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Beestonian The

H

opefully you are feeling a bit more optimistic and hopeful the future. We’ve had promising news about Covid vaccines, restrictions are going to be lifted by the government, and this issue is bursting with news of what people in the area have been doing and planning to help others around them

We try to avoid politics in this magazine, so we will avoid going into loads of detail about austerity, cuts to public spending etc which has resulted in so many people needing to rely on friends, family, neighbours and strangers to keep them fed.

Even before Covid, it really is bizarre that one of the richest countries in the world sees so many people having to use foodbanks. They are literally a lifeline, and demand on them will only increase over the coming months. We have features on some of the local ones that are making a huge difference.

If you are able to, please consider donating something to them.

Another way you can make a difference is by doing more shopping locally with some of our superb independent retailers. Supermarkets and other big retailers have increased their lion share of spend since March, so now is time for some of the local heroes to get some back.

Any younger readers should look to middle pages for our superb ‘MiniBeest’ special, which features details of a Santa-spotting activity among loads of other fun stuff. Kids have really had it tough during lockdown, so we hope this goes some way to helping.

As always, if you think there is something that should be featured in here then please get in touch – thebeestonian@gmail.com is the place to send everything.

Everyone here at The Beestonian would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year – one which promises to be infinitely better than 2020!

JC

John Cooper Editorial

beeston speaks

i am

This issue: Tim Bassford - Creative Champion “Sometimes Beeston feels like the Brighton of the Midlands.”

I

was actually born in neighbouring Bramcote, but have also lived in Chester, Belfast, Athens and the more exotic region of Mapperley Top..

We moved back to Beeston about 12 years ago, as most of our friends and family were on this side of Nottingham. We just about got settled back into the area, around the time the tram work began and the Beeston social media became full of vitriol about the major upset it was causing. The mayhem caused by the roadworks reminded me very much of Beirut in the late 80s, without as many hostage sieges. It felt like we'd returned to Beeston at a pretty eventful time.”

“I run my own company (Turbine Creative) producing marketing materials (videos, animations, branding etc). I studied Fine Art then moved into graphic design and marketing from there. In the past I've had the privilege of working with companies like The Walt Disney Company, The Discovery Channel and the BBC. A massive part of my work involves video production for corporate clients. As well as creating videos for clients, I also love making short films and music videos for friends.”

“Beeston is clearly an awesome town to live in and only getting better. For a relatively small town is has a massive depth of cultural, historical, sporting and social strengths.

Beeston has so many different characters the beauty of the Rylands, canal side and river (love the Park Run), the social celebrations at Christmas and summer markets. The spectacular university grounds and the nightlife on the high street and Chilwell High Road. I love the brilliant range of quality bars (Berliner, Crown, The Vic' to name a few), the awesome restaurants, and as a family we've been able to get involved in various local sports clubs. It really has got a perfect mix.

There's also a load of great memories for me here from when I was a kid, going to 'Fords - the family store' on the High Road (which felt like Harrods to a seven year old me) and visiting John Menzies or Woolworths with my pocket money.”

“I think in this challenging time we've really seen the people of Beeston coming together to support and help one another. I know our neighbourhood has been able to rally around and help each there with both practical help and moral support with communal singing, clapping for the NHS, social distanced parties.

Although the various Beeston social media

groups attract some more polemical views, they also present a real reflection of some of the amazing things Beeston’s community are doing to support and encourage one another. The Oxjam music festival must be one of the most amazing things that the Beeston community puts on. The Beeston Film Festival also is an amazing initiative that seems to be punching well above its weight on the international film scene.”

“I've personally been blown away by the creative community in Beeston. There are so many artists, illustrators, film makers, writers, musicians, craftsmen. They're all over the place! Sometimes Beeston feels like the Brighton of the Midlands. I've been able to find great creative collaborators in Beeston, including my sister-in-law, Carmen Flores, who also resides in Beeston and is an accomplished violinist. We recently worked on a series of short films for the brilliant Nottingham Chamber Music Festival. These films can be seen here: www.nottschamberfest.com “ “On a slightly less cultured note I found another creative collaboration whilst out having a few beers with the Dads from school at the Greyhound. We stumbled upon an incredible band called Iron Python, a tribute 'Hair Metal Rock n Roll band'. They were the most brilliantly camp and over the top performers I have ever seen in my life.

Jumping all over the bar and pneumatically groin-thrusting a beer pump here in a bar in Beeston. A few months later I asked them to be part of a national marketing campaign I was involved in and was subsequently able to capture their energetic performance in an award-winning advertising campaign!”

“Another great thing about Beeston, is that it is continually evolving and surprising me with its entrepreneurialism. There are some great independent shops, small businesses and a whole bunch of people exploring new ideas and new initiatives. I think the regular influx of students ensures a certain kind of energy and the fact that many residents work at the uni, hospital or in tech of some kind, means there's always lots to talk about at the pub (when you're allowed to go!). Of course I can't finish this without a massive shout out to The Beestonian and all of those who continually promote and champion the benefits of our brilliant town.”

CF

Gratitude is Amy Victoria Gathercole how some Beestonians embraced the new in 2020

W

hen I was asked to join the writing team for the mighty Beestonian in the summer (I was honoured), it was to share all about my involvement volunteering and running the For the Love of Scrubs (FTLOS) community, that to date has in Notts has now made and donated 30,000+ items of PPE across the last eight months, with a hub in Beeston Rylands making over 2,000 items of that total.

Reviewing the FTLOS project, it got me thinking, as we lean towards the now expected #Top9 social media-based yearly reviews that flood channels and feeds in December, about the positives of this very difficult and tumultuous year. Hopefully the reassuring chats with friends and family (fingers crossed, over drinks in person at our locals!) about our memories of 2020, as we review what has been a truly unprecedented and unpredictable year, can have a positive spin. It made me ponder what about the good things? What have people learned that’s new and how have lives improved? I've always been taught to be one to look for the silver lining in a negative situation, so thought we could celebrate some stories of positivity and possibility as we draw the now infamous 2020 to a welcome close.

Over the past few weeks, I've sought out some stories to share to warm your heart as you sip a hot drink flicking through our Christmas issue considering your own highlights of the year. I promise, there will be some if you really think hard enough. As a very wise, nearly 90-year-old man once told me "Gratitude is the best attitude".

Ben Thomson, 55, Rylands Resident Ben had huge plans for this year and when he learned his artistic summer abroad would sadly be cancelled, he realised, (like many of us) being stuck at home all of the time, that he simply had too much stuff. So he's spent the past few months selling it and generously donating a third of the profits to local charities.

