Beestonian 54 by The Beestonian

The

Beestonian Grab a book - it’s National Poetry Day!

Issue no.

Beeston’s Own Poem S ince launching Buzzword: A Poem for Beeston at the start of August, the past month has been filled with Beestonians and others sending their poems in. All of these were collected, numbered, put into four groups and then presented anonymously to our eagerly awaiting judges who had the unenviable task of choosing a winner. They produced a shortlist of 12 poems, a selection of which is published in this issue, with others to be published in future issues.

We were delighted and impressed by the entries we received and the quality of poetry entering the Buzzword inbox. There are some truly heartfelt and altogether brilliant poems which go a long way in expressing our community spirit and why this town is a great place to live, work, grow up and make memories. We have two winners, one from each category. Our under 16s winner is Ava Waring, 12, for her poem ‘What do you see?’ which you can read on our back page. Our over 16s winner is Cathy Grindrod with her poem ‘The Beekeeper’. Well done to both winners, you’ve done Beeston proud. JM

The Beekeeper pays much attention, receives little, despite his years of witness to the bright parade babies, boffins, students, shoppe rs, meeters, makers, workers, wal kers – the whole brilliant buzz of you . He has learned the Art of the Cho colatier, knows intimately the Land of Boo ks, the stories the clicks of your bicy cle wheels relate, the shush of sheltering leaves above your fragile heads. All hours, all weathers, he wat ches over you, glad from time to time of your sweetest gifts – red pom-poms for his heavy boo ts, a blue balloon to dangle from his resting hand, a traffic cone to warm his cold stone head keeps safe, perched on his kne e, someone’s drunken midnight dau ghter, welcomes the small boy who star es into his inscrutable eyes to find his one and only need – for you to stop, just once, let go your busy work and sett le here beside him. Sit. Be still. Be ston e. Cathy Grindrod

Is it a

? n g i s

’ve long suspected that Beeston is a special place, different in a good way. On the surface seems kind of average and ‘normal’, whatever that is. Yet most of us know that it is a great place to live, diverse and interesting, with all sorts going on that you don’t have to look hard for.

Which leads me on to something which at face value, the vast majority of people will never have noticed – the railway station signs on Station Road opposite the Rockaway Hotel. At first glance they just appear ordinary. Yet to someone like me, who as a child used to spend hours drawing trains in detail, what jumps out is that the logo itself is back to front. The top line runs right to left, rather than the opposite.

I’m not someone who travels widely to inspect railway station signage, but having previously worked in a job that took me to every corner of the country, a non-standard railway station logo is something I’ve never seen before. It’s the kind of thing that would get picked up on by clipboard-ticking local

authority highways inspectors, who would swiftly get the red pen out to mark this particular item of street furniture as not compliant. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, and the signage was simply applied by a carefree and unsupervised YTS lad. Which was then signed off by a previously scrupulous council bod on his last day before retirement, in a fit of anarchic glee. Or it could simply be the work of aliens, pointing the way for UFOs to land on the empty car park opposite where the Plessey club used to stand. I’ll leave you to make your own minds up. The signs are looking well past their best now, grimy and worn, and will no doubt be replaced at some point in the future. Chances are they will be brought into standard line, along with everywhere else in the country. I like to think that someone, somewhere, would ensure that the new ones are back to front too, continuing the mystery, indicating that Beeston is... something. JC

I have often wondered if there are hidden and not-so-hidden ways of indicating this, perhaps instigated by philanthropic souls wanting to attract like-minded people to settle in the area. Visible yet innocent markers, in the same vein as architectural features you would find on houses owned by those sympathetic to the Catholic cause during their persecution, which contain priest holes and suchlike.

University of Beestonia S eptember. Blimey it’s come round quick again.

The new academic year will just about be on us by the time we go to print and as I write there’s a clear shift in gear around the university as staff begin to fill their diaries with teaching commitments for the coming year. The summer as ever has flown by and as we look towards the new term we can also reflect on goals for the summer fulfilled, or not. It’s a cliché in academia for a reason, back in June the summer vacation always seems like a wonderful clear sunny space for pushing back global research agendas, only for September to arrive and well… it was sunny for at least one or two days…

All our time is becoming more squeezed and in our industry this is no different, there’s been some interesting media talk over the summer about 2 year degrees, and market forces not working, or at least not how government envisaged they would work, which maybe isn’t exactly the same thing. Maybe, or hopefully, just silly season talk.

Either way new students will roll into our universities, and into Beeston, over the next few weeks. University is a great opportunity for them and I encourage all students reading this to embrace the opportunities the experience will give you, in terms of training both formal and informal. Enjoy and respect our wonderful town of Beeston and please make the most of our fantastic places to eat, drink and shop.

New academic years also see changes in personnel in many universities, and east of Broadgate the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham Professor Sir David Greenaway will retire at the end of September after serving the University for 30 years, with 20 of those as a member of its Executive Board. That’s quite a stint and we at the Beestonian wish Sir David all the best for his retirement. We also welcome Professor Shearer West who will be the University’s new Vice-Chancellor. A new year, old and new challenges, the odd glimpse of sunshine… bring it on! Prof J

A Parliament

Of pride O

ne day, you might be out and about in Beeston’s pubs or cafes, and you might spot someone doing crochet. That someone is likely to be Frea Waninge, 30, who enjoys making little crochet owls with a difference…

I met Frea over tea and coffee, and it wasn’t long before she’d produced a bunch of multicoloured crochet owls from her bag, and placed them on the table. This caught the attention of one of the baristas, who immediately said how cute they are. However, these are not just any owls, they are pride owls. Frea uses a pattern that she found online by fellow crochet-lover Josephine Wu (a.k.a A Morning Cup of Jo Creations) but has adapted the colours of yarn she uses.

