The Beestonian 68: The Community Issue

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Issue No. 68

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FR March 2020

ever feel iso let's talk lated? about

Community

!

social running

at the beeston parkrun

meet bea stone

our new agony aunt

shoe shop chat

with beeston updated

GOT A

A FRESH APPROACH

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BRAND WEB  I L L U S T R AT I O N DESIGN APP FILM

IT

I

was an admirer of this fine magazine long before I sent in some deranged scribblings that were published (much to my delight). Understandably, I was incredibly chuffed and flattered to be asked if I wanted to be the editor, even if it may just be in a temporary capacity.

The theme of this issue is community, something that is one of Beeston’s defining factors. When the ice caps melt, and the north sea covers Skeg and the rest, we’ll be renamed Beeston-by-the-Sea and visitors will buy Beeston rock which will simply have the word ‘community’ running through it.

Despite not growing up locally, like many other outsiders, I have rarely been made to feel unwelcome or excluded. Me and my wife (another outsider) have found it easy to blend in and take part, and we’re really happy to be bringing our kids up here.

What I like most is the mix of people living and working in the town. The fact that you could be sitting watching the footy in The Star next to a student from Ghana, an electrician, a teacher and a care worker. How boring would it be if everywhere was just full of doctors, dentists and architects? A healthy variety of people of people living side by side is what keeps things interesting, and is responsible for a lot of the amazing creative output in the area.

One of the best things that has sprung organically out of this corner of the world is the ‘I Am Beeston’ project, started by ace local photographer Christopher Frost.

This hugely popular initiative has done so much to inform people about the others around them. It has been so successful that it is now going to be replicated in other areas, something you can read about here: wacommunity.co.uk

THE BIG IDEA PAINT

Beestonian The

BRIGHT

WWW.BIGIDEA-CREATIVE.CO.UK • 0115 9228922

There’s a big team of us behind this magazine who produce something that we think is a really good read. One thing we often hear is “I love the Beestonian, but I don’t always see a copy anywhere”. To remedy this we’ve got a new distribution strategy which involves printing loads more copies, making it available in more places, and replenishing it regularly so that everyone will be able to get their hands on a copy. If you’re a business owner who would like to stock it or want to suggest somewhere then get in touch – thebeestonian@gmail.com We’re always open to ideas, so if there’s something you think we should feature or have any ideas about what you would like to see in this magazine then let us know.

We have to draw the line at a ‘readers wives’ page mind, no matter how many times people ask us.

JC

Sunday Morning on St Peter's Gate

by Daniel Cullen

EDITORIAL John Cooper

pops VOX

WHAT DOES COMMUNITY I

beeston's baroness

MEAN TO YOU?

Friendship by locale - there are an abundance of events and activities in a Beeston, it’s a very active and creative place and I think that’s why so many residents participate and grow to know each other. I’ve met loads of people since we moved back here in 2014 - I know many more local people now than I did in my youth growing up around here. I think social media helps; you can find people with common interests and stay in touch easier now than ever before.

JEANIE O’SHEA

It’s the guy in poppa's pizza waving when I walk past, the woman in King Cod asking after me if my wife gets chips without me. It’s the couple in Hing Kee knowing which new wonders we haven't tried yet and Jen at the Pottle knowing 'there's no point in a single G&T'. It’s the semi-secret kids smoking at the bottom of the park and the not so secret drinkers at the top. its knowing the 'safe' seats when there is darts on the Crown and knowing not to dare interrupt 'Sunday club' in the Vic by sitting in the wrong bar. It's knowing the local references to shoe shops, 'red chicken bones' and the 'Hallam's lake' puddle. Plus, finally figuring out what is where in Fresh Asia.

JAMES HIND

Everyone has their different take on what community means to them, so we dropped into the Beeston Updated FB group (see page 21) to find out how fellow Beestonians feel attached to the broader picture.

It’s about coming together and sharing. Thinking about the whole not just the individual. It's an ethos I try to embody in life. For example, people complain about shoe shops and toilets, and want more independent shops etc. I am a customer and work with businesses and I suppose it's opened my eyes a bit. If you appreciate something and would hate to lose it or see a need, think about what you can do. It doesn't need to necessarily be something huge! Liking a post, sharing a post, joining in. The community is about us - each and everyone of us ALISON BARLOW

Greeting strangers on the high street, picking up a coat accidentally lost and returning it whilst you are admiring the flying birds, stopping and smiling at the passing by kids on their bicycles in Dovecote Lane. Being there for anyone in Beeston and surrounding areas.

ANTONELLA GHEZZI

Community is my lovely neighbours taking out my bins when I've forgotten and me doing the same in return ELLIE CHKA

Community is keeping in touch and returning home to see everyone... Even when you've moved to bloody Leicestershire.

VIKKI TURTON

I am blessed with great neighbours. People at my end of the street help each other out, stop for a chat and look after each other.

CHRISTINA LEE

was born in the Rylands and my parents still live there. My dad was a painter and decorator while my mum worked at Plessey. I went to Beeston Rylands infant and Junior Schools, then Chilwell Comprehensive. After leaving school, I did a secretarial course at Broxtowe College.

I then joined the Civil Service, and worked in various sections including the British Embassy in Washington and the Press Office in Downing Street. I joined the House of Lords in 2011, and am currently Chair of the Charity Commission”.

“Although I live in London, I try to return to Beeston every six weeks, as Beeston is still my home. When I became a peer, it was my

decision to be titled Baroness Stowell of Beeston, as I am always flying the flag for Beeston. Beeston is the reason for what I have become.”.

“I think you can learn a lot from the people of Beeston. Their warmth, humour, honesty and authenticity. It’s those things that make me proud to come from Beeston. I was privileged to recently officially open Julie Wesson and Richard Haywood’s newest location on Villa Street. They are a local business providing a service to the people of Beeston, who I know they care a lot about”.

CF

I Am Beeston This issue: Tina Stowell The Baroness of Beeston

careful now, It,s...

hand, just staring in silence. Occasionally one of the older ones will pluck up courage to speak: “It looks like you need another bag of lava rock on there Keith”

SCOTT BENNETT This ish: They’re not ageing, they’re transitioning!

A

s this issue is about community, I want to tell you about two of my favourite communities, both of whom have a spiritual affinity with one another.

The first is a group called the “Men’s Shedders Association” I recently did a charity fundraising gig for them, my dream is to be the ambassador, the comedy circuits very own Angelina Jolie. I might even adopt one of these stray men and bring them back home to live with me. In a house full of women it would be nice to finally have a wingman for when my wife and I have an argument.

There is a serious reason that this charity was set up. Men’s mental health is a big concern. The statistics on male suicide make for horrific reading.

