’ll never get out

Hucknall Community Group

Hey is anyone wanting a worker (iam great with my hands).

The Mansfield UK, Community Group they could advertise Mansfield as 'an in town off roading experience' being as all the roads are sooo bad.

Spotted Long Eaton

So I came out the house at 5 am this morning to check if the car was frozen and I saw this bloke leaning on a wall with a walking stick I thought he must be out of breath just came out the door now at 6 40 and he's still there I shouted mate you alright then got no reply I walked down the road to check on him and its a smashed trampoline net hanging over the wall

Spotted Ilkeston town

It was an air ambulance for all the women tripping over and hurting themselves falling for me today

Spotted in Netherfield

I would of followed her and waited till she was inside and posted it return to sender or wiped it on her front door

The asteroid that ended the dinosaurs was technically the highest ratio of killing birds with one stone in Earth's history.

Nadia on...

Feminism

Wednesday 8 March marks International Women’s Day. Like every year, there will be countless events promoting the achievements of women, and feminist marches reminding the world of the struggles we still face.

While almost everyone is familiar with the celebration, fewer people know about its radical origins. The idea for a Women’s Day was first proposed in 1910 at the International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen. While its original headline demand was women’s right to vote - regardless of wealth or class background - the proponents of the day had much broader ambitions too. They didn’t want the integration of women into a deeply unequal and oppressive society, but its transformation for the benefit of all working people.

More than 100 years on, thanks to generations of feminists, we live in a country where women can vote, work, marry who we want and divorce when we wish; overt discrimination is banned by law and social attitudes towards gender roles have shifted significantly. Wednesday 8 March can serve as a reminder that these rights were not given to us but won: by people who were not afraid to confront those in power, break social norms and even the law when needed. But it’s also as good a time as any to remember that the fight is far from over.

When I first learned the word “feminist”, it was often used as an insult, and even many progressive women preferred to distance themselves from it. Over the past decade, this has changed dramatically. Today you can hardly find a female celebrity who doesn’t call herself one, and slogans about gender equality are being used to sell us anything from trainers to razors.

This mainstreaming of feminism could be seen as a step forward: it’s now more normalised than ever to talk about the injustices and double standards women face. But the commercialisation of the women’s movement also risks stripping it of its urgency and radicalism. It’s easy to design an advertising campaign where conventionally attractive models talk about the importance of loving your body. It’s much harder to stand up to the power structures that hold women back - including in the very businesses that claim to be part of the feminist struggle.

Since 2021, a Twitter account called @PayGapApp has been resharing brands’ International Women’s Day posts with information about the gender pay gap within their staff teams. Multiple companies deleted their “feminist” tweets as a response.

Over a century since International Women’s Day was established, its founders’ core message still rings true: there is no fairness for women without economic justice. No awareness campaign will enable mothers to return to work when childcare costs more than their entire salary. The housing crisis makes it harder for women to leave abusive relationships. Without strong workers’ rights, it’s easier for sexist and predatory bosses to carry on without consequences.

Cuts to public services also disproportionately impact women: both because they make up the majority of public sector workers, and because they depend on the welfare state more than men do. Since 2010, it is estimated that 86% of the costs of government cuts fell on women.

For the woman worker, it is a matter of indifference who is the “master”, a man or a woman - wrote Alexandra Kollontai, one of the initiators of International Women’s Day. The aim, she argued, was to abolish all privileges deriving from birth or wealth.

These words remain as relevant as ever. It’s not a victory for women if a female Home Secretary sends victims of human trafficking to detention centres. An employee struggling to feed her family won’t feel empowered knowing that her CEO is a woman. We need a feminism that doesn’t just focus on helping a few women get to the top, but on lifting up the majority - while paying particular attention to the needs of those most marginalised.

This means recognising the specific forms of misogyny faced by women of colour, and the overlapping discrimination they face. It means standing with migrant women who can’t access domestic abuse support out of fear of being reported to the Home Office and deported. It means listening to the voices of sex workers, who tell us that decriminalising their jobs is the best way to improve their safety and help them exit the industry when they want to. And it means extending solidarity to our trans sisters, who also face the consequences of the patriarchy every single day.

From the epidemic of gendered violence to persisting pay inequality; from ubiquitous sexual harassment to the underfunding of domestic abuse refuges - the women’s movement in 2023 still has plenty on its hands. In honour of those who came before us, this March let us all pledge to help build a better world for women, in whatever big or small ways we can.

Over a century since International Women’s Day was established, its founders’ core message still rings true: there is no fairness for women without economic justice

words: Nadia Whittome photo: Fabrice Gagos

Notts Shots

(Barely) See How They Run Tommy Durham

Taking stock Pete Taylor

Red River David Watts

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

Forever showing bubbles James Armstrong - @james_a_armstrong

Castle, ruins Martin Makowski - @flippedslides

Misty morning Zoe Smith-Neale - @explorewithzoe

The ripple effect Paul Swift

That Sinking Feeling Angela Shepherd

A moment of reflection

Aaron Badkin - @aaronbadkin_photography

A Gaffer in Notts

Ever consider how your favourite films and TV shows are lit? Ever wonder who’s behind it all? Well, that job is done by a gaffer - the person who executes the lighting plan behind the production. We discover what’s involved in this career, how it feels to be on set, and what Nottingham’s film scene is like…

I was quite naughty in school, and not very academic, which seems to be common among the film industry. I just don’t think school environments allow you to be creative and work physically or vocationally.

I only recently got into being a gaffer. I started taking an interest in the film industry at sixteen during college, where I was able to do some work experience with a tutor. It was my first taste of producing roles and it made me investigate other areas like camera or director work, but none of it sparked a passion in me. It wasn’t until I joined university where I got into lighting. Going to the Arts University of Bournemouth, there were lots of opportunities and I got experience in lighting for the first time on actual sets. I love lighting work on sets because it allows you to be so individually creative and constantly try new designs.

In lighting, you can either be a spark or gaffer. During uni, I had experience being a spark, which just means you’re running around doing a bit of everything. It was really cool getting a taste of the industry before even graduating, and I got to work on short films and music videos, even a bit of commercial work. I especially liked my time doing some videography for gigs. This was very different to anything else at the time as it was much more hands on and fluid.

There’s no real typical day in my job, as we could be anywhere at any time. The one consistency is getting the call sheet the night before. Also, it's always an early wake up since we have to go to set and check out the equipment. It tends to be the busiest time during the mornings because you’re having to set everything out, check it all works and then start placing things where they need to be.

Talking to the DoP (Director of Photography) is always important early on too, so you can understand what they want it to look like and what they want from all of you as the crew. Once you’ve done the setting up and the scenes begin, it's very relaxed as you’re just waiting around until you get a call to change the scenes or pack up and move onto the next set. These are the times in which you’ll find me nabbing a few extra biscuits or snacks from the crew food! Having said that, they’re usually very long, twelvehour days and get pretty exhausting sometimes. They go quickly, though, because you usually get along with crew members straight away and are busy with extra tasks you need to do while not working specifically on the lighting.

It’s always a challenge when you first arrive at a project because it can be quite nerve-racking meeting new people or not knowing anyone you work with. However, as you work in the industry more and more, you begin to realise how small it truly is. Recently I worked on a project with someone,

and we found out we had a lot of mutual friends, so there was that instant connection and ease. That’s one thing I love about Nottingham, they have such a great community here and so many more youths joining the film industry that you get to meet and stay connected to. That also has the extra positive of using word of mouth to get a job, because if people want a spark or gaffer, lots of people can now recommend me, and if I’m not available I can recommend lots of others too.

The nerves are also calmed by the fact everyone is so nice in the film industry, even actors! Although I must add, actors do live up to their name of being quite eccentric and strange… in a good way, of course! What’s funny about everyone in the industry is that they are always a climber or boulderer. Every single person in the camera or lighting team. I haven’t yet made the correlation as to why they always are, but I could guess it is down to the creativity of choosing your own route when climbing, as it is with lighting.

Schools push

into maths

The job does require people to be very versatile because you might be called up one day and need to be across the country. So, I’m looking to move to London soon as there will be a lot going on there, but I will definitely keep a line of work in Nottingham because the growing scene and community here is indescribable.

Hopefully in the future I will be doing more youth work. There is this conception that the film industry is hard to get into and although it is true, I want to change that. As I mentioned, the industry is built off word of mouth and experience - some say to get into a job you need to have done forty days of unpaid work, which is just unrealistic for people from working class backgrounds. So, I want to help people who may not be able to do that and may be from disadvantaged backgrounds. Schools push you into maths and English but not enough people are given the opportunity to be creative and pursue a role you would find in the film industry that isn’t acting.

Being a gaffer constantly gives me the opportunity to be as artistic and creative as possible, and that’s all I would want for others to experience.

you

and English but not enough people are given the opportunity to be creative and pursue a role you would find in the film industry

illustration: Iulia Matei

Raising the Bar

Emily Campbell made sporting history in Tokyo when she won the first ever British Olympic medal for female weightlifting. The Bulwell native chats to us about her journey to silverware, the messages she uses her platform to promote, and her expectations for Paris 2024…

Could you explain a bit more about the categories of weightlifting?

Weightlifting consists of ten categories for men, and ten categories for women. But when we contest at the Olympics, they shrink that down a bit. I lift in the women's 87kg+, which is called the Super Heavyweight category. There’s no cap on what you can weigh. That's the beauty of weightlifting: it's for everybody.

How did you first get into weightlifting, here in Nottingham?

I got into athletics at Manning Comprehensive School [now Nottingham Girls Academy] and continued at Leeds Beckett University. I wanted to get stronger for shot put and hammer. Somebody recommended weightlifting, then a coach told me to sack off athletics and become a weightlifter. I was 21, so I was thinking, why would I start a new sport? But after six weeks of training, I maxed out what you needed to qualify for the British Seniors. At the end of that year, I moved back to Nottingham and my coach told me about a gym in Alfreton that had the best weightlifting coaches in the country. That was where my career started taking off. I quit athletics, won my first national title, then qualified for my first international. It's been a bit of a whirlwind ever since, really!

I always want to be the first but definitely not the last. I hope that girls will look and think they can do it too. Hopefully, that's set the fire sparking. I always say that you can't be what you can't see. This is why representation is absolutely massive in everything we do in life. Recently, people are becoming a lot more aware of the injustices and racial barriers that black athletes face. What do you think needs to be done about this?

I think talking is the first step. Everybody thinks it's a taboo subject, but people need to be educated. It’s about people not being afraid to ask the right questions. There are lots of brands and people who are making that conversation heard and making an effort.

Obviously, Black History Month is amazing. I mean, I'm upset that we just have a month. But I feel like we're in a stage where we still need that month, because we need that to develop it into an everyday thing. If we continue to grow, it's going to become a more positive place.

You’re also involved in a lot of important conversations about body positivity and inclusivity in the fitness world. Could you tell us more about that?

I don't typically look like an athlete, but my body shape is required for me to do my job. I realised how much of a hole there was for females that look like me, it's like the fitness industry became elitist. Being healthy is for everybody, everyone needs to be active, it doesn't matter what you look like.

I realised that accessibility to gym kit is ridiculous, so I started calling out certain brands, saying that they need to do better. This wasn’t to get sponsorship; it was to make them do the right thing. We need to start smashing these barriers down one by one. The industry has come a long way but there's still a huge amount that needs to be done.

Were there any hardships that you faced during this time, and how did you overcome them?

It wasn't easy. When I started the sport in 2016, the girls had just lost their funding. In the beginning, I was working 36 hours a week, and then training fifteen hours a week, which was rough. I was constantly having to prove myself, but I think that extra ‘I'm going to prove you wrong’ mentality was the reason I was so successful. To stand on an Olympic podium with not one piece of Lottery funding… That was the biggest way to prove them wrong.

How has your life changed since you won your silver medal in Tokyo?

I got to do lots of really cool things, and now I work with some worldwide brands. I'm a full-time athlete now, and I'm funded to do that. I feel like I actually work more than I did before, and a lot of responsibility comes with it. But I'm very grateful, I'm just trying to enjoy every minute of it. It's not going to last forever, and I'm just trying to make the biggest impact I can while I'm in this position.

You were the first British woman to win a medal in the sport. What did that mean to you?

It’s hard to put that achievement into words. It was a fantastic start to people taking our sport seriously and taking notice of it. For a while, the Olympics were out of reach, but now the goalposts have moved. That’s really special for our sport.

You’re a huge inspiration for so many people, but even inspirations have their own inspiration. Who inspired you?

I've been into sports since the minute I popped out of the womb. I have certain faces that I remember from being young. Serena Williams is one of the best athletes in the world, period - take the ‘female’ out of it. Closer to home, people like Kelly Holmes, Denise Lewis, Jessica Ennis-Hill… Faces that look like me, out there doing amazing things. I didn't realise at the time that they were inspirations, until I was older, and I got to meet them and speak to them.

Looking to the future, what are your upcoming goals, including for the next Olympics?

I'm deep in qualification for Paris. My first event was the World Championships, where I got silver. I've ranked myself well, and now I need to hold on to that. Everybody wants to be an Olympic champion. You'd be lying if you said you didn't. That’s the ultimate accolade that you can have beside your name. I would love to come away with another medal, I don't think that's a secret. I'm going to put myself in the best possible position to do that. @emilyjade_gb

When I started the sport in 2016, the girls had just lost their funding. I was working 36 hours a week, and then training fifteen hours a week. I was constantly having to prove myself

interview: Gemma Cockrell photo: Curtis Powell

THE NOTTS DISPATCH

We’re going to be honest with you - we were a little conflicted about writing a piece on Dispatch Coffee. Sure, it’s one of the city’s most eye-catching and welcoming establishments and everyone should know about it. But, at the same time, we like to be able to get a nice, comfy seat upstairs, running through our magazine plans over a cup of warm coffee - and there are already too many of you that keep stealing our spot. It’s rude, in truth, and slightly disrespectful.

Yet, despite our inner turmoil, we thought we had to do the right thing and dedicate a couple of pages to Hockley’s most cinematic coffee shop, because everyone really should know about it. And, chatting to Manager Euan Lees, tucked away on the cushy yellow chairs in the cosy corner of the cafe, it’s easy to see why Dispatch is already becoming such a beloved joint: because they genuinely care about their customers.

“For us, it’s all about just putting in that little bit of effort,” Euan explains, “that’s all it is. It’s not rocket science. People are coming in and spending their money here, so we want to make sure they enjoy the experience as soon as they walk through the door. It feels like some people see it is a little dirty to care, and to want to do your job well, but we take pride in it. We love our customers and they help to keep us running, so why wouldn’t we want to go above and beyond for them? It’s crazy that that’s not everyone’s mindset.”

Regardless of when you walk through that big yellow door on Goose Gate - whether you’re getting your morning caffeine fix, winding down at the end of a stressful day, or stretching your lunch break just that little bit longer - you know you’re going to be met with faces and top quality coffee. If you want to have a chat with members of staff, they’ll discuss the latest films or your favourite music. If you want to squirrel yourself away in the corner with a book and a brownie, they’ll leave you be. Whatever you’re after, they try to put the personal touch into their service.