Frea bases her owls on the colours used for various pride flags which represent a range of different identities and sexualities. She has been doing crochet long before she began making the owls; she would make scarves, hats, and even phone covers for herself. One of her scarves was made using the colours representative of asexuality, as Frea identifies as ace. Once she discovered the owl pattern, she decided to use the yarn she had left from her ace scarf, and made an asexu-owl. “I showed it to someone and they said ‘if you were to do more of them and sell them, I’d be happy to buy them’ so I started buying yarn and making lots of testers, and eventually put a couple of designs on Etsy,” she tells me. Since then the owl family has grown to include a number of sexualities and identities including: bisexuowl, asexuowl, pansexuowl, arowlmantic (aromantic), polyamorous (polyamorowl?), agender owl, transgender owl, nonbinary owl, genderqueer owl, rainbowl, demisexuowl, graysexuowl. One of Frea’s main reasons behind creating these owls is because she knows how amazing it feels when you find something that represents you. “It’s like a code,” she says. “that’s why I was looking to include more obscure ones that people may not have heard of. The demi (demisexual) one is new and it’s not often included in stuff so to find something that represents them is really cool.” Soon, she will be adding a gender fluid owl and a lesbian owl, and she often gets requests from people to do owls for identities she hasn’t heard of. “There’s so many that I don’t know about,” she

£4.50 per owl, and all the money from sales goes back into making more owls and buying yarn which she gets from the Beeston shop Yarn on Chilwell High Road. “Yarn is a lovely business and she’s really helpful and is always happy to order stuff in for me,” says Frea.

reveals. “Someone contacted me asking if I do Feminamoric ones. If you say ‘I’m lesbian’ that only really works if you identify as a woman, if you’re non-binary and you love women, there’s not really a good term for it so they invented Feminamoric,” she explains. “That kind of language can be really helpful.” She adds, “When people ask for another one I’ll try and accommodate that.” But she admits that she was faced with a dilemma when someone asked her to make a straight pride owl. “I said to them, well that would be taking the time that I could put into minority orientations…so no.”

Frea works in admissions at the University of Nottingham and has recently completed a PhD in Linguistics at the uni, where she is also a member of the Gilbert & Sullivan society. She moved to the UK in 2011 from the Netherlands, and lived in Beeston for 5 years before moving to Dunkirk where she has been for a year. But it was Beeston’s friendly community that sparked Frea’s love for crochet up again, as she had originally learnt it from her mum as a child. “I joined a church choir to meet people, because I knew nobody when I moved here, it was very awkward. So I joined the church choir here in Beeston St Johns, and people from there did Monday night knitting. Angie, one of the ladies from the church, helped me to learn to crochet and do a scarf. She gave me the needles and taught me how to do it, because I’d completely lost how it works.” She started making the owls in April of this year, and sells them on Etsy at

Each owl used to take her about an hour to make, but she’s since got the timing down to half an hour to 45 minutes, and she does them in batches because it’s a lot faster. “It puts me at about £6 an hour if I was doing it all the time,” she says. “It’s not very expensive, and I know it’s good stuff, and I know I can always get it.” In future, she wants to start making other animals to help fly the pride flag. “I really wanna do an Octopride! You can do the legs with different colours. I wanna do unicorns with different coloured hair that comes out, and bi-icorns and pan-icorns.” I ask her if she’s ever considered having a stall at Nottinghamshire Pride, “I was considering doing it this year but obviously I’d need to make lots of them and that was just at a time when it was really busy because it’s pride time,” she says. “The plan this year is to make a load, regardless of how many of them sell or not, because it’s fun. And whatever is left at the end of the year I’ll bring to pride.” She points out that crochet isn’t something she wants to make a career out of, it’s just for fun and is her way of helping to raise awareness and give people something cute to identify with. Our interview comes to a close with Frea saying “That one’s for you!” and handing me a bisexuowl, which I happily accept. Frea’s owls are available at: www.etsy.com/ uk/shop/prideandpunk JM

Buzzword

poetr y:

From a sm all village it grew, Into a bust ling town w ith a zoo. Friendly fo lk, With many a joke, Come for a pint, a coff ee or a bre w. Julie McG uire

The Yorkshireman Speaks

This month our Yorkshireman takes aim at our rampant phone use...

Not engaged As I write this article I am sat on a sun lounger in a Turkish holiday resort, where I am performing comedy to holiday makers (I know, it’s a nightmare isn’t it) and I’m doing one of my favourite things, people watching (being nosey). During my stay, I have been alarmed by the amount of people who won’t leave their screens alone. Bronzed faces fixated on tablets and phones, only breaking their trance every so often to lift up the redhot device to prevent third degree burns to their genitals. This week I’ve seen a real contrast in behaviour at meal times between the families of the locals and the brits abroad. In the case of the locals the air was alive with chatter and excitement. Some of the British families had the same routines every night, children were sat down, babies plonked in a high chair, the food was put in front of them followed by an iPad placed so closely that their nose was almost brushing against the screen, some of them even had to lift the fork over the edge just to get the food into their mouths. Meals were eaten mainly in silence, before finally mum and dad joined in with their own phones. The phone is now our priority, it’s an appendage, look how we can’t separate it from our lives anymore. Go to a live concert, people are on the phones, overtake a car on the M6, he’s on his phone, go out for a drink with a friend you haven’t seen in years and the phones sit there on the table, always in the eye-line, always tempting you, “go on, you haven’t touched me in a few minutes, I might have something you want”. It’s like being in a relationship with a rampant nymphomaniac who won’t leave you alone. I know it sound like I’m being deliberately over the top here, but I really think we will look back in years to come and recognise that the invention of the smart phone was the death knell for many things we used to take

for granted. The art of conversation, creative thinking, day dreaming, the ability to relax and more crucially our ability to feel. Social media is intertwined with your life, your family, and it always demands your attention. All these applications, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are fuelled by likes, validation of your content, it taps into our love of being praised. Look at the terminology used: “followers”, “favourites” etc. It’s a desire for approval that started ever since your mother put that first picture on the fridge. I suppose one of the main differences is that you never feel the urge to use a smartphone in the toilet. My dad always took a newspaper into the loo, it was useful as it was a barometer for how long he would be in there for. If he took in just the motoring section then you could hang about on the landing, but if he disappeared with the Sunday papers you’d have to hold it until school on Monday. Recently my eldest daughter uploaded her very first YouTube video. She’s obsessed with the game Minecraft and regularly will