It remains the most common form of death for men aged 20-49 in the UK. Years of being told to “Man up” and the stigma surrounding mental health has made it hard for men to talk about their problems.

Thankfully things are changing and the “Shedders Association” is one initiative set up to help.

Men of all ages, young and old can now gather together in sheds all across the country, it’s a bit like an open prison, except that the only vices they have are the ones holding the wood.

It seems like men find it easier to talk when we are these sort of environments. Sawdust are our smelling salts and a Black and Decker Workmate is just another one of the lads.

If you have a BBQ you can see how hard men find it converse. Women will be sat on the patio furniture with a glass of Pimms, the air is alive with their excitable chatter. The men will usually be stood around the flames with can of lager in

I have a shed and it’s changed my life. It’s the only room in the house the children haven’t conquered.

I like my kids but I love my shed. It’s my place, my own private temple. It’s not hedonism its shedonism! It’s how men bond too. My mates never ask me about my kids, but they will always ask me about that shed.

“How is she doing mate?”

“Great!”

“I’ve got some pictures on my phone” “Oh, she’s beautiful!”

“I’m treating her this weekend” “Are you?”

“Yeah, bit of cuprinol” My wife Jemma got me that shed as a surprise when I became a professional comedian. It was somewhere I could concentrate, a private place away from the chaos of family life.

At first, I thought it was a lovely gesture, now I’ve realised it’s just a way for her to get me out of the house.

god. I told him I’d just turned 40.

He said that is the age we start to look for fulfilment within ourselves, we stop chasing and start reflecting.

This could be the moment for you, he said.

“Now I’m not saying I’d want to abandon my family, I love my wife and children more than anything else in the world, they are everything to me….however…. it’d be nice to be brother Scott just for a weekend” I think that’s what these monasteries are full of, tired dads who said they were going to put the bin out one day and just kept going. They didn’t stop until their heads hit the monastery door.

The monks find them there in the morning, just laid out on the steps: “We’ve got some more brother Michael and this one is weeping!”

“School holidays Brother John always a busy time!”

“Five this week alone” They just prize the Ikea bags out of their hands and take them through to the vestry.

I think this is a secret fantasy for most men. As they get older you can see their inner monk slowing starting to come out.

They aren’t ageing, they’re transitioning!

Some of the men in the shedders association are retired. Their wives send them in there, to keep them occupied and stop them from getting lonely.

They spend hours making coffee tables, catapults, and tiny models of cathedrals out of matchsticks, whilst their own homes just fall apart.

They get the bald head, the pot belly, start spending all day in their dressing gowns, mumbling to themselves, they take a vow of celibacy, often not their choice. They wake up one day and say to their wives, “Susan, I’m going to put my name down for an allotment!”

“John I don’t need another bloody spice rack, when are you going to decorate that back bedroom!”

But if the price of tranquillity is to give up everything you love, I don’t want it. I couldn’t handle the guilt, it would be unbearable. Maybe they aren’t holy these guys, maybe they’re just really selfish. We can’t all abandon our responsibilities just to save ourselves.

Another community I am fascinated with are the monks. To the onlooker they seem to have the right idea, taking themselves off the grid, seeking something more spiritual and meaningful in a world of panic and fear.

I’ve met a monk. I know this sounds like the start of a joke, “a comedian and a monk walk down a hill”, but it’s true.

I was out for a walk on my own one day, in a country park in Gloucestershire. In the grounds, there was this Monastery.

As I walked past the entrance, this monk came out of the gate and fell into step with me. He was in white robes, but he’d stuck on a fleece, bobble hat, and walking boots, an undercover monk, a friar with a wire. Some people find god after a moment of despair, this guy looked like he’d found him halfway through plastering a fireplace. It looked like he was on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition and had took the wrong bearing, for nearly four decades!

He said “are you walking my way?”

I thought, my god, he’s trying to recruit me!

He got the calling when he was 25, he’d been there 35 years. He’d left his whole family behind to serve

It can’t be that good in there either. If it was, then why are they all drinking booze?!

Not only that, they are making it themselves, it’s like Breaking Bad in there, I bought some of their Trappist Ale, its 9%, that’s stronger than special brew!

When you see them doing those chants in their robes, they aren’t praying, they’re hungover, what are they trying to forget!

In this world of pressure and chaos, a garden shed is more than just an outbuilding, it’s a place of sanctuary. All you need is the Pope to pop by and bless it then and you’ve got your own Monastery.

You can be your own monk by not even leaving your own home!

Speaking of which, I’ll see you all later, I’m off to rub down some plywood. @scottbcomedyuk | scottbennettcomedy.co.uk Find The Scott Bennett Podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes SB

Talking Loud

and Clear

I

f you have ever passed by, or used the Texaco garage on Queens Road and wondered where that short pathway goes that runs between the petrol station and Papa John’s, well ponder no longer, for I have the answer. It leads to a small car park and building that belong to a company called Talk Back Studios. They have been there for 12 years now, although they have been in Beeston for over 20, having previously been based behind the Barrel pub on the High Road.

Talk Back are a small, family run viewing studios, where market researchers come and interview groups of people about products and services and what they think of them. I have actually been there a few times myself and given my opinion on such diverse subjects as rail travel, energy company adverts and biscuits. People are recruited through external agencies, and are selected by their profile, age, sex, social class etc, plus any other criteria that these companies require. It’s no use being invited to talk about nappies, if you’ve never had kids.

The building itself was part of Thomas Humber’s cycle and car works, before becoming a textiles factory, then an engine workshop for a charity. There was another building in front, which was the car showroom, it’s where the petrol station stands. But it was destroyed in a fire.

The company was founded by Sue and Alan Harvey. Alan, a former marketeer with Thorntons, and Sue who ran the Merry Go Round Nursery on City Road decided to create a marketing company that would the best available in the East Midlands. And 20 years later, they have realised that dream. Their son Mike, a former photographer now manages the studio, as his parents have supposed to have ‘retired’. Although they still seem to work long hours there. Sue tends to meet and greet the respondents, while Alan makes the tea and looks after the clients’ needs. They also employ students from the university, through Unitemps to assist on an ‘as and when’ basis.

While I was there a student called Chloe who is studying Public Health was assisting with the two groups that had arrived, and was making sure that they got into the right room.

I met up with Mike at the studios and chatted to him at quiet times during the evening.

Firstly, I asked him about the business. “We had outgrown the other building and were

looking for somewhere bigger, and we came across this place. The landlord allowed us to gut the building and redesign it how we wanted it. We sandblasted the internal walls, and we have tried to keep the building’s history alive”. Reminders of the building’s cycling history can be found throughout the building, from photos of old bikes to the names of the meeting rooms. “We are also trying to be green as we can. We’ve just about phased out single use plastics, have installed LED lighting and will be getting a charging point for electric cars. We also had a reproduction made of the blue plaque that’s on the wall outside”. There are seven meeting rooms which can be rented during the day, as they are used during the evening for research purposes. These events tend to run from Monday to Thursday, and tend to last ninety minutes to two hours.

