Beestonian 52

The

Beestonian The future’s so bright...

Issue no.

52

we gotta wear

I

s Beeston in for its best summer in living memory? Of course we’d say it was, as the trumpeter of all that is ace about our town. But check out the evidence before you dismiss this as simple hyperbole:

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A week later, Beeston Carnival is back for its twelfth year

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The Street Art Festival that will be brightening up some local walls

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More beer festivals than you can drunkenly shake a stick at

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Beeston Library reopens in August after a huge refit

weight. The Beestonian is always keen to hear about (and subsequently promote) exciting local stuff, so don’t hesitate to drop us an email at thebeestonian@gmail.com.

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The Canalside Heritage Centre opens in June: see the feature on Page 3

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Oxjam returns! There was doubt on its return, but we can confirm it all kicks off with the Unplugged event on July 1st

The ABC Art Trail returns, showing off the best in Beeston artistic flair on the 3rd and 4th June

We also have a big project to launch, which we’ll tell you more about soon. As we now have joined the nineties and got ourselves a website, you’ll be wise to keep an eye out there: www. beestonian.com. Now, open up this magazine and find just a slice of the talent stuffed cake that is Beestonia…

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TONS MORE! Really. For a town of our size, we certainly punch above our own

MT

I Am Beeston Y

ou may remember last summer, we ran a series of photographs on our Facebook page featuring people who lived, worked or studied in Beeston. This was in response to the dreadful racial attacks that were, and are still taking place post Brexit vote. We wanted to show, and did very successfully, what a peaceful, integrated and generally wonderful place that Beeston is.

Julie Lord

So we thought we would bring it back. Our roving photographer Christopher Frost has been out and about around our town and looking for more people to feature and share their views..

“Although I don’t use it, I do think that the tram has benefited Beeston. I would certainly say that Beeston is improving all the time.”

Building Manager for the Beeston Youth and Community Centre “I used to live in Carlton, but moved in with some relatives who lived in the Rylands.

When their house came up for sale, I bought it. That was twenty four years ago now.”

“Beeston has a diverse community. It has some great shops too. Then there are all the open and green spaces. The nature reserve is only minutes away.”

CDF

University of Beestonia H Curious minds will be amazed and inspired by Wonder 2017

ave you ever wondered what Mars looks like, what your skin’s made of, how planes can fly, why T-rex had tiny arms or how Vikings fought?

It’s now less than a month to go until you can find out at Wonder 2017. On Saturday 17 June 2017 between 11am and 5pm, the University of Nottingham will be throwing open its doors to the local community to uncover and answer the questions you’ve always wondered about. The free event,formerly known as May Fest, held at University Park, gives curious minds the chance to try a huge variety of fun and hands-on activities.

Visitors are invited to explore the University’s ground-breaking research and world-class teaching first-hand by taking part in a vast array of exciting family-friendly activities, split into zones and by age range to ensure they get the most out of their day.

Debbie Henthorn, Deputy Director of Campaign and Alumni Relations, and a team

from across the University are organising Wonder.

She said: “We are delighted to be welcoming the community back into the University of Nottingham this June, for our incredible brand new event.

“We care deeply about the University’s connection to the community and appreciate how many local people, businesses and

What makes you wideeyed with wonder?

Events and activities throughout the day will include: • See Vikings battle Anglo-Saxons in fearsome re-enactments.

• Solve clues on the Raiders of the Lost Park treasure hunt around Highfields.

• Watch extreme experiments, which burn, cut, smash and crush materials.

• Discover how your body works with hands-on activities.

• Learn new skills with the University’s futsal team.

• Get crafty and help create our mini sculpture park.

• Wow at our race-winning electronic motorbike.

partners in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire are involved in making what we do at the University possible. What better way to showcase the contributions that the University makes to education, research and business than opening up the campus to our community who are such an important part of our success.

“We will bring children and grown-ups from all backgrounds together at University Park, for a fantastic free day out with some very exciting activities, experiments and demonstrations. We’d encourage anyone interested to come and join us for what promises to be a stimulating and fun-filled day.”

A full list of all the Wonder activities is now available to explore on the website, along with a new app which will go live in early June, to guide visitors around University Park Campus to the many exciting activities on offer throughout the day. Users of the app can collect points on their journey and pick up rewards along the way. www.nottingham.ac.uk/wonder

LBiyfTehe

T

he time is almost upon us. The opening of the dynamic Beeston Canal Heritage Centre is now only a month away.

Well it will be by the time that you are reading this.

l a n Ca

new windows installed and the balcony area nearly completed.

Special furniture is currently being constructed by the Derby based East Midlands Wood Recycling Team. Everything should be finished by the end of May. You can tell how proud and enthusiastic she is about the project. And quite rightly so.

It will be something very new, very special and unique for the community. Something to add to the tourist map of the NG9 postcode.

For those with a good memory, or with an interest in Beeston’s history, or even both will know that the buildings in question are four weir cottages that had been abandoned for years. Slowly rotting away and disappearing under mounds of ivy and moss.

But things changed in 2015, when the newly formed charity won £687,200 from the Lottery Heritage Fund, and after some more fundraising, project leader Stuart Craven and his team of eager volunteers, began the challenging job of clearing the site of rubbish and vegetation, ready for the rebuilding and restoration of the eighteenth century buildings. The main reconstruction work has been under the expert knowledge and skills of Kirklington based restoration company Bonsors.

Due to the location of the weir cottages, the tons and tons of building materials needed, had to be brought in by barge. Which for a canal heritage centre can’t be a bad thing, as it’s keeping the tradition alive. The whole transformation of the centre has taken some eighteen months.

When finished, there will be a heritage section, where visitors can learn about the history and stories of the canal and the buildings. Then there will be a retail area and a café, which will serve freshly, cooked hot food.

A chef called Brian has recently been recruited to do this.