watch videos of other gamers playing and giving a running commentary. I don’t get it, as far as I can see it was like when you used to go around to your mate’s house to play his new video game and he wouldn’t give you the controller. As soon as the video went live she was beaming with pride, which was swiftly followed by a feeling of continual anxiety as she refreshed the page to see how many “likes” she was getting. This generation is utterly defined by how others think of them, the “like” has become the currency of validation, it’s the monster that started with the selfie and it will only end in tears. We are a world of voyeurs now; the next generation’s emotions are all boiled down to a basic simplification. “Like”, “angry”, “funny” all represented by an emoticon. It’s only a matter of time before it creeps into a wedding speech, “I knew she was the one for me when she was the first to like my status” or even worse a funeral, “we will really miss you Nanna, *sad face* *tear emoticon* #nannagone #noflowersplease” It’s no wonder we are so de-sensitized. One minute its some photos from a wedding, the next a corpse from a recent terrorist attack all finished off with an album of Kevin’s brand-new summerhouse. We are all constantly scrolling through that endless slew of information and not giving a second thought to how it affects us. I know it can’t be stopped, it’s too late now. The smart phone is like the Terminator, “It can’t be bargained with, it can’t be reasoned with and it won’t stop, even when you are dead” Maybe we will wake up from this. Perhaps one day in the near future when the first baby is born with a screen for a face we might have a word with our selves. Either that or just take its picture and hope it goes viral. Find The Scott Bennett Podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes SB

Interview with Graham Caveney

raham Caveney is an author who, up until now, has written books about other people. He wrote the biographies of two great writers, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. But having put time, effort and research into the lives of others, he finally got round to writing his memoir…

The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness is a memoir like no other, and is a true testament to not only Graham’s adolescence, but his ability to turn his life around and produce something to be proud of. The book explores Graham’s early life growing up in a catholic household in Accrington during the early eighties. The book is packed full of endearment for the working class society he lived in, his trips to Blackpool, and his parents. The events of his early years are described with a steady balance of nostalgia and wit. Yet, casting a shadow over his memories of growing up is the abuse he suffered from his head teacher and priest, who, with an affinity for culture, theatre and literature, at first seems like a friendly, literal father figure in the book. Graham has done well to present ‘Rev Kev’, as he is called, in a way that lets readers make their own mind up about him, rather than lacing his words with resentment or retrospective suffering. Graham takes us back to that time, and puts us exactly where a young, teenage boy stood. The memoir almost doubles as an exploration in the memory process. There are a few layers to it, although it remains uncomplicated and surprisingly easy (and addictive) to read. Graham’s memory works more like a film, but he acknowledges that his past relationship with drug and alcohol abuse affects this, as he writes: “You cannot live the life of a drug addict and/or alcoholic and still expect to trust your memory.” This is where the chapter titles come in. Each chapter starts simply with ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Next’…which, he tells me, wasn’t the original intention for the book. “It was a way for me to remember where the chapters were, and when I finished it I thought ‘I’m gonna keep that’”. He adds: “I was trying

to get the weird way memory works. There’s no linear cause and effect ‘abc’ structure, they have a life of their own, they’re all over the place and that temporal shift is what I wanted to get at.” It’s clear that Graham is a book-lover, both from meeting him in person and reading his book. On the day of the interview, Graham had been reading Ongoingness: The End of a Diary by Sarah Manguso. This is a fitting choice for the man himself, as another feature of his book is that every chapter begins with a quote, whether from a book, song, or film, each quote holds meaning for Graham. “They’re all quotes I wrote in my journal,” he reveals. “I used to keep a journal, and still do.” At this point he points out that after writing his memoir, he burnt the journals from his teenage years. His reason? “I’d got what I needed to get out of them, it was time for them to go.” Graham moved to Nottingham in 1999 to begin teaching American Literature at the University of Nottingham, but soon after his mum died, and drink took over. Living in Beeston during his time with alcoholism, his life used to consist of journeys to and from Sainsbury’s. He describes himself at the time as having “a deathwish, but with cowardice about doing it” and that it was self-harm on a scale he will never return to. He acknowledges the kindness of local ‘Dutch friends’ who came to his rescue, “They were kind to me and helped me out in ways I will never be able to repay.” During this period, he still read books, particularly those by Anita Brookner. He read poets, listened to music, but he’d stopped writing altogether. In 2009, he finally went into rehab, and the next few years were taken up with having therapy and attending AA meetings which he did for two years. Sobriety came in early 2010, at which point he was unemployed, which fed into the reasons for him writing the book. He also volunteered for a short time at Oxfam Books and Music in Beeston, a place which allowed him to “learn what it’s like to be in the world again, at an age when you are too old to learn.”

But it was while he was working at Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham (the first place to give him a job) that he began writing his memoir. Previously, he’s written three books: Shopping in Space: Essays on American ‘Blank Generation’ Fiction (with Elizabeth Young); The “Priest”, They Called Him: The Life and Legacy of William S. Burroughs and Screaming with Joy: The Life of Allen Ginsberg. It was being surrounded by books, objects which he is ‘in awe of’ that provided him with the boost he needed to begin writing again. Originally, The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness was going to be a semi-autobiographical novel called ‘MetaMetamorphosis’ taking the opening lines of Kafka’s Metamorphosis for inspiration. However, this idea was scrapped, and he began putting together scraps of memories which would form the early process for his completed memoir. He then shared these scraps with close friends, “a way of introducing them to a bit of me”, and it was Julie Hesmondhalgh, known for her role as Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street, who read some of these scraps and offered encouragement, which was greeted by him with reluctance. She sent some of these to Jonathan Coe, who Graham says he has “never been out of touch” with and this was the springboard for him getting the memoir published by Picador. “All my heroes were published by Picador,” he says. “They were my dream publisher.” The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness is out now. JM

poodledoodle

ince the relaunch of the ‘IamBeeston’ project a few months ago, I have now met over a hundred different people from all walks of life. All with different tales to tell about Beeston and what they think of our favourite little town.

Disaster struck in the early 1990’s, when fire nearly burnt down the building. “The fire didn’t stop me. I just got as much of my kit together as I could and moved to the shop at the front of the building, which is currently Square 17 hairdressers, and I was open for business a few days later.”

Besides asking people in the street, I am sometimes contacted directly through Facebook, by people who want to nominate individuals as subjects. One such person was Joanne Plumbley, who suggested that the owner of Poodletrim would be a great candidate for the project.

Louie hasn’t needed to advertise her business at all for over twenty five years, as she purely relies on repeat business from long standing customers and word of mouth. She currently employs two assistants, two Saturday girls and often takes people on for work experience, or students who are studying animal care.