“It feels like that’s missing a lot of the time now,” Euan muses. “It's nice to have that feeling of knowing that you can come in and chill and someone's going to have a chat with you, if you want that. But if

you don’t, that’s cool too. Our staff are really intuitive, they can read our customers and figure out what works for them. We get so many regulars coming in now just based on the fact that one of us struck up a conversation with them. It's the little things like that that can make someone’s day, and that’s all we want Dispatch to be about.”

Being nice to people is all well and good, of course, but if the coffee’s not equally pleasant, it’s all for nothing. Luckily for Dispatch, who collaborate with Outpost Coffee Roasters, their drinks are some of the best in the city, with each cup brought to your table in delightful, Insta-worthy mugs. “Honestly, we can’t really take credit for the taste of our coffee,” Euan laughs. “We're really lucky to work with Outpost, they’re always amazing. Before we even opened, we knew we’d use them. They’re so great to deal with. We’re constantly talking to each other about guest roasts and how we can develop our drinks, and our house blend is spot on. We do the easy bit,

Aside from the great coffee and good service, Dispatch also really is one of the most aesthetic spots to grab a drink. Regular customers will likely have picked up on the (not so subtle) Wes Anderson theme, which the cafe has curated with prints from his films and the pastel colour scheme. But, this isn’t the only film that the decor alludes to. A self-described massive cinema fan, Euan explains the paint on the walls also references multiple movies. The pink was inspired by the colour palette in The Florida Project, he says, and likewise, the painting downstairs (created by artist Lorna Dunn) is an Atlanta, “where Van is on a mission in France on her bike”. Run by such cinema buffs, it’s unsurprising that Dispatch were quick to collaborate with the Hockley institution that is Broadway Cinema. Having hosted their first screening in December, Euan says that he’d love to make it a regular thing. “Our first showing was of The Grand Budapest Hotel, which had an obvious connection to us and is probably Wes Anderson’s most popular movie, so now it’s all just about choosing what to have next.” It’s partly good for the business, but more than anything, Euan explains, it’s just fun to collaborate with other people, particularly in this part of the city centre which is so well known as a creative hotspot.

Likewise, Dispatch may soon have even more creativity in the cafe itself. They’ve already worked with great local artists and many of the staff are following their own creative pursuits, but Euan muses on introducing some books into the space for people to read. Somewhat comparable to Blend Contemporary which currently hosts a collection of locally made zines, Euan explains that it would be nice for Dispatch coffee drinkers to have some reading material to flick through. “I'm really into graphic novels,” he explains, “which used to be a bit weird but is much more normal now. So, I’ve been thinking about putting those kinds of things around.”

Overall, talking to Euan it’s clear that he’s passionate about creating a welcoming environment for his customers. Inspired in part by the now closed (but well-loved) tea shop Lee Rosy’s, Dispatch stays open later in the evening than most independent coffee shops, and Euan likes the idea of the spot acting as a post-work stop before people head home for the day. Especially because “there's so many different cultures in the UK, and not everyone wants to be part of drinking culture. Some people just want a nice decaf coffee after work and a fifteen minute buffer before they head home.”

A great addition to both the Nottingham coffee and film scene, we can’t wait to see what they do next. And in the meantime, we’ll be back for our regular orders.

If you’re a regular Hockley-ite then chances are that you’ve probably spotted Dispatch Coffee on Goose Gate. The perfect spot to read a book, catch up with friends or enjoy a cup of coffee in peace, this cafe has already made a reputation for itself as one of the friendliest spots in Nottingham. And, regulars ourselves, we get it. That’s why we decided to catch up with Manager Euan Lees to chat about the colourful cafe’s film influences and how they’re finding their first year in business…

words: Lizzy O’Riordan and George White photo: Nathan Langman

The Canon of Shannon

Author Samantha Shannon created a best-selling sensation in 2019, with her sweeping fantasy epic The Priory of the Orange Tree picking up a fanatical global audience. Now she’s back with A Day of Fallen Night, a standalone prequel to that smash hit novel. Ahead of her visit to Nottingham’s Waterstones this month, she explains how she put together a beloved fantasy series…

Creating a whole new world…

The starting point came from wanting to reimagine the legend of St. George and the Dragon - a lot of the initial details I came up with originate from that in some way. There’s an Elizabethan version of the story that involves St. George fighting the dragon near an enchanted orange tree, and it protects him from the dragon’s fire. Exploring this idea of how a magical tree could keep someone safe became the basis for one of the magic systems in the series. I also really wanted to explore the mythology of dragons. I've always been so interested in how sometimes they're associated with water, but then they're also associated with the complete opposite, with evil and fire, and I ultimately created the two magic systems based on that binary.

Weaving together separate narratives… I think the most challenging element of writing these books is navigating multiple timelines. When I have several perspective characters, there are different things happening to them that take different amounts of time, and then I have to bring them all together. That is one of the biggest tasks when writing a book of this size. It’s a lot easier in my other book run [The Bone Season series] as that’s only looking through one character’s perspective. But with both The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night, pretty much all of the narratives eventually converge into one, and it’s very tricky getting all of them to come together.

Sometimes I do have to tweak the timeline to make it work. For example, I really needed this one character to be at a battle at the end, but I just couldn't think of how to get him there in time because he was such a long way away. So I came up with various wild solutions, like having him ride a dragon into the fight, even though that's not really a thing you can do in this world. In the end I had just rearrange the chronology to give them more time to get there. So it can be an interesting challenge!

Crafting magical powers…

I always think it's very important to establish limits within the magic system. Otherwise, theoretically, anything is possible - which can lower the stakes significantly. If the reader knows that a character could just pull some mystical power out of nowhere to resolve the situation, they know they’re always likely to be safe. So I decided from the off that there would be various constraints on this. Fire magic can enable characters to create and deflect fire, for example, but I also make it very clear that they're not immune to fire. That helps to make sure certain situations have real weight, and can be more exhilarating as a result.

Finding excitement in the everyday…

It was particularly important to set up interesting angles to everyday life in A Day of Fallen Night because that book is fundamentally about a global disaster - and I think that, in order to understand the stakes the characters are facing, you need to be able to see the world that they're

potentially going to lose if this disaster takes complete hold. That's why the whole first part of the story is dedicated to what each character's ordinary life is like. And then I slowly thread through a sense of unease that will hopefully keep the reader on their toes, that steady unsettling of the status quo. Character is very important in this series. I really try to make each character layered and interesting, and to ensure they not only face global challenges, but that they have their own individual challenges as well.

Starting a religion…

The main reason I based the story on the legend of St. George and the Dragon is because I was raised in the Church of England, and I remember singing this hymn called When a Knight Won His Spurs - that was one of my earliest impressions of the idea of a knight, one who kills dragons and ogres and that sort of thing. So I suppose the story overall came into my head within that religious framework, and I therefore wanted to tackle it within that framework.

Also, I really wanted the story to not have conflict in the areas you usually find in epic fantasy; misogyny, homophobia. I think it’s perfectly valid to dive into those, and they can be interesting places to explore real world issues. But for myself, as a woman, I sometimes feel tired of female characters having to face misogyny - because then it feels inescapable. So I decided that one of the key conflicts the characters would be facing would not be related to that, but to religion, and religious conflict, and how different historical events can be interpreted in different ways by different religions. So there is, for example, one event that happens in the world's history that two religions interpret in entirely unique ways. I found that really interesting to interrogate. As someone who was raised religious and then later became an atheist, it's just a subject that's always fascinated me, and I loved creating all of the different faiths of this world. I really wanted to tie each one into the magic systems in some way too, so they do all reflect some part of the world's reality - it's just how it's being interpreted.

Embracing your fanbase…

I was very pleasantly surprised by how many people read The Priory of the Orange Tree - and that’s in no small part down to TikTok and how many people have responded to it on there. I love meeting readers, hearing from them. It’s an honour as an author to be able to touch so many people’s lives, even those who live so far away from you. It’s a really wonderful part of the job. I owe a lot to my translators, too, as they broaden my audience a lot more than I could on my own. I hope people enjoy reading this new entry into the series just as much as they did the first book.

You can see Samantha Shannon in conversation with Francesca May at Waterstones Nottingham on Tuesday 14 March

interview: George White photo: Louise Haywood-Schiefer

I try to make each character layered and interesting, and to ensure they not only face global challenges, but that they have their own individual challenges as well

interview: Lottie Murray

photo: Jonas Mortensen

Journalist, author, sociology lecturer and former Editor-in-Chief at The Guardian, Gary Younge is heading to Five Leaves in March to discuss his sixth book. Ahead of his visit, we sit down with him to delve deeper into his fascinating career…

Back in 2015, you inspired the artistic work of a Nottingham-based artist called Chiara Dellerba. She created a piece inspired by your book, Who are We?. How important do you think the connection between your work, which is very hard-hitting political writing, and the more artistic manner of communicating political thought is?

I think all these things are interconnected. My work is influenced by music and literature and other people’s work. One hopes that your own work will leave its mark on others, but you very rarely know what impact you have.

I think of intellectual work as being like pollination. It lands in all these different places and then people take it and spread it and it lands somewhere else. It’s essential for everybody. My work is non-fiction, but we know that is not the only way that you get a message across. Quite often, it may be the most obvious but it's rarely the most effective - if we think of the role that music and theatre have played in political change in the past.

You have spoken about being politically active from a very young age and your experience as a seventeen-year-old boy going to Kassala, Sudan, with Project Trust to teach English in a UN Eritrean refugee school. How do you think this experience has impacted your work? That experience came out of my political passion. I was raised by my mother and two brothers and my mother was a very political, with a small p, woman. So, we grew up with a sense of Britain and its colonial past, issues of race and discrimination more broadly, issues around the Holocaust and antisemitism. I grew up in a very politicised household.

When I was sixteen, I went on pickets to support the miners and so on. My mum and I used to picket the South African Embassy every Friday against apartheid. By the time I went to Sudan I was a very politicised individual - it was a very traumatic thing to do but, in some ways, it was one of the less political things I did.

For as long as I can remember, my life has involved that kind of critical element to it. When you’re seven or eight that’s not going to involve a whole lot of action. Growing up black in seventies Britain meant that you had to constantly be critiquing. You were in a constant state of inquiry, which led me to a kind of political analysis. There was a real logic to it.

Focusing more on your upcoming book, the subtitle is From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter. Why did you choose this name?

I’ve been lucky enough in my career to have a ringside seat at some amazing historical moments. My first break in journalism was following Nelson Mandela on his first election after coming out of prison, and I was 25.

I couldn’t drive and so I ended up getting lifts with his bodyguards and we got on very well. I was involved in the anti-apartheid movement and I have studied in the Soviet Union and they invited me to come along with them, so I did. This was the very beginning of my career and the piece of work that got me my job which is why the book starts with that.

It starts with Mandela and ends with this moment. The last piece that I have written is an interview with Lewis Hamilton and he’s talking about the impact that Black Lives Matter has had on him as a racing car driver. The subheading shows the bookends really. All the interviews and personal essays in the book are issues around race which I think have been very poorly reported.

Obviously, the book explores this in more depth, but what are the main similarities and differences between Nelson Mandela’s movement and BLM?

The key difference would be the ANC, which Mandela led, an organisation with very clear demands and a structure from top to bottom. The ANC was a prescribed organisation and by Mandela saying “we should be equal” he was put in prison. Well, we don’t have that anymore if you look at BLM, but what we do have is the legacies of that kind of racism all over the world.

If for 200 years you say to people, you can’t walk and if you try to walk, we’ll shoot you. And then after 200 years you said, “Okay everybody can walk now,” the people who haven’t been walking for two years are going to struggle.

So even when you get rid of the laws, you still have to deal with the legacy and history. BLM is about this, but it doesn’t have an organisation. BLM has no clear set of demands. It’s been a consciousness raising moment and it’s been very effective as this but, in many ways, one could argue because of social media - which is much more powerful and quicker to respond. The institution or organisation doesn’t exist and so it’s cleared a lot of space in terms of how we think about race. So, they are very different and I’m not saying one is better or worse than the other.

Gary Younge is speaking at Five Leaves Bookshop on Wednesday 8 March

@garyyounge

I’ve been lucky enough to have a ringside seat at amazing historical moments. My break in journalism was following Nelson Mandela on his first election after coming out of prison

Nottingham’s skate community is renowned for its strong sense of togetherness and frankly terrifying lack of fear, but in Karim Keita, it may soon have an Olympian among its alumni. We sit down with Karim to hear all about his love of the sport and what drives him to succeed…

There is something beautiful about finding a hobby that is not only about fitness, but about being outside, finding friendship and developing a skill. Skating is all of that, for anyone who tries it, but for Karim Keita, it's elevated to a new level: competing for a place in the Olympics with the Senegal Skate Team.

So how did a nineteen-year-old Confetti graduate go from skating at Flo to jetting off to Dubai to hustle in the International Olympic Qualifying Championships?

Karim has three nationalities - English, French and Senegalese - and has lived in each of those countries equally. France, where he is currently based, also marks the beginning of his journey. His Grandma lived close to the sea, so Karim started surfing, which laid the foundation for his skating career.

After spending his college years at Nottingham’s Confetti, with his days devoted to honing his skating at Flo and Sneinton Market, he returned to France. One day in Bordeaux, Karim met a French-Senegalese man who asked him to join the Senegal Skate Team. It’s been a big journey since this first interaction - he recently became one of fourteen athletes to have been selected as part of the youth Olympic programme for skating, and has been to Dubai, competing in the Olympic Qualifying Championship for Senegal.

Representing Senegal is especially meaningful to Karim. “I feel happy because it’s my origins. My dad’s from Senegal and I lived there for two years. I feel happy to represent it because it's like family.”

Chatting to Karim before his trip, he seems more excited to meet new skaters, see the crazy things they do and skate in Dubai, than he is concerned about the result of the championships. It's clear that his love of skating is one of healthy appreciation, separable from his ego and spirit for competition. With this perspective, any success Karim achieves is purely a bonus.

“We’re going to skate with all the communities from all the different counties. We’ll see some mad skaters, it's going to be really crazy and fun. Also, I've never been to Dubai. First time ever. I'm just happy because it's a new place, but I don't know what's new about it. Some people say really good things about Dubai. I want to see those good things.

“We can meet people out there and after, scout out the places that we could go skate, or scout some friends to skate with, and share where we might be able to meet next. This is where skateboarding is all about sharing. And sharing and having fun, that is what I love.”

Since Karim and I first spoke, he has competed in Dubai. Though he missed a few tricks, he scored higher than in Rome 2022, and he still has a chance to qualify next year. Just a brief look on the @SenegalSkateTeam page, however, shows that scores are not what motivates this crew. In fact, Karim himself summed it up perfectly: “As long as I can skate, I’m kind of happy.”