Upstairs there will be a room called The Weirview, which will provide gallery space and can hold up to sixty people for meetings or events. This will include a small display of ‘Canalside Curiosities’, artefacts that have been unearthed during the works. A small lift has been installed, for those that can’t manage stairs.

The outside is to be put to good use too, with the creation of a kitchen garden, where local schoolchildren can visit and will

be able to see at first hand where fruit and vegetables actually come from. Shatter their illusion that they are grown in plastic bags at the local supermarket. Cycle hire should also be available. A team of volunteers are currently working on creating a lawned seating area and a wildflower border.

I met up with Visitor Operations Manager Jenny Aldridge, who gave me a tour of the site. Work is progressing well with new flooring down, walls painted,

Saturday June the 24th has been billed as the official opening date.

This should be in your diaries, as it will be well worth experiencing.

The celebrations start at 10:30am, and will go on all afternoon.

Shrek the workhorse will be there, together with jazz in the garden and dancing from members of the local Hindu temple. There will also be an exhibition from Beeston Snappers, who have been taking photos throughout the whole process. Stuart then finally gets to see the finished product, after all those years of beavering away raising money and trying to get his dream off the ground. Well done that man.

The centre is looking for volunteers to help run the place. So if you have skills and an interest in administration, education, catering or retail, then Jenny would love to hear from you. Or if you fancy being a co-ordinator, a walk leader or a welcome volunteer, then they are needed too. Training and support are provided. In fact, if you just want to volunteer your time, then give Jenny a call on 07376 378101, and she’ll be very pleased to hear from you.

CDF

CREATIVE BEESTON

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

N

ow if you live in Beeston, and travel up and down Chilwell High Road regularly, you might already know what I am talking about by the title alone. In one of the terraces along there, lives an inhabitant of our little town who continually treats us to a selection of stylish window displays that bring joy to the faces of many who pass by. I have often wanted to explore who this mystery window dresser is and the reasons why they make the time to do this.

As an enthusiastic supporter of any community art project, I posted a card through the letter box to ask if they would like to chat to me about it and was thrilled when I got a response. A lady called Fran sent me a text to thank me for my kind comments and to give her a call. When I spoke to her I realised that we already knew each other, via the close community that is Beeston café culture, and we chatted for ages about many things but mostly her motivation to cheer up her little bit of Beeston.

Fran has been creating her wonderful exhibitions for over ten years now and it all started when she was working at the high street retailer, Accessorize. Often when they took down their window display the staff were left with a selection of useless but pretty objects that would gather dust in a box or get thrown away. Inspired by the impact a welldressed window can have on passers-by, she decided that she would much prefer to take things home and create her own version of the display in her front window at home. And so it began…

She finds her inspiration in many places and her magpie’s nest is full to the rafters with bright, shiny objects and other things saved for their aesthetic qualities. She tries to update the window regularly, usually in line with calendar events and the seasons and can often feel the pressure to make sure she hasn’t left a display in too long she doesn’t want to disappoint her fan club. Fran tells me that she regularly receives thank you cards and messages of appreciation from local people and this makes it all the more worthwhile. She does it simply ‘because it makes people smile’, and by her own admission ‘keeps her out of mischief.’

Fran has a great eye for detail and her presentations have got more ambitious over the years. It is fun, and she enjoys thinking up new ideas, careful not to replicate any she has done previously. What I like about them is the connection with local people that Fran is making with these displays, and it goes deeper than just making someone’s day. She is investing in her community, showing a sense of pride in where she lives and is more than happy to hear that she is beginning to inspire others to do the same.

And it was simply this that prompted me to publicly applaud the efforts of this dedicated decorator, who tirelessly creates these scenes for others to enjoy. Fran, we think you are awesome!

I wonder what will she do next…?

Beeston is full to the brim with creativity if you look for it.

are c y a ded ll d Fu d fun for an sions ged a ses dren rs l a chi -5 ye 0

Nur chil turing d the care in he Bee ar t of ston

Call us now on

0115 7750185 to book a visit and find out why our families love us! www.beestonnursery.co.uk

DU

CREATIVE BEESTON

beeston street art

S

treet Art has become one of the ‘sights to see’ in many European cities. With exciting colours and raw energy it has been transforming urban landscapes for decades. Since Keith Haring’s successful attempt to commercialise art on the streets, tired architecture and boring buildings have been given the wow factor all over the world, some in incredibly creative ways. In 2014 Google launched an online street art gallery to preserve many iconic images, which demonstrates the extent to which its popularity has grown, and how it has come to be recognised as an artform.

You may remember reading on the cover of Issue 51 about the creative discussions that one group of Beestonians were involved in about

creating something ‘bright and beautiful’ to enhance the look of our town. According to an update from Jeanie O’Shea, who is one of those driving the project forward, the group have now met with John Delaney who is the Broxtowe estate manager in charge of Beeston Square and the head of planning, Phil Horsefield. Both have been encouraging and keen to listen to their creative proposals.

There also happens to be budget available for the project and local councillors are making positive noises in their direction too. Montana Colours in Hockley are using their connections to acquire submissions from UK and International Street Artists that will then need approval to secure the funding. It has been suggested that the artwork will incorporate some of Beeston’s best known characters and symbols of its heritage and that it will complement as well as enhance the current surroundings.

It has been anticipated that the artwork will adorn the wall that extends behind ‘Birds’ and will be visible by people approaching Beeston interchange via Middle Street or Station Road. With any luck it will cause visitors, or those passing through, to avert their eyes from the concrete and mud jungle that has been left behind since the demolition of the old bus station, whilst the ‘powers that be’ drag their heels in deciding what to do with it.

If everything goes to plan we should be looking at receiving our spraypainted masterpiece as part of a week-long festival next Spring.

Just watch that space!

DU

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Nottingham T

Poetry Festival

his year’s poetry festival, which lasted for one week from 21 – 30 April took over from what was Nottingham Festival of Literature and was organised by the comedian, writer and poet Henry Normal.