So I popped down to meet Louie Harrison at the place where dogs go for a haircut, to find out more about her and what she thinks of Beeston. As the conversation went on, I realised that there was an interesting story being told here. One that needed to be developed into a feature for the magazine. “I was born in Butterworth, a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, some 69 years ago. My mum was a white South African, whilst my dad was in the British Army. “We moved to Chilwell Village when I was three months old. But when I turned five or six, my mum returned to South Africa, leaving my dad Ken, who had been demobbed, and was working at Ericssons and me behind in Chilwell.”

Louie still works full time, and also helps to raise money for different charities. For her sixtieth birthday, Louie managed to close the road, which she lives on, set up a marquee, and threw a big birthday bash. I asked her what she has planned for her seventieth, which is coming up later this year. “I’m not sure yet. I’d really like to go on the Orient Express.” CDF

The 1950s weren’t such liberal times as they are today, and single fathers hadn’t been invented, so her grandparents, who also lived in the area, brought her up. “When I was twelve years old, I started working as a Saturday girl at Poodletrim. It opened in 1958 by Elaine Drewery, in the same Victorian cottage, that was used as a shop that previously stored and sold paint.” The surname Drewery might trigger something in the minds of fans of 1980s pop music, as on the 21st of September 1959, Elaine gave birth to a daughter called Corinne, who later became the lead singer in the band Swing Out Sister; whose most well known song is ‘Breakout’ from 1986, and which made number 4 in the UK charts. Incidentally, the promo video features the band messing about with textiles. This is a bit of an in-joke, as Corinne studied fashion design at St Martin’s College. At age seventeen, Louie became the manager of Poodletrim, which is now certainly the oldest dog grooming place in Beeston, if not the East Midlands. Elaine Drewery and her family moved to Lincolnshire when Corinne was growing up. Elaine currently runs the hedgehog charity ‘Authorpe Hedgehog Care’. As the 1960s moved on, Louie got to know some famous locals like Paul Smith and Richard Beckinsale. In fact Sir Paul Smith used to use Louie’s Afghan hound in his advertising, when he first set up the fashion label in 1970. Poodles have always been Louie’s favourite dog, and has had four in her life. Big Blues and Dark Greys. She remembers the fashion when people used to dye their poodle’s coat different colours. Sealyham terriers are a breed that was once popular. So too were fox terriers. Louie’s knowledge of dog breeds is extensive, which isn’t surprising, after dealing with them for nearly sixty years.

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n o t s e e B T

n o i t Sta

oday Beeston Station is as busy as it was when it first opened in 1839. The station is still an important route into Beeston and the surrounding area for many local residents and visitors. The station is a Grade II listed railway station on the Midland Main Line and is managed by East Midlands Trains. Being located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south-west of Nottingham the station is also on an easy route to London only being 123 miles 22 chains (198.4 km) from the capital.

The station was built in 1839 for the Midland Counties Railway. Services began on 4 June 1839. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway joined with the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway. The original station was nothing more than a cottage and the growing population of Beeston needed a bigger station. In 1847 the original station was replaced with the substantially larger white brick building with ashlar trimmings which still exists. This is notable for its carved bargeboards, some remaining diagonal paned windows and the pseudo-heraldic shields with ‘MR’ and ‘1847’. The growth of Beeston’s population in the Victorian and Edwardian periods led to substantial expansion of the station facilities. An extension containing a large booking hall, ladies’ waiting room and parcels office was added to the rear of the station building, doubling its floorspace. After the Second World War the level crossing, lattice footbridge and signal box survived until 1969 when Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council built a road bridge (“Station Bridge”) across the railway. This was to ease traffic delays caused by the frequent closure of the level crossing. This effectively replaced the footbridge between the two platforms. During the 1980’s with the decline of passengers using the station led to great neglect which resulted in vandalism and crime. In fact the station’s overall condition got that bad British Rail at the time proposed to completely demolish the station. However the station was saved after a local campaign was set up by the local civic society and local railway enthusiasts. Their subsequent campaign led to the station being listed in 1987. This was followed by restoration of what remained of the 1847 building and the platform shelters. The original platform masonry survived until 2004 when the platforms were completely rebuilt. In recent years Beeston Station has seen a boost in passengers using the station and it continues to be used by local residents and visitors. CDF

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CREATIVE BEESTON The Business of Creating a Creative Business

hat tongue twister is almost as tricky as that wellknown dilemma that exists in the artistic world, that creative types are pretty poor when it comes to selfpromotion. In fact many creatives would probably agree that they would rather hide themselves in their workshops than go out and promote their own work, because let’s face it that’s where they are generally happiest. I am not suggesting that anyone who is creative is rubbish at business but if you ask any artist or maker I am sure most of them would say that promoting themselves is the bit they dread. I guess this explains why traditionally artists enlisted the service of agents to sell their work for them. For emerging creatives this has been more recently solved partially by the resurgence of craft fairs and handmade gift shops, which give them the chance to test the market for themselves. At Creative Beeston we like to provoke imagination and wonder in our little town and apart from writing a column for the Beestonian, running a facebook page and organising community craft events, we are also keen to work productively with local businesses to promote them. So it was with great interest that I met with an interesting lady, over a quality cup of tea in Rudyard’s, who is determined to make it her mission to break down these barriers. In her job as a telephone sales trainer, Trish Clay has been meeting a lot of creative bods who are desperate to get an artistic business off the ground but have no idea where to start. Inspired by their talent and their passion, she is fiercely keen to use her altruistic side to help these people fulfil some of their aspirations. With her business brain and wealth of contacts Trish is in a great position to be able to signpost these people in the right direction but this desire runs deeper than a simple interest in helping a bunch of artists get their work sold. “There’s no colour in the business world”, she explained. This phrase rang in my attentive ears. There does appear to be a lack of appreciation for the value of genuine creativity in the business world, and yet there can be so many benefits to the overlap. I think about the art work I have seen in offices, sometimes clinically chosen to reflect the business and less often selected for its sheer magnificence. We have some fine examples of individually inspired interiors amongst some of our local independents. From Froth to Greenhood’s to Flying Goose Café and the Vintage Tearooms, no hot beverage experience will feel the same. This is down to a clever mix of intuitive décor and a certain ambience that the business owners have fashioned from their own creative minds.