Using local social media groups and freecycle pages he's made over £650 selling what he now calls 'tat'. His highlight has been meeting people at his doorstep, (socially distanced and protected) but sharing life stories with neighbours he's never known and strangers otherwise he would never have met. In his words: "I didn't know what life in lockdown would bring this year, but looking back on it, it has actually brought me more happiness than

strife. At the start of 2020, before the world began to live through this pandemic, my plans were to spend most of my year painting in Italy and exploring galleries. Something I’ve been looking forward to since my wife passed.

Spending it in (mainly) sunny Beeston making new friends and meeting my neighbours wasn't on the agenda. Now though, I'm thrilled. Plus I made some more pocket money for those tasty gelatos in 2021 when my trip is replanned for... all being well. I've made some great new friends, and when lockdown eased I visited my local, The Jolly Angler with two of them (something we hope to make a regular jaunt), and a lady who bought a VHS player from me has now become, well... a new special friend. So who knows what the future holds for this hopeful widower… always look for the rainbows in a storm is my advice."

Ruth Raven, Rylands Resident Volunteering tirelessly as part of the aforementioned For the Love of Scrubs movement as a local hub leader this year brought a new skill into Ruth's life, as amidst the hours of driving to drop off supplies to sewers and collect scrubs etc from makers she had a go herself. This year was the year Ruth learned to sew and now there is no stopping her. She started small with laundry wash bags for scrubs and masks and now has moved onto gift bags and more. She said: "Amongst all of this I’ve actually learnt to sew too! It's something I know I’ll love forever. It's thanks to the support in my Hub and from the organisers (including Amy) and being inspired by all of the makes that I was collecting and sorting that I have learnt a new skill. Learning to sew was something I would never have done if it wasn't for living in a lockdown, so it’s had it has had positives!

I’ve sewn a few things since starting to learn, and my most ambitious project to date is seat covers, I am still learning but really enjoying it.

As a child I used to love watching Mum sew on her old Jones treadle machine, she’s sadly no longer here but I’m sure she’d be amazed I’ve finally taken it up.

I have so many memories of this year, I just wish I’d made a record of them all and I’d definitely encourage anyone to go out there and volunteer, as it enriches your life and without a doubt get more out of it than you put in."

an attitude Mary Dodson, 74, Beeston Resident When a letter popped through the door telling her that she was required to shield, Mary was frustrated and very upset. With no-one local to her to form a support bubble with, she turned to reigniting her creative side, something she felt that she had sadly neglected over the past few decades. She said: "I only retired in the past couple of years and 2020 has brought a lot of loneliness into my life. I've had some very miserable days as I've not been able to visit friends or my local Beeston haunts like The Canalside Heritage Centre for a cuppa. My daughter who lives abroad suggested that I try a new craft, as it would hopefully take my mind off of things and stop me obsessively watching and listing to the news. A bad habit that I developed this year.

Once upon a time, I used to paint, but I didn't fancy that, instead something that had fascinated me in my youth was origami. She sent me some videos online and I tried it, but it was too much for my now not-so-nimble fingers. However, I learnt about book folding and now I am addicted. When the lockdown

was lifted I started making weekly visits to Beeston's charity shops and the £1 book shop for 'supplies'. Now, I have a new hobby and everyone will be receiving handmade Christmas gifts from me this year. Hurrah! It has even been suggested that I start a little business next year! In my 70s before a pandemic hit the world, I would never have dreamed I could do that. So it’s worth looking for the positives, even in such a dismal time”.

However you spend Christmas this year, I hope that it's Merry. Some traditions will no doubt be different, and sadly some possibly non-existent. Rather than mull over the changes with a gloomy view, try to embrace them like Mary, Ben and Ruth.

Why not take or make note of things that have been surprising, challenging, new and different this year... As a prolific list writer since I could hold a pencil, I was recently introduced to making a 'Ta-Da! List' at the end of a day, as opposed to a 'To-Do List' at the start of it and it's much more productive and kind to yourself.

See you in 2021.

AVG

A Seasonal Uni-verse Prof J

Teams goes ping, are you listening?

In the main, all are muting.

A PC delight, no time for Fortnite, Working in a Uni wonderland Gone away is the pension Here to stay, is the tension What could go wrong? We may not carry on Working in a Uni wonderland On the campus we can build (nice floor plan!)

Then we’ll change our minds and pull it down They'll say “are you harried?” We'll say... “yes, most of the time actually, why don’t you try the job when you’re in town!”

Later on, we'll inspire (Although the marks may be dire) And we’ll stay quite afraid, about the plans we've all made Working in a Uni wonderland D.C. ad nauseum Wishing you all a restful and peaceful winter break – take care.

Poetry Corner Prof J with a HE take on a classic Christmas song...

Tim Pollard This issue: Optimism

A

s I write, it’s been a couple of days since the long-awaited news that finally a vaccine for Covid has been found; even more astounding is that it apparently has over a 90% efficacy – and today a second equally if not more effective vaccine was announced.

Now I know there’s still a long way to go before anyone I know ends up having it administered, but at least theoretically it appears Covid may be on the back foot for once. By this time next year we may be looking back and breathing out a little.

Of course, that’s not a given; there may be stumbling blocks along the way, but I am vastly heartened by the prospect of an end to lockdowns, fear and people both catching - and very sadly dying from – a novel virus.

Some of the barriers may be scientific, logistical or legal; others may be entirely human – the tinfoil hat brigade who won’t swallow medication but will swallow just about anything else it appears. Sadly the country now seems to have a risibly high percentage of people who don’t see the irony in using their mobile phones to insist online that ‘the vaccine has a chip in it which can track you’, or that ‘they’ll use it to turn your brain off’ – a ship that for them has patently already sailed. Still I guess it’s nice to think they imagine they’re that important that the government would want an extra way to track them…

Having said that, I don’t think anyone would need tracking devices for me at the moment, I’ve spent pretty much all the time since the first lockdown in my house – and I’ve been loving it.

"...unlike so many people I’m perfectly happy in my own company with Radio 4 on.”

I’m an anti-social bloke at the best of times, enjoying movies, reading, gaming, painting miniature wargames figures and sleeping when I’m not looking after my six year old daughter (which means in reality I get very, very little time to do anything in that list). But unlike so many people I’m perfectly happy in my own company with Radio 4 on.

I do have some good friends and family who I keep in touch with online and that’s great too – but I don’t imagine it’s been as fun for most people who enjoy going to football matches, clubs, big family gatherings, as well as out to work, seeing friends in real life etc.

Of course, being a self-employed Robin Hood I’ve lost a lot of work (all of it, actually) as the tourism trade is… well, it isn’t. Not only have all of my normal gigs gone, but even the special ones - I was supposed to be taking part in the Lord Mayor’s Parade in London last weekend and I’ve even lost my favourite last gig of the year, being Santa for the annual kids Christmas concert at Nottingham’s Albert Hall. So yea, like a great many others my income has decreased significantly, but thankfully I can still write and illustrate so compared to a great many I’m very lucky – but I’m very much hoping things can pick up again next year.