Once you arrive, you are checked in and you sign for your fee. This could range from £30£70, depending on who the company are and what you’ll be discussing. You are then offered a drink and a snack while you wait.

There are two sets of chairs, one red, one green. This designates which room you’ll be going in. The rooms have a one way mirror so that company representatives can see what’s going on. Essential if it’s a very visual task, like arranging products in order of preference.

The research is also recorded. In the past this used to be on video cassettes. These days it is all done digitally, MP3 & MP4 and the files can be sent to the client via FTP immediately after the session. All mobile phones have to be switched off, as this can interfere with the recording equipment.

I asked Mike if they ever get any unusual requests from companies. “We’ve had a few.

Once some sofas were delivered, as they were being tested by the group. We’ve also had seven toasters all working at the same time, as people were testing bread. But probably the most unusual request we get is when we have to dress the place like it is Christmas, but this can be in the middle of summer. Or in the middle of winter, we have to make the place look like you’re on a beach holiday. Sometimes even we don’t know who the client is, so that we can stay impartial. But we have come across products that have been tested here.

If you want to earn some extra tax free money, then go and sign up through some local agencies. The website for this is www. nottinghammarketresearch.co.uk CF

CHRISTOPHER FROST On Talking Back to Beeston

DAISY LEVERINGTON Chapter 15.

Everybody Panic!

motherh

A

s a nation, we seem to be teetering on the verge of a very middle-class apocalypse, one which is holding eye contact while unflinchingly increasing the price of hand sanitiser between each worried looking person in line at chemist. An end-of-days parade of wide eyed, polite folk roaming loose around supermarkets, trying to look nonchalant in their quest to find the last bottle of pineapple scented hand gel.

People who wouldn’t WANT to fight, but....

Our daughter’s school has issued warnings and advice, we are singing the prescribed two verses of Happy Birthday while slowly washing our hands, staring forlornly into the bathroom mirror like the ghosts of sad Victorian orphans. My hands are looking like something from Cocoon. We are too British to panic, but we shall tut and huff and encourage our kids to avoid playing with Sneezy Joe at school, all while being grateful that it seems to be happening to other people for now. But, and I don’t say this lightly, kids are filthy. If the end times come soon they shall be heralded not by four horsemen, but by 4 snotty year 2s playing the shared class recorders.

d

These germ delivery drivers are IN OUR HOUSES and it’s impolite to throw them out when they can’t legally look for alternative accommodation because they are still ‘only 5 mummy, please’.

Short of quarantining them all at Hogwarts or Eton or anywhere else which produces smug magical beings while us muggles work our fingers to the bone while they swim in vaults full of gold, we need to take drastic measures. We have to start hosing them down when they get home with the enthusiasm of a gap-year student at an elephant sanctuary.

Spray anti-bac directly into little Jimmy’s eyes, sheep dip the neighbours’ kids in last summer’s paddling pool before they can come inside. Put marigolds on the end of mops and greet them with a long-distance hug when they get home from school. Make them live in a tent in the garden and call it camping, kids love that stuff. Send them on a play date and leave the country while they are out.

Use your heads people, don’t let the kids win.

DL

Beeston parkrun

P

arkrun has been around for a few years now, you’ve probably heard of it before and will know somebody who has taken part.

Founded in 2004, parkrun takes place in 705 different locations around the UK, with almost 7,000 clubs and over 2,000 runners. Impressive statistics for any mass participation sport.

It’s clear that parkrun has run off and become a regular part of people’s weeks and it’s not hard to see why when you consider the simplicity of it. You turn up on a Saturday morning, do the run and at the end you get your time if you so wish.

The event wouldn’t be able to run without the help of volunteers. From marshalls to timekeepers, parkrun is a great event to get involved in if you don’t want to take part in the run itself.

One of the unique volunteer roles that parkrun offers are the tail walkers, who take part each week from the back of the field so that everyone on the course is accounted for.

It’s also a good way to ensure that anyone who takes part doesn’t finish last.

Beeston’s parkrun has around 500 participants during it’s busiest periods at the start of the year and takes place along the canal at Weirfields Recreation Ground.

Nationally, few parkruns can say that they have a more picturesque setting particularly when it’s a bright, sunny day.

Alison Hogg is the event director of Beeston parkrun. Along with five other run directors, she leads the volunteers and does all the preparation for the Beeston event each week.

After Alison’s pre-race brief which includes explanations on the rules over photography and how to collect your time at the end of the race, the hundreds of parkrunners set off for the 5000-metre run, jog or walk.

“Everybody's got new year's resolutions going on and parkrun has really exploded, so we've started to see some of our largest attendances over the past couple of weeks,” says Alison.

“Parkrun is about being inclusive so we have anyone from very fast runners to those who want to go around with buggies. We're quite buggy friendly because, with the route we've got, you can push a buggy around.

“It's free, it's accessible and it’s a great way to start your Saturday. You're here at 9 and you can be finished by 10. Afterwards, you can go into Tony's café for a coffee and breakfast.

You've seen your mates, you've done your exercise for the day, what a great way to set yourself up for the weekend.”

Three years ago, Lisa Rull started parkrunning in preparation for the race for life, however, in the days leading up to the event, Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer after finding a lump in her armpit.

“I kept on coming to parkrun even when I was going through treatment. I still walked or ran it when I could. Beeston parkrun has been such a lifeline for me,” said Lisa.

ISAAC SEELOCHAN Why Beeston parkrun is showing no signs of slowing down

“I’m on longer-term medication to keep me as healthy as possible, but fingers crossed.

I had my slash, poison and burn, but I kept in contact with parkrun right the way through.

It’s been fabulous for me.”

Taking part in parkrun isn’t just for those who want to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, it can also be a way to improve the lives of others, as Brandon Brown, whose wife works in the NHS, is doing by fundraising for the Nottingham Hospitals Charity.

“I’m 62, so to get to 63 I thought I would run 744 kilometres, 62 x 12 (months), and I’m going to try and raise £744 whilst doing it,” explains Brandon.

“I first got involved in parkrun through a running club and often you have to pay to do marathons. Once, when I visited my brother in law in Abu Dhabi, I thought about doing the marathon their but the entry fee is £120 and you have to start at four or five in the morning because of the heat, so parkrun is a brilliant idea because it’s free and also you don’t need to be a runner.”

It’s easy to see why parkrun is so popular and in a place like Beeston where community is important, it’s success is only going to continue.