Middle Street Resource Centre is more of a community centre than a creative business but Lynda Lally facilitated the inclusion of artwork in their café space because she believes it promotes the wellbeing of their visitors. Trish mentions her father’s own struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and how a form of art therapy had almost certainly helped him to recover. I recall an article in the Independent recently about cancer Doctors who are using art therapy to cope with the emotional stress as a consequence of their work. It goes significantly further than mere art appreciation for Trish. As a representative of The Beeston Network Group, she is desperate to try and encourage local businesses to open their minds up to creative crossovers and to encourage support for some of the more original ideas that are popping up all over Beeston. She expressed her frustration at the lack of publicity for some of these unique and often exciting events that have the potential to make our town stand out as a place that people would enjoy visiting. She is a fantastic advocate for our town. The Beeston Network Group hold a meeting at Rudyard’s Tea rooms every third Tuesday in the month where Trish has a slot to pitch to the attendees what Beeston can offer them in support of their businesses, her aim to encourage those in the community who can work together for mutual benefit to network. She has six-years’ experience working within Broxtowe Borough Council, steering initiatives that link businesses with community, and has been collaborating closely with Liam from Rudyard’s on ideas to mesh creativity with business together. Local artists’ work is displayed on the walls and Liam has joined forces with other creatives to produce gift packs for the tea shop. It’s a dynamic partnership and Liam was pulled into the conversation a handful of times to refer to future ideas and his brandnew venture set to emerge this Autumn. The Hive is a set of three units, in the centre of Beeston, which are currently being converted into flexible workspaces for creatives with favourable rents. It feels like everything’s connecting together, building on the artisan impression that was perhaps initiated by Arts United and then Chilwell’s Creative Corner. We have an abundance of workshop opportunities there and at Two Little Magpies to name a few, plus life drawing by the canal as featured in the last issue. And if that isn’t enough to bring you into Beeston town we have the Oxjam Takeover kicking off on October 14th! DU

CREATIVE BEESTON

Keep it local

e have a number of excellent local independent stores in Beeston and, as a community newspaper, we want to encourage their use. So, from time to time we’ll give you a little pen-portrait of a few of them, to remind you - or enlighten you. The first four are just a few metres from each other, in the ‘indie quarter’ on Chilwell Road: easily accessible by public transport or you can park in the pay-and-display areas (free for first hour) next to The Chequers or down by the Methodist church. Alternatively, turn down Imperial Road and look for spaces in the unrestricted areas. The Guitar Spot 106 Chilwell Road; open 10 am - 4 pm (except Sunday) Several of our local shops are ‘specialist’ - can you guess what this one specializes in?! Jimmy has a good range of electric and acoustic guitars and is the only Nottingham dealer for Gordon Smith guitars. He is always happy for people to pop in for a chat and to try out a few instruments without obligation. Jimmy also has accessories like strings and cables plus amplifiers and a reasonable choice of ukuleles. In addition, he gives guitar lessons and plays in a local band, so he knows what he’s talking about! He can arrange amp and instrument repair too. Search for ‘The Guitar Spot’ on Facebook for more information.

Beeston Bed Centre 57-59 Chilwell Road NG9 1EN - 0115 922 4633 We reckon you could just about furnish and carpet your house from local suppliers and not far from The Guitar Spot you can find a choice of things to sleep on at The Beeston Bed Centre! They have mattresses, bed frames and bedroom furniture all at discount prices. Their website is http://www.beestonbedcentre.co.uk/ where there is plenty of information, including a virtual tour; but obviously for something as personal as a bed you need to try, so why not pop in for a lie down?

Yarn 55 Chilwell Road NG9 1EN - 0115 925 3606; open Tuesday Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm, (late night Thursdays til 7pm) Specialist in all things to do with knitting: patterns, needles, buttons, accessories and, of course, the yarn & wool! They’ve been here more than ten years now and sell online from their excellent website - http:// www.yarn-in-notts.co.uk/ (check their online shop) as well as to personal callers. Check the website for details of classes and events - for example, you can learn to crochet with Yarn.

Local Not Global 51 Chilwell Road - 07967 224105; open 9 am - 5 pm, Wednesday Saturday Excellent little local deli-cum-cafe with, as the name suggests, lots of products sourced locally, such as honey, beer and sauces. You can find all sorts of bread and pastries and specialties in the way of biscuits, drinks, teas and coffees. Jo serves some of the best coffee, tea and snack-type meals e.g. breakfast and lunch or just afternoon tea/coffee and cake! You can either sit in or take-away. She also does outside catering. Well worth a look in for a nice gift or two! You can’t beat local for knowledgeable and personal service.

Beeston Road Club Continues

Britain’s Cycling Craze

ince Britain’s cycling success at the Olympics, this countries perception of the sport has changed to an extent that it is now seen as fashionable. Local cycling clubs across the country have benefited from this current and rising trend, including Beeston Road Club. The club was founded on Wollaton Park by a group of cyclists on VE day in 1945. Together they formed the Beeston Touring Club, which would then become Beeston Road Club. One of Beeston Road Club’s most popular groups are its junior group and I managed to go and watch one of their sessions at Harvey Hadden, and speak to the main coach in charge, Louise O’Reilly. “I’m the go ride lead who looks after the junior section of the club and I’m also one of the coaches along with Lisa Reddish and Adam Smith. We are all volunteers, I work in Lincoln for Active Lincolnshire, so my job is to try and get people more active, similarly to what I do here.” “Around four years ago, we applied to be a part of British Cycling’s go ride club, which meant that we had to have to have several things in place, such as a safeguarding officer and coaches.” “Lots of parents had kids nearby who wanted to join, so we started taking in children from ten upwards and now we’ve gone down to eight. We go up to sixteen, after which they become a ‘youth’ where they then get entered into the youth leagues.”