The programme for the festival was full to the brim with over 50 events featuring a wide range of poets, both from inside and outside Nottingham, and featured big names in poetry such as Carol Ann Duffy and John Cooper Clarke. I attended the following events which showcased the breadth of poetic talent in our city.

On Saturday 22, a poetry slam took place at Nottingham Mechanics, judged by poet and facilitator Jim Hall, whose only criteria was that the poems made him feel something.

There were performances from Panya Banjoko, and former Mouthy poets, Joshua Judson, Matt Miller and Neal Pike, as well as other familiar faces from the poetry scene.

In the end, Jim chose a wonderful poet Gloria for third place, whose soft-spoken poems made an impression on the judge and audience alike. Second place went to emerging performance poet Jake Wildeman, with first place awarded to Matt Miller, whose poems about love and home were poignant enough to win him £30 in prize money.

Jim, who was assisted by Jeremy, the chair of Nottingham Poetry Society, said, ‘[Matt] really thought about the time limit. It was a whole journey within three minutes and I learnt a lot about him. It was quite a clear one for me.’

On Sunday 23, Rough Trade was the home of Book Off, which began with a workshop in ‘found poetry’ whereby participants used magazines to create poems by cutting or blacking out selected words.

The day continued with a performance poetry workshop by Jamie Thrasivoulou and Sophie Sparham, which covered issues such as heckling, performing politically sensitive poems and the best way to introduce yourself to your audience.

Photo of Chris McLoughlin writing personalised poems at the poetry kissing booth for the Mud Press anthology launch.

At this point, sportswear-clad poets began to assemble for Poetercize: the Poetry Game Show hosted by Stephen Thomas. This round was the decider between Bridie Squires and Joshua Judson vs Chris McLoughlin and Milla Tebbs. The event was delayed due to technical problems, but was handled with humour. The show featured That Welsh Woman, interpretive dance and audience participation.

Bridie hit her teammate Joshua’s face with a wet teabag to demonstrate schadenfreude, and Chris ate orange peel in a desperate bid to be the best…but in the end it was Chris and Milla who were crowned champions.

On Tuesday 25, Debbie Bryan in the Lace Market welcomed Some Poets from Big White Shed for an evening of performances from poets that have been published by BWS and poets that they would like to see published.

The event celebrated what Anne describes as ‘peer publishing’ and featured poems from Neal Pike, Stephen Thomas, Midnight Shelley, Trevor Wright and Jim Hall among many others.

Continuing the celebration of publishing was Mud Press on Friday 28 at the launch of their latest anthology Woman. Mud Press is a publishing house which was set up by Georgina Wilding.

The event took place at Cobden Chambers and replicated the festival vibe but on a smaller scale. There were live artists, music, face painting and a poetry kissing booth.

I’ve only covered a tiny portion of the poetry festival, and my experience was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was a week of celebration that both poets and poetry lovers could appreciate.

JM

Photo of Anne Holloway on the lookout for poets ahead of the Big White Shed event - photo credit: Jo Rowland.

. . . h t i w w e i v r e An int A

Giselle Leeb

couple of years ago when I was still an undergraduate, I found myself being taught how to do HTML and Wordpress with a select bunch of other writers. Our teacher was Giselle Leeb, 47, website developer, IT trainer and writer. She’s lived in Beeston for two and a half years but grew up in South Africa. I caught up with her to find out what she’s up to and how her writing career is going.

Giselle has had 20 short stories published so far. They have appeared in publications such as Reckoning, Litro, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Mslexia, The Stockholm Review, and Firewords Quarterly among others. She has recently become assistant editor at Reckoning, an annual journal of creative writing on environmental justice, who published her short story Wolfinia in December 2016.

The secret behind getting her stories published is to always write and constantly submit. “I write every day except for weekends,” says Giselle.

“I’ve got enough short stories to try and put some into a collection, I’ve got the stories and the manuscript ready.”

For someone who usually submits short stories to publications, putting together a collection would seem like the natural progression. I ask her which publishers she has in mind for the collection.

“There’s quite a few good indie publishers, but it’s very hard to get short story collections published if you’re a relatively unknown writer.”

Giselle submits stories as much as she writes them, and doing so has revealed new things about her writing style and capabilities that even she didn’t realise. The last story she had published was ‘The Dog’s Aren’t Barking’ which appears in Supernatural Tales. She wrote it and submitted it despite it not being her preferred genre.

“I don’t normally write supernatural stories,” she reveals. “That’s the longest short story I’ve written (about 6,500 words). I was a bit unsure because it’s not my usual genre. I wasn’t sure if they would publish it but I was very chuffed.”

She describes her usual genre as ‘literary slipstream’, an area of fiction I’d never heard of until that moment. “It’s a bit like magic realism or weird tales,” she explains. “It’s a literary story setting in a real town but there’s some strange element to it.”

Although I write fiction and poetry, I hardly ever submit them to competitions or publications, but Giselle believes that submitting work helps with the motivation to write.

“I’ll try out competition themes and sometimes they spark something off.

You can get too distracted by it, addicted,” she laughs.

She also makes use of websites that can help with tracking submissions such as Duotrope and The (Submissions) Grinder. “I’ve got about 20 stories I’m sending out at the moment so it’s quite important. It’s really easy to forget where you’ve sent a story.”

For anyone who has never submitted creative work before and doesn’t know where to start, the answer is simple: Google it.

“Look at competitions,” says Giselle. “It will always be there, it’s not like anyone is going to take it away or do the exact same stories!”

In issue 47 of The Beestonian we featured an interview with Beeston

author Megan Taylor, who is Giselle’s partner.

They met through both being members of the same fiction group, and had known one another two years before they got together. Giselle explains the benefits of being in a relationship with another writer.