Seeing athletes excelling at their sport can be intimidating, and witnessing that can feel like a barrier to beginners. But Karim assures me that perfecting tricks is only a small part of it. Skating is for anyone, each scene is unique and communities across the world are welcoming.

Whether he’s skating in France, Senegal, or Nottingham, Karim says “every single place feels special to me. Each place has… not a different emotion, but a speciality that you can't find in another place, and something that you want to have there. Like with Nottingham, there's a reason I want to be there.”

I ask him how he has found the skate community in Nottingham, and he grins, “Oh, lovely. I feel like it's very developed compared to most cities in the UK.

“I used to go to Flo Skatepark to skate with my mates. Obviously I would go to Sneinton Market, that's where the most skaters meet up. There’s Lady Bay, Radcliffe Skatepark or Rushcliffe Skatepark. Then there's also the Tram Line Spot that's opened recently, which is a new place where skaters can come together. I'll be coming back to Nottingham soon, so I'll be checking that out then. It looks sick.

“Skating together, we push each other to do our best. If you go to Sneinton Market, or the new Tram Line Spot now, you've got free beginners’ sessions and teachers there from Skate Nottingham. That is the community. When we skate together, sometimes we get together just for fun, and sometimes it can be more of a training thing to perfect our tricks.”

I’m intrigued to find if Karim feels that skating in Notts is a diverse community. “Yeah, it's open to anyone of any age, any gender. That's what's really good about skating - you can vibe with anyone, it's all about having fun. It's not about thinking what kind of hero you are, it's all about positive vibes, trying to learn tricks. It brings people together. Like with football or basketball, playing games unites people.”

“Hearing you speak about skating, it makes me want to try it…” I add. “You should,” asserts Karim. “You can go to Flo Skatepark or to the Tram Line Spot or go on Skate Nottingham where you'll be able to find beginner sessions and it'll be really fun. You’ve got people who can

teach you, they're here to help, they take you from A to B, tell you what position you need to be in to be able to keep your balance. It’s all about trying, and trying to understand it, and maybe you'll understand how the positive vibe of sharing and learning from other people can feel really good.”

Keep up-to-date with Karim’s quest to reach the 2024 Olympic Games by following him on Instagram @lil_blackfako

words: Rose Mason photos: Tom Quigley

It’s open to anyone of any age, any gender. That's what's really good about skating - you can vibe with anyone, it's all about having fun

With Nottingham Castle’s (metaphorical) drawbridge still, at the time of writing, firmly raised, local creatives and friends of LeftLion Ryan Boultbee and William Harvey want to hear what you’d do with the iconic spot if it was in your hands. So, scribble your ideas on this nicely-drawn sheet and share them with the pair online…

FOOD AND DRINK

BAKINg It BIg

Set in the picturesque town of Southwell, you will find the Little Brunette Bakery, a bakery owned and run by two sisters who are both passionate about baking - and who took a leap of faith in opening their small business.

The bakery is quaint, the sort of place you fantasise about opening one day, but never quite get around to doing. Thankfully, the sisters had the ambition and tenacity to make their dream a reality and set up the shop last year. The décor inside is aesthetically pleasing with leafy wallpaper and pink lampshades, plus the display cabinet is lined with home-baked goods which are all made on site, such as bagels, croissants, chocolate sourdough and cinnamon rolls.

Sisters Jessica, 27, and Amelia, 24, Wells make the perfect team. With Amelia’s qualification as an artisan baker, training at the Welbeck School of Artisan Food, coupled with Jessica’s experience working in retail and a trained eye for photography, the pair started off mainly baking celebration cakes from home and doing local bread deliveries out of their parents’ kitchen. However, the bakery - which is now thriving - almost never came to be due to planning issues with local authorities initially voting against the businesses plans, with some even worried about the bakery acting as a smell nuisance – which begs the question, who doesn’t love the smell of freshly- baked bread and buttery croissants in the morning?!

Chatting with Jessica and Amelia, I'm keen to learn more about the precarious start and the rise of Little Brunette Bakery.

“The building in Southwell became available to purchase and we basically took a leap of faith and thought, ‘Let’s open a bakery!’ Unfortunately, we were faced with multiple obstructions along the way,” they muse. “After spending our life savings and maxing out a small loan to fit out the shop and kitchen, we were told that the existing planning was not what we needed, and we had to go through everything all over again.”

appear grateful that the bakery survived those difficult early days. The front door to the shop barely remains closed for longer than five minutes on a busy Saturday morning, with customers trailing in and out, baked goods clutched to their chests to take home and enjoy. Little Brunette also has a new brunch menu on offer, which includes filled bagels, French toast, scrambled eggs, and oats.

“We wanted to create a menu that hopefully pleases everyone and caters to a multitude of allergies. We are brunch lovers ourselves and have always wanted to create a place we would love to go,” Jess tells me.

The sisters aren’t alone in the shop; their mum, Kay, plays a huge role in the business and knows every customer by name – with some even popping by just to enjoy a coffee and a chat with her. “She’s also the voice of reason sometimes,” they tell me, laughing. “Two sisters running a business are still two sisters at the end of the day, and we do occasionally bicker!”

After putting in new planning permissions and spending thousands of pounds on new testing over the following months, almost a year later Little Brunette Bakery was finally ready to open for business.

Locals are fully supportive of the small business - which is conclusive evidence that many of life’s problems can be solved with pastries – and they all

This wholesome family joint is not stopping here, with plans to open a second business in the future (bring on the challenges)… I know I'll be first through the doors to support it!

To read more about the restaurant scene in Nottingham, follow The Nottingham Food Guide on Instagram @littlebrunettebakery

To Visit Cafe Sobar

We always recommend stopping by Sobar for a coffee and a cake - but right now they have a special exhibition dedicated to legendary boxer William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson. Check it out while you can.

@cafe_sobar

To Nosh Full Pantry - The Pudding Pantry

Pancake Day may have been and gone, but there’s never a bad time to wolf down one of The Pudding Pantry’s trademark pancakes. Go Full Pantry to give it the Big Breakfast treatment.

@thepuddingpantry

To Sup

Crystal Clear - Castle Rock

Launching with a special event at the Old Cold Store on International Women’s Day, this special golden alecreated alongside Brewster’s Brewery - will be another great addition to the Castle Rock collection. castlerockbrewery.co.uk

We take a trip north east to check out the Little Brunette Bakery, a family-run business who overcame the odds to deliver life’s greatest delights - freshly-made pastries…

Two sisters running a business are still two sisters at the end of the day, and we do occasionally bicker!

words: Julia Head

photo: Helen King

Boasting the likes of The Botanist, La Storia and Escabeche, West Bridgford has a reputation for its thriving restaurant scene. But still, I don’t often eat in this side of Nottingham. So, it was a pleasant change when I was invited for a birthday party meal at Giggling Squidthe Thai restaurant located on Bridgford Road.

Part of a wider chain, I wasn’t sure what to expect when stepping into the restaurant, and I must admit I was a little afraid there’d be a soulless atmosphere. Yet this couldn’t be further from the truth, and I was instantly greeted by a selection of friendly staff. Likewise, the interior of the restaurant was beautiful, and the food equally impressive.

The Berliner is probably my favourite bar to visit round Beeston way, the reason being that there is always a promise of good vibes and a great playlist - and it doesn’t hurt that they run a daily cocktail special where you can get two cocktails for just £10. What a win!

However, recently the food has taken the spotlight for us; with a menu of banging German-inspired bites like thinly sliced Berlin-style fried potatoes loaded with different sauces and toppings. We tried the ‘Buffalo Style Potatoes’, priced at £6, which come topped with a morish spicy homemade buffalo sauce, garlic aioli, crispy onions, and chives. We also sampled a ‘Curry Dog’ for £5, which is a juicy beef or vegan frankfurter slathered in curry ketchup and onions. Lecker!

In addition to these delights, they also have falafel bites or halloumi pittas, as well as pizzas, and a big German pretzel served with your choice of either a cheese dip or chocolate sauce.

From the spicy Pad Mee Keemao to the simple Chicken Satay, Nottingham is a treasure trove when it comes to Thai food. But where is the best place to go? Decide for yourself after visiting these five spots…

Zaap – Tofu Pad Thai

Immerse yourself in a real life Bangkok Street-style restaurant, tucking into a tasty dish in one of their train carriages. This meal is a classic noodle stir fry which I accompanied with tofu. If the mention of tofu stopped you in your tracks, keep going and try it yourself. It was the best I have ever eaten!

@zaap_thai_streetfood

Mr Thai – Pad Mee Keemao

FOOD AND DRINK

Sharing the spicy prawn crackers to start, I perused the (very large) menu and tried to make up my mind, finally settling on the One Giggling Squid Tapas Set. Boasting four different dishes in one, this was a great way to try mini versions of their larger menu items and it’s a decision I’m very happy with. Sleeping Honey Duck, Cashew Stir Fry, Spring Rolls and Jasmine Rice: each dish was seemingly more delicious than the last, and all for just over £12. Though the Honey Duck really did stand out as my favourite.

Looking around at the plates of my fellow diners, every single dish looked great and there were plenty of positive reviews all round. Next time, the Lamb Shank Massam (which I stole a bite of) is definitely going to be on my agenda. But in the meantime, I absolutely recommend you try the restaurant yourself. Packed with fragrant flavours, a great team of servers and a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks too, you can’t go wrong.

Lizzy O’Riordan

@gigglingsquid

70 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, NG2 6AP

They also host, in my humble opinion, one of the best pub quizzes in Nottingham - which takes place every Wednesday at 8pm. In particular, their music quiz is a goodie - it’s popular and fills up quickly, so it’s best to make your booking through their website to secure your spot.

Keep an eye on their Instagram page as they have started hosting food pop ups too, with the likes of locals such as Prad Thai and Smokehouse UK! Julia Head

@theberlinerbar

6-8 High Road, Beeston, NG9 4AE

Can’t take the heat? I would say get out of the kitchen, but you probably shouldn’t be in the Mr Thai kitchen anyway, so at least just stick to the mild dishes - because this one is not for you! This spicy noodle stir fry is full of flavour and full of chillies… mrthaifood.co.uk

Giggling Squid –Thai Green Curry

Looking for a bit more of a familiar dish? Known for being a ‘farang’ (foreigner) favourite, this tops the charts for the best Thai Green Curry I’ve tried. From the choice of veg to the consistency of the curry, not one area missed the mark. Perfection. @gigglingsquid

Paste - Pla Murk Hua Hin

A best-seller according to the restaurant, crispy squid is always going to be a crowd pleaser, and you can’t get much better than Paste’s Pla Murk Hua Hin. Served with spring onions and a sweet chilli sauce, it’s a starter sent from the heavens.

@pastethaiuk

Rosa’s - Gai Satay

Fancy another smaller dish or snack? You can never go wrong with a chicken satay. This classic dish is transformed through its multitude of flavours, including a zesty lemon tang to the grilled chicken. Incredible if you ask me.

@rosasthai

To Follow Golden Fleece

Nottingham’s 100% vegan pub is really a three-in-one. It has great drinks. It has Prickly Pear food. And it has exciting events on the regular. Drop them a follow to keep in the loop.

@goldenfleeceofficial

Want your Nottingham foodie business featured in the mag? Fancy writing for us? Email us at editorial@leftlion.co.uk

words: Josephine Ruffles

FAS h ION YAK AttAcK

Famed for their brightly-coloured, sustainably-made clothes, independent, organic clothing brand Lucy & Yak has opened the door to its fourth UK store right here in Nottingham. We were invited to check out their new eyecatching pink palace at 11 The Poultry during an exclusive press and influencer event (that’s right, we’re important)…

If you’ve been walking around the city, you may well have spotted a bright pink store sprout up in Nottingham’s The Poultry area. And, let’s face it, it’s certainly hard to miss. But for a brand that prides itself on sustainable, comfortable clothing that brings joy, there really is no spot more fitting.

The brand started life in Barnsley by co-founders

Chris Renwick and Lucy Greenwood. It takes its name from Lucy and the VW van the pair used to sell vintage clothing from before launching the firm as we know it today.

Nottingham marks its fourth store, and according to Steve Dempsey, Head of Retail, the launch was a nobrainer. He says: “Nottingham’s been on the list for a while. We only started our retail expansion last year, but we’re really keen to get as many stores up north as possible.

Steve, who designed the store himself, says: “I took inspiration from all Lucy & Yak’s past, bundled it into a package, and turned it into a shop. We’re all about sustainability. The previous retailer left a lot of good stuff, so we adapted it and changed it. We turned it into a Lucy & Yak version rather than chucking it all out and starting again, like a lot of suppliers do. We embraced what we had, and turned it into something that is, I hope, beautiful.”

Lucy & Yak clothes are all fully size and gender inclusive (ranging from size XXS (UK 4) to XXL (22), as well as different lengths) and made to be as eco-friendly, sustainable and ethical as possible. 98% of their fabrics are organic or recycled, with 100% of their organic cotton Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified - from processing and manufacturing to packaging and labelling - a feat few clothing brands can profess.

Meanwhile, their recycled polyester products are made with Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certified polyester from recycled bottles, helping to save plastic bottles from landfill or the sea, and providing a more sustainable alternative to virgin polyester.

Steve adds: “Our in-house designers design all our patterns, but we’ve got partners in India who can source and create all the fabric, so the whole ecosystem works really beautifully.”

To help encourage circularity in the fashion industry, and to make good on their promise to never send anything to landfill, the brand also has a Re:Yak initiative which lets Yak lovers bring in their old Yaks in exchange for a voucher up to £20. The voucher will be valid for six months and can be redeemed on any purchase over £50, with a voucher provided for each item. Only one voucher can be used per subsequent purchase, and can only be redeemed on full price or sale items but not on Re:Yak items.

The preloved items can be of any condition whether pristine, ripped or broken, and the Lucy & Yak team will mend and resell it at a discount price, or recycle the garment in a completely sustainable way. And, the best bit? Shoppers can Re:Yak as many items as they want, as many times as they like.

Items found on the Re:Yak rail, which can be found near the till, range from £5 to £75 with something for all budgets. Whether it’s a pair of super-bright dungarees, a denim jacket or comfy joggers, the Re:Yak section has it all, at a preloved price-point but still with the Lucy & Yak attention to quality.

If super fun clothing for every body, that’s comfortable and kinder to the planet, is your thing, then Nottingham’s new Lucy & Yak store has got you covered.

“Nottingham’s got that great retail heritage. It’s got a really cool art scene, there’s an amazing music scene and it just felt really Lucy & Yak. Also, seeing the data from where our customers live and buy from, we saw there was a big community here, and we wanted to give them somewhere to come and meet us and enjoy the space.”

Entering the new Lucy & Yak store is a multisensory experience, with a cacophony of colours, patterns and prints from the minute you set foot inside. Its bright pink walls, decorative strips of fabric made from preloved Yaks, iconic patterned dungarees, denim jackets, skirts, dresses and more, all combine to create a space that’s bursting with creativity.