The group on a trip to Derby

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

“Coming down to Harvey Hadden in the summer is great, because it’s off road and we can work on lots of different race tactics, so some of them do little races, some do a breakaway and it just gets them used to riding in groups and practising things like cornering at speed whilst we can talk without there being traffic to worry about.” The group have also been on cycling trips outside of their regular cycling sessions. “We’ve cycled to Derby and back again staying in a youth hostel overnight, it was our first away trip. Some of the group also go on the velodrome along with other clubs every three or four weeks.” Beeston Road Club, has cyclists who are there with ambitions to become a professional cyclist, but also those who just want to have fun. “I really love cycling; my dad is really into it and we often cycle together but I see it as more of a hobby” said Joe aged 14. “I learnt to cycle when I was three, I still remember the park in London where I learnt how to ride a bike! I started riding about two years ago.” “Everyone has to have a way to exercise and cycling is my way. I also love the banter when I come here!” Caitlin aged 10, finished sixth last year out of eighty other cyclists in the U-12 Notts & Derby Cycle Cross League. “I’ve been cycling for six years and I’m hoping to become a professional cyclist one day and race in the Olympics” she said. To join Beeston Road Club, visit: www.britishcycling. org.uk/clubfinder and type in Beeston RC. IS

The group on a trip to YHA Ravenstor in June

Top-notch contributors this issue: Matt Turpin, Jade Moore, John Cooper, Jimmy Notts, Scott Bennett, David Henson, Christopher Frost, Debra Urbacz, Tim Pollard, Colin Tucker, Joe Earp, Christian Fox, Issac Seelochan, Lulu Davenport, Donna Bentley, 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.

Back to school with you.

hat’s that odd sensation, the feeling like something is missing, like you’ve left your phone at a mate’s house or forgotten to pick the cat up from the vets? Oh riiiiiight, the kids are back at school, and for a few brief precious hours you are ALONE. That’s unless you have more kids, in which case I can’t help you, you’ve only done this to yourself.

Our summer was long and full of babysitters, playdates, picnics, boredom, work, boxsets and colouring-in. None of us were sad when September rolled around. This year our daughter has started year 2, she’s just turned 6 and is starting her SATS year where she will be tested and evaluated on her ability to jump through the hoops our government deems appropriate. She doesn’t care, she is a bright little thing and takes it all in her stride for now.

be done correctly in a style fitting with her classmates and her backpack must be from the shop in town where all the others buy theirs. It’s a strange sensation to have your little girl suddenly so influenced by things other than you and your partner, it feels like they should have a few more years before the inevitable self-doubt and need for peer validation creeps in, but there we are.

admired it. After taking it to school she came home disheartened after seeing the other kids’ efforts. Now she wishes she has done it differently, and watching her enthusiasm and pride in her work turn to indifference and worry is utterly horrid. How can I maintain her confidence when there are so many factors around her which knock the wind from her little sails?

The most jarring moment since she went back to school has been seeing her lose confidence in herself. She decorated a homework folder and it was a glorious, colourful, glittery mix of unicorns and clouds and we all loved and

The next few years of this kid’s life will only expose her to more social pressures and worries which as adults didn’t even exist when we were younger. The internet wasn’t around when I was growing up, and no one had a mobile phone until university. Hair straighteners didn’t exist, so everyone looked slightly feral in the 80’s, whereas our kids will grow up with a sleekness unheard of until 1998. It’s a different set of rules, but as long as we maintain an unwavering confidence in our kids, we just have to trust that they will meet each worry with the knowledge that we are there to set limits and install filters which will sift out the rougher edges of their childhoods. If that fails and they still complain, I suggest showing them your childhood photos and explaining that things could be a heck of a lot worse. Although I do NOT regret my 1989 perm. That bad boy was awesome. DL

The biggest change we’ve seen so far this year has been socially. She came home after her first day and coyly suggested that ‘all the other girls’ are still wearing short sleeves. She’s never really paid much attention to her appearance before, but now her hair must

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BEESTUMPED ONLY FOR THE MENTALLY TORTURED...

1. In the Adrian Mole Diaries, what is the surname of his girlfriend? 2. Who is the only player to win a Champion`s League medal, the Premiership and the FA Cup, and to be relegated from the Premiership without going on to play in the Championship? 3. In what year were the Orkney Islands reannexed to Scotland from Norway 4. What was the third last state to join the USA? 5. Which King of England was crowned on Christmas Day?

Bromley House Library

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

6. Tokelau is a dependency of which country? 7. A Scottish mountain must be at least how many feet high to be called a Munro? 8. In which 1951 film did Fred Astaire appear to dance on the ceiling? 9. On which Hebridian island did Prince Charles crash a plane in 1994? 10. What is sciophobia the fear of? ANSWERS: Braiwaithe/Kanu/1472/Arizona/William the Conqueror/New Zealand/3,000/Royal Wedding/Islay/shadows

CODEWORD

Buzzword

poetr y:

Who says nothing rh ymes with Fairs, park Beeston? s - boundle ss fun Hardly rain s - soak up the sun Nearby ca nal - Park Run A few vica rs - rarely a nu The Beesto n Seat - wei n ghs a ton Fabulous re staurants - feast on! Bountiful, brilliant B ees â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ton Julie McG uire

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ver the past few issues I’ve written about my wife Sal’s incurable cancer and how grateful we both were for the fabulous help we had from the City and QMC hospitals, Sarah our local Macmillan nurse, the local Red Cross and the brilliant community nurses at Dovecote House on Wollaton Road.

Sadly, as some of you may know, Sal died at home, surrounded by her friends and family in June and it has been a hugely traumatic time for all of us who loved her. But I’d very much like to thank not only the organisations that helped but everyone in Beeston who have given us so much love, support and friendship – Sal appreciated it greatly, as do I and our threeyear old daughter, Scarlett. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I think Scarlett is growing up in the best village possible. One of the few events I’ve attended as Robin Hood since Sal died was the (re)opening of Beeston Library, on the 9th September, the day before what would have been our first wedding anniversary. I’ve lived in Beeston all my life and when I was growing up the library was incredibly important to me, giving me access to worlds, ideas, stories and new horizons – and when Scarlett was born Sal and I took her to the brilliant ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ baby music classes there which we all loved. I was asked a long time ago to attend the opening, to do some Robin Hood storytelling and help celebrate the renovation and Sal had planned to come down with Scarlett to see it too. Sadly, that wasn’t to be, but I really wanted to go for her and for me – and I’m so glad I did. In these harsh economic times, where public money is increasingly difficult to find Beeston’s ‘new’ library is a revelation and a joy to visit. Entirely redesigned, light, bright and airy but full of resources, space and almost unrecognisable from the old version it can and will be a wonderful community resource we can all use, enjoy and support. In a time of austerity and closures it’s something we should