“We write quite differently but I think we’ve got a good appreciation of each other’s work. We definitely bounce ideas off each other but it’s never rivalrous. For me, it’s absolutely essential to have feedback from a group or from Megan.”

In the near future Giselle is hoping to do some workshops with Writing East Midlands, but for now she is enjoying going through the slash pile of unsolicited submissions at Reckoning, and getting an idea of what it feels like to be on the other side.

It was announced recently that Giselle will have one of her stories published in Best British Short Stories 2017 by Salt Publishing. The anthology will be available on 15 June and is available to pre-order now from Amazon and Waterstones.

You can find out more about Giselle’s writing and publications on her website: giselleleeb.com JM

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Not Just coffee Shops J

ust over a year ago this fine magazine published a list of all the shops, pubs, restaurants etc in Beeston. This was an attempt to counter the local doom-mongers and naysayers running down Beeston on social media, in the pub, at the bus stop, or waiting outside the GU clinic.

Some amongst us feel the need to spread misery and negativity, with remarks such as the everyday whine ‘why would anyone want to come to Beeston?’ to the classic mantra ‘there’s nothing here but charity shops and coffee shops’.

The fact is that for a town of its size, Beeston does really well in terms of the number and variety of shops, pubs, restaurants and other attractions. Compared to other similar-sized towns on the doorsteps of major cities, we have a wealth of independent retailers to complement the usual high street chains. There follows a list of places in which to spend your hard-earned, be it on food, drink, clothes, furniture, musical instruments, jewellery, beauty treatments, pet food, wool, bicycles, fresh flowers, screwdrivers, candles, mobile phones etc.

A line had to be drawn somewhere, so whilst the businesses on Queen’s Road are listed, I haven’t included any of the great ones at the Chilwell Creative Corner. Also not listed are a lot of service providers like doctors, dentists, architects, estate agents, solicitors, podiatrists, opticians, banks, building societies, betting shops, pharmacies, funeral parlours, launderettes etc. Whilst there are a lot of great convenience stores and off licences to go round, they aren’t included either.

Since last year a few places have closed, but they almost all were replaced by something else fairly quickly. An interesting point to note is that throughout the UK pubs are closing for good at an alarming rate. In Beeston none have closed, in fact they are thriving. The Commercial has been refurbished and now does excellent curries, the Crown has had a makeover, two micropubs (Pottle of Blues and Totally Tapped) have opened their doors, and a very welcome addition is cocktail bar The Berliner.

If there’s any on here you’ve never heard of before, pay them a visit.

Broadgate and the High Road in particular have some hidden gems which don’t benefit from as much passing trade.

JC

Beeston Listings Pubs/bars/ entertainment • The Victoria • The Greyhound • The Malt Shovel • The Commercial • The Queens • The Cricketers • The White Lion • The Crown • The Hop Pole • The Last Post • The Chequers • The Bar • Victory Club • Pottle of Blues • Totally Tapped • Mecca Bingo • Admiral Casino Slots Experience

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Food/drink • Hallams • Local Not Global Deli • L’Oliva • Out Of This World • Thorntons • Fresh Asia • Maharaba • Home Made Bakery • Greggs • Pick n Mix • Birds • Upper Crust Bakery • Meat 4U • Barnsdales Butchers • Johnny and Phil’s Healthy Bakery • Iceland

Restaurants/takeaways • The Frustrated Chef • Latinos • Flying Goose Cafe • Milano Pizza • Gills Fish and Chips • Tastie Bites • Oriental Inn • King Cod • Cottage Balti • Granary • Cafe Roya • Yiannis • Ghurkha Express • Sanchans • Sukho Thai • Nosh • The Food Bar • Amores • Chaman • Cafe 94 • Chickenlicious • Dinos • Milk Lounge • Magic Taste House • Tasty Corner • Lobster Pot • Humber Road Chippy • Table 8 • Edwards • Luckys • Hing Kee • Forno Pizza • Poppa Pizza • Pizza Palace • Pizza Zone • Papa Johns • Nimboo

House and home/ furniture • Blacklocks Carpets • Kings Carpets • Fireplace and Stove Shop • Linen Box • Cameron House • Bargain Carpets • Eddy’s Bargain Beds and Furniture • Iguazu • Furniture Discount Store • Classique Interiors • Heidi’s Home Furnishings • Beeston Beds • Betel

Lifestyle Kitchens & Bathrooms Bathtime Auntie Gwen’s Attic The Fabric Place / Curtain & Fabrics Hicklings DIY Applebees Memory Lane Floorcraft Handybloke (Shed)

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Clothing/footwear • Snuggles and Kisses • New Look • Peacocks • Bon Marche • Renaissance • Little Shoe Company

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Spices Shama Better Than Home Pizza Hut Korea House Rye KFC Subway Beeston Break Big Fish Hong Kong Takeaway Ko Sing Takeaway Shadab Balti

Coffee/Tea Shops • Bean • Time For Tea Vintage Tearoom • Costa • Rudyards • Greenhoods • Metro • Caffe Nero • The Coffee Shop Specialist retailers • The Guitar Spot • Ryman Stationers • Singer-Pfaff Sewing and Knitting • John Kirk Hi-Fi • The Flower Shop • Holland and Barrett • Artworks • Timpson • Yarn • Opus Frames • Electronic Cigarettes • Cheque and Buy Back Centre • Grainger Games • Money Shop • Cash Converters • Beeston Cobbler • Entertainment Exchange • Happy Daze • Refan Parfumerie • Tornari Sports • Pro-Teq Mobility • Chinese Medicine Centre • Parkgate Mobility • Max Spielman • Total Fitness • PH Ultra Sport • Cycle Inn (Sid Standard) • Chimera

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Knit Bits Smarty Paws Appliance Services Beeston Plumbing Supplies Rocky Riders Pot n Kettle Clock Emporium Bookland Charlie Fogg’s