To find out more about Beeston parkrun, go to www.parkrun.org.uk/beeston or follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ beestonparkrun IS

The volunteers who help to run Beeston parkrun. From the left - Carrie Barker, Sue Raine, Lucy Barker, Keith Pepper, Simon Hogg, Bethan Hogg, Freddie Thomas-Neher and Alison Hogg.

Meet Be a Stone Beeston 's own a gony aunt!

Dear

Bea Dear Bea,

Dear Bea,

Last week I left for work as usual, but when I got to the 36 bus stop I realised that I didn’t have the correct bus fare, just a £20 note.

I’m having real trouble with my mother in law, no matter what I do it never see ms good enough for her. It is causing tension bet ween me and my husband, even though he acknow ledges that she is very demanding.

I hurried home to get some of the change which I keep on the bedside table. The radio was on quite loud and my husband didn’t hear me come in - to my shock I saw him posing in front of the full length mirror in the spare bedroom, wearing my underwear.

I didn’t know what to say or do so I just grabbed the change and left without letting him know that I’d seen him.

Up to now I haven’t said anything to him about it, and I don’t know if I should. Please help!

H, Chilwell

Every time she visits she will find something to criticise, whether it is how clea n and tidy our house is, how warm or cold it is, and usually something to do with what mea l we cook for her.

Last time she came she was com plaining about how bland the sausages were in a cas serole I’d spent a good couple of hours preparing!

I even went out of my way to the supermarket to get them when it was absolutely chucking it down.

She is driving me mad, I know it isn’t my husband’s fault but I really want him to stick up for me a bit more. What can I do?

ea" b k s a t s u j " Dear Bea, About a month ago I was heading home from visiting family in Newark. Whilst on the A46 the engine management light came on and my car started stuttering and slowing down. Luckily there was a parking lay-by close by so I pulled into it. It was dark, I was alone and had no way of getting help other than flagging down a passing motorist.

Call me a typical woman if you like , but I don’t know anything about cars!

After a minute or two a car pull ed in and a hunky man got out to see what was wro ng. I explained that there was something wrong with my car, and he kindly offered to have a look . He started in up, gave it a few revs, and then the warning light went off. Apparently some exh aust filter thing was blocked and it just needed a bit of oomph to shift it.

I asked him how I could repay him , and he cheekily said that he would app reciate a kiss for his efforts. It sounds crazy, but one thing led to another and we ended up making mad passionate love on the back seat of his car .

Since then we have met up severa l times, and he says he wants to leave his wif e for me. It all seems a bit sudden and I’m fee ling quite guilty about him being married. Please help!

T, Toton

C, Rylands

Oh H, I really feel for you, it must have been a terrible shock, having to head back to the home after you’ve got all the way to the bus stop.

It’s quite annoying that the 36 (along with other City Transport bus services) only accept the correct change. One way to avoid this is look at alternative methods of payment. As well as the Robin Hood card, you can also pay for fares via smartphone, by downloading the NCTX Buses app. If you are a regular bus user it could also end up saving you more money than paying by cash.

Oh dear C! To stop anything like this happening again, I would look at where you buy your sausages from. Even the ‘luxury’ brand sausages in supermarkets can be nondescript. We are lucky enough to have two independent butchers in Beeston (Meat 4U and Dawsons), and both of them offer a wide range of tasty bangers. They are very suitable for freezing too, which will save any dashes out in the rain!

I hope this helps! Bea.

Hope this helps! Bea

Hi T, what a situation you got yourself into!

I don’t want to be the one who wags the finger and moralises, but you really ought to think about taking breakdown cover so that if your car gives you trouble again you can relax in the knowledge that help will be on its way.

Dear Bea,

the wall. He has My teenage son is driving me up ered boy into a turned from a pleasant, well-mann ats the place like surly, moody selfish oaf. He tre came in steaming a hotel and the other night he hall carpet. I drunk and vomited all over the more, but I want us understand he isn’t a child any n what we have. to have a better relationship tha D, Attenborough

Hi D, this sounds like a terrible situation, but you can take action. The best thing to do is firstly scrape all the vomit into a carrier bag with a spoon, then use a proprietary carpet cleaner to ‘lift’ out the remaining liquid from the carpet pile. If a stain remains then it may be worth renting a steam cleaner.

Hope this helps! Bea

Dear Bea, Please help, I really am in agony. I’ve just stepped on a piece of Lego in bare feet. It was Batman’s helmet, which has two really sharp ear bits that stick up. I’m supposed to go and do the Parkrun down at the Rylands in ten minutes but I still can’t put any weight on that side. What should I do?

C, Beeston

Dear C,

There are a number of firms that offer a variety of packages suitable for all requirements and budgets. The best place to start is by looking at a price comparison website which will allow you to work out the exact level of cover you require.

I feel your pain. However, time is a great healer. There are also many ways to deal with hurt such as counselling, psychotherapy, CBT etc. Do you have any close friends or family members you can talk to? Here’s to a successful recovery.

Hope this helps! Bea

Hope this helps! Bea

DEBRA URBACZ Top C.A.T!

Creative Beeston W

ord on the street is that Beeston is itching to get its very own cinema, and judging by the activity around the site of the old fire station, it’s on its way! According to Broxtowe Borough Council’s announcement, made around this time last year, we will be welcoming The Arc cinema to Beeston ‘late 2020!’ Sounds impressive, right? But did you know that Beeston already has a cinema?

Well technically it’s in Chilwell, but if you drive just five minutes down Queens Road you will find the C.A.T. Chilwell Arts Theatre might only have one screen, but it is warm and welcoming, has plenty of comfortable seating and ice cream lollies for a quid! Having visited a number of times myself I have always felt that it was much more than an affordable local opportunity to watch a good film. There really is something special about it. Situated at the back of Chilwell School, for those of you that don’t know, there is a rather impressive theatre with seating for 170 potential film buffs.

After cycling down there a few summers ago, the personal greeting from Michael and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere tempted me back. The experience is a quality bit of nostalgia for those people old enough to remember the old-style ‘picture house’ or prefer a night at the Savoy over the Showcase. It’s a place where people meet up to share in an event and make connections with other film lovers. Pick up a quiz sheet as you enter and you might even be lucky enough to win a chocolate bar of your choice.

I met up with Michael this weekend, in between the Saturday matinee and evening performance, to talk about why he started the community theatre, and was fascinated to find that it had been running for over a decade. Originally from Ashby de la Zouch, Michael found himself relocating down and up the country. He originally came to Nottingham with his wife, who was pursuing a career change at the time but already knew it was a city he would enjoy living in. He based this opinion on a night out with a mate who was at Trent University at the time he was living in London – a era when he owned a car he really didn’t use, which met its end rusting in front of his house, right opposite the stately home of Tony and Cherie Blair.