Hence yet again my being incredibly thankful for the massive effort made by scientists and researchers world-wide to get this pandemic under control. Those of you who’ve read my ramblings before will know I’m a big geek – I love Star Trek (the proper one with Captain Kirk, obviously). The inherent optimism in that show is something I’m feeling now – that despite things being bleak, despite there being economic loss, sadness and death all around us the world has pulled together and done something about it in record time. The folks who complain about the vaccine being found so quickly compared to other diseases (etc., etc.) seem happier to complain than realise that when everyone pulls together we can get things done, make life better, easier and give people back something that’s been missing since all of this started – optimism.

Kylie Goodband, 32, has been volunteering at the club after losing her job as a carer

Phoenix comes to the Rescue A football club in Chilwell provided free meals during the half-term break.

P

hoenix Inham FC helped 140 individuals as they joined a number of restaurants and cafes across the country in feeding disadvantaged people.

The club’s efforts have been recognised on Twitter by Marcus Rashford who has been a leading campaigner in trying to end child hunger in Britain.

The England international footballer successfully forced a government U-turn to extend free school meal vouchers over the summer.

But the scheme was not extended during half-term - a move which prompted widespread criticism.

Richard Ward, chairman of Phoenix Inham said: “I think it’s disgusting.”

“There's a lot of parents who have lost their jobs and suddenly you'll go from having a permanent wage to having nothing whilst trying to afford a mortgage and everyday household bills.

“People need free school meals.”

Richard was born in Chilwell so knows the importance of providing food and support to the local community.

Isaac Seelochan

“We spoke to a lady whose partner was furloughed back at the beginning of lockdown and sadly on Monday they received a phone call saying they’ve gone into liquidation,” he said.

“They've got a family with two children who they now can't afford to feed.”

Latest government data shows that the percentage of students eligible for FSM’s has increased across all schools from 15.4% in 2019 to 17.3% in 2020.

That percentage is only going to increase with the number of people losing their jobs during the pandemic.

32-year-old Kylie Goodband has been volunteering at the club after recently losing her job as a carer.

Left to right: 23-year-old volunteer Nile, Raiden aged 9, Macaulay aged 10, club chairman Richard, Kylum aged 11 and parent Kelly, aged 32

Kylie said: “If I was in need then at least I know that I've got people to come to when I need it.”

“I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands at the moment so I like to help out as much as I can.”

The Beestonian have asked Broxtowe MP, Darren Henry, to comment after being one of over 300 MPs to have voted against extending the FSM scheme.

Mr Henry has yet to respond.

IS

The club have been providing free food during the half-term break

Hope Bey T

Matt Turpin It’s been a decade since Hope House first opened on Boundary Road.

Founder Nigel Adams tells us how the pandemic has proven a challenge, but one they’ve met headon.

he laugh Nigel Adams gives before telling me what this year has been like for him contains just the right amount of sardonic cheer to almost make his reply redundant. “It’s been weird’ he says, his eyebrows letting me know this is quite the understatement.

It certainly has been a far from normal few months for the founder of Hope House, the food bank in Beeston North that has been a safety net - and a trampoline, which we will explain in due course - for the past decade.

“We knew instantly we had to react fast. We decided to close half of the food banks in our network (Hope oversees 14 similar places across the county), as many of our volunteers had to shield, and we saw that a delivery service was the best way to help” Nigel opened Hope House ten years ago, perhaps uncoincidentally the same year a new austerity-inflicting government came to power. An engineer by trade, he had took ‘a leap of faith’ to change careers to set up the charity, after helping the Parish Pantry, an under-resourced (“It was little more than a portakabin, no water, and a sideboard to store the beans in”) soup kitchen operating out of Wollaton Road Methodist Church. “We had a vision to set up something more holistic on bigger premises and eventually got offered Boundary Road Reform Church” he explains.

“The CAB were signposting many people to us, and people presented themselves in all sorts of situations”. Seeing demand would only grow, he took up an offer to take over the disused Boundary Road Reform Church, and registered as a Trussell Trust foodbank. Since then, it’s become a much-praised institution, that’s helped countless vulnerable individuals and families.

Yet food is merely one element of what they do there “Food is important, obviously. But we have to have a more holistic approach, so as we’ve grown we’ve put in place things to help people help themselves: help accessing the right benefits, help getting back into work. We have a literacy group, an IT tuition group. The church itself is a community cafe” Nigel is very much an adherent to the idea of addressing the cause, not just the symptom “We build confidence, we give people the tools to help themselves. Often they come here as a last resort - they’re literally starving - and while we can address the hunger immediately, we want to be able to get that person out of the situation that led to that hunger”.

It’s a much more rounded approach: while food banks are often seen as single-purpose handing out food parcels - they often address a variety of needs. It’s a myth I acknowledge I’d believed before talking to Nigel, who is quick to set me right “The longer you spend in a bad situation -debt, joblessness, whatever - the harder it is to come out of it. The sooner we can help, the better. Yet it’s often only desperation that means they seek help”.

That decade of experience proved invaluable when the pandemic hit, and with it lockdown. “Just getting food was difficult” Nigel explains “Panic buying had emptied the shelves, so people who don’t have the financial means to do a big shop for staples were left struggling. We had to help people stay at home and stay safe just as much as to mitigate against poverty. Yet there was a tremendous outpouring of good, with organisations coming together to help.

We worked with Himmah (Muslim charity based in Forest Fields) and other food banks as well as local authorities. Everyone pulled together, and did so well before central government got going” . Demand rocketed, yet with it offers of help “Post-apocalyptic films always show that society reacts to disaster with an ‘every man for themselves’ attitude” he laughs, and with more than a hint of of pride says “the reality is people actually just want to help”. Such was the response, an answerphone service had to be added to the phoneline “Otherwise our admin staff would have been overwhelmed...it’s a great instinct, to want to help”. In just one fortnight in May, Hope House distributed more food than it usually does in a year.

This help, alongside generous donations and grants from the speedily set up Robin Hood Fund, DEFRA and others ensured that they could keep providing help across the region. They were able to not just hit a food in -food out equilibrium, but, in the manner of more conventional banks, store up some supplies. “We have a stockpile ready for winter. We tend to see much generosity over Christmas, but that falls back in January and February. By March, our shelves can be fairly empty: just as high energy bills hit households and topple them into debt. We have a buffer this year”.

Is he confident about the future, as the shadow of Covid falls over a long winter, with the wave of a mighty recession about to break on the shore? As the moratorium on evictions and the furlough scheme approach an end, things could get very grim.

ond “I’m an incurable optimist” Nigel tells me “Opportunities will arise, society will restructure” In no way should this be mistaken for complacency “We’re readying ourselves: strengthening the job clubs, working closely with the CAB, and so on” Such is the effectiveness of the social and signposting activity at Hope, the hardest part of lockdown is having to shut the cafe.