Greetings/Gifts/ Jewellers • Andrew McCulloch • Ideas • Onyx Goldsmiths • Diane’s Cabin • Two Little Magpies • House of Ashley Peake • ROK Jewellery • Card Factory • Cardzone Hair and Beauty • Chess • Hairven • Levis • Mirror Mirror • Beauty by Vickie • Thredz • Trimmerz • Capelli • Intricut • Cutting Edge • Keiths • KH Hair • Eaton • Mint Hair Boutique • Brigitte Beauty Salon • Hair by Pam • Charleys Salon • Keith Benniston • PL Hair Design • Hair Company • Hairforce • Stephen Harrold • Square 17 • Broadgate Barbers • Michael Stark • Beaston On Ink • Capones • ID • Infinity Nails • Cutting It • ET Salon • Aurora Laser Clinic • Cast • Bronze

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Rachel Fletcher Hair Design Pastiche Five Star Nails Hair by Neil Peter Brady Hair Euphoria Beauty

Charity shops • Sue Ryder • iScouts • Cancer Research UK • Rainbows • Oxfam • Oxfam Books and Music • Salvation Army • British Heart Foundation • Treetops Hospice • Barnardos • PDSA Phone/Technology • Tele-box • Vodafone • Bubble IT • Carphone Warehouse • O2 • Mobiles Plus • Dr Mobile Large Chain retailers • Boots • WH Smiths/Post Office • Argos • Lidl • Tesco • Sainsburys Travel • Cooperative Travel • Skills Homewares • Poundmart • Poundland • B and M Bargains • Wilko • Home Bargains Sporting • Puregym • Dojo • Warrior Martial Arts • Team Elite Kickboxing

n o t s Bee One of our more far-flung fans, Keith Walker from New Zealand, sometime sends us his memories of the Beeston he remembers from many decades ago. We thought we’d print some of these, and see if any of our more senior readers have similar memories...

I

n the days when I was living in Beeston, there was a gated level crossing at the end of Station Road by the railway station, which was the only road access to the Rylands and Ericsson Telephones factory.

At the other end of Beeston Station was a footbridge from the end of Dovecote Lane leading to a footpath between Ericsson’s sports field just behind the station and the factory grounds, I think that is still there.

In those days, long before electronic banking was even thought of, it was the law that all wages and salaries had to be paid in cash and every week a car went from the factory to the bank to collect the cash for payday, the next day. With something like 6000 people working there, it was a very large amount of money, all in relatively small denomination notes and coins. There were plenty of different routes from the bank to the level crossing so the run was fairly secure.

However, at some stage a bridge was put over the railway near Boots factory and that provided an alternative route into that part of Beeston between the railway and the river. The car carrying the weekly wages for Ericsson’s had only one route from the crossing gates to the factory and one day sometime after the other route was opened, the wages car was intercepted about 100 metres or so from the factory gates. From memory, a Land Rover was used to stop the wages car, the wages were snatched and another car used for the getaway. It was a very bulky load which would have taken some time to move from one vehicle to another. I worked in the pay office

The Beestonian is...

Lead Writer/Founder • Lord Beestonia Co-Founder/Resident Don • Prof J Editor • Christian Design • Dan Business Manager • Mel History Editor • Joe Earp

and remember it took a large 4-wheel trolley to carry the cash from the car to the office where the wages were made up for payment.

The getaway car was eventually found behind Lord Trent’s bust at the midway point of University Boulevard. I don’t know whether the thieves were ever caught or whether anything was ever recovered.

I do know the bank had difficulties collecting enough cash together in a short time to replace the money that had been stolen.

When I visited Beeston in about 2001, I was surprised to find the level crossing gates had gone: there is now an overpass so traffic into the Rylands area isn’t delayed.

I have just finished watching, for the umpteenth time, the movie ‘Beestonia’. The old photograph of a WW1 bus running on a ‘balloon’ of coal gas reminded me that during WW2, Barton’s did exactly the same with at least one of their single decker buses. I was only a little lad at the time, about 9 or 10 years old.

During the war, Ericsson’s built several supposedly bomb-proof shelters in the factory grounds. They were used for file storage after the war. They were reinforced concrete, with walls about a metre thick, with a sloping ramp between the outer and inner walls and inside the inner wall, stairs leading up to the different floors. There was a third wall and inside that, the rooms where people could shelter. They have obviously gone by now but I wonder what exactly happened to them. They would have been difficult to demolish.

KW

Top-notch contributors this issue: Matt Turpin, Jade Moore, John Cooper, Jimmy Notts, Scott Bennett, Prof. J, Christopher Frost, Debra Urbacz, Tim Pollard,John Cooper, Colin Tucker, Joe Earp, Keith Walker, Christian Fox, Daisy Leverington and Deman Printed by Pixels & Graphics, Beeston

Stockists: Rye, The Hop Pole, The Crown, The White Lion, The Star, The Greyhound, Flying Goose, Mish Mash Gallery, The Malt Shovel, The Guitar Spot, Broadgate Laundrette, Bubba Tea, The Bean, Beeston Library, Cafe ROYA, Newsagent on Chilwell Road, Metro, Beeston Marina Bar and Cafe, Attenborough Nature Reserve, Pottle of Blues, Greenhood, Beeston Nursery, Oxfam Books, L’Oliva, Two Little Magpies, Local not Global.

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ey there, kids! No longer shall I be filling your heads with talk of food (although in over a year I never once wrote an actual sensible column on the subject), instead I shall be writing about my Adventures in Motherhood.

she would like to be a princess ballerina when she grows up. My feminist views are shunned in favour of sparkly dresses and handsome Princes, and good luck to her.

because they are expensive and post-natal depression kicked me into next week for her first 4 years. That’s a long time to feel rubbish, and I don’t plan to repeat the experience.