After securing a job at Chilwell School as the Arts Development Officer, Michael saw the theatre and was suitably impressed.

He teamed up with local lady Ros, who had coincidentally also approached the school about starting a cinema, and Chilwell Arts Theatre was created. The theatre had hosted a few shows but was otherwise underutilised as a space. The cinema is supported by the current head David Phillips and Head of Finance Linda Riddell who value its importance as an asset to the community.

The finance for the much larger screen came from the parent partnership, a group of parents who raised funds for Chilwell School, and the cinema takings.

Over the years the cinema has attracted its regulars, who see it as there ‘go to place’ and come along every Friday night to enjoy the show. Michael, who is also an actor and filmmaker, takes care to choose a quality drama that he knows his Friday night audience will like and on Saturday afternoons, it’s a classic. He creates a more edgy feel on Saturday nights, with a film that will challenge the audience in some way, favouring indie over commercial – the most successful of these being I, Daniel Blake. He talks about watching a film as an ‘emotional journey’ and loves that he can provide that for his audience. I am amazed that he keeps the cinema running, despite now living in Cheshire, driving down for the Friday night performance and then staying over with Ros and her family. After leading Young Filmakers on Saturday mornings, it’s back to the theatre for the double bill.

Easy as ABC!

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One of the regulars Louise, tells me he ABC Art Trail is the community theatre has been back for 2020 with such a lifeline for her since she lost even more added her husband two years ago. She to its already feels comfortable to come on her fantastic line-up. own, as do many other single or All will be revealed widowed locals, something they about the new artists and venues wouldn’t find so easy at one of the featuring this year in the next issue. large commercial cinemas. It’s her In the meantime let’s hear it for the escape at the end of the week. She younger artists in our locality who describes how it ‘stirs all kinds of are being offered the chance to get a emotion’ and makes her ‘stop.’ piece of their artwork on display.

Louise also mentions how much it has broadened her horizons regarding the type of films she Keen to get even more of the community chooses to watch and loves that involved, the organisers are running Michael allows his audience to a competition, open to primary school have a say in the films he shows. children in the Attenborough, Beeston A non-profit organisation, and Chilwell area, and have been visiting C.A.T. doesn’t really have a schools to share this exciting opportunity budget for marketing so Louise with them. With a theme of ‘Where I puts up posters in the local Live’ the budding Rita Mitchells or Matt supermarkets to spread the Plowrights can let their imagination word. She is particularly keen run wild and create something that will to tell me about the ‘singalong’ hopefully earn them a prestigious place on to one of the musical greats the trail. that is planned for later in Their mission statement is the year – accompanied by Beeston’s Tuneless Choir.

‘ABCAT features work from a group of diverse individual artists who are committed A multiplex cinema might to producing original, creative, handmade, high well be a great thing for quality professional pieces. They are all based our town, attracting people in the Attenborough, Beeston, Chilwell and from far and wide, but for neighbouring areas. those Beestonians who prefer a less homogenised The ABC Art Trail delivers well organised events more intimate cinema that bring excellent innovative and diverse local experience, you might want art together. These events are designed to engage, to consider Beeston’s own entertain, excite and enthuse the local community.’

Broadway, Top C.A.T! In We have no doubt that the calibre of entries will my opinion it really is be high - we seem to have a knack of producing wonderfully unique, you a creative talent in our area. The ABCAT artist might even say it’s ‘the and makers are going to be judging the entries leader of the gang.’ themselves and are just as excited as the children about showcasing their emerging talent.

You can find out what’s on at Chilwell Arts The closing date for entries was 28th February and Theatre on Facebook, only two overall winners will be chosen, one from the website www. the infants (KS1) and one from the juniors (KS2). chilwellartstheatre.

The winning artwork will be professionally mounted co.uk or by emailing and displayed all along the weekend long trail. There Michael at michael@ will also be prizes for one KS2 and KS3 child in each chilwellartstheatre. school and the offer of a free workshop for a class or co.uk and adding your group of pupils from the winning school. name to the mailing It’s such a wonderful idea, one that will perhaps list. encourage future artists and makers to emerge. We can’t wait to see the entries!

DU

This year’s ABC Art Trail will take place on the weekend of 6th and 7th of June and will feature 29 artists in 16 venues. There are several new artists and venues to enjoy this year, which we will be meeting and interviewing nearer the time.

The team are working hard on finalising detail, along with the help of local sponsors, and publicity will emerge very soon.

You can find more information at www.abcarttrail.uk and on the Facebook page ABC Art Trail DU

Trees of Beeston #7

Planting trees to connect our community the attenuation pond. The pond not only provides a home for insects, amphibians, and birds, but extends a green corridor from neighbouring Attenborough nature reserve to the surrounding gardens and parks of our beloved town, but also serves to absorb and collect any overflow from the Trent when the rains fall and the river floods. The trees act as natures sponges, provide the root systems to secure the soil, provide the plant cover needed to absorb the water and so protect the neighbouring low lying houses and flats.

Credit: Gervais and Wilton and Afterlife production/Netflix 2019

DR JO NORCUP "A culture is no better than its woods."

W.H. Auden

W

hen the character of Tony (Ricky Gervais) speaks with Anne (Penelope Wilton) at the end of series 1 of the Netflix comedy Afterlife, he speaks about his change of heart from wanting to commit suicide to wanting to live “You can’t not care about the things you actually care about” he says deciding to “make my little corner of the world a slightly better place”. Anne replies “That’s all there is”, before quoting a saying - which is, in part, the core of this Trees Of Beeston article - : “A society grows great when old [wo]men plant trees, the shade of which they know they will never sit in”

Recent storms Ciara and Dennis serve to remind us that our climate and habitat are under threat from increasing extreme weather, demanding a change in our habits to enact sustainable resilience in how we live our daily lives. Nurturing the trees we have, and planting more, serve as a long-term act of defence from the water-logging and flooding: Trees hold the soil, absorb surface water, their branches and leaf coverage provide canopy cover that absorbs; they breathe in the CO2 and breathe out the oxygen we need. They provide habitats for wildlife: food and shelter for over-wintering insects, birds and mammals. They enrich our lives.

This is not simply a cosmetic intervention, but an act of protection and anticipatory future-proofing for local residents as extreme weather conditions arise and to secure and protect future Beestonians, to gift them shade, and nature and natural spaces in which to take solace and find comfort. More than ever such spaces need to be made.

“Civicis mindedness t ha something t d e has sustain .” generations

"Good people do good things for other people. That’s it” Anne offers by way of summary.

What sustains us all is not simply in serving ourselves now, but in passing on hope and knowledge that might make life better both in the here and now and into the future.

Tree planting, growing seeds, both actual and metaphorical – an idea, a practise, a new habit – is an act of hope-giving, for the person practising it, and for the wider world they interact with.