The brand’s current collection, which is available instore, includes the likes of the unisex Sylvie Jacket, which is Lucy & Yak’s first-ever quilted jacket, made using deadstock cotton and recycled polyester filling; their super slouchy fit 'Happy Hamper' print, organic twill L.E. Easton Dungarees; and their recycled bottles fleeces.

“Up until the end of summer, we have launches every week of brand new stock,” Steve smiles. “We’ve got some incredible new lines that haven’t been done before, such as shirts with really big collars and embroidery on them, and shorts. We’re branching out into lighter fabric too, so linens and cottons, amazing summer dresses, new shapes and new styles. And we have more denim launching too. Every week on the website, we have more exciting products and that will drop through into the shops as well. And there’ll always obviously be lots of colour and pattern.”

Steve finishes: “We want our customers to feel joyful and comfortable when wearing our pieces. We have a line we use - ‘Leading the comfort revolution’ - and that's what we’re about. We want people to feel great in our clothes. There are no bounds. Wear as much colour, clash as much as you want, and, if it makes you feel joyful, walk out the house and feel good - that’s all we want.”

To join the ‘Comfort Revolution’, you can find the new Lucy & Yak store on 11 The Poultry, or check out their website lucyandyak.com

We want our customers to feel joyful and comfortable when wearing our pieces. We have a line we use - ‘Leading the comfort revolution’ - and that's what we’re about

words: Addie Kenogbon photos: Nathan Langman

A cROwNINg AchIevemeNt

interview: George White

te RA tu R e

Tackling important topics including dementia and the state-mandated removal of Indian minorities from Uganda - which saw thousands of refugees flee to the UK in the 1970s - Xanthe & the Ruby Crown is a fascinating and fantastical new novel set in our very own city. We chat to Costa Award-winning author Jasbinder Bilan all about it…

I wanted to start with one of the key themes of the book - dementia. Why was that an issue you wanted to explore in Xanthe & the Ruby Crown? With my books, I don’t tend to start with a theme and build a story around that. It’s always an organic process. When I began thinking about Xanthe’s granny, I wanted to imagine what she might be going through, and dive into the idea of how if you’ve had traumatic experiences in your past, those early memories can become more vivid with dementia. I thought that was an interesting and important strand to bring into the story. Dementia is one of those issues that affects all of our lives, and I thought this was an opportunity for younger people to have an opportunity to talk about it. From Xanthe’s point of view, it’s really hard to see someone you love changing, and I think that’s something we can all relate to. It also gave me the opportunity to explore the special relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, which I think is such a wonderful thing.

This story focuses on Ugandan characters and a defining moment in the country’s history. Was this book about trying to highlight this in a personal and affecting way?

Definitely. I grew up in the seventies and my grandmother had relatives who lived in Uganda and migrated at that time. It had a real impact on me when they arrived in Nottingham. I remember a grandfather moving into our neighbourhood and he had these really interesting stories about rural life in, and being a refugee from, Ugandawhich differed a lot from my experience moving from northern Punjab to Nottingham. The removal of the Indian minority from Uganda isn’t a story that is spotlighted very often, and I thought this was an opportunity to bring that into Nani’s backstory, and have it as an illuminating thread to highlight this bit of history from the Asian community. I think it’s quite powerful because it dives into what it might be like to be young and suddenly have to leave behind everything you’ve ever known in quite scary circumstances.

Was researching for this book quite educational for you?

I was aware of the Ugandan story, but I didn’t realise that they had to leave in ninety days, that they couldn’t take anything with them - it was a really dramatic, harsh time. People just didn’t know what would happen to them. Migration is always in the news, and I think it’s really important that these stories are explored and that a light is shone on them, because it really helps to contextualise it all. It makes people realise that, with each wave of migration, there’s real reason and there are real people behind it.

The story is written in first-person. Why did you take this approach?

I like to write first-person because I think that, as a reader, you can feel closer to the character - you’re seeing everything through their eyes. For me, it’s a really powerful narrative tool. It can be intense, as well, as the issues covered can be quite traumatic

and may affect the reader. Yet, at the same time, I’ve found young readers can be really resilient and want to read these sorts of things, and I think this is an effective way to get them really close to the emotions of the character.

At the same time as tackling important issues, the book has elements of fun and fantasy. How did you make sure there’s a tonal balance here - that things weren’t too heavy, despite covering heavy themes?

In all of my books, I explore some dark and difficult issues, but there’s always a sprinkle of magic. When you have that light touch magic, it lifts everything, even the mundane. When I’m writing, I always try to put myself into my younger self’s shoes. I would always have these moments where I’d be looking out of the window, and I’d see something that I believed to be really magical, but that could be explained in other ways - like an interesting shadow or the way a tree branch looks. I think that’s important for young people - to believe in their imagination, and to find wonder in the everyday.

Xanthe is set in your hometown of Nottingham. Why was that important for you? There are a few reasons. I’m the Patron of Reading for my old school, Mellers, and I’ve done a lot of work with them. The last time I was there I was talking about my previous book and how I was looking for a new story, and outside of the window is a huge tower block that was there when I was growing up. Myself and my siblings would always play around this tower block, and I thought it would be nice to bring my work closer to home again, and that this would be a great location to set this story. It’s also about showing children in Nottingham that they can have adventures wherever they are - and that wherever they are, there’s magic. I think, sometimes, people try to put a ceiling on what children and young people can achieve, but I like to show them that there is no limit. What better way than by having a magical story set in their own area?

Xanthe & the Ruby Crown is available in bookstores and online from Thursday 2 March chickenhousebooks.com

This story gave me the opportunity to explore the special relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, which is such a wonderful thing

RA tu R e

cOveRINg All ShORt S

Utilising classic dystopian, sci-fi and fantastical tropes, Nottingham’s Giselle Leeb has just published her first short story collection, Mammals, I Think We Are Called. Musing on what it means to be human in a modern age, it’s a weird, wonderful and often ambiguous anthology. We catch up with the author to talk about environmental themes, genre bending and her philosophy as an author…

Some people think that good fiction should make you reflect. Others think that a great story should transport you into another world. But what if it could do both? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll find in this new short story collection. Thoughtful, bizarre and fantastical, Mammals, I Think We Are Called is an anthology of true dystopian merit, which leads the reader through a series of stories ranging from the ecological to the technological. Written by Nottingham-based author Giselle Leeb, and published by Salt Publishing, it’s a triumph.

In Leeb’s own words, a collection about “living in the 21st century and how change also changes us”, it’s an anthology split up into eighteen stories, all of which are informed by the author’s interest in the changing world. Difficult to pin down to one single genre, Leeb explains that she’s most comfortable without a hard definition. “I relate to genres like Weird Fiction, New Weird and maybe Literary Fantasticism, but genre-bending is the best way to describe my book,” she says, adding that she also likes Slipstream as a genre.

A term that this LeftLion writer certainly hadn’t heard of, Slipstream can roughly be described as ‘the fiction of strangeness’. Popularised by American author James Patrick Kelly in his work The Slipstream Anthology, it’s a genre that uses dystopian and sci-fi tropes to explore the oddness of being a person in the present age. And this theme certainly comes through in Leeb’s work - whether through her stories focusing on the climate crisis, which she admits is “worrying her a lot”, or the rise of AI, which she spends a lot of time reading about.

Leeb’s work achieves this uncanny Slipstream effect by playing with contrast, and she has a knack for taking the familiar and turning it in on itself, leading the reader into a darker and twisted, but still recognisable, reality. The weatherman who looks for hope in flooding London. The lightning ball that falls onto a coffee shop. The robo-human who is studying ancient history. Throughout the anthology, Leeb succeeds by taking the comfortable things we know, and following them to uncanny and strange ends.

While reading, you may be reminded of classic dystopian writers like Aldous Huxley, Yevgeny Zamyatin or J. G. Ballard, but it’s authors like George Saunders who Leeb credits as inspiration, alongside non-fiction authors like Yuval Noah Harari. An American writer of novels and short stories, Leeb finds the nuance in Saunders’ writing the most inspiring factor of his work. “He’s amazing at writing bizarre stories and he’s very political but he never shoves a message down your throat,” she explains. “Instead, he just writes the stories and his interests come out.”

Using this as a guideline, Leeb’s stories are likewise often political but also subtle. Assistant Editor of the environmental journal Reckoning, it’s no surprise that many of the stories do have a climate theme to them - however, they aren’t moralistic or lecturing. The tales, including the likes of The Edge of Seasons, Grow Your Gorilla and The Goldfinch is Fine, engage with complex themes like global warming and overconsumption, but they do so with a keen eye to character, plot and pleasure. In short, they’re still enjoyable to read.

Leeb has a knack for taking the familial and turning it in on itself, leading the reader into a darker and twisted, but still recognisable, reality

In fact, this can be said about Leeb’s writing as a whole. It is both thought-provoking and also entertaining, perhaps because of the author’s constant focus on building a sense of atmosphere. “The atmosphere was very important to me,” Leeb muses. “I spent a lot of time in the stories building atmosphere and trying to capture that sense of the uncanny which we all feel.” An aim which is absolutely actualised, the stories read as thick with ambience, despite each only being a few pages long. Likewise, the collection is great when it comes to variety and experimentation with form. Some stories follow a more traditional structure while others take more unique angles. “I think the structure and style changed depending on the type of story, which I liked,” Leeb says, “and that’s the great thing about the short story - that you can do what you want. So, all the stories in the collection could be different styles while still being linked by that fantastical element and a couple of themes.”

A collection that manages to balance heavy topics, while also leaving the reader with a sense of hope, Leeb hits a balance. “I’m really interested in writing about both the dark and light because we walk in both those spaces, and everything in between,” she asserts, commenting that overall, she just “hopes people enjoy it”. An excellent piece of work (in my humble opinion), it’s safe to say that this hope has been achieved. Skillfully ambiguous, dark and also optimistic, Mammals, I Think We Are Called is a wonderful contribution to the local literary world. You can purchase Mammals, I Think We Are Called from Salt Publishing

words: Lizzy O’Riordan photo: Focus & Shoot

lONg St ORY ShOR t

Novels, poetry, plays. I’m a big fan of stories told in any structure. I don’t think that any are superior or inferior. There is, however, one format that I dedicate this column to. One which helps new writers break into the industry, allows authors to try out experimental ideas, and is great for new readers too. That is, of course, the short story.

First emerging (in the way we now know it) in the nineteenth century, the short story was popularised by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and (my personal favourite) Shirley Jackson. Defined as a brief fictional prose, often with a less complex narrative and fewer characters, it’s a really unique form. Why? Because by design, the author has less space, therefore they have to be very precise in their prose and meaning.

For this reason, some of the most powerful messages in literature are told in short story form. Take Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, the infamous gothic short story which captures mob mentality in small-town America. Or Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, the metaphorical short criticising British Imperialism in the 1930s. These are really important stories that don’t span more than a few pages.

words: Jaden Morton

photos: Tyrone Lewis

And if we put aside the ‘classics’ for a minute, the short story form is amazing for new writers too. Many authors get their first published work in literary periodicals and magazines. It’s a way to break into the industry and get your first paid gig. From uber famous magazines like The New Yorker or The Paris Review, to smaller literary periodicals like The Stinging Fly, there are thousands of publishers championing short stories. So, with that in mind, if you have an idea, get your pen to paper. The next best short story might be written by you.

The short story form is amazing for new writers. Many authors get their first published work in literary periodicals

Originally launching in London, Bad Betty Press have built a reputation for being at the forefront of a thriving poetry scene. Having recently relocated to Nottingham, we catch up with co-owners Amy Acre and Jake Hall to talk about the relationship between poet and editor, alongside their bustling events calendar…

In the late spring of 2017, Amy Acre and Jake Hall decided to start an indie press, and Bad Betty was born - launching into the publishing scene with hopes of releasing work that was packed with grit and guts, left readers sucker-punched, and held no prisoners with its literary ambitions. Rarely doing things in half measures, the founding of Bad Betty coincided with the birth of their daughter. Overnight, Amy and Jake became parents and business owners at the forefront of indie publishing. Six years later they are still stirring up excitement in the poetry scene with an impressive portfolio of anthologies, collections, and pamphlets. With boundary-pushing contemporary poets on their roster, Bad Betty continue to platform a diverse pool of both new voices and established names.

After uphauling their life in London, Amy and Jake have moved their family and business to Nottingham. They are certain to find home in this thriving city of literature, integrating with a lively arts scene and growing events programmes. While sitting down with Jake and Amy, they reflect on the mammoth year they’ve had as an indie press. “We’ve had such a good balance of writers and styles that sit really well together, there’s a lot of shared themes that feel like part of a conversation, but then everyone’s got their distinct voice,” Amy comments. “I’m very proud of the last year, and all those books.”

Jake and Amy are fierce advocates for their authors; they not only act as publishers, but double as publicists, mentors, and cheerleaders. They centre the relationship between their poets and the community in their work as a press, and this is displayed in their impressive events schedule. In 2022, they topped a successful year of publishing with an epic fourteen-stop UK tour. As Jake explains, “This was a special year for us, everything felt right. Our authors, the Arts Council application, moving to Nottingham, putting out twelve books, the biggest tour we’ve ever done, then winning the Michael Marks, we could’ve cut scene there and left happy.”

Their advocacy for their poets, continual community outreach, and skilful editing won them the Michael Marks award in November 2022. Outsourcing talent such as Gboyega Odubanjo and Anja Konig enabled Amy to bring together editors with creators, with her artistic process relying on an alchemy of talent and creativity.

l I te RA tu R e

With teamwork and cooperation as driving forces, poetry travels beyond the page and into the wider community. “We never wanted to publish poetry where the relationship ended with the book coming out,” she tells us. “We want to publish people that can read their work to an audience and connect, work that means something to someone.”

“Once you put a poem out into the world, it stops belonging to you,” Jake adds. “For example, Danez Smith wrote a poem about HIV that became a huge protest poem after George Floyd was murdered in 2020. Smith said that the poems belong to the community that claims it. We want to publish poets who understand that the meanings of their work will change based on how they share it. When the poems are on the page, it still exists in the world, and it will exist in a different way when they perform.” Amy agrees, “We ask ourselves, ‘How are writers making space for the reader? Are they building a world you can step into and inhabit rather than just read?’”

words: Lizzy O’Riordan

To Do The Writers’ Conference

Hosted by Writing East Midlands, The Writers’ Conference is a great opportunity to connect with fellow writers in the local area. A day of workshops and talks, we can’t wait for this early next month.

Sat 1 April

At the heart of Bad Betty is a strong editorial and publishing team that come together for poets they believe in. Their extensive events programmes encourage their authors to take up space and branch into the wider community. Readers and audiences are invited to see poetry as a subtle form of worldbuilding, exploring the lines between what constitutes protests or cultural criticism and the dreaming up of new, alternative worlds.

I can’t wait to see how they bring this vision to Nottingham and the wider East Midlands area. They are currently preparing to continue their schedule packed with open mics, workshops, and featured sets, ready to enrich an already thriving cultural scene here in Nottingham.