Motherhood hasn’t been the most natural journey to me. 10 years ago I thought I’d be married with 3 kids and a mortgage. But here

I used to presume it was just me who didn’t have it together, who found it hard to be around other parents for fear they would see through the charade of normality. 6 years later and I’m convinced we all know absolutely naff all about what we’re doing. We all make it up as we go along and none of us are any better at it then anyone else. And if anyone makes you feel that way then they aren’t the people who you need around you.

This column first appeared in Standard Issue Magazine, which recently turned into a podcast like a mythical beast springing from a glorious fanny. So, here I am, writing for you smashers instead.

Just a little heads up, there will be no advice. No judgement shall be passed on your strange and unusual parenting techniques. As long as the kid is safe, happy and fed, I play fast and loose with the Gina Ford generation of do-gooders. You can take your organic quinoa and take a long walk somewhere quiet while I throw potato smiles and frozen veg (purely for show) at my daughter while she asks me what’s for pudding.

My daughter is almost 6, and in year 1. For those of us who grew up in different times before Trump was president and people wanted an end to free healthcare, she’s in the first year of primary school. She’s about this tall *points at the wall* and has zero concept of personal space. Her favourite things are fairies, unicorns and the xBox, and

we are, my husband, daughter and I, living on not a lot of money with no plans for more kids

Being a parent isn’t the defining feature of ‘me’ any more. It used to be my entire baby-filled life. No job and a husband who worked away meant a very lonely start for my and my little girl. Now we’re surrounded by a huge industry of school and work and childcare and people, each element chipping away at the feeling that we are forever stranded together like 2 survivors with no instincts. We are less dependent and so more free to be ourselves.

There is life beyond kids, so this column is intended to explore the balances between being a parent and having the autonomy to claw back some semblance of normality. If I can do it, anyone can. Seriously, I’m rubbish.

DL

What are we most looking forward to in Beeston in the summer?

We took a selection of responses from FB page Beeston Updated ...

“No Christmas tree in the square....ooh hang on” Jayne D “That Broadgate Park won the most votes at Tesco’s and are able to further update the children’s play area” Judy S “Sitting outside The Crown, The Star or The Vic watching the fascinating people of Beeston with a cold pint of cider!”

Naomi A

No rain (if we’re lucky) Christopher F

“Taking the tram to an interview” Jon V

“Experiencing my first summer in Beeston and looking forward to seeing this new library everyone is talking about” Demelza B

“Beeston carnival” Laura R

“The Star beer garden, the Crown beer garden, the Hop Poles beer garden and maybe the White Lions beer garden... There is a theme here!!”

Terri O

“The reopening of the library” Natalie F “The opening of the Canalside Heritage Centre. It looks as if this will be a great asset to the Rylands and the local area - Barbara S The sun” Jackie E

Bow

W

Selecta

hat does Beeston mean to you? Is it your home or a place you’re visiting (and if you live here is it somewhere you’ve been for a few months, a year, decades or your entire life)? When you look at photos of ‘old’ Beeston from last century (maybe on one of the excellent Beeston Facebook pages) do you remember how it was, or is Beeston’s current incarnation your only experience – and how do you see, live in, use and enjoy Beeston these days?

Lots of questions, I know – but the reason I ask is I’ve recently become much more aware that ‘my’ Beeston isn’t the same as your Beeston – the places I frequent you may never visit and vice-versa. Places I think are great and make our town new, exciting and vibrant may be places you’d never dream of entering and there are plenty of local shops and venues I really should try for the first time.

I recently had an interesting and eyeopening conversation on one of those Beeston Facebook pages about the possibility of late-night noise pollution from a (very good) restaurant near my house which has applied for much extended licensing hours. Most replies thought I was concerned over nothing as it wouldn’t affect many people and the benefits would outweigh the potential disruption to the few locals who it did - and maybe they had a point, maybe the needs of the many do outweigh the needs of the few (to quote Mr Spock from ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’). But again, it got me thinking about what different people want from our town; for instance a good night out, an excellent and profitable business or a good night’s sleep uninterrupted by loud and protracted conversations right outside your house at closing time.

So, what makes your Beeston?

Over the past few months I’ve written a lot

about my wife Sal’s advanced and incurable breast cancer, which is weird, because I’d never have thought I’d write about it, let alone have it published. I certainly had no intention of writing an ‘Our Cancer Diary’-type column, partly because it just feels a bit wrong but mainly because it makes it a bit tricky to drop jokes into; Bad Cancer is hardly a laugh a minute subject for anyone.

But in the same way my view of Beeston changed when we had our daughter Scarlett and I suddenly discovered Beeston had a great medical centre, soft play areas and parks that I’d really not bothered about before I now know what great at home and on-call medical services Beeston has - and after Sal finally made it out of the house on her borrowed electric wheelchair what utterly dreadful pavements and roads we have, as well as what places are easy to get into and around, something yet again I’d not really thought about until I had to.

The biggest change for me though is where all of these things come together.

As I said, I never intended to write about our experience of Sal’s cancer. Hell, neither of us want it, we want a long and happy and pain-free life of course – but the other day I had a truly wonderful email from someone who’s relatively new to Beeston, someone we’ve never met but had initially read about Sal and me on the ‘Beeston Updated’ Facebook site and just wanted to send both of us best wishes and support.

We were genuinely touched, humbled and astounded as it was a truly lovely thought and gesture. We ended up talking about why their family had moved here (it turns out they love Beeston and couldn’t be happier to have moved) and I realised that for us the reason Beeston is such a great place to live isn’t just our friends and family (awesome as they are) or the facilities, shops, services or even late night restaurants – it’s the brilliant, wonderful and caring people we have here.

Beeston, you are awesome, thank you.

Tim Pollard Nottingham’s Official Robin Hood

The Yorkshireman Speaks This month it’s late night motorway adventures, the joys of skiving and the best things my daughter said to me this week.