Such is its worth as a safe space, a place for confidence, sociability and employability to rebuild that having in closed for any period of time greatly slows down the way Hope works. Yes, they can keep people fed, and do that well. Getting them out of the rut that leads them to need help, not so much.

Hope

and we can make giant steps by just looking out for our community directly. It’s often much harder to check your neighbour than drop some pasta off with us, and could mean we wouldn’t see that person present to us”.

And if, by some miracle, everyone had enough to eat and Hope’s role became

redundant “We need community. If we weren't doing food we would be still providing that.

Community is - like food - a basic need, but one much easier to overlook” www.hope-nottingham.org.uk MT

What can we, as caring helpful Beestonians do? “A simple thing to do, which would have such an effect if we were all to do it, is instead of just giving to a food bank, check your neighbour. See how they are. There is a poverty of companionship in this country,

SUZANNA PLIMMER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER:

One night, the manager told me he was sending a load of food down to the Haven food bank in Stapleford. I was curious, so found out more, and

I moved on to deliveries, and what shook me was how there were people I knew, who never in my mind did I imagine they were needing help. I visited one set of flats, a building close to me but I’’d somehow not really noticed before.

I gave the woman living there some nappies. She burst into tears: her baby hadn't worn nappies for two days. That moment did something to me. I thought how the evening before I’d opened my fridge and thrown away all the crap I hadn’t not yet eaten that week. I was struck by what a waste it all was: I could afford

to throw food away while this poor woman couldn’t afford nappies.

“I gave the woman living there some nappies. She burst into tears: her baby hadn't worn nappies for two days.”

Since then, I only buy exactly what I need, nothing else. It’s morally corrupt to throw stuff away. I will never do so again, and will encourage others to do so. I take my lunches to work, and every scrap of leftovers is eaten. Until I worked at the food bank I didn’t know the extent into which this was all happening. We’re a rich nation, yet people have to rely on these silent heroes to help them.

The last few months have given me the opportunity to have some clarity.

Life before was a hamster wheel, working long hours and not having time to think about much outside work. I’ve seen what is important and what isn’t important.

Beeston through the

I had a couple of weeks just doing my Joe Wicks and whatever, but I felt in limbo. I was sewing scrubs and that was something, but I felt I needed to do more. I went to my local Co-op and said “If you want me to help stock the shelves then I’m happy to help”.

Remember, back then it was hard to get anything, and I thought volunteering to help might make it easier for them, and for my community. They said yes, and I got to work.

ended up asking a bloke working there, Richard (Macrae, Stapleford Community Group Director and local councillor) if I could volunteer more. I started by going to the food bank twice a week at the food bank picking the food. There’d be people with short term needs, people with long term needs, people with mental health issues: we’d serve them all. I was shocked at how many people needed help.

Lockdown

We were told by my school that we’d be off for two weeks, so leave everything on our desks and we’d be back in a fortnight. That night, Boris told us we’d be having the full shutdown. I’ve got three kids away at different unis, so I called them home - get back quickly. One of them, studying in Liverpool, thought it was all a fuss about nothing. I didn’t get to see her for six months.

Scott Bennett This issue: The season of Noel and antibacterial gel

S

o as I write this dear readers we are all in the middle of Lockdown 2 and like most sequels it’s not nearly as good as the original.

What did we expect though? We all saw the trailer back in March and we didn’t enjoy that either. This isn’t Terminator 2, it’s more like, 2 Lockdown: 2 furious.

At least in the original there was some poignant moments, the clapping for the keyworkers, the excitement of that first family zoom quiz, the satisfaction of taking that first Banana Bread out of the oven. It even had a cool catchphrase…..”stay safe” amazing, that’s like the new, “I’ll be back” Rumour has it that this second film is already way over budget and that’s just the millions the government have wasted on this track and trace app.

We were all impressed by the stunts in that first lockdown film too, they felt new and fresh. “Eat out to help out” was a good one. That bit with the big spike at the end was really impressive, even if we did all see it coming.

The first lockdown film, just captured the public’s imagination. It had a plot that united the country, then some bloke drove to Barnard Castle to check his eyesight and people suddenly lost interest. We all know it’s a movie, but that twist was too farfetched for even the most imaginative of us.

The government keeps dangling the idea of Christmas in our faces as some kind of bribery-bauble. I don’t think they get it, do they? I spent the entire month of April sitting on the sofa eating Pringles and watching the Tiger King back to back. I’ve had my Christmas. I don’t want Santa, I want freedom!

This is the only thing that makes this second lockdown bearable for me. In the first one my social media timeline was flooded by those annoying people. The one’s that looked at this whole crisis as a gift. You remember those ones, we had a name for them didn’t we? What was it now? Oh yes, I remember, “Bellends.”

They never stopped banging on about this moment as being the chance for them to finally finish that novel, grapple with a new language or learn that musical instrument.

What is wrong with them? Don’t they understand that no crisis in history has been

improved by the addition of a trumpet?

As for finishing a novel, time isn’t the only barrier there is it? if it was just a question of having time on your hands then why aren’t we seeing serial killers bashing out endless literary works? Take Rose West for instance, twenty five years and not one book, not even a podcast!

Many of us during the first lockdown, myself included, realised that time wasn’t the issue, we just lacked motivation. Some days were bleak. The lowest point was a Tuesday in April. All I did that day was griddle some aubergines. An entire day and that was my only achievement. I remember I needed a wee, but I decided to hold it in because I thought it would be nice to have some plans for the day after.

I get why people find these lockdowns frustrating, it feels like we’ve all been grounded by Boris Johnson.

If the R-Rate goes up again he’ll probably take our games consoles off us and send us to bed with no tea.

But this is the first time in history where staying in your house and doing nothing is seen as being heroic. You’re saving the NHS one boxset at a time. In the war you used to hear things like: “It’s not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!”

Well now it’s: “Do your bit, be a lazy sh*t” When this is over, we might all get medals, but not a George cross, just a gold brooch in the shape of a pizza slice.

Lockdown 2 isn’t about personal goals, bettering oneself or getting fit. It’s cold, it’s dark, we’re all a bit tired. This is a month of letting yourself go, sticking the elasticated sweatpants back on and trying to get gout by 1st December.

The fact remains though, that Christmas is going to be very different this year.

Firstly Christmas shopping isn’t going to be the same. The traditional Black Friday sales at the end of November will have to be done online. It’s good that we can still get those discounts but I will miss the adrenaline rush of having to wrestle another man to the ground just to get my hands on a cheap coffee maker.

It means more people shopping online. This is going to make Jeff Bezos from Amazon the richest man in history. By January he’ll have more money than Bruce Wayne. Can you imagine what his tax bill will be though?