@badbettypress

To Read

Salt Modern Stories Collection

Fancy a small read? Nothing too hefty? Try picking up a book from Salt’s Modern Stories collection; alongside Nottingham’s Giselle Leeb, they have plenty of other pocketsized tales.

To Follow Northern Gravy

Yeah, yeah, I know we’re the East Midlands… but Northern Gravy is still worth a follow. A literary periodical who pays their writers for each piece, they’re regularly looking for new submissions.

@NorthGravy

These are really important stories that don’t span more than a few pages

Readers and audiences are invited to see poetry as a subtle form of worldbuilding

Cinema has always remained nostalgic. For British audiences, the glamour and escapism have often remained something out of reach, untouchable – the ultimate escape from the grey and (lesser) green folds we often find ourselves in. The preservation, restoration and appreciation of film have never been so important, especially within the digital age when even the melancholy of movie memories now vanish amongst the deluge of streamed content. Film – in the traditional sense of the word – is memory and so are those spaces we visited… those churches of celluloid. Therefore, films are to be experienced through visitation and curation, lending focus to the discovery of stories that have become closer and closer to artefacts. Distributed within those niche corners, they now survive as remnants of physical media championed by the boutique labels most cinephiles (and collectors) hold dear to their hearts.

I’m obsessed with film. Growing up in the 1980s, visiting the cinema felt like an event. It began with a long line crowding to see the latest Spielberg phenomenon E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982; that distinctive Amblin vibe of fuzzy familiarity, the signature sentimentality sucker-punched with a heavy dose of childhood trauma. Years would pass until you could see the film again, scenes playing over and over in your mind. No streams… only movie daydreams.

Today, it’s an instant fix, the twentieth century’s most dominant art form absorbed into a saturated media landscape; a deluge… a swamp we trawl through. We dig a little and find a gem but for most of us (if you allow it) we are controlled by algorithms, those smartly shrunken screens via commute; the passive infinite scrolling; content overload for the less content; movies repackaged as a TikTok sugar rush. Yet, despite the impact of other media over the years – the influx of television, video games and streaming – cinema has survived. Just about. Helping it survive is the last of the movie stars performing impossible missions and creating the ultimate cinematic experience, reminding us of those action heroes of yesteryear. It’s both nostalgic and refreshing as we watch (in awe and disbelief) a sixty-year-old man riding a bike off a cliff, plummeting towards the earth. Cinema on Cruise control.

A RIch e x PeRIeNce

words: Rich Johnson illustration: Ilinca Sivoglo

Whether action and adventure, kitchen sink drama or fantasy, we choose to spend time with characters on the screen while sharing the experience with strangers in a dark room. Cinema is time and space, projecting us into (familiar) domestics or an epic universe of infinite possibilities. The credits roll and you spill out into the night… or are blinded by the light of a Savoy Sunday afternoon. Back down to earth, we’re reminded this is England, Not Hollywood. Yet, myths were forged here – the archetypal rebel evolving into an iconic swashbuckling hero of the Golden Age, the Americanised poster boy – Robin Hood defining the outlaw as any legend should… or at least the versions we have come to love on the big screen.

To Remember Being Human

It’s

A lot of big screens – those lost palaces, left to ruin and bulldozed – have now vanished. Forgotten Art Deco architecture – Fridays at the Futurist, Saturdays nights and Sunday mornings… even a Monday at the Metropole – are long gone, nothing more than urban ghosts. Despite being consigned to bingo halls or holes in the wall, some remain hidden and may trigger our memories. The Savoy retains its nostalgia like no other, while a major beacon – Broadway Cinema – remains a constant; one of many spaces around the country to have taken advantage of multiple platforms of delivery. A diverse programme also offers as many alternative viewing experiences as possible – Q&As, live events, streamed content, festivals and courses – which has helped retain a devoted audience during such challenging times. Here in Nottingham, ‘movie memories’ are forged for a 21st-century audience, spaces we belong to… offering choices for all.

richpieces.com

To Follow Arc Cinema

Can’t be bothered to keep track of all the latest releases? Let The Arc Cinema do it for you. Drop their Insta a follow to fill your feed with the finest new films.

@arccinemabeeston

Rich Johnson, film lecturer at Nottingham College and writer for Little White Lies and Arrow Video, takes a look at the importance of cinema to our society - and how the screen industry is constantly changing and challenging us…

The Savoy retains its nostalgia like no other, while a major beacon – Broadway Cinema – remains a constant

A Sunday in Hell Broadway are always shining a light on hidden gems, and with The Guardian’s William Fotheringham leading a look back at unique documentary A Sunday in Hell, they’re doing exactly the same this month. Mon 6 March, Broadway Cinema

been ten years since The Television Workshop’s Michael Socha wrapped up his time on Being Human - the BAFTAnominated BBC series that catapulted him into the spotlight. Time for a binge, we reckon.

ROOm FOR All

words: George White

Sure, it’s not the biggest - but few would argue that Rescue Rooms isn’t one of the best spots for catching live music in our city. Welcoming everyone from Dua Lipa to Jake Bugg over the years, it’s helped to launch the careers of tons of our country’s - and our county’s - greatest artists for two decades. To celebrate its twentieth birthday, we take a look at one of Nottingham’s most valuable venues…

Foals. Wolf Alice. Calvin Harris. Just taking a quick glance over the acts that have graced the Rescue Rooms stage over the past two decades, it’s easy to feel the big influence that this little Notts venue has had on music in this country over the years. Such is the extent of their significance, their eclectic guestlist acts as a Who’s Who of top tier British talent, spanning indie rock to groundbreaking pop, acoustic singer-songwriters to dancefloor-filling DJs.

The impact of this understated spot leaves its mark on concert goers and artists alike long after they visit. Just last year, a certain Dua Lipa chatted fondly about the intimate venue that took a chance on her when few other places would. Talking to us, Amber Run are quick to praise the spot that “reeks of music and wears it like a crown”.

But what exactly is it about this place, this 450-capacity joint nestled behind Rock City, that has helped it to thrive for twenty years? Well, according to Anton Lockwood, DHP Director of Live and the brains behind it all, the answer is pretty simple: it’s all about the atmosphere. “It’s a properly unique venue,” he says with a smile. “When you’re in there, the bands are right in your face. It’s very immersive. We obviously invest a lot in lights and sound to enhance that experience too, and we do our best to make it a vibrant and forward-thinking place to go for a gig.”

From the very off, Rescue Rooms has attracted big names that would go on to become even bigger, cramming in rock fans, ravers and everything in between for memorable nights of boundary-pushing music. Even back in 2003, when the Rooms first opened their doors, they were making headlines - bringing now world-renowned group The Libertines to our shores for a night that instantly marked this place as one to watch.

“That show was insane,” Anton muses. “They were on fire, and the chemistry they had was magical. That was one of those where I had to pinch myself. It was one of the first but one of the most legendary. We’ve had so many different genres and performers come over the years - we’ve always attracted acts on the cusp of taking off.”

That’s an understatement. As well as the array of acts already mentioned, Rescue Rooms has played its part in kickstarting the careers of megastars both old and new, from Lewis Capaldi in recent years to Jamie T back in the heady heights of noughties indie. Attracting wave upon wave of talent, year on year, could be tough for some - but, once again, its size is its strength. “From an artist’s point of view, that intimacy feels good,” Anton asserts. “the fact that the audience is right there. You can see them up close and on the balcony, so you can really connect with who you’re performing for.” Amber Run can confirm that the artists themselves agree. “Never before have we needed shared experience more, and I can’t think of anything that’s impacted me more than a room full of people

singing the same words to the same song at the same time,” smiles Joe from the band. “Venues like Rescue Rooms are the cauldron that create culture and bind people together.”

Amber Run are far from the only local lot that have cut their teeth in the Goldsmith Street cauldron. Nottingham’s brightest sparks like Jake Bugg and London Grammar found a platform for expressing themselves when they were first learning their trade, and that focus on local music has run through the venue since day one.

“We’ve always been part of Dot to Dot, the Acoustic Rooms bring through a lot of people you wouldn’t have expected,” Anton explains. “Where we can, we try to put on local support and spotlight new Notts bands. That’s something we’ve always wanted to do.”

The respect and love that our acts have for the Rescue Rooms brings many back time and time again - and some shout out the venue for playing an important role even outside of music. “I met my fiancé there,” says Amber Run’s Joe. “That's how big an impact it's had on my life!” Not bad, that.

So, twenty years, countless top acts and one future marriage under its watch: where does the Rescue Rooms go from here? Put simply, where it’s always beenacting as a hub for upcoming talent you need to have on your radar.

“You look through the list of stuff coming up and we’ve got such a wide range of acts to celebrate our twentieth,” Anton explains. “We always try to keep it diverse. While we probably started as an indie spot, that’s not our sole focus now. It’s always such a mixture, and we’ll always try to take stuff from different worlds and bring them into one special programme.” Music to suit everyone’s tastes and an immersive venue that transports you to another world - two decades on and there’s still little room for improvement here.

Head to Rescue Rooms’ website to check out all of their upcoming events rescuerooms.com

Where we can, we try to put on local support and spotlight new Notts bands. That’s something we’ve always wanted to do

tAKINg A SwINg

interview: Amelia Brookes

What are you looking forward to most about the 24-hour livestream?

Beaabea: Being exposed to different artists and DJs that we don’t know about, especially if they’re not actively on the scene. It’s a really good way to meet new people and find people that you might want to collaborate with or book them for events.

Princess Trium: It will be good to have the opportunity to be around women and non-binary DJs, and meet other DJs and promoters.

Aura: It’ll be quite inspiring. It might be some people’s first time in a setting where they’ve played with more people. I didn’t realise how many women and non-binary DJs were in Nottingham until now. It would be great to find aspiring new talent!

Which charity will the livestream be supporting?

Beaabea: Nottingham Women’s Centre, it’s a hub for everything that women may need if they’re in a vulnerable situation, or if they want to go to a place where they can meet other women. It goes from ages eighteen to… as old as you can be, really! They have a legal team that you can get free services from, they run coffee shops, workshops, and we’re looking at doing music workshops with them. They’ve been there for 51 years, and it’s still going strong. I think this will give them exposure, so it’s a win-win for everyone.

Aura, you run Gyals in Notts, alongside co-creator Nell. How did you both come up with the idea?

Aura: It started as a livestream which also raised money for the Nottingham Women’s Centre. As much as it was for a cause, it was just a really good night as well. I started it because I was sick of seeing so many male-dominated line-ups, it felt daunting and a bit scary as the only woman playing. I wanted to create a space where it was the reverse of what the norm is in Nottingham.

Princess Trium, what drew you to Hunnisuckle Collective?

Princess Trium: After the first Hunnisuckle event, we came together and said, ‘We want to make this a little bit bigger.’ We want people, especially LGBTQ+ DJs, people of colour and black people, to come to our events and be in a safe space. We try to book DJs that are coming from Brazil, Africa, places that are outside the country, and just bring the vibes, for people to be who they want to be.

We have a new event coming up for International Women’s Day – a two-day event with a DJ workshop and a business talk about how to become a DJ, how to come up with your name, how to get bookings and get in touch with promoters. It will be an opportunity for people to network. We’re also doing a contest where the winner gets a month of free studio time at Swing Dash!

And Beaabea, you created How Did It Get So Late… – how did that come about?

Beaabea: We’ve only done one show so far, the next one is coming up in early March. Rough Trade allowed us to do a couple there, but we are going to move elsewhere. I’ve had the idea of creating it for a long time, but didn’t know which angle to go at it, and spent so long planning what I wanted it to be like. It was really nice to see it come to life, and it’s a really good feeling to have a room full of people who are there to see women DJs, and for everyone to feel comfortable. There’s mutual respect between the line-up, with no one trying to be better than each other.

Otala

Nottingham

@otalaband

Felix, what plans do you have for Swing Dash in 2023?

Felix: We are introducing livestreaming, so the International Women’s Day event will be livestreamed; we have two cameras in the studio. We’re also planning to put on more events, community things, and we’re hoping to open another studio in Bristol. The idea is to have multiple livestreaming studios, with all the streams on a central social media website. Essentially, it will be a livestreaming Instagram for DJs to scroll through, drop into your friend’s DJ set, comment, use a chatroom... the idea is that it will be social radio.

Swing Dash’s 24-hour stream for International Women’s Day will take place on Twitch on 11 March

@swingdash

Gender Envy

Loveable idiots wearing black, white and purple, playing queer-tinted pop-punk. Catch us at Rescue Rooms supporting King No-One on 6 March.

@gender_envy_band

Joey Collins Ayup! I’m an independent singersongwriter and producer from Nottingham. My debut album YinYang is out on 24 March and we’re celebrating with a headline show at Metronome the same evening!

@joeycollinsuk

based post-punk quintet, described by Joe Talbot as a mix of Folly Group and Black Country, New Road. Check us out at The Bodega on 24 March!

It’s a really good feeling to have a room full of people who are there to see women DJs, and for everyone to feel comfortable

We chat to Swing Dash owner Felix, alongside DJs Aura, Princess Trium, and Beaabea, about their International Women’s Day 24hour livestream, their own respective projects, and the future of Swing Dash as a studio…

photo: Nathan Langman

The Lemon Sherbets

More Affordable Lemons (Album)

muSIc RevIewS mu SI c

The Lemon Sherbets’ debut record wears its influences on its sleeve, from opening track Between Two Smiles, which has the swagger of early 2000s Libertines, to Orange Trees’ Simon and Garfunkel harmonies. The record is a love letter to those that came before, but with enough song-writing skill to stand out from the crowd. The Magical Mr E recalls The Beatles’ more whimsical moments and Bonbon Napoleon adds brass and synths to The Lemon Sherbets’ sound. A warm and sunny record and a promising debut.

Rich Higton

J Littles x Zoutr

Vex (EP)

Nottingham artist J Littles has come a long way since his early releases in 2008. He's matured from the days when he concentrated on grime and has developed his own unique style of grown-up hip hop. In collaboration with Nottingham producer Zoutr from Elementz, he has unleashed the Vex EP, and this must surely be essential listening for 2023. It has a powerfully produced sound that provides the perfect backdrop to the lyrics that explore the harsh realities of today's life, recession and struggles. This is not easy listening; this is a heavy piece of work on a heavy subject. Ignore it at your peril. Bassey

Sleaford Mods

UK Grim (Album)

A couple of years ago, Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson told us lot he was “finding it hard to get angry” after the absolute mood killer that was lockdown. Yet with UK Grim, the Mods’ latest record, that anger seems to have returned in full force. A cutting, poignant attack on the frankly sad state of our country at the moment, Williamson and Andrew Fearn take aim at everyone from the Tory Government to disingenuous aspiring artists and, as always, do so in their trademark abrasive style. It’s the no-holds-barred rallying call this nation needs right now.

Ken Adams

Rules of Engagement

The Mirror Cracked (EP)

This EP was an abrupt shock to my system, as you never know what to expect from local bands who are just starting out. But every now and then you’ll get a band like Rules of Engagement. On what is only their debut EP, they have managed to create something worthwhile. They sound honed and whole; they sound like a finished product. Like most things, of course, the EP isn’t perfect - I may have left the track Division off the tracklist, personally - but they have made something worth giving your time to. I’m pretty sure I had tears in my eyes at one point or another.