Running on fumes As a stand-up comedian much of my time is spent behind the wheel of my trusty Sportswagon, thundering along the nation’s tarmac-topped arteries delivering a wide load of comedy gold to the good people of Britain.

It can be quite lonely and there is only so much Smooth radio and late night phone-ins about alopecia that can be tolerated before one is consumed by madness.

As a result I and another fellow comedian, Dan, have started using this dead time to have late night in car chats; we are like two truckers on CB radios, we even start the conversation with the words “breaker breaker!” It’s a great chance to talk about life before a gig and decompress after it. As any sort of social life has been sacrificed at the altar of stand-up comedy, this is the nearest we get to a chat down the pub. The only difference is that we are both behind a wheel, stone cold sober and going in opposite directions to the various comedy clubs strewn throughout this great island. Of course we have snacks, crisps between the knees or a cheeky packet of dry roasted, opened out into that underused alcove below the stereo.

Last night I performed at a function in a Bradford tennis club; smashing folk; everyone had a ball, well two actually in case they messed up the first serve. A special mention goes to the man on the front table who kept his back to me for the entire performance. It was like doing a gig to a taxi driver; I even gave him a tip at the end, which was to “face the front.” It was a steely determination to not participate that can only be admired. At one point I almost got him to rotate by ninety degrees. I wondered if he was a big owl and would just move his head round on the jokes he liked, but it was not to be. He reminded me of my father actually, mainly because he is often bitterly disappointed in me too.

After the gig I got the phone call from Dan, “Breaker Breaker!” We were so engrossed in our post gig forensic dissections that I failed to notice that I was running low on fuel and had just blundered onto the motorway without thinking. I knew I could be in trouble.

Dan proceeded to stick with me like a wingman; it was like a pilot being talked in for an emergency landing. “Stay at fifty six mate, just cruise,” he said. I was like the hero Sully Sullenberger who pulled off that famous emergency landing on the Hudson River.

The car fuel computer said thirty miles to go, services were twenty eight miles away: it’s going to be close. Then the computer blanked out, I was without instruments, I’d lost an engine, I was, in aviation terms, flying blind.

You can’t ring the RAC for running out of fuel

like this, I mean you probably can, but they’ll just come out, call you a bellend and charge you a hundred quid. It was unbearably tense for the next ten miles. I was now rubbing the dashboard of the car and offering words of encouragement; like that scene in cool hand Luke where they feed him the eggs. It was man and machine working as one. At this point Dan was on his driveway, but being a true professional and wonderful human he stayed with me. “I’m not leaving till I know you’ve made it!” Fourteen miles to go. I passed a turning for Leeds city centre, part of me wanted to turn off. “You’ll not find an Asda,” said Dan, “stick with the motorway.” I now had just 4 miles to go. “Does the car feel light?” Dan said, “Yes,” I said, “think she’s fading.” One mile to go. This was agony, but at this point I knew I could at least attempt a manful power walk from here should I need to. The turning then appeared, Salvation!

The markers for the slip road, “three lines, two lines, one line” we counted them down together, like a New Year’s Eve countdown coming live from Big Ben, I’d made it!

It was at that point I looked down from the fuel gauge, where i had fixed my stare for the last twenty five agonising minutes.

“Ah shit Dan, I’ve had the air-con on too mate.”

It was at the point my wing-man lost sympathy and hung up.

I skive to feel alive The job of a parent is a thankless and relentless one. We live for those stolen moments, the respite of finally having some brief time to yourself. It can be like a little holiday: often

you’ll just start to relax and enjoy it and then suddenly it’s over. So here is the confession, I, Scott Bennett, am a serial skiver. A shirker of responsibilities, a conniving, devious excuse for a man who will take any opportunity he can to kill time and bask in the solitude of his own company. This behaviour is addictive.

Sometimes I will tell my wife I am going to put the bin out and just hang around behind the shed for forty five minutes. Sitting there next to the water butt just staring at wood paneling, it’s glorious. Whenever I feel low I think back to that special time and smile.

On many occasions I’ve often hidden in the house itself, pretending to count the saucepans in the pantry. I can hear my wife on the baby monitor, desperately struggling with the two children upstairs and I think, “I’m going to have one more brew, then I’ll deal with that.” Shameful! On more than one occasion my wife has come to find me, red-faced with a baby under her arm. She asks what I have been doing: “I’ve been shouting for your help!” “Work,” is my reply.

The reality is I was looking on Youtube at interviews with the surviving cast members of the 90’s sitcom ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’: appalling behaviour.

My wife and I are as bad as each other. Only last week we found we had run out of nappies.

As soon as it was announced it was carnage in that hallway; a race was on to see who could neglect their parental responsibilities the quickest. I’m trying to trip her up, she’s pulling at my sleeves, it looked like a fight in a prison yard; the children looked on in disgust. I lurch for my car keys, my wife grabs my wallet out of my back pocket, “You’ll get nowhere without this pal!” I shouted back, “You can keep it, I’ll steal them!” I race down the driveway still wearing my slippers and open the car. As I get in I can just make out her voice behind me, “don’t you dare be too long.” I drive away as fast as I can, which on that day was nine miles per hour. I put on some Enya, turn on the heated seats and congratulate myself on my victory.

I’m not saying I took a long time, but when I came back with those nappies, my daughter had grown out of them.

Things my six year old said to me this week Upon asking how her day was at school: “I think I accidentally ate some soap.”

When passing a discarded item of clothing on the pavement as we walked into town: “Look daddy, a dead sock.”

Find The Scott Bennett Podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes SB

BEESTUMPED ONLY FOR THE MENTALLY TORTURED...

1. This small French town has an award-winning board game named after it.

2. S hakespeare allegedly invented the name Miranda just for this play.

3. T his planet has a mass of two and a half times the rest of the planets in our solar system combined.

4. T he original six Monopoly pieces were the top hat, thimble, iron, boot, battleship and…

5. T his boxer was immortalised in a song by Bob Dylan.

6. T his legendary ghost is said to appear in a mirror when you say her name three times.

7. T

his chemical element was named after a famous astronomer.