True to my new year Trees of Beeston commitment, I put on my gardening gloves and wellies and ventured beyond my own back yard out on a cold and damp January morning, to help WeDigNG9, Broxtowe Borough Council and the Beeston Civic Society complete planting up an area of the Hetley Pearson recreation ground which will, we hope, transform over time into a diverse wooded spinney area to be protected for wildlife and humans alike.

So it is encouraging that it appears our civic and local authority are on side with this idea to begin planting trees and securing the future of the arboreal landscape of our town.

It is a reminder that, as humans, we thrive when we connect with other lives. Whether those lives are human or non-human in the form of plants and animals, there is a marked improvement to peoples mental and physical well-being in getting outdoors and doing things for the greater good.

Civic means relating to the duties or activities people have to their local town or area.

Civic-mindedness is something that has sustained generations and help shape and make the landscapes we have in Beeston, Broxtowe, and beyond. We are all part of an ecosystem, whether in Beeston or beyond, and our energies and activities go to make it.

We all have agency and the capacity to make Beeston more sustainable, and in our own ways, contribute. Judy Sleath, stalwart of the Beeston Civic Society [beestoncivicsociety. org.uk] tells me as we plant tree saplings, that tree planting has long been something the Beeston Civic Society has been involved with since its inception in 1972. Over the recent decades, it has invested funds and worked alongside Broxtowe Borough Council and public organisations such as our local primary schools in ensuring trees are planted for the benefit of all in our town.

Credit: Jeanie Barton The day before I join in, Judy and Nick Worthi from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Greenwood forestry initiative to grow a community forest across Nottinghamshire [www.greenwoodforest.org.uk/images/ content/pdfs/greenwood_strategic_plan. pdf] were planting with school children from Beeston Rylands so these young Beestonians learn how to plant trees and, in turn, have a local educational fieldtrip finding out about the locale and learning about the soil, the importance of worms and how nature connects to make habitable worlds for us as humans and animals to coexist The site is perfect. The tree saplings planted – a mixture of oaks (funded by the Beeston Civic Society), Hawthorns, Horse Chestnuts, Field Maples - will do well here, situated near

If you are keen to add a tree to your own garden then Broxtowe Borough Council [www. facebook.com/broxtoweboroughcouncil] also have a tree planting scheme for residents. This is a great opportunity to assist in repopulating our borough with trees of all kinds, and for getting intergenerational family, friends and neighbours involved, especially if there are no street trees on your street. Last November the announcement went out on social media of the availability of 500 fruit trees, all of which got snapped up in minutes. I spoke with Hugh from Broxtowe Borough Council who was distributing the final much sought-after fruit tree saplings to Broxtownians near where the tree planting activities were taking place at the recreation ground. All the trees were collected and Hugh hoped that the scheme would return this November with possibly some ornamental trees available.

So If you are keen to grow your own tree, make sure to look up the scheme on the council’s facebook page in the autumn where, it is hoped, ornamental and possibly more fruit trees will be available to apply for.

In the meantime, you can always get involved with greening Beeston activities.

Credit: Dr Jo Norcup If trees seem too much, why not get yourself some seeds and plant small: whatever you think might grow well that you like (personally I am keen on my herbs so I can eat them as well as grow them!). There are seed swap events across Nottinghamshire over the coming weeks as seeds turn into seedlings and the nights get lighter, I would suggest getting in touch with Beeston EcoAction Team (BEAT) on social media [www. facebook.com/groups/2181563685474115] or Greening in Beeston [greeninginbeeston. weebly.com] So happy growing, happy connecting and here’s to a Beeston and Broxtowe where sustainable living and tree protection and planting remains a focused civic tradition into the future!

Dr JN

TIM POLLARD Nottingham’s official Robin Hood

’

This issue: Libtard Nonsense

T

he theme this issue is community’ they said, and that sounded great, until I began wondering exactly what the word means. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the actual definition, my voclab... er... vocable... list of words I know... is pretty good. But what is the Beeston community?

Is there one?

Yes, obviously. But is there just one? No, just as obviously.

As I walk down Wollaton Road taking my daughter to school of a morning I see a huge number of people I don’t ever really interact with or know about – people who have different lifestyles, opinions, politics and even languages to mine. live I have my own routines, my circle of friends, people I work with or share hobbies with but how much interaction do I have with these strangers, what do we share?

share a conversation and thoughts on our experiences and lives here.

And I like that – a lot. As a middle-aged bloke who’s lived in Beeston almost all of my life (I’ve had brief periods living in Nottingham itself, London and - for a short time - a castle in Cheshire) I love being part of something bigger than just my experience or limited worldview. The people who make up Beeston now come from the town itself and sometimes much further afield, including our annual influx of students too. We have a wide variety of restaurants – Persian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Indian – pretty much global – run by people who know and have a passion for their own cultures and cuisines but a desire to share that with others to add to in the the diversity, choice, interest and variety on our doorsteps. n,

"We ow same t ted And yet there are also those affec are all who don’t have as wide a e h e of t m o choice as the majority; it would s y b ” . . . s be a particularly inattentive t en same ev person who hadn’t noticed the

And yet we do share something, even with people we don’t know. We live in the same town, are all affected by some of the same events (as I type the increase in cases of coronavirus is headline news, who knows what it will be like by the time this is published). But tramworks, roadworks, shop closures, cinema building as well as those perennial favourites of shoe shops and public loos probably affect the majority of us in some way or another.

And you, dear reader – I may not know you personally but I imagine there’s a distinct ‘Beestonian’ community too, people who are interested, involved and have a real passion and pride in our town. You may not all agree on the same things of course – as I’ve mentioned previously our street art certainly divides people as does the number of student residences for instance; but I’m quite sure most readers could happily

increase in the number of people sleeping rough or at least living on the streets in Beeston. There has been some robust discussion on the Beeston Updated Facebook group about the reasons and causes of this – as I mentioned, politics sometimes differ – but from the incredibly expensive houses of Beeston Fields Drive to sleeping bags on the High Road it can certainly be said almost all human life is here.

As a man who plays at being the country’s most famous outlaw, famed for a rather proactive redistribution of wealth, I’m not advocating anything as radical but I hope we can all realise we're part of something bigger, to see outside our own narrow frame of reference and help each other – even those we don’t know – to live and thrive in our great town, one I truly believe is one of the best and most welcoming in the country.

TP

JADE MOORE On Beeston's Poetic Soul...

POETRY ROUND-UP Some dates for your diary...

POTTLE POETRY

First Sunday of the month The Pottle micropub 4-6pm A free, open mic poetry afternoon, everyone welcome!