Of course you can, It’ll probably be nothing, same as last year.

It’s everyone’s first Christmas during a global pandemic, and I think there will be some key differences. The first one concerns Santa himself. What if he has to self-isolate?

Are his reindeer in his support bubble? These are worrying times. Kids can still visit him, either over Zoom, direct to the North Pole, (if his broadband is up to it), or in person, with Santa handing over a freshly sanitised present on the end of a fishing rod.

He won’t be the first person who’s had to change their business practices this year. In an increasingly cashless society, 2021 will be the first year that the Tooth Fairy brings in a chip and pin device.

Everyone is worried about how the new regulations will impact upon the plans people have for Christmas. It’s going to affect us, especially if the rule of six is still in place on Christmas day. Only six people will allowed around the table and that’s a problem. Myself, Jemma and the two kids are in obviously, but what about the grandparents?

We’ve decided the best way to so this is to have a “Royal Rumble” style battle between them all for the two remaining seats at the table. I put money on my mum. She may be seventy but she fights dirty. She does Pilates, she’s spent hours lifting a Dyson and wringing out dishcloths, she’s wiry and lethal.

These regulations are also the perfect way to get rid of those family members who always ruin your Christmas! All those snide comments, those crap presents, now it’s payback time!

You could eliminate them like a talent show. Sit them down one by one in the kitchen.

“Uncle Alan, we’ve come to our decision, it’s been very difficult, you did very well, we all liked you and your attempts at humour… but I’m afraid to say, it’s a no!”

Feel free to come back and audition next December!

I’ve just found out that my four year old’s school Nativity play is happening without an audience this year. You can’t see my face but if you could, you would see how utterly devastated I am. I’ve decided to try and still recreate that experience at home though.

My wife and I will sit for three hours on tiny chairs with our backs to a radiator, reading lines from a script at a breathtakingly slow pace at a volume practically inaudible to the human ear.

Something we’ve all got on our Christmas lists this year is that vaccine. This is our only hope for a route back to normality again.

The recent news has been encouraging.

It’s a full on race now, with Oxford, Pfizer and the Russian one, Sputnik 5 all competing to be the first to get the doses ready for the population.

The Russian one is my favourite so far, Sputnik 5. That sounds like one up from Cillit Bang. Putin was so confident that is was safe, that way back in May he tested the first batch on his own children. What a hero, I can’t even get my two to try Broccoli.

In order for it to be effective we have to persuade the anti-vax lot to take it, which isn’t going to be easy.

“But I don’t know what’s in it, I don’t trust it!”

“Fine, Susan, I’ll have your share, you go and try your luck with some herbal tea and some ginseng from Holland and Barret” The conspiracy theorists claim that Bill Gates is trying to inject a microchip into all our brains, to track our every moment. I don’t mean to sound dismissive of that but haven’t you already have got something in your pocket that can do that? Your mobile phone.

“Why would you think that Microsoft would be interested in planting a chip in your head Alan?”

“All you’ve done today is read the paper, scratch your nut sack and make a cheese toastie, no one is putting that explosive information into a spreadsheet mate” A lot of people have said they don’t want to take the vaccine as they don’t want to put something they don’t trust inside their bodies.

It’s funny, a lot of these people probably

spent their teenage years experimenting with any chemicals they could get their hands on. Back in the nineties they would willingly hoover up drain cleaner off a cistern in Yates Wine Lodge every Saturday night, but now all of a sudden their body is a temple?

The vaccine will have to be stored at temperatures four times lower than the average freezer. Scientists haven’t decided on the location yet, but the other day I was in Iceland and I noticed that they had cleared a space next to the oven chips, so it looks like it could be sorted.

The government employed a PR firm for the vaccine, who have ran up a bill of £670K at the taxpayers’ expense. What on earth have they spent that money on?

I haven’t seen one trailer, or music video.

The vaccine hasn’t even got its own twitter account yet?

Surely this is the easiest PR job in the world, isn’t it?

I’ll give them the slogan now, “If you want to go outside again mate? Then stick this in your arm”, job done.

But whatever you do this Christmas, whoever you’re with, just remember that you’ve made it through, you’re still here and you’re doing brilliantly. So kick back, relax, take the pressure off, after the year we’ve all had, we totally deserve it.

Merry Christmas everyone and a happy new year.

Let’s be honest it can’t be worse than the last one, can it?

Scott Bennett Comedian www.scottbennettcomedy.co.uk Twitter - @scottbcomedyuk Instagram - @scottbcomedyuk Stand up from the shed – Live stream Every Week Live – www.facebook.com/scottybcomedy Podcast – Search “Stand up from the shed” on Apple and Soundcloud Twitter - @standupinashed SB

65 Only £ A3 for an or print A4 r £55 fo

proper Prints now available

Rendered in pen and watercolour, our expanding collection of Beeston's spectacular pubs and restaurants are now available as limited edition, signed Giclee prints.

• • • •

High quality Giclee prints, on thick A3, textured paper.

Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist £65 for A3, £55 for A4 (plus £5 postage if outside Beeston) Postcard sets coming soon...

Interested? Drop us a line at: thebeestonian@gmail.com and we'll arrange payment and delivery.

All p ro go to fits supp help o Bees rt the tonia n

t s e e B Mini The

Crush the Bor Blues w edom PERFEC ith this T pullout!

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kids ONING: LY!

let's go!

Puzzles, hunts, recipies and more in the mini-beest super-special pull-out!

Bake it!

Crispy Christmas Puds These are a marvellously tasty little treat, and they look FABULOUSLY FESTIVE! 50g Rice Krispies 30g raisins, chopped 50g butter 100g milk chocolate , broken into pieces A few drops of orange essence 40g mini marshmallows 50g white chocolate Icing holly leaves or green and red sprinkles

!

Hunt it Santa Spotting There are 15 Santas hidden over the main routes of Beeston and Chilwell, in the windows and displays of local businesses and organisations. Each Santa has a letter. Can you find them all, and spell out our Christmassy phrase?

If YOU email the correct answer to thebeestonian@gmail.com by January 2nd you’ll be entered into a prize draw and could win a voucher from Amores restaurant, or a fruit basket from Hallams! (thank you both for the kind donations!)

STEP 1 Put the Rice Krispies and raisins into a bowl. Put the butter, milk chocolate, and marshmallows into a small saucepan. Place on a medium to low heat and stir until the chocolate and butter have melted and the marshmallows well-softened and beginning to melt into the mixture. Add a few drops of orange essence and stir in briefly

STEP 2 Remove from the heat, mix in the rice pops and stir until well coated. Take a good dessert-spoon of mixture and shape it into a ball (some latex gloves can help here, if it gets too sticky!) and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Chill until firm.