all be proud of – if you haven’t been yet, please do, you really won’t regret it. Other community hubs are still being forced to close though sadly - as I write it’s just been announced that another stalwart centre of Beeston life (albeit for a slightly different demographic) is to shut its doors for good; The Greyhound, a frankly awesome rock pub famed not just locally but across the Midlands and further afield for passionately putting on some of the best live rock music gigs, will close its doors in a few weeks’ time, frustrated by brewery avarice and a massive increase (a doubling) of business rates. I went to The Greyhound on the same day as I’d attended the library opening to see a brilliant (and local) Marillion tribute band, ‘Real to Reel’. You may remember Marillion’s most famous single ‘Kayleigh’ from the now 30-year old but still fantastic album ‘Misplaced Childhood’. I’ve been a Marillion fan since 1983, introduced to them by my school friend Rob Reid, who now fronts the tribute band. They played a blinder, and as you can imagine on the eve of our wedding anniversary it was a very emotional gig for me, as a year before Sal had walked into the hall to the sound of Marillion’s ‘Lavender’, a beautiful song which Scarlett even now loves to listen and dance to. So when the band played it as their final song of the night I admit I was in tears and very glad to have the support of some really good friends. That’s the power of music, and also the joy of community. It’s a real shame we’re losing The Greyhound in its’ present incarnation because it (and its passionate staff who rescued and relaunched it not too long ago) rocked, both figuratively and literally. It will apparently become a gastro- and craft beer pub, which may well be wonderful - but will never be the same. But then I guess learning to live with significant change is something I, and we all, have to do. Tim Pollard Nottingham’s Official Robin Hood

owdy campers, it’s been a while since my incoherent ramblings have graced this page. I have been on many adventures and seen many things all of which I shall relay to you, but first the bad news...

The Greyhound has announced closure, the announcement was made at the time of writing, and will commence on Sunday 5th November. A huge factor in this heart breaking decision is the crippling business rates which have soared from 32k a year to £64k!!! That’s a whole lot of pints needed to cover the shocking doubling of its rates, I can assure you I moan like a trooper when they raise the council tax by even a fiver. The rise has led to a statement both via their website and on their face book page about the venues demise prompting outcry from the Beeston public and further afield.

Till the sad, sad day of closure The Greyhound has a few cracking bands up its sleeve with the absolutely stomping rocker band, V8 performing on September 30th, Tick Tick Boom on Friday 20th Oct Friday 27th Oct, a spooky Halloween special with Lizzie and the Banshees Friday 3rd November followed by Rammlied the completely spot on Rammstein tribute, The final blow out will be is an evening of alternative rock with Black Light Secret, Electric Soup and the Spaceogs. Anyhoo, As was promised, back on track with adventures, of the Beeston variety, beginning with Liberty Leisure’s Party in the Park held over at Broadgate Park on August 12th , after announcing a £1 entry fee the event caused a bit of a stir as many people enraged about being charged a squid to go and look around some stalls. Feeling brave, I handed over my shiny pound at the disgust of some bystanders and headed

to have a nosey. Entertainment was a random mix of what a friend called elevator music and headlined by the fabulous The Melanie Page Band. I managed to demolish a brownie courtesy of the guys at Beeston Brownie Company and washed it down with some samples of choccy vodka from Choccy Woccy Vodka Company (I am not even making that up!) while relaxing to some gorgeous vocal tones from Melanie Page purring like a kitten to covers of Bob Marley, the selector and Bad Manners. A pound well spent! What else can you get for that nowadays? ten bags for life’s? Or 4 Freddos? Answers on a postcard. The fun however didn’t stop there! I swung by the old bus station to have a cold drink while making a sandcastle and watched my first puppet show over at Beeston sands (three little pigs!). So very very rock and roll.

(rock in pieces)

Also on the agenda I tried stalking fellow Beestonian Scott Bennett over at Splendour festival only to get to the stage too late and him finishing his set by saying good night! I spent the duration absolutely soaked but yet managing to stay till the very end and witnessing Kaiser Chiefs amazing set, see Ynot!! A bit of rain and other festivals can manage!!!.... If theres anything on your calendar for October 14th clear it, get yaselfs down to Oxjam, support the charity and the local music scene, jobs a gud un’, till next time me mateys. LD

OXJAM: Beeston Takeover Saturday 14 October

e’re just a couple of weeks away now from arguably the biggest cultural event in Beeston: the seventh Takeover, part of the Oxjam Beeston Music Festival 2017, in aid of OXFAM. THE VENUES: this year Bartons is back IN (three stages!) and our headline sponsor is the awardwinning ‘Star’. We’ve got some new venues too: The Berliner,Totally Tapped, Beeston Library and Rudyards, along with many familiar Oxjam spaces such as Rye, Malt Shovel, Bean, Greenhoods, Pottle o’ Blues, The Crown, The White Lion, The Hop Pole, Middle Street Resource Centre, Chilwell Methodist Church and Beeston Parish Church - 20 in all! THE MUSIC: as ever, the great mix of styles and genres you have come to expect - and then some! Everything from nice, gentle acoustic folk, singer-songwriters, blues, Americana and ‘covers’, to Indie, folk-rock, DJs, rock and punk plus choirs and ‘Operatic Arias’. THE COST: this has got to be the best value

anywhere in the area: you pay NOTHING to wander into a coffee shop or bar in the afternoon (but please make a generous donation: you won’t miss our volunteer collectors). For the evening (after 6pm) we’ve kept it to £8 if you buy in advance of the day (£10 on the day). Buy your advance tickets at Oxfam Books and Music on Beeston High Road or The Guitar Spot on Chilwell High Road. The ‘Operatic Arias’ event in the evening at the Parish Church, is separately ticketed - pick these up from Oxfam Books and Music or John Kirk Hi-fi (for a tenner or less if you qualify for a concession). Tickets for both, along with the Classical Oxjam concert (11 November) and the Oxjam Ceilidh (24 November) can also be bought on line at wegottickets.com (there is a 10% booking fee). THE SPONSORS: We are delighted to have some excellent sponsorship support this year, especially our headline sponsor, CAMRA LocaAle pub of the year The Star’, and ‘stage sponsors’ C P Walker, Estate Agents, NET (Nottingham Express Transport), the University of Nottingham and Foster Industrial. Others include PN Design and