Harry Mangham

Benjamin

A Rebel’s Story (EP)

Benjamin Zięć & the Rarebreeds are back with their new EP, A Rebel's Story, which pays homage to Nottingham’s long and rich history. Featuring five glorious tracks, the band tells the story of everyone’s favourite bow and arrow outlaw, takes us down to The Old Angel for a good old pint of Nottingham ale, and has us take a wistful trip around Collingwood Park. Infectiously cheerful and with incredible vocals and melodies, you cannot possibly listen to this album without the instant need to head down to the local pub and dance the night away with a pint of ale in your hand. Give the EP a listen, these lads are fantastic!

Iulia Matei

Zięć & the Rarebreeds

A KNIFe IDe A

Using responsibly-sourced materials to create properly unique kitchen knives, Bernard Caille of Nottingham Knifeworks is helping to raise people’s cooking game while raising awareness for sustainable living…

How did Nottingham Knifeworks come about?

I wanted to do something more creative. My day job just didn’t offer me that. Why knives? Well, many years ago I trained in blacksmithing and metal work. I grew up in France and the education system took me in that direction, but after training I came to England, and never got a chance to use these skills. 35 years later, I decided to do something completely different, and Nottingham Knifeworks was born.

How do you create your knives?

A knife must be functional, so that’s where I start. It is a tool that needs to do a job and do it brilliantly. One of my other passions is cooking, so I know how important a good knife is. I think about the aesthetics, the flowing lines, the feel of it. Since making my first knife a year ago, I have refined my designs and now settled on one that I really like. Having said that, I love to experiment, and sometimes I’m asked to create a knife with bespoke specifications; I love a challenge and doing something different.

Where did this passion for cooking come from initially?

I grew up on a farm, so the understanding and respect of produce was always at the heart of our daily lives. I did enjoy spending time in my mother’s or grandmother's kitchen, where I marvelled at the alchemy that is cooking. I arrived in London in the late eighties and worked as a waiter in a French restaurant - and that’s where I properly picked up the cooking bug. The food scene in the capital was going through a revolution and I was lucky enough to eat some amazing food.

How does your knowledge of and passion in the kitchen inform your process and your products?

I try to make knives that are as user-friendly as possible. So many of my customers tell me that my knife has become their go-to knife for all cooking.

That’s a great compliment. A knife needs to feel comfortable in the hand, not too heavy but just enough weight to cut through those ingredients with ease. I love to cook simple but tasty food. A basic tomato sauce can become delicious with good ingredients and seasoning. I use the same principle when making a knife.

You have a real focus on sustainability when making your knives. Tell us more about that… Key for me are the materials I use – both in terms of sustainability and durability. I love being creative with the materials I source or make. The steel is from Sheffield, less than fifty miles away, and is up to 95% recycled. The plastic handles are 100% recycled material. The wood from the vines I use in some of my designs, I literally pick from the discarded pile in the vineyard, every time I go to France. Other wood I use is from Nottinghamshire.

What’s your favourite material to work with and why?

PaperStone is the easiest to work with, it’s made from recycled paper and a natural resin and looks really cool. My favourite is old vine and resin, which is the hardest and most demanding to get right, but the results are incredible. It looks fantastic and is durable. No two handles made with old vine will ever be the same.

What does the future look like for Nottingham Knifeworks?

You use some pretty unique materials - recently you’ve done some exciting stuff with denim, and you’ve always got some cool wood knocking about. Can you tell me a bit about how all these materials complement your knives?

My latest venture is using old denim jeans to create an incredibly durable and very different-looking handle. When you decide to recycle, you realise that you can make almost anything work. There are some amazing recycled materials out there, like Smile Plastics and PaperStone, that are normally used for surface design but lend themselves incredibly well to other applications. A lot of trial and error is involved in this process, not everything works and looks amazing. As for wood, I occasionally use local walnut and am currently trialling some spalted beech.

I’m not aiming for mass production. I am a one man band, so production is limited. Working efficiently and honing my skills are goals for the next twelve months. Learning new techniques and refining designs is what I love. Every knife has its own geometry and purpose, each one is unique. Creating something that someone else enjoys using is what gets me up in the morning. nottinghamknifeworks.co.uk

My latest venture is using old denim jeans to create a durable and different-looking handle. When you decide to recycle, you realise that you can make almost anything work

interview: Nathan Langman

photos: Bernard Caille and Nathan Langman

The incredibly talented Payta Easton talks us through her ode to Nottingham…

Tell us a bit about yourself…

Hi, my name is Payta and I'm a freelance illustrator and electronic music producer. I use a range of analogue hardware for my music and often play live shows. I've lived in Nottingham since 2020 but I am originally from Singapore. For work I am a specialty coffee barista.

What was the inspiration behind the cover?

The inspiration behind my cover is the transition between winter and summer. March is the season transitioning into spring which, to me, represents the celebration of life and rebirth. I love the Nottingham music and art community, so wanted to celebrate some of my favourite independents by illustrating them in my design.

How does it compare with some other projects you’ve worked on?

This is definitely one of the longer projects I've worked on. Usually, I focus on illustrating my signature wonky animal characters interacting on a close-up scene, but for this I wanted to gain a broader perspective of Nottingham.

Tell us about some projects you’ve worked on in the past…

Previous projects I've worked on include rebranding The Carousel's cafe. I designed and painted the large wooden banner hanging above their cafe and bar, and I illustrated designs for their new menus. I've also worked on plenty of other personal projects including illustrations for album covers, hand-painted commissions, character designs for music events, tea packaging designs, and recently I collaborated with All Caps, a coffee roastery, illustrating wonky dogs for their coffee packaging. In terms of my music, I am constantly making new albums and EPs for my Bandcamp, as well as composing new tracks for my live shows and events.

What have you got planned for the future?

I have several upcoming live synth music events dotted throughout the summer. I am also going to two festivals to volunteer with their art and decor crew, helping set up the festival with signage and installations. I aim to continue getting involved in more art projects and focusing more on my music.

payta.bandcamp.com

cRAg hOPPINg

Creswell’s First Collectors is the latest display at the Museum of Archaeology at Lakeside Arts. Local archaeologist Ben Normington introduces this ‘collection’ of artefacts made by early humans who lived in the Creswell Crags gorge in Nottinghamshire during the Ice Age…

The Pleistocene, more commonly known as 'The Ice Age', has forever been one of the harder aspects of our world’s history to understand. It was an environment completely alien and cut off in an informative sense from the one we occupy today, despite our ancestors roaming it. The Museum of Archaeology at Lakeside Arts has put on a fantastic new display encompassing some of the wonderful finds that have come out of the local Creswell Crags gorge over the years. The crags themselves lie in between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and are home to some of the northernmost evidence of hominid occupation in Europe. The collection here, while small, encapsulates a great deal of the key tenets of life during a time dominated by mega fauna and encroaching glaciers.

In the left-side of the new display cabinets, we see a series of bones from animals that no longer reside on the British Isles, even in an evolved sense. The remains of a cave hyena show perfectly how different the landscape and the life living within it would have been during that time. Looking in the right-side display cabinets, there are artefacts that would delight even the grumpiest of archaeologists, with an array of stone tools made by our fellow hominins (and, for many people in Central Europe, ancestors). Though lacking in some of the elegance we see in later tools, these are beautiful in their own right. They mark the existence of human pioneers spreading our earliest technologies and thriving in what would have been some of the most extreme conditions at the time.

Leading on from this superb glimpse into the ancient story of the land, a clockwise jaunt around the remaining exhibits takes us on a tour, telling the story of our ancestors who inhabited it. We see an array of amazingly delicate and masterfully crafted stone tools ranging from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, within a broad collection of fine cutting implements and much larger hammers and axes. These serve as an amazing example of how the same technologies have been reworked and perfected by us over time.

From here on, the museum guides the visitor through the Bronze and Iron Ages, showing how humanity’s path in the area skyrocketed. Displays of beautiful metal tools, weapons and cremation urns demonstrate this monumental shift in production value in comparison to the millennia predating them. It isn’t just tools that we see erupting from this period, though. It’s incredibly important to remember that within England, it’s within this time that we see metal jewellery and coins coming

into circulation, demonstrating the progression toward a civilisation much more akin to our own. We are then offered a glimpse of life in Roman Nottinghamshire. This period occupies the largest portions of the museum, which is understandable considering how much the Romans left behind. The artefacts from this time stagger the mind in their refinement, with beads, metal work, jewellery and pottery much finer than anything that came before it. The large lead container is a must see.

Leaving the Roman period behind, we enter my personal favourite period: the Anglo-Saxon Early-Medieval period. The arrangement here is superb for a museum of its size and, honestly, I could write another article of its own on that, but sadly that's not what I'm here for. From here, we move through the Norman and Post-Medieval periods toward where we are now. I know I've just rushed through hundreds of thousands of years’ worth of human material history, but I hope I made my point. All of this fantastic innovation, all of the culture that has been allowed to develop in this area, started with people braving the cold and coming back to the northernmost reaches of this little island time and time again.

Holding over 250,000 years’ worth of this small pocket of the world's archaeology is a monumental feat, and the way it has all been curated is beyond amazing. The museum as a whole is well worth the visit and anyone interested in the deep pre-history of Nottingham should most certainly check out this new display of artefacts from the early collectors of Creswell Crags.

Visitors can see Creswell’s First Collectors for free between 12-4pm each Thursday to Sunday until Sunday 2 July. The University of Nottingham Museum is located at Lakeside Arts

lakesidearts.org.uk

Holding over 250,000 years’ worth of this small pocket of the world's archaeology is a monumental feat, and the way it has all been curated is beyond amazing

words: Ben Normington photos: The University of Nottingham

ANN INcReDIBle geNeRAtION

On a misty morning in 1948, as Britain limped on from the social and economic wreckage of the Second World War, a boat arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex with 500 people aboard. That boat - the Empire Windrush - would lend its name to a generation of Caribbeans who came to build a life in the UK. Some of them settled in St Ann’s, just outside of Nottingham city centre - where, novelist and local resident Rosey Thomas Palmer explains, the community played a key role in preserving the area’s historic allotments

Windrush is a provocative word, recalling at once the excitement of foreign travel, the appeal of a young queen, patriotism for the “Mother Land” on the one hand; rejection, betrayal, separation, deportation on the other. The time has come to review particular triumphs and benefits from Britain’s long association with the Caribbean. That St Ann’s Allotments still stands today is one such story. Without the Caribbean community’s care, much of what was once more commonly referred to as Hungerhill may have been lost. Our local Windrush community stands tall amongst those throughout history who’ve fought for their preservation.

Despite allotments being promoted during the war as essential to the food production process, Hungerhill had become neglected and overgrown by the time the Caribbean community found them. The council of the time was sceptical of their value and eager to reclaim their acreage for building homes, but our Windrush residents went to work. Men such as George Powe, Steven Stevens, George Leigh, Donald “Pipe Man” Rowe, Thomas H., Oscar Reid, and Charles “Pete” Barratt, who had come from farming backgrounds in Jamaica to work in Nottingham for the likes of Severn Trent Water, Raleigh, Players and Boots, but resisted the constraints of urban living.

Seeking their fresh callaloo and spinach and sweet, full-bodied pumpkin for their rich one-pot soups, some of the men began adopting abandoned plots, reopening rusted gates to the narrow Victorian avenues, clearing, digging and mulching. In doing so, they kept the site in use as the vital food growing resource that it has been for hundreds of years. Unafraid of the less clement British weather, they sought a way to extend their meagre resources and escape the urban sprawl. Abundant harvests flowed.

Now, as respected elders of the area, they are lauded at funerals, loved in the care system and fabled in developments of their own making such as the ACNA Centre and the Marcus Garvey Action Group, as well as in local churches. Yet, aside from scattered publications and small-scale exhibitions, the role of the Windrush generation in preserving Hungerhill and in enabling our inheritance of the most historic and extensive allotment gardens in Europe is inadequately acknowledged. The story of this historic site has been traced back to its first dedication to the people of Nottingham in 1304, said to be in continual use for the last 600 years. It has been perpetuated as an amenity of some sort through war, development and social unrest.

The late Margaret Hall, who recently passed and was memorialised at the Anglican church on St Ann’s Robins Hood’s Chase this February, was a long-time gardener and previous holder of five allotments. She offered me vivid descriptions of the post-war neglect into which they fell before Windrush migrants found them. “I saw it all, the joys and the pains,” she proclaimed. Dirt tracks wound between overgrown bankings, most plots were covered with thick brambles, the carefully-spaced beds of Victorian families were covered by weeds or rubble from the ruins of their summer houses. Fruit from valuable old species of apple and pear lay rotting.

Intrepid gardeners like Margaret, with her childhood in an allotment-holding family, had plots for the taking and dedicated days to their perfection. Margaret’s five each

me N t

served its own purpose - vegetable cultivation, soft fruit production, horticulture, wildlife protection and woodland. Her colleagues in these endeavours were the Windrush gentleman. Though they formed a tight community for themselves, their presence was deeply significant to the lady they called “Miss M”, a title acquired through her work as a regular presenter and DJ on Back a Yard, a pirate radio venture that demonstrated the growing diversity of Nottingham before Kemet FM regularised the abounding Caribbean culture on our radio waves.

Others have since played key roles in redeveloping the allotments, notably the group of plot holders that would form St Anns Allotment Campaign (now STAA Ltd) in 1993, helping to kindle its modern day renaissance. To the present day, the Renewal Trust and Hungerhill Developments Limited takes care of the site, helping bring investment and order. Tours, inductions, training plots for new gardeners, and opportunities for local schools and young people are offered from a well-equipped office and welcome centre. Research by both Nottingham universities contribute to scientific study of the site. Hungerhill today enjoys a newly-engaged and enthusiastic generation of gardeners, and volunteer assistance from locals and the various community-benefit organisations that reside here. Much has improved.

But none of this would be possible had the Windrush farmers allowed the gardens to become derelict, disused, forgotten, then bulldozed for housing. Sadly, 2022 saw Margeret’s plot holdership challenged, ultimately leading to her sorrowfully handing it over. Her health began to deteriorate soon after. Various groups, including those in today’s Caribbean gardening community, still organise to protect their sites, and issues of racial, social, and economic justice continue to swirl around this febrile common land. The battle for our green spaces, and their rich social history, goes on. We who remain need to recapture the Windrush spirit, both for the allotments and our wider relationship with nature and food sovereignty. We have begun to revalue and upgrade land to redress the balance of ecology and agriculture, providing space, air and habitats for wildlife - from flies, ants and bees to all the mammals who are being reintroduced to wetlands and woodlands countrywide.