STEP 3 Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Spoon a little chocolate over the top of each pudding. Top with ready-made icing holly leaves, or a pinch of green and red sprinkles.

Solve it!

Can you help the Beest get Santa’s lost sack of toys to him before Christmas Eve?

Start

find it!

Can you find all of these wintery words in our wordsearch?

BAUBLE CAROLS CHIMNEY CHRISTMAS FROST GIFTS NOEL RUDOLF SLEIGH SNOWFLAKE SNOWMAN STAR TINSEL TREE TURKEY

Ho ho... oh dear!

Welcome to The Mini Beest’s

Treasure Hunt!

Notepads at the ready! Follow the numbered clues in the bubbles and crack the riddles! We’ll direct you with landmarks, but you may have to read carefully – sometimes there are hints or words to make you think. If you can answer them all, there’s a small gift for you to collect from Two Little Magpies, on Broadgate!

This is not a timed exercise. The eager can do it all in one go, those who wish to do it in two parts, we’ve suggested a good break. Good luck!

1

Start

6

2

5

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3 4

7 14

15 8

13

9

16 12

10 17

11

Finish

Spot it!

Can you spot

14 differences in these two pictures?

1

Make it!

Twirly-whirly Christmas tree You'll need: Paper Plate Green paint Scissors Glue Needle and Thread

Decorating items such as: Paper Tissue Paper Pom-poms Glitter Gems Sequins

2

Take your paper plate, and Draw a spiral on it, roughly make it green on both sides 5 cm wide.

This is too hard.

I only found 3...

3

4

5

Cut the along the spiral to the Decorate along the spiral in Make two star-shapes and centre. Thread a bit of cotton whatever festive manner you glue them, back-to-back, to through the centre, which wish to! Either stick on to, or the base of the cotton. will be used to hang the tree. hang bits from, the spiral.

6 Find a place to hang your creation so it can twirl around freely

Write

it!

Draw

it!

Can you create a BRAND NEW Beest comic strip? Try writing in the words for the strip below!

Feeling confident? OK! Time to create YOUR VERY OWN Beest comic strip and - when it's PERFECT send it in to us at thebeestonian@gmail.com

Here's an old Beest comic strip for reference...

Survive & thrive A

s once again we find ourselves in a second lockdown, with Christmas approaching it feels appropriate to capture the mood and reflect on what we have found during our community work in the Rylands.

For many there is an expectation to maintain a stiff upper lip and plough through these unprecedented times, when in reality there is a need to allow ourselves to mourn our seasonal traditions and get togethers that we’ll be missing this year.

This year, the picturesque ideology that we often feel pressure to achieve seems more out of grasp than ever. So we’re starting a conversation to say that it is okay to admit that it’s not OK. Feel free to say that this is rubbish! It’s okay to verbalise that this is hard, and difficult and dismal at best, that we miss our loved ones and friends.

It’s okay for our Friday Club Clubbers to be unhappy that their weekly get together is on hold, and to not want to embrace Zoom calls or elbow rubs or face masks or social distanced walks in the torrential British weather. It’s okay for our young people to miss youth club, and it’s okay for volunteers to be tired and ask for support.

There is a trendy slogan doing the rounds on social media stating “We are all in the

B

eston Rylands Community Association (BRCA) continue to provide lunch deliveries and support to elderly residents.

All the while the team keep adapting their work to comply with the changing COVID-19 restrictions.

When we emerged out of full lockdown, we reintroduced Friday Club (our social dining club for the over 60’s), and therefore reduced the food deliveries. We instead introduced a food voucher scheme, where all those previously receiving a food delivery could go to the Boat House Cafe and get some hot or cold food twice a week.

same storm but we are not in the same boat”. While this in many ways is true, we can offer life boats to those who might be taking in water, we can recognise that some boats may be weathered or weary and giving out distress calls. This does not mean the boat and its crew are doomed it simply signals that its community needs to help slow the leak and support that struggling ship to navigate itself back to safe shores.

This Christmas for many of us is about weathering the storm and remembering that behind every dark cloud is blue sky.

We all have different ways of coping, whether it’s go for a run by the river with your permitted one companion, going for a walk with your family and picking up a takeaway coffee on the way, or staying home keeping safe and warm until the storm passes. It’s likely that Christmas will be different this year for most of us, so let’s be kind to ourselves and one another. Let’s enjoy the simple pleasures of the season and remember there is hope around the corner in the shape of vaccines, our caring community, and the thought of the arrival of a brand new year.

Community Matters Our BRAND NEW regular column: looking to the future

Janet Barnes and Naomi Robinson Community Activists

Since the tightening of restrictions, we’ve reintroduced twice weekly lunch pack deliveries for the most isolated in our community.

This work made possible thanks to Sarah, Sandie and Tony of the Boat House Cafe, our team of volunteers, and our funders: Broxtowe Borough Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, NET Coronavirus Appeal Programme, Martin Lewis Emergency Fund, and individual donors.

If you need help, please contact Janet Barnes, Development Officer / Volunteer: 07904 067160, janetmbarnes@ntlworld.com.

JB

Food Delivery UPDATE

Broxtowe Community Projects John Cooper A look at Beeston's latest community project

E

ver wondered what has happened to the old Carphone Warehouse shop on Queens Road? It is now occupied by Broxtowe Community Projects, who have been in there since the start of November.

The project is a self-referral foodbank covering all of the Broxtowe Borough Council area, which was originally set up in the Labour office on the High Road. ‘Selfreferral’ means that anyone in need can go and request help, rather than having to be referred by social services or other agencies.

As well as collections, volunteers deliver food parcels throughout the borough. The service is open on Mondays from 10am to 1pm, Fridays from 10am to 1pm, and delivers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This covers all of the borough, across to Stapleford all the way up to Kimberley and Eastwood.

The project runs on donations from the public, as well as supermarkets. As well as food parcels, those in need can also be provided with toiletries, nappies, formula milk etc.

Anyone wanting to donate can take items during opening hours. If that isn’t possible then there is a collection point outside. What is working really well is neighbourhood collections that can be taken to the project in one go during opening hours.

Donations that are most useful are pretty

much anything that has a shelf life – tins, packets and jars. Especially breakfast cereals and porridge oats, tins of soup, tinned meals such as chilli con carne or Bolognese sauce, rice, pasta, spaghetti. Also toiletries, nappies etc.

As well as serving those in need, each Saturday from 10.30am to 12.30pm the project is open to anyone who wants to come and take surplus food in exchange for a donation. As well as raising much needed funds, this also eliminates a lot of food waste.

One date for your diaries is Sunday 6th December, when they will be holding a craft fair between 10am and 2pm. This will feature donations from lots of local crafters, and is an ideal opportunity to pick up a unique Christmas gift.