PAPER CRANE POETS

Every other Tuesday, Beeston Library 5:30-7:30pm, 18+ Paper Crane Poets is a brand new poetry collective, hosted by local poets Chris McLoughlin and Leanne Moden! We're looking forward to building a group of writers who collaborate, encourage, and support each other.

PROFESSIONAL TUNING AT A COMPETITIVE PRICE Nottingham, Derby & Leicester 07528322262 christianafox@msn.com FB: Christian Fox Piano Tuning foxpianotuningnottingham.wordpress.com

ANNOUNCING THE 6 TH ANNUAL

The biggest international short film festival in the Midlands

Why watch international short films?

Beeston Film Festival is the biggest international short film festival in the Midlands. For 6 years the festival has provided an amazing platform for our community to celebrate film, and filmmakers from all over the world.

Over 5 days, in 3 venues, more than 150 films from 30 plus countries, across every continent, will excite an East Midlands audience. The festival will present a wide range of films including dedicated Horror, Comedy, Non-Fiction, Animation and Drama sessions, plus films expressing Women’s Voices and campaigning, message-driven films the aim to make the World A Better Place.

When does it happen?

The festival venues and dates are Wednesday 25th March 2020 – 8 pm The Berliner, 6-8 High Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1ES Thursday 26th March 2020 – 7 pm University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG7 2RD Friday 27th to Sunday 29th March Middle Street Resource Centre, 74 Middle Street, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, NG9 2AR

Find out more

More details will be available on the following sites Website - www.beestonfilm.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/ beestonfilm Tickets on Sale - www.eventbrite.com/o/ beeston-film-festival-18533710132 Festival Trailer - https:// drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4vm9ag0ZE3mpDntzd2GkexIPe63S2K/ view?usp=sharing

The festival gives you the opportunity to see the famous filmmakers of the future telling a wide range of stories, demonstrating the style and imagination that will make them into next year’s JJ Abrams or Greta Gerwig.

And each year we are pleased to welcome more and more filmmakers attending the festival. This will be your chance to quiz directors and performers and cinematographers about their dazzling skills and imagination

John Currie, Festival Director, is the Beeston Film Festival Director says that this years festival will delight and amaze. The festival has had a 40% increase submissions this year, making the competition for selection greater and ensuring the quality is even higher than last 2019.

We would very much welcome the opportunity to talk to you and share our vision and ambitions for the festival.

If you would like any further information, please don't hesitate to contact either John or Manon, details below.

Details: john.currie@beestonfilm.com and manon.eliayan@beestonfilm.com

BEESTONUPDATED

CROSSWORD#68

Healing a town with shoe-shop chat

A

n issue that for some time neatly divides a community directly down the middle, cleaving them into two camps that seems intent on destroying all common ground between them. A debate that very rarely gets deep into facts before the ad hominem attacks, insults and threats. A political class that knows divide and conquer is a low but effective technique. A seemingly irreparable division that toxifies all it touches.

beestumped 1. W hich famous alien chose his name because “when he first arrived fifteen years ago, the minimal research he had done had suggested to him…” that it would be “… nicely inconspicuous”?

2. A Banksy painting of ‘Girl with Balloon’ self-shredded after selling at action in October. Where did this take place?

THIS IS IT: THE HARDEST QUIZ IN BEESTON! DO NOT SPILL ITS PINT!

1.

2.

3.

3. What is Professor McGonagall’s first name?

Nah, we don’t do Brexit on these pages, we’re talking about the tram. It’s hard to remember how divided things were then.

We stuck down an editorial line of not being pro or anti as we could see how divisive it was, but still were accused from both sides of being a propaganda tool for the others. It was a pretty nasty time, and was best summed up by the NET Tram Ranting Room on Facebook, an area of much heat and little light. Here, the loudest voices were amplified further over the quiet voices of reason, and dissent was not welcome. It was a hateful, horrible place serving to make the situation increasingly febrile. So well done to an unassuming local guys, Jon Speed and Steve Orton who decided to do something about it. They set up a new group, and called it ‘Beeston Updated’.

set to diminish, we decided to refocus. I’d early done much work in tandem with the Beeston and District Civil Society and Sir/ Professor Martyn Poliakoff, and others, in trying to imagine what the next phase of the Square development should look like. We had ran a process of asking a bunch of the finest, freshest minds in urban development together by setting it as a University of Nottingham project, with staggeringly imaginative results, fully costed and studied, presented openly for the public. Not a single councillor bothered visiting the display, and years on the Square is only just getting built on by the dullest set of buildings imaginable.

What would happen if we discussed, en masse, the future of Beeston development?

Have a forum to find out what people really want, rather than the useless and skewed public consultations put out by councils?

Beeston Updated took a step into the future.

And what a future it has been. Membership began to rocket, and to ensure that it was well served rules put in to allow everyone to talk in an open, positive fashion rather than the usual fate of forums: The Gobshite Takeover.

Balancing this with freedom of expression is a developing, complex issue, yet I think it works, despite the aforementioned gobshites misunderstanding that ‘freedom of speech’ is the same as ‘freedom to be listened to’.

7.

Originally the ‘NET Phase 2 Discussion Room’, its initial idea seemed to be a refuge for disaffected Rant Room defectors who wanted something less substantial than the usual ‘WHY OH WHY OH WHY fodder’. As it started to attract members, a local woman, Kirstie, was invited on board, and then I was hauled in. ‘We’ll probably plateau at around 750 members’ I predicted, maintaining my prognostic aptitude finely - I’m the anti Nottstradamus, it seems.

8. “ All children, except one, grow up” is the first line of what famous work of literature?

8.

As the tramlines came close to completion and the raison d’etre of the group looked

When the 12 year-old Rylander Owen Jenkins drowned in the Trent attempting to rescue two girls, the news first broke on BU, and the response was overwhelming. People were desperate to be able to offer help, even if it was just in the form of condolence. Owen’s

9. I n which Parisian museum would you find Auguste Renoir’s ‘Bal du Moulin de la Galette’?

9.

10. Who designed ‘The Angel of The North’?

10.

The Beestonian is...

Stockists: Berliner, The Hive, Circle Eatery, The Hop

4. W hich 1930 painting by Grant Wood depicts a farmer holding a pitchfork and standing in front of a building alongside a woman?

5. I n which of Shakespeare’s plays do Oberon, Titania and Lysander appear?

6. W ho was thirteen and three quarters when he wrote his secret diary?

4.

5.

6.