The art of coexistence, readiness to learn, and to reciprocate knowledge is fundamental to a healthy society, and this exchange of survival techniques and wisdom is typified by the Windrush Generation, regardless of which side of the Atlantic we are originally from.

words: Rosey Thomas Palmer photos: Colin Haynes

Aside from scattered publications and small-scale exhibitions, the role of the Windrush generation in preserving Hungerhill is inadequately acknowledged

cOBRA gu Y

There was a spy scandal, and the guy with whom we did the deal got expelled in a tit-for-tat spy dispute, so we never got the vodka… but we have a good story!

The first European to win a World Karate Title in Japan and listed in the top ten greatest fighters in Great Britain, Aidan Trimble has managed to navigate the path between a successful competition career and remaining true to the traditions of karate, all while becoming one of the best instructors in the UK. Aidan is head of the Federation of Shotokan Karate, and owns and runs ‘The Dojo’, a karate school in Beeston. We hear all about his phenomenal life…

Born in Nottingham in 1960, the youngest in an Irish family of six, Aidan is the only one of his siblings to have been born in England. “They’ve all been keen on reminding me that I was the only English of the family,” he says with a smile. Early on, his father took him and his sister to judo, starting his martial arts journey. “I don’t remember why we stopped, although I was pretty big as a child so I would be put in to spar with kids much older than me, and I would end up being thrown all over the place.” But Judo wasn’t Aidan’s thing.

On the council estate he grew up on, Aidan met Chris Hallam, who became his friend and is also a senior instructor at The Dojo. “To be honest, there wasn’t much to do when we were kids, other than hang around and get into trouble.” Aidan and Chris started boxing, trying a few clubs. “It was okay, but then Bruce Lee’s first films came out in the UK,” says Aidan, “and that was all we, and everybody else, wanted to do. Everyone went crazy for kung fu!”

There were no kung fu classes at the time, although some karate clubs labelled themselves as ‘kung fu’ as a successful strategy to cash in on the ‘kung fu craze’. And, unlike today, karate classes were adults only. At eleven or twelve years old, Aidan and Chris couldn’t attend a proper club; however, a family friend of the Hallams, Mick, started an informal class in Wollaton. “We didn’t take any gradings. Mick was just a purple belt and we weren’t part of any organisation but that was where we started. I remember practising in the garden with Chris, pretending we were in Enter the Dragon.”

Aidan and Chris were eventually put in touch with Brian Collins, a black belt who had trained with Japanese instructors. “That’s when we really began to learn. He was an excellent instructor himself, and he would spar with us regularly.” After some time of proper training, the friends got the chance to attend Asano Sensei’s classes, a Nottingham-based Japanese instructor who became Aidan’s mentor. Students needed to be eighteen to begin training, but Aidan was economical with the truth. “I was big for my age… I was fighting with adults and I got a bit of a beating, but I soon got used to it.”

Aidan has failed two gradings in his life. The first one, he bought a green belt before passing the grade. “My instructor saw it in my bag, so I failed because

that’s not something to do… fair enough”. Ultimately, though, this didn’t prevent Aidan from obtaining his black belt in 1977 under Sensei Asano and winning the World Individual Kumite (Fighting) title in 1983 at the Shotokan Championship in Tokyo.

His failed 4th Dan grading had more lasting consequences. This was not due to poor technique or fighting - he won all of his fights - but rather a complicated mix of misunderstanding, miscommunication and politics. Aidan has seen Asano Sensei many times since and has the utmost respect for him, but at the time, Aidan decided to leave the federation as a result of these combined events.

I was big for my age… I was fighting with adults and I got a bit of a beating, but I soon got used to it

Aidan found himself without affiliation, and others suggested he should start his own organisation. This wasn’t his original intention. “I wasn’t that clever to plan ahead,” he laughs. But in November 1986, he set up the Federation of Shotokan Karate (FSK). Aidan has now been chairman and chief instructor of the FSK for more than 35 years. Over the past three decades, the FSK has produced many female and male international champions, and Aidan has become a globally-renowned instructor and coach, teaching worldwide and receiving numerous awards. He has also authored several books in collaboration with other practitioners like Vince Morris and Dave Hazard.

Aidan was occasionally asked to return to fighting, the first time in 1989 in Las Vegas and subsequently in Los Angeles, Dubai and even Iran. “But it’s not always a good thing,” he asserts. “If you have had too much of a gap, you can’t keep the same level. Plus, I wasn’t always good at wearing two hats; coach and competitor.” This gave Aidan some memorable experiences. For instance, the Las Vegas competition which was suggested by a longtime friend Dirk Robertson. Robertson fully funded the trip by selling the story of Aidan’s competition comeback to magazines. He even had an arrangement with the Russian news agency Pravda. “The Russians couldn’t pay with western currency - remember, the

Berlin wall was still up at that time.” Pravda promised Dirk and Aidan they would pay in vodka and caviar (a common practice for businesses at that time) but they had to collect their earnings from the Russian embassy in London. “There was a spy scandal, and the guy with whom we did the deal got expelled in a tit-for-tat spy dispute, so we never had the vodka… but we have a good story!”

Dedicated to his art, Aidan still has room for another passion - cinema. “I love film and TV. Martial arts and films have been connected forever, and of course that’s what got me into karate in the first place.” A miniseries, Jenny’s War, was being filmed locally in Nottingham. They were looking for a tall, blond actor to play a German SS officer; Aidan fitted this description and loved the idea of acting. “I was put forward and they said yes. But I eventually missed the part because I wasn’t a member of the Equity Actors’ Union, so I decided to get an Equity card.” Aidan took this seriously, even driving to evening acting classes in London. He acted alongside some well-known names such as Richard Armitage and Neil Morrissey. Aidan appeared in TV series, soaps and cult films. “I did two courses at RADA for professional actors, I approached it like karate: the more you practise it, the better and more confident you become.”

With his background, Aidan started getting teaching requests for action scenes, instructing actors like Sean Pertwee (Alfred in Gotham). He could have developed a career in cinema, but his love of karate was too strong. “I started to have a good hit rate in auditions, but I was first and foremost a karate instructor, and I was struggling to do both.”

While we’re finishing our coffee, Aidan tells me more stories, like the time a closed fence prevented him from working with John Woo. Karate enabled Aidan to travel the globe as both competitor and instructor, but it’s also what kept him in Nottingham. “Every one of my family lives abroad and I think that I would definitely have done the same at some stage. But Nottingham is where my Sensei was and then where my clubs and my students were, as well as many friends. I have no regrets.”

facebook.com/the.dojo.nottingham @thedojofsk

words: Fabrice Gagos and Mae Rischer photo: Fabrice Gagos

NuR tuReD BY N AtuRe

March is here - which means spring and the astronomical New Year is blessing us!

It's the perfect opportunity to get outside and into nature. There are lots of beauty spots in and around the city to visit and spend some time aligning with the natural world.

Spiritual consciousness talks a lot about the mind and soul but moving your body is equally important. Looking after yourself physically can be the first step on your self-love journey - and if the gym is not your forte, going for a walk is just as (if not more) beneficial.

teRR-IFIc IDe A

words: Josephine Ruffles

photos: Simona Peneva

Perfect for both plant experts and those who can’t manage to keep a simple cactus alive, Chan from Sap Plants has started hosting regular terrarium workshops across Nottingham. Crafting a plant landscape enclosed in a glass container, the creative experience is a perfect wellness activity. Ahead of her next workshop, we catch up with Chan to talk about keeping plants alive, wellbeing and what to expect from the classes…

Chan, a self-described plant enthusiast, founded Sap Plants after her own collection grew exponentially and she learnt the different ways of owning plants. She taught herself how to make terrariums and gifted them to family and friends one Christmas. After that, she realised how much she’d want to share her love of making them with others - and Sap was born.

As you stroll, try not to scroll. Our hectic lives can centre around our phones. The convenience they offer has changed the way we interact with the world but they can also be a distraction. The usage has shortened our attention spans and can make it hard to mentally switch off. Sometimes the best thing you can do is switch IT off.

A friend of mine told me that turning off their phone causes them anxiety, so they compromise and put it on silent and check it every 45 minutes. It gives them a chance to disconnect but not stress about missing important messages. The aim is to be present and in the moment, take in the sights and sounds. Breathe deeply and smell the air/touch the bark on the trees, go in for a hug if you like – tree hugging is a real and very beautiful way to connect with the earth. Grounding yourself in nature once a week will boost your mental clarity and keep you fit. And remember to ‘leave nothing but footprints’.

So for this month’s Affirmation:

I AM CONNECTED TO THE NATURAL WORLD

Until next time, my loves… Be safe, no fear and stay blessed.

It took a lot of trial and error but her method of making terrariums has gone unchanged. She uses a mixture of key ‘ingredients’ and decorative aspects. Talking through how they’re made in the workshops, she explains how each layer serves a purpose, such as the sprinkling of white stones acting as a drainage system. The main plant she uses are fittonias, which are known for being veiny-looking and make up the most colourful aspect of the terrarium. However, as she explains, people decorate their plant havens in different ways - although the plants are mainly all the same, she has had some people include Lego figures or pebbles to add a personal touch inside.

Throughout the workshops, you can expect to join a community or ‘society’ of plant lovers and learn about terrariums or different plants together. Chan explains how the sessions can be individual as well as communal, including quieter times while working on the more difficult aspects, and then laughing while struggling to pot the seedlings in the soil.

It can be a very mindful hour, she continues, adding that “you’re truly at one with the plants” - a sole focus on the terrarium provides a healthy focus and distraction away from other aspects of life. And creating and caring for these plants can seriously increase your mental wellbeing - science has found that having house plants, especially for people who work from home, can consistently relax and calm levels of stress and anxiety.

Saying this, many people (myself included) do have an issue with keeping plants alive, and thanks to either watering it too little or far too much, struggle to maintain that inside green space. However, as Chan explains, by having a terrarium or specific types of plants, this issue can be overcome. Terrariums, for example, are a self-sufficient environment as each aspect of it creates a climate where the plant can survive without someone watering it. Other house plants including pothos plants and peace lilies are perfect within the climate of Nottingham houses, and for someone like me, she says they’re “pretty indestructible” if you care for it to some extent. That extent being sunlight and watering once a month, which doesn’t sound too hard!

A society as much as a session, Chan’s terrarium workshops are perfect for like-minded individuals with the common interest of plants and wellbeing. As is noticeable on Sap Plants website, the society aspect is relevant in their merchandise too. Chan tells me that the idea came from other plant groups such as the British Cactus and Succulent Society, but she developed hers to be centred around, and originate from, more than just that - becoming inspired by the seventies and the specific album Plantasia, which had a different song for separate house plants.

So, if owning plants seems a bit daunting, and you’re not sure where to start, join a Sap Plants workshop and indulge yourself in the experience and environment of making terrariums with a group of like-minded people - and introduce some greenery into your home that’s tough for even the least adept gardeners to kill!

You can book a ticket for the terrarium workshop on Sap Plant’s website

sapplants.co.uk @sap_plants

As you stroll, try not to scroll

Science has found that having house plants can consistently relax and calm levels of stress and anxiety

You probably know D. H. Lawrence, you’ve most likely heard of Alan Sillitoe, but does the name James Prior ring any bells? Author of six novels including 1901’s Forest Folk, Prior was dedicated to depicting rural life in Nottinghamshire. We learn more about the author who time has forgotten…

However much we cherish literature, the truth is that we forget most books. The classics get reprinted again and again, but the rest tend to fall by the wayside. Fewer people buy them, they fall out of popularity and before long, we don’t even remember the author’s name. Yet every now and again, someone will find a remnant of them - a single piece of thread that unravels a whole mystery, and tells the story of an entire career. And this is exactly what happened for Ailish D’Arcy when she set about investigating James Prior, the Nottingham author who was cherished by the likes of J. M. Barrie and D. H. Lawrence.

But how did Ailish begin on this journey? Where did she find that first piece of thread? Well, it happened thanks to a literary tour and an offhand comment. “I enrolled on a four-week course with (local literary historian) John Baird as a way to get out of the house after the pandemic,” Ailish explains, “and when I mentioned to John that I lived in Bingham, he said that he knew of an author from there - James Prior.” Then, stemming from this small interaction, Ailish found herself on a mission to learn more. “It was like something took over me and I wasn’t prepared to let it rest,” she laughs, as we sit in a coffee shop, discussing Prior’s life.

So, after contacting a whole bevy of academics and sleuthing through archives, a picture began to emerge. That of an extraordinary Nottinghamshire author, who most people in the county have never heard of. Born in 1851 on Mapperley Road, James Prior (originally James Kirk) was one of five children. Birthed into a family of straw hat makers, Prior got a strong sense of faith and morality from his father, alongside a love of the countryside and reading. Though, it wouldn’t be until his teenage years that he would first read Dickens, Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott, after which point he developed a steadfast ambition to become a writer - disregarding his parents' wishes for him to study law.

Prior worked away at his poetry and novels, but his success wasn’t instant, and he had to find other ways to make a living. Namely, he spent a while teaching at a boys’ boarding school, helping run the family business after his father’s death and, most notably, supporting his uncle, who was a butcher and grazier in Blidworth. This landscape and the people who lived there would go on to inspire his novels. However, the

most notable event in this time was falling in love with his wife-to-be Lily, whom he married in 1886 and had three children with. “A remarkable woman,” as Ailish tells me, she was the one who encouraged Prior to focus on his writing over any business endeavours. Without her, many of his novels would likely never have been written. “Everything I’ve found indicates that Prior was just wandering before he met Lily,” Ailish says, “trying to find himself in both writing and business. Then, when they met, it seemed like two halves of one person coming together.”

Situated in Bingham with a young family, Prior continued to write, and he published many novels and short stories, including Three Shots from a Popgun and Live and Let Live in the 1880s, then novels like Renie in 1895 and Ripple and Flood in 1897. The latter of which was described as “vivid, original and impressive” by The Scotsman, with one reviewer in The Times comparing Prior to Dickens and Thomas Hardy for his depiction of both rural communities and local poverty. Yet, it wasn’t until 1901, by which time Prior was already in his fifties, that he published his most famous novel, his pièce de résistance, Forest Folk - the novel which really established him as a writer devoted to capturing the East Midlands dialect and spirit.

innate worth of human beings. “Prior’s work says that everyone has value and that we can learn from everyone. He had a great sense of social justice,” Ailish adds, “and on top of that, he had a great love for the English countryside, and a desire to capture the specific atmosphere of the East Midlands.”

Also operating as a piece of local history, Prior’s novels are unique in their dedication to using local dialect and the characters speak as rural Nottingham people would have done then. The author spent a lot of time compiling lists of local words, which he’d then include in his novels and add to The English Dialect Dictionary. “He captures the words from the south of the county, which are very agricultural,” Ailish explains. “Many of these words went out of use when things became more urbanised, so it’s a true linguistic heritage.”

Sadly, though, none of Prior’s other work achieved the same level of success as Forest Folk, and while he kept writing novels for another nine years, they didn’t reach the same heights. Publishing his last book, Fortuna Chance, in 1910, James fell into a downward spiral after the death of his wife in 1914, and the death of his son - who passed away in the First World War, from which Ailish suggests he never recovered. After the war, the whole landscape of writing had also changed, and post-war literature was quite different from pre-war literature. “You had modernism coming in,” Ailish notes, “and Prior began to seem oldfashioned. He seemed very formal.” From this, combined with his grief, the writer began to draw back from the public and faded away.