The project is always on the lookout for volunteers, so if you have time to spare then get in touch and see how you can help - 07434 664 174 or email broxtowe.cp@ gmail.com To keep up to date with what is happening at the project, follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/ BroxtoweCommunityProjects JC

university

of beestonia

I

t feels like every day there are student stories in the news at the moment. Students are flouting coronavirus restrictions and holding parties in their flats. Hiding party-goers in their basements, attempting to evade police detection and avoiding hefty fines.

Unfortunately, this is an illusion that some people have subscribed to and believed. But from what I can tell, it’s the minority.

Across our university campuses in Nottingham, students are raising funds and collecting food for our city’s residents who are in a less fortunate position, offering a helping hand to their community.

Max Adler, who acts as the charity secretary for the University of Nottingham football team, helped organise an initiative that provided children with free packed lunches over the half term break, inspired by footballer Marcus Rashford’s campaign.

After teaming up with St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, the team helped distribute over 200 free lunches in Lenton, using money from their own pocket. Any leftover food was then donated to food banks to prevent anything from going to waste.

Max said: “While students get looked down on, so do members of sports clubs – they’re often known to be quite loud and noisy.

Following the government’s decision not to provide free school meals for school children over the half term holidays, the University of Nottingham football club wanted to help the community. We understand the difficult times we are living in and we firmly believe that no child should ever have to go hungry.”

Zain Gillani, the football team’s equality officer, also said: “Getting involved in the community and helping out as much as we can has been one of our main priorities every

single year. Whenever we see we can help make change, we go for it.”

Alongside this, the Portland building on the University Park campus has also seen an increase in donations. An initiative was launched at the University of Nottingham to help support local food banks. Partnering with the local food distribution company Foodprint, university students were encouraged to donate food outside the Spar shop in the Portland building, which would then be distributed to food banks and homeless shelters across the city.

Foodprint itself was a company founded

by University of Nottingham students in 2017 to battle the amount of food waste in a society that also tackles hunger. To them, the latter should not coexist with the former.

They have worked throughout lockdown, selling surplus food in their Sneinton store to avoid it heading to landfill.

Faith Pring This issue: Students breaking the stereotype

As well as food donations, students at the University of Nottingham are also encouraged to donate the drinks from their meal deals if they don’t want them, and on Sundays students can use up the remainder of their balance on their meal cards to spend on non-perishable food especially for the food bank donations. Whilst this operation was halted last semester as a result of cross-contamination fears amid coronavirus, workers at the Spar shop have noticed that food is once again being left for food bank donations so it is believed the initiative will start up again.

While sometimes students might be scapegoated, taking a further look can provide an insight into what students are really doing in lockdown, other than studying.

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Creative Debra Urbacz This month: Small is Beautiful

G

rowing up in a village in Derbyshire, we only had one local grocers, a tiny post office that never seemed to be open, and a butcher’s van that used to announce itself with a resounding ‘moo’ just before Saturday tea-time. This prompted a queue of 70s housewives clutching their clasp purses under one armpit, and often a wriggling child under the other.

As well as the family-run grocers, down on the main road through Denby, there was a curious little wooden construction we called ‘the paper shop.’ A small painted shack, about six foot by eight, it had floorspace for three customers at most, plus a lovely woman called Brenda who resided behind the counter in her thick fluffy cardi.

Reminiscent of The Cabin on Coronation Street, the walls festooned with sweets, cigarettes, newspapers, magazines and even the window was used to display a handful of small gifts and toys. In the winter months the cramped space was heady with Calor gas fumes and there was always tinsel at Christmas.

" It is those personal touches that make the difference, and the genuine appreciation shown for your custom...”

The Beestonian is...

Editor in Chief / Lord Beestonian:

Matt Turpin Co-founder /Resident Don: Prof J Editor / Ad Sales : John Cooper Deputy Editor /Community Editor: Christopher Frost Design & The Beest: Dan Cullen Creative Editor: Debra Urbacz Sports Editor/ Digital Wizardry: Isaac Seelochan Uni Editor: Faith Pring All Things Rylands: Janet Barnes / Naomi Robinson Finance/ Belper ambassador: Jade Moore

Stockists: (Subject to Lockdown ruling updates)

Barton's, Fred Hallam's Grocery, Berliner, The Hive, Circle Eatery, The Hop 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.

Brenda lived on one of the council houses in our village and had a son around my mum’s age, they had gone to school together.

As a consequence they had a lot of common threads and she always seemed pleased to see us. Brenda was one of those kind ladies with curly brown hair and crinkles at the corner of her eyes when she smiled, and she seemed to smile a lot.

She knew everyone in the village and always made a fuss of the children, she was the sort of woman that would just pop round with a present for the new baby in a family– my brother being one of the recipients eventually.

Call me sentimental, but I missed all those personal shopping experiences in the 90s, when coincidentally I worked in a large city shopping centre. By then spending money was reduced to an EPOS transaction that was over in seconds and sales assistants began to recite from a script. These days you don’t even have to have any kind of conversation in some of the larger shops, you can literally serve yourself! My childhood experiences might be one of the reasons why I still favour the personal touch when I part with my cash, and one of the reasons I enjoy living in a town like Beeston.

We have our fair share of self-supporting businesses in Beeston, some wellestablished like Hicklings, the friendly face of DIY, and Fred Hallam who have held their own against the supermarket chains.

contributors this issue: Scott Bennett Jo Norcup, Tim Pollard, Lulu Davenport, Amy Victoria Gathercole, Peter Robinson and Helen Goodbarton

Thanks to all who help us get the issue sustainable and available to all who want to read. If you’d like to help out - by advertising, promoting or writing with us, then drop us a line at thebeestonian@gmail.com. We are an absolutely independent, grassroots nonprofit community magazine with the sole intention of making Beeston a wonderful place to live, work and visit.

Beeston Chatting with friends, one tells me that the staff in Hallams have always helped her little girl buy strawberries on her own since she was three. She loves that they “put the receipt and change in her little hand.” We discussed how well Hallam’s readjusted to serve its community at the start of ‘lockdown’ another friend pointed out the locally grown produce they stock.

Craig Dawson’s Family Butchers are also more than happy to advise you how to cook any of the meat you buy and are never phased when you might ask for ‘something cheap that you can slow cook.’

And then there are the perks – “Market stalls sometimes knock a bit off when you are a regular and they recognise your face.”

It is those personal touches that make the difference, and the genuine appreciation shown for your custom. Especially at the moment, you can see the joy in the faces of any local independent business owner that you give the opportunity to serve you. And this is because it IS personal to them. They have genuinely put all of their energy, time and their often their savings into creating their unique businesses because they are truly passionate about them. More than just a job, their involvement can be round the clock, constantly working to improve on what they can offer. In the same way that an independent relies on the support from their community, they also recognise the importance of supporting other local businesses.