7. What type of animal is Jeremy Fisher?

Lead Writer/Founder • Lord Beestonia Co-Founder/Resident Don • Prof J Editor • John Cooper Deputy Editor • Chris Frost Design & The Beest • Dan Cullen Business Manager • Helen Cullen History Editor • Joe Earp

ANSWERS: Ford Prefect/Sotheby’s in London/Minerva/American Gothic/A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Adrian Mole/Frog/Peter Pan/Musée d’Orsay/Tony Gormley

www.beestonian.com thebeestonian@gmail.coM

... If you’d like to be a stockist, let us know by emailing thebeestonian@gmail.com

Themes, private jokes - the non-existence of shoe shops / public toilets is a perennial favourite, and memes have grown over time, as has a very welcome effect: despite the boards occasional frivolity and trivialities, it sometimes serves an important purpose.

Pole, The Crown, The Star, The Malt Shovel, Broadgate Laundrette, Bubba Tea, The Bean, Beeston Library, Cafe Roya, Metro, Beeston Marina Bar and Cafe, Attenborough Nature Reserve, The Pottle, Greenhood, Beeston Nursery, The Victoria, Canalside Heritage Centre, Oxfam Books, L’Oliva, Two Little Magpies, Local not Global, John Flynn Opticians, Out of this World, lots of hairdressers and suchlike.

family were inundated with offers of help, and as the tragedy settled into the town’s consciousness ideas were brought forth: Owen’s favourite colour was purple, so the town mobilised to display the colour all over, to show solidarity to Owen’s family. By the time his funeral happened, the streets from Rylands to Wollaton Road were lined with those wishing to pay respect. Out of tragedy, beauty.

There have been numerous such tales since, though few tinged with such tragedy. The deaths of notable local John ‘Fastlane’ Ciutiskis and busker Percy Brown saw the town come together on the group to ensure that they both received dignified send-offs.

Pets have been reunited, friends bought back together, many, many small acts of communal goodness enacted. Oxjam, Street Art, and Beeston Carnival are all enhanced by the existence of the group.

It’s not perfect - what community is? It has, at time of writing, 20,394 members, which represents a vast majority of on-line Beestonians. While some of these admittedly are ex-residents of the town and confused Leeds residents perplexed at there being more than one Beeston, I’m delighted my original prediction was out by 2600%. While time and familiarity have been the greatest healers of the social wounds caused by the tram debacle, I am sure Beeston Updated has been a help in getting to understand who we are as a community, and bringing us a little closer.

And for the record, there are SEVEN places where men’s shoes can be purchased within Beeston, forchristsake.

MT

Top-notch contributors this issue: Matt Turpin, Matt Jones, John Cooper, Dan

Cullen, Scott Bennett, Tim Sexton, Isaac Seelochan, Jo Norcup, Daisy Leverington, Christopher Frost, Matt Jones, Debra Urbacz, Tim Pollard and Lulu Davenport

Beeston

CHRISTOPHER FROST

2020 Vision LULU DAVENPORT Curiouser and Curiouser!

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lreet my lovelies, how the devil are ya all? This be my first writing for the magazine this year and boy where do Istart with 2020? , The crap weather? the flooding? Or maybe even the endless traffic due to that pesky Clifton Bridge? Or the endless colds?

To top it all off with a big beautiful cherry, am day 1 million 645 on the sober train, It might be a teeny, tiny, exaggeration but still you get the jist. To stop me from becoming a completely grumpy, cantankerous hermit till at least mid spring, a friend suggested heading over to The Berliner for a cheeky mid week outing, at the Curious Cabaret being in a sum what quite cheery mood that day and the promise of cake I said yes.

Described as ‘a monthly evening of magic, stand up comedy and poetry’, the night is designed to give a platform for both new and experienced performers on every third Wednesday of the month. With high hopes I headed to the bar on High road nice and early to grab a table (at the back obvs) and await the entertainment. As Alice once said, Curiouser and Curiouser!

I didn’t quite know what to expect for the evening, the venue was buzzing with people taking advantage of the bars 2 for 1 offer on cocktails before 9pm and I even convinced a friend to try the Calpol shot, yup that right, the childhood medicine we all pretended we were ill for, is back in alcohol form. Priced at £2 the pick me up drink doesn’t even require convincing ya mum you're poorly,

result! I promptly ordered one for my friend while I opted for the ginger spice mock tail which was lush at £3.50. 8pm was lights up time, compere and host for the evening Chris Wilder, introduced a night of magic, mind readers and manipulators. I was a little nervous as my experiences with magic include watching Tommy Cooper on the telebox, kid’s entertainers at friends’ parties at American Adventure and watching the 2006 Illusionist film with Edward Norton in it, none of which makes me any kind of expert on the world of illusions and trickery.

The air filled with tenseness as the first act talked us through a trick with a Rubiks cube, his dash of comedy eased the atmosphere as people stood eager to see. The acts ranged from card tricks and psychological illusion with Marc Oberon to audience participation and Chinese coin trickery with Canning Circus’ Rob Soane, even some mind reading with Dean O Dell, last spot of the night went to Chris Benkin, a magic circle member who uses horror stories, rock music and eerie magic reveals to engage the audience.

All in all a fabulous evening right on Beeston's doorstep, the event is free with an option later on to contribute to the performers and future nights, which will be March 18th, I even learnt a bit myself, I worked on my disappearing wedges trick, JUST LIKE THAT!! Ooo...Why did the magician decide to quit drinking? Because every time he walked down the street he turned into a bar!! I will show myself out....

LD

W

hat could Beeston look and be like in ten year’s time? Well you now have the opportunity to put your thoughts on paper to a small team of locals under the #Beeston2020Vision banner, as they are collecting such ideas in readiness for an open meeting later in the year.

This event will be take place on May 15th at the Pearson Centre, beginning at 7pm.

Beestonians can come along and listen to

What of future Beeston?

speakers, ask questions and give their views on what our town might be like in 2030.

Will it be about the same, or will it be vastly different to what it is now?

A number of individuals, including myself have already contributed ideas. These can be found on CP Walker’s website and the Facebook page (search Beeston2020Vision).

So grab a drink, dust off your crystal ball and imagine what our part of the NG9 postcode might be like. And then come along in May and see if anyone else shares your vision CF

riverrun

B

eeston poet Alan Baker’s poems about the Trent, ‘RIVERRUN’ is a favourite here in Beestonia Towers.

Here, published with kind permission from Alan, is a sample of its excellence:

repeated low-pressure systems from the Atlantic basin cross and re-cross the midlands plain water-logged catchment, snow melt becoming memory of legendary flood its narrative possibilities which give us the Trent magically alive in the sense that magic is transformation of sand martin nests of living riverbanks calling the faithful each spring RIVERRUN is AVAILABLE FROM Knives, Forks and Spoons Press: https://bit. ly/3aJ6BHX

Five star childcare

in the hear t of our community

Call us now on

0115 7750185 to book a visit and find out why our families c heck love us! o www.beestonnursery.co.uk N e w ut t h e w e bs i

te!

www.beestonian.com thebeestonian@gmail.coM