Telling the tale of a southern Arthur Skrene arriving in Blidworth to claim his inherited farm, it’s a story that captures class, romance, prejudice and country life. “It’s got great characters, some class conflict, the background of the Luddite Rising and the Napoleonic Wars; all the elements came together and captured people’s attention,” Ailish tells me. And, like the rest of his work, it also has a message about the

Nonetheless, to dismiss Prior as a tragedy would be too simplistic, and his impact as both an author and a historian is not to be underestimated. “During a period of fifteen years, he produced six novels, four of which surely deserve to rank as classics,” Ailish writes in her book, In Search of James Prior, and many such texts are still being discovered by readers today. Likewise, in his personal sphere, he appeared to have had a deeply fulfilling family life and a great love with Lily. So, though forgotten, at least for a little while, James Prior did in fact have a life well lived, and well loved.

You can purchase Ailish D’Arcy’s book In Search Of James Prior from spokesmanbooks.org or from Five Leaves Bookshop

words: Lizzy O’Riordan illustration: Ciaran Burrows

Operating as a piece of local history, Prior’s novels are unique in their dedication to using local dialect and the characters speak as rural Nottingham people would have done then

WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH

�� Kwame Asante

Canalhouse

£10, 7.30pm

�� John Lucas

Five Leaves Bookshop Free - £3, 7pm - 8.30pm

�� major ruse curates – melonyx [jazz / neo soul / hip hop]

Peggy’s Skylight

£10

�� Prue Leith: Nothing In Moderation

Nottingham Playhouse

£25 - £31, 7.30pm

�� Death Valley Girls

The Bodega

£12, 7pm

�� Teen Bookclub

Waterstones Free, 6.30pm

THURSDAY 2 MARCH

�� A Bunch of Amateurs

The Studio Theatre

£10, 7.30pm

�� Kit Trigg - Live in The ChapelNottingham

The Angel Microbrewery & The Chapel 7pm

�� Banff Mountain Film Festival

World Tour

Nottingham Playhouse

£17, 7.30pm

�� An Evening With T. M. Logan

Waterstones £5, 6.30pm

�� Express Office Portico

The Bodega £8, 7pm

FRIDAY 3 MARCH

�� Live Music With N.E.O. New Art Exchange Free, 7pm - 9pm

�� Get Lucky Rock City £35, 10pm

FRIDAY 3 MARCH

�� A Bunch of Amateurs The Studio Theatre £10, 7.30pm

�� Susanna: Piano Series Metronome £12, 7pm

�� I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall 7.30pm

SATURDAY 4 MARCH

�� Absolute Anthems Bistro Live £32.95

�� pure desmond plays james bond songs [jazz] Peggy’s Skylight £12

�� Jurassic World - In Concert Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £27.50, 7pm

�� Matt Guy Stealth £5, 10pm

�� Introduction to Clay with Kyra Cane The Harley Gallery & Portland Collection £165, 10am

SUNDAY 5 MARCH

�� Sunday Piano Series - Iyad Sughayer Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £12, 11am

�� The Gilded Merkin: Burlesque and Cabaret The Glee Club £18, 6pm

�� Attila Rescue Rooms £18, 5pm

�� Sinfonia Viva: Masters of German Baroque Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £15.50, 4pm

MONDAY 6 MARCH

�� A Sunday in Hell Broadway Cinema £12, 7pm

�� AKIRA (35th Anniversary Screening), at the Savoy Savoy Cinema £5, 8.30pm

�� King No-One Rescue Rooms

£12, 7.30pm

�� The Classic Rock Show Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£32.50, 7.30pm

TUESDAY 7 MARCH

�� Dance and Movement Workshops with Cool Company Nottingham Contemporary 10am - 12pm

�� Pressure Rescue Rooms Free, 10pm - 3am

�� Bodega Quiz

The Bodega £12, 7.30pm

�� Hostile Djanogly Theatre Free, 5.45pm

WEDNESDAY

8 MARCH

�� Nottingham City WI Monthly Meeting MCO Centre 7.30pm - 9.30pm

�� James Haskell: Sex, Tries and Videotape

The Glee Club

£26.50, 6pm

�� FARA

Djanogly Theatre £18, 7.30pm

�� Loyle Carner: Signing Rough Trade £15.50, 12pm

�� Fuzzy Sun

The Bodega £12, 7pm

THURSDAY 9 MARCH

�� Lost in Music Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£27.50 - £37.50, 7.30pm

�� Through the Decades with NTU Music

Newton and Arkwright

£5, 7.30pm

�� Film Screening: Portrait of a Miner and Band Fever

Djanogly Theatre

£3, 7pm

�� bryan corbett quintet [blue note jazz]

Peggy’s Skylight

£6 - £12

�� Costanza Casati Waterstones £5, 6.30pm

FRIDAY 10 MARCH

�� SCRUFFY Nonsuch Studios

£10, 7.30pm

�� Jake Burns Live At Rough Trade Nottingham Rough Trade

£6.50, 7pm

�� Camo & Krooked Stealth £14, 10pm

�� Women’s Day - MOAN Zine Below Bricks

£4, 9pm - 2am

SATURDAY 11 MARCH

�� Creating Fresh Fiction with Clare Harvey Malt Cross

£35, 11am

�� The Little Prince Lakeside Arts

£8.50, 6pm

�� 150th Rachmaninoff

Anniversary Concerts

Albert Hall

£5, 3pm

�� Liquid Light Workshop Make It Easy Lab

£120, 11am

SATURDAY 11 MARCH

�� How can Notts youth tackle climate justice in Nottingham? Nottingham Contemporary Free, 5.30pm - 7pm

�� Giant Cookie Baking Class Clemie’s Vegan Cakes 10am - 1pm

SUNDAY 12 MARCH

�� The Little Prince Lakeside Arts £8.50, 1pm

�� Cockney Rejects The Old Cold Store £22, 5pm

�� 150th Rachmaninoff Anniversary Concerts Albert Hall £5, 7.30pm

�� Solve-Along-A-Murder-SheWrote Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £24.50, 7.30pm

��Makers’ Market The Embankment Free, 11am - 4pm

MONDAY 13 MARCH

�� Rebirth of Cool The Bodega Free

�� The Big Quiz Malt Cross £1, 7.30pm

�� Horn in Hand Quiz The Horn in Hand £0.50, 7.30pm

�� Mary Cassatt: Painting the Modern Woman Broadway Cinema £12

TUESDAY 14 MARCH

�� Opera North - The Cunning Little Vixen Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £22, 7pm

TUESDAY 14 MARCH

�� Battle of the Bands

Metronome Free, 7pm

�� Hayseed Dixie Rescue Rooms

£19, 6.30pm

�� Sleaford Mods Rock City

£15, 7pm

�� Samantha Shannon in conversation Waterstones £8, 6.30pm

WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH

�� Dementia Drop-in Tiger CIC Free, 10.30am - 1.30pm

�� THE SERFS

JT Soar £11, 7.30pm

�� the james taylor quartet [funky acid jazz] Peggy’s Skylight £15

�� Anything Goes - The Musical Savoy Cinema £11, 7pm

�� Jeshi The Bodega £10, 7pm

THURSDAY 16 MARCH

�� Opera North - Tosca Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£22, 7pm

�� WRAP Café

Nottingham Contemporary Free, 6pm

�� What Happens When We Read?

With Mahsuda Snaith Mansfield Central Library Free, 2pm

�� Krapp’s Last Tape Lakeside Arts £12, 7.30pm

FRIDAY 17 MARCH

��Opera North - Ariadne auf Naxos Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£22, 7pm

�� Candle Making & Gilding Debbie Bryan

£45, 1pm

�� Single & Mingle The Wine Room City

£9.95, 7pm

�� Tom Grennan Motorpoint Arena Nottingham

£38, 6pm

�� The Joy Formidable Rescue Rooms

£18.50, 6.30pm

SATURDAY 18 MARCH

�� Opera North - Tosca Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£22, 7pm

�� Barstool Preachers The Old Cold Store £16.50, 7pm

�� Little Brickhouse Fundraiser Little Brickhouse TBC

�� Death Cab For Cutie Rock City

£30, 6.30pm

�� Celestines The Bodega £7, 7pm

SUNDAY 19 MARCH

�� Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£29.50, 7.30pm

�� Anything Goes - The Musical Savoy Cinema

£11, 2.30pm

�� Reading Room: A Commonplace Nottingham Contemporary Free, 10am - 5pm

MONDAY 20 MARCH

�� Heathers (1989)

Savoy Cinema

£5 - £6.95, 8.30pm - 10.30pm

�� Stiff Little Fingers Rock City

£27.50, 7pm

�� Neighbours: The Celebration Tour Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£37.50, 7.30pm

TUESDAY 21 MARCH

�� Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble University Hall £5 - £25, 7pm

�� Jazz Steps at Libraries presents The Pete Donaldson Blues Band Worksop Library £12, 7.30pm

Encounters with Achilles Djanogly Theatre

£3, 1pm

�� Darren Hayes Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£27.50, 7.30pm

WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH

�� jMike McGoldrick, John McCusker and John Doyle Djanogly Theatre

£22, 7.30pm

�� jasmine myra Peggy’s Skylight

£12

�� Paul Draper Rescue Rooms

£25, 6.30pm

THURSDAY 23 MARCH

�� Manchester Collective: Black Angels Djanogly Recital Hall £20, 7.30pm

�� Badly Drawn Boy Metronome £25, 7pm

FRIDAY 24 MARCH

�� Joey Collins & The Bushido Code Metronome

£5 - £10, 7pm

�� Wild Onion Nonsuch Studios £10 - £10, 7.30pm

�� 1985 music nottingham - alix perez, visages, sp:mc The Brickworks £15.10, 10pm

�� The Steve Hillage Band Rock City £32.50, 12pm

SATURDAY 25 MARCH

�� Spring Fantasia Albert Hall £5, 7.30pm

�� The Waeve Rescue Rooms £20, 6.30pm

�� Ashe Rock City £18.30, 6.30pm

�� Limelight Backstage Tour Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£10, 10.30am

SUNDAY 26 MARCH

�� Little Listeners: Mini Vixen Lakeside Arts £8, 1pm

�� Workshop: Bug Bot Lakeside Arts £8, 10am

�� LUSH X Nourish Me Wild Wellness Rituals Lush Nottingham £35, 5.30pm

�� Eels Rock City £35, 6.30pm

�� Watson Fothergill Walk Meet outside Tourism Centre £15, 10am

MONDAY 27 MARCH

�� BERRIES The Bodega £9, 7pm

TUESDAY 28 MARCH

�� Tide Lines Rescue Rooms £16, 6.30pm

�� I PREVAIL Rock City £20, 6.30pm

�� Dune Rats The Bodega £15, 7pm

WEDNESDAY 29 MARCH

�� SHORT FICTIONS / OTHER HALF JT Soar £10, 7.30pm

�� Kate Mosse Nottingham Playhouse £30, 7.30pm

�� ALASKALASKA The Bodega £10, 7pm

THURSDAY 30 MARCH

�� Is Reading Creative? Clare Harvey in Conversation Beeston Library Free, 7pm

�� The K’s Metronome £14, 7pm

FRIDAY 31 MARCH

�� Phil Wang: Wang In There, Baby! Nottingham Playhouse £24, 7.30pm

�� ALT BLK ERA The Bodega £7.50, 7pm

BEST OF THE MONTH

Castle Rock International Women’s Day Collab

When: Wednesday 8 March, 7pm

Where: The Old Cold Store

How much: Free

This one’s for the women.

Teaming up with Sara Barton of Brewster’s Brewery, this International Women’s Day is being celebrated with beer! A day full of live music, trying and making beer, and designing artwork, it will be a lot of fun. Even if you’re not a natural artist, this is about celebrating women around the world together, so what better way to do it than with a pint?

YOUnique Festival

When: Thursday 9 - Saturday 11 March

Where: The New Art Exchange Ltd

How much: Free YOUnique is an annual arts festival organised for and by young people in the city. It is a weekend full of creative workshops, live performances, sports, and even a mini carnival, giving youths the opportunity to meet other like-minded, artsy people with an interest in creativity. Step out of your comfort zone this March and go along to this incredible event!

VIP Day: Technologies of the Future

When: Kings Meadow Campus

Where: Thursday 9 - Friday 10 March

How much: Free - ERDF Aimed at local businesses interested in dance, music and performance, this workshop is an exciting chance to explore future technologies at the University of Nottingham’s Immersive Production Studio. Taking place over two days, it’s an opportunity to hear from industry researchers and partake in hands-on workshops, playing with mixed reality headsets, haptic feedback suits and more.

Little Brickhouse Fundraiser

When: Saturday 18 March

Where: Little Bricks

How much: Free

Known for their delicious food and eclectic atmosphere, this local Nottingham restaurant is currently having trouble transforming their digs due to a financial bind. They had ambitious plans to turn their basement into an immersive art space for everyone, and so are inviting the locals to join in a fundraiser event. Come and join in to show your support for a local and beloved business.

Opera North - Tosca

When: Thursday 16 - Saturday 18 March, 7pm

Where: Theatre Royal, Royal Concert Hall

How much: From £25

A night at the theatre with a classic story line? Sign us up. This play is set to explore the story of a heroine and a villain, jumping between love, blackmail, revenge and murder. The historic piece was written over 120 years ago and is said to portray humanity at its best and worst, leaving you in tears, questioning how far one will go for the people they love.

Mother’s Day at The Pudding Pantry

When: Saturday 18 - Sunday 19 March

Where: The Pudding Pantry

How much: £22.95

Your mum deserves a treat, and what better way to give her one than with a lovely afternoon tea at The Pudding Pantry? Whether she’s a sweet or savoury lover, they have it all. From mini quiches to scones and macarons, not one taste bud will be missed. Plus, there’s a great selection of coffees and other hot drinks to choose from. So say a proper thank you to your mum with this, and get booking before spaces are gone.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

When: Thursday 23 March

Where: Broadway Cinema

How much: TBC

Your favourite childhood animation has just become a horror movie, and it’s exciting and terrifying in equal measure. If you’re not a horror lover, this adaptation may not be for you, but if you are, get ready to grip your seats and cover your eyes while Winnie gets up to some truly unspeakable adventures. Hosted by local zine makers The Nottingham Horror Collective, prepare to spill your cinema popcorn in terror.

Joey Collins

When: Friday 24 March, 7pm

Where: Metronome

How much: £10 + booking fee

Celebrating the launch of his debut album Yin-Yang, Nottingham’s own Joey Collins is set to perform at the Metronome this March. Having been featured in BBC Introducing’s top 25 played artists in the East Midlands, he is not one to miss! With support from Ellie Stainsby, The Public Eye, and George Gadd & the Aftermath, this is set to be a very fun night.