Sunday Morning on St Peters Gate

Original Pen & Ink by Dan Cullen Full colour giclée prints available from Mish Mash gallery.

8. D esi Arnaz was o on-screen and real-life husband of this actor/ comedian.

9. T his state has been the setting for nearly all of Stephen King’s novels.

10. Allegedly psychic until his death in 2010, Paul was the world’s most famous…

ANSWERS: Carcassonne/Miranda/Jupiter/Cannon/Rubin Carter/Bloody Mary/Copernicium/Lucille Ball/Maine/Octopus

CODEWORD

Original Pen & Ink by Christian Tobias

Clive James: secret lyricist!

A

ussie broadcaster Clive James is highly respected for a body of work that spans quirky ‘chat shows’, travel documentaries, TV criticism, opinion pieces, volumes of autobiography, social and cultural commentary and critically-acclaimed poetry.

Oddly, he is least well-known for something he has been doing for fifty years: writing songs, or, more precisely, writing the lyrics for songs that, since they met at university in 1967, have been set to music

by Pete Atkin. Between them they have produced a dozen albums of songs in two ‘waves’: firstly, in the late-sixties and seventies and then, following a revival of interest, in the latenineties and noughties.

Their last album - and, due to Clive’s failing health, it will literally be the ‘last’ - was ‘The Colours of the Night’ in 2015. The songs deal with a range of subjects and the music is equally diverse and hard to categorise: in turn, melodic, bluesy, jazzy, ‘tin-pan-alley’, delicate, brash.

Of the song-writing process, Pete says: “Clive and I have a shared fascination with the mysterious way in which words and music can work together: how music and words together can add up to something different from what each amounts to on its own.” It’s tempting to see these songs as poems set to music but Clive is adamant that there is a

OXJAM 2017 , we re on our way!

T

his year’s ‘Oxjam Beeston Takeover’ will be on Saturday 14th October - please put that on your calendar! A strong team of volunteers is in the early stages of planning that big money-raising event in aid of OXFAM - meanwhile, our first event is ‘Oxjam Unplugged’ at the Middle Street Resource Centre on Saturday 1 July. Last year was the first time we’d staged this and it was so successful we thought we’d do it again!

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distinction between lyrics and poetry: “A lyric is looking for its music,” says Clive,” while a poem has already found it.”

Pete Atkin is appearing at Beeston’s own ‘Second Time Around Folk Club’ in the room above The White Lion on Friday 30th June for what will be an intimate and exclusive gig. This event is sold out - email colintucker18@gmail.com for cancellations.

CT

Pete Atkin and Clive James © bbc.co.uk

Back after making a big impact last year is the stupendous folk-punk phenomenon, Paul Carbuncle, playing trad folk like you’ve never heard it - original songs too.

We’ll also get to hear the band ‘Foreign Accent’, playing Hungarian semi-acoustic folk rock (they’re great!) with support from Steve and Penny Benford (beautiful Celtic tunes on flute, guitar and banjo), young local singer-songwriter, Lucia Holmes and singer and host, Colin Tucker.

Tickets are £6 and you can get them from the Resource Centre itself, Oxfam Books and Music, Beeston or online from wegottickets (+60p booking fee). There will be a Licensed Bar and food will available. The Centre is just a six-minute walk from Tesco’s/The White Lion - if you’re coming from further afield, trams and buses stop outside and there is some limited car parking on site.

BANDS/SINGERS/MUSICIANS - if you want to play this year’s ‘Takeover’, check our website www.oxjambeeston.org as registration will be opening soon..

CT

Gossip from the

HIVEMIND Welcome back to the Hive, where our scurrilous bees have been buzzing around excitedly since the election was called.

Yeah, an election got called, didn’t you hear? By the time you read this, it very well might be over and we could have a new MP, but what about the incumbent?

Charnwood. You know, that posh bit of Leicestershire MILES from Broxtowe. Was Anna being less than honest about her living arrangement? If so, it would probably explain why she is so keen to see fracking in Broxtowe: she’ll be happily miles away, in the unfracked, unpolluted Leicestershire countryside.

++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ Yes, the lovely Anna Soubry, who stood for Broxtowe after failing to get elected in Gedling, and Ken Clarke stubbornly refusing to retire and give her Rushcliffe, meant that Beeston’s borough had to do. And lo, she said unto her electorate, sometime in 2009, “If I win, I shall descend upon Broxtowe, and make it my home, and live among my people, oh yes I will”. And the electorate duly voted for her. ++++++++++++ Yet she remained happily housed in her big Mapperley mansion, for many years. Until lo, an election was again called, and she quickly took residence in a flat in Bramcote, and no longer just pretended to be a fellow constituent. ++++++++++++ And then a snap election was called, and she had to give her address on the appropriate forms. And that address was…

A slow handclap to Broxtowe Borough Council, and some sheer idiocy on their part. After a community wildlife reserve was set up by neighbourhood horticulture heroes WeDig NG9, on the verges where Barrydale and Wilmot meet, with full permission of said council, things looked bright. Trees were planted, a little path created, grass left to grow and create a meadow effect. A ‘bug squat’ (a series of stacked pallets and plants designed to attract insects for hedgehogs to munch on as well as helping out beleaguered bees and butterflies) was installed with great effort, totally voluntarily.

Just two days later, with crushing inevitability, the council came along and mowed it all up, snapping down the trees in the process.

Why? And why is this anything different from the nasty gits who snapped the young trees in Dovecote Park earlier this year? Well, for one, the Dovecote Lane vandals didn’t need your council tax to fund their destruction.

Sort it out, Broxtowe.

nothing beats a nice

QUIET pint after a gig!

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YEah it really

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