The Breeze. We also have a sponsorship grant from Cllr. Kate Foale (Nottinghamshire County Council ‘Divisional Fund’). Small local businesses and organisations, or individuals, might consider becoming a ‘Friend of Oxjam’ for a donation of £50 or more. You get one free wristband for the Takeover so you COULD decide to ‘spend’ a generous fifty quid for your ticket and earn a ‘Friend of Oxjam’ sticker or certificate to display on your social media or premises. We’ll also credit you on our website. THE MONEY: the volunteers and all artists, plus many sound engineers, take part for nothing; sponsorship covers our publicity, some unavoidable admin costs and some hire of equipment, so you can be sure that EVERY pound you spend on tickets or put in our collecting tins goes straight to support the magnificent work of Oxfam. You can have a great day and know you are helping a fantastic charity. That’s ‘win-win!’ For more details, to contact us and get upto-the-minute news of the programme, go to oxambeeston.org or our Facebook page. CT

reetings Beestonites, I hope you are all managing to pack in a few last minute events before the end of summer! I for one have been preparing for some down time before the autumn events rush. Needless to say, just because I wasn’t socialising outwardly, didn’t mean that there hasn’t been some worthwhile social activity going on. I decided to mingle in cyberspace and I found online social network Nextdoor. The site originated in the USA and to date Nextdoor is available in 50% of the neighbourhoods within the UK. Beeston happens to be one of them. It is clear this social media platform is gaining momentum. Its mission statement to connect people in real-time that live nearby is a massive plus point. I, like many other young professionals, have had to live in the land of fixed term contracts and as such, have been granted a new address almost every other year. Facebook is loaded with “friends” (BIG emphasis on the inverted comma’s there) from various locations and life chapters from far and wide. It is a nice platform to say “hi” to distant acquaintances but I realised that since moving back to the Rylands two years ago, I didn’t actually know that many people in the area anymore. I was feeling

physically and psychologically exhausted with travelling around to different cities to visit people all the time. I decided to give this media platform a go in the hope that I would be able to connect to more people nearby and get to know my local area a bit better. I know I want to become more integrated into my local area and I don’t think I am alone. Frequent relocations are the type of social situation that leads to the fragmentation of communities. As people become more transient, they become more isolated and stressed. I know myself it is hard to feel integrated, and the exhaustion that sets in from frequent moves is also a factor that limits initiation of meaningful social contact. Research conducted at the University of Birmingham and other reputable establishments have demonstrated the importance of community factors within the neighbourhood. Recently the NHS has recognised loneliness as a legitimate public health problem, and it’s on the increase. The Issue of loneliness was perceived to be limited to elder populations, however published statistics demonstrate that increasing numbers of younger people are feeling isolated. After registering with the site, you are then connected with people living within your area. This is just like any other social media platform, except it works on a local level, within your specific neighbourhood. You can do

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anything from; gifting free stuff (good for gardeners as a lot of plants have been exchanged), buying and selling, asking for advice or recommendations on local tradespeople, places to do/ source things, promoting local events, finding out who the local Avon lady is, and seeking advice on practical home matters. One of the main differences between this and other social media sites is that this site is more about getting things done, as opposed to random acts of self-expression. Moderators are on hand to remove any post that is defamatory or inappropriate, rendering this a safe and supportive space to operate online. Unlike other apps, if you sign up to something new, your contact list isn’t imported and automatically available. If you know someone that lives nearby you need to invite them to join (if they aren’t already on the website). You can invite people by a direct invitation online, or you can have a postcard sent to them via the post, free of charge. The low-fi method of expanding the network is straight forwards and quite charming. You can manage your privacy settings so that you can have a presence on the site without personal info such as; full address, phone number etc. being available for all to see. You can also choose to put a picture up if you fancy but this isn’t mandatory. All the other features of a regular social media

site are available. There are; noticeboards for various areas of interest, a private message function, a notifications function and a categories tab in which communications can be assigned based on their topic. I found that using this site, did actually lead to some productive real-life interactions. I met a gentleman that was gifting some free plants, and I went to meet him and his wife. I was expecting a quick pop in, pop out type scenario but instead I spent a good portion of the afternoon in their back-yard amassing as much gardening advice as I could. I have also used the site to shift some free stuff that I had to offer and also posted requests for advice on tradespeople. One upcoming campaign is the “Share a Cuppa” campaign. This is aimed at encouraging neighbours and members of the local community to take the first step and go for a cup of tea with their neighbours. I for one will be taking part in this campaign once it is launched. I may even write about my experience here. Watch this space people!!! The Nextdoor social media app is free of charge to use and is available at www.nextdoor. co.uk .There is also an app based version of the platform for Android and iPhone users which can be downloaded from the ‘Play Store’. DB

Buzzword

Over 16 winner: The Beekeeper pays much attention, receives little, despite his years of witness to the bright parade babies, boffins, students, shoppers, meeters, makers, workers, walkers – the whole brilliant buzz of you. He has learned the Art of the Chocolatier, knows intimately the Land of Books, the stories the clicks of your bicycle wheels relate, the shush of sheltering leaves above your fragile heads. All hours, all weathers, he watches over you, glad from time to time of your sweetest gifts – red pom-poms for his heavy boots, a blue balloon to dangle from his resting hand, a traffic cone to warm his cold stone head keeps safe, perched on his knee, someone’s drunken midnight daughter, welcomes the small boy who stares into his inscrutable eyes to find his one and only need –

Buzzword

Under 16 winner: What do you see? When you look at Beeston, what do you see? I see a kind community, A diverse group of people, All being friendly. I see a handy, handful of shop, Sometimes selling things you didn’t’ know you needed, Or something you want but can’t find, To buy some strawberries you will be pleaded. I see an arty, army of artists, Ready to take on Paint a Pot, Always getting a glossy coat, But watch out, the kiln can be hot. I see a busy, bustle of builders, Rushing to finish the trams, Having a coffee and an egg cob at breaks, The tram weighs a few thousand kilograms. I see a meaningful, mob of musicians, Ready to show off their confidence, Blocking out any bad comments, Just wanting to make a difference.

for you to stop, just once, let go your busy work and settle here beside him. Sit. Be still. Be stone.

Now go back to the question, When you look at Beeston, what do you see? I hope this poem has changed your mind, Because I hope you see the same as me

Cathy Grindrod

Ava Waring (aged 12)

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