Sure, it’s been a really tough year for all

business, but the retail giants will probably survive by making a few cuts here and there, and I can imagine that online retailers like Amazon have actually thrived due to the pandemic. So it is vital that we help those gift shops, coffee shops, hair salons, restaurants, jewellers, newsagents and corner shops that make our town the vibrant and gloriously diverse place that it is. If they have had to close their doors for now, get in touch and shop online. Many of them have adapted well to making deliveries, you can even order your festive cocktails from the Berliner! Let’s try and make sure all of our independents are still here when we get to the other side - our local economy depends on it.

By shopping locally we are also less likely to spend money on fuel, wasting time in traffic and trying to find space in car parks. We can avoid getting caught up in the frenzied Christmas shopping experience. It might even allow us to slow down and live in the moment, appreciating the little things that make our festive season so special.

You can see a selection of what Beeston has to offer on the Creative Beeston Facebook page, and find a huge selection of local makers on the Made in Beeston page.

Shop small, for all!

DU

Creative Champions

J

ust before lockdown the ABC Art Trail were preparing to launch their publicity for the 2020 Art Trail, we shared their Primary School Art Competition giving prizes for both Key Stage 1 and 2 inviting all schools in Attenborough, Beeston and Chilwell to take part. They gave the children a loose title ‘Where I Live.’

The organisers were ‘overwhelmed with the tremendous response’ and the competition closed on 29th February. Entries were in their hundreds and they were brilliant! It took many months of socially distanced organisation but we are happy to inform you that judging was able to take place and we can now share with you the winners!

As the majority of the ABCAT sponsors allowed them to keep their support money the winners will be receiving a prize. All winning entries went on display as part of an exhibition at Canalside Heritage Centre on Monday 2nd November 2020.

Many thanks to the ABCAT organisers for sending us the photographs of the children’s wonderful artwork. Don’t forget to congratulate them when you see them.

Enjoy this issues gallery! www.abcarttrail.uk DU

TREES OF Winter 2020: The Holly and the Ivy Dr Jo Norcup The Holly and the Ivy, When they are both full grown, Of all the trees that are in the wood, the Holly bears the crown … … And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the Holly ...

I

n the now infamous Game of Thrones phrase, Winter is coming.

With darker days and longer nights however, comes the ritual of winter celebrations with seasonal songs and carols in which the Holly and Ivy of this issues Trees of Beeston is concerned.

In the last couple of years this column has focused on the pine tree, a seasonal spruce renowned for being brought into the home for decorating. This year, I wanted to consider other traditional evergreens that have come to symbolically gift hope as their leaves remain while their deciduous counterparts shed their autumnal hues to leave bare branches and twigs.

The evergreen is something of a hopeful signifier, and this year more than any other, I have looked for hopeful signifiers everywhere.

Nature has provided respite and balm throughout 2020, and if nothing else, has assured me that in living more sustainably with the wildlife of plants and animals in our local habitats, more hopeful ways and future days can be created.

So this year, a festive Trees of Beeston gives centre stage to two evergreens that are celebrated during winter. I want to talk about them, and then give some festive ideas for tree gifting

The Holly and the Ivy The Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is a stunning tree. The English Holly tree is a common wild species, spread and sown by the birds who eat its red berries (or how I came to have holly trees in my garden!). There are over 200 cultivated varieties of the tree and a couple of wonderful specimens stand tall on the outer edge of Dovecote Park along Queens Road East. They tower upwards and are already smothered in red shiny berries.

The Latin name translated fully means ‘with pointed leaves’ although not all varieties have the recognisable sharp pointed edges on an otherwise glossy deep green oval leaf, and many cultivated varieties have their ancestry in plants gathered in the 19th century from China and Japan.

The Holly tree itself is a wood beloved by carpenters, its wood being hard and pale, almost white once stripped of its bark. It has been prized by furniture makers, but it also provides long-burning in a fire once seasoned, a useful tree for our ancestors in this cold time of year.

Holly As both Holly and Ivy are found growing wild and retain deep green leaves throughout the coldest of months, this is why both plants became so significant to ancestors in their winter rituals and are synonymous with one another and the season of winter.

For Pagans, Wiccans and Christians alike, the Holly serves as icon for endurance and protection. The history of winter festivities in Britain indicate how Holly – along with Ivy (more of which shortly), - would be gathered and brought into Churches, ritual sacred spaces and into peoples’ homes or else hung outside on doors as its spiked-edged leaves were thought to offer up protection against any malignant forces that might attempt to enter community spaces. This tradition lives on in the door wreaths so popular as a decorative feature at wintertime. Druids, Celts and Romans also brought Holly into their homes, believing also that their leaves possessed magical properties in assuring that the spring would return. In other words, Holly was good luck for community members’ health, wealth and ultimate happiness going into the new calendar year.

BEESTON Ivy (Hedera Helix) Ivy, like Holly, grows fairly prolifically. Many people are familiar with the plant and see it climbing up trees, fencing or walls. It is a brilliant plant for its capacity to house overwintering insects, bats and other animals, providing both food and shelter at a time of year where limited plants grow. However, poor Ivy gets a bad rap. It is wrongly popularly thought that it is a parasite when this opportunistic plant will simply grow on trees or masonry that already has a weakness into which it can take a growing hold. It will creep across gardens and provide ground cover and as such it again provides protection and water absorbing properties, especially useful at a time of year when flooding as a result of heavy rain or snowfall can occur.

Wandering along the footpath of Dovecote Park heading towards Stan Bullard’s Green Man statue, I notice the Ivy creeping along the fences of the back gardens that serve as boundary to the park. The Ivy at this time of year begins to form its flower heads and black berries. If you look closely, you will find Ivy is alive to many insects using it winter shelter.

Both the Holly and the Ivy then provide berries for overwintering birdlife as well as habitat for the insects and pollinators we need in our gardens and local ecology for our own survival.

Stan’s sculpture serves as a reminder that we are a part of nature not apart from it. How we celebrate this season comes with ecological responsibility. Living more sustainably and more thriftily can mean recalibrating our values and renewing attempts to appreciate the natural non-human worlds we co-exist with. For all those reasons this year my household are having an eco-Christmas: buying locally what we need, but mainly looking at what we can recycle to create decorations that will mean we are not adding to plastic consumption.

Making do. I’ve been thinking about how my Nan taught me to make pine cone Christmas tree decorations, recycling bright pages of magazines as paperchains, cutting up eggcartons to make baubles, creating our own table decorations from the evergreens in the garden.

If we have time, we might repurpose some old clothing to make hand sown decorations or bake some biscuits to hang on the tree. With everything 2020 has been, the value of holding love ones close (via Zoom, telephone or card) and sharing kindness appears more vital than ever.

Bringing Holly and Ivy into the home has some practical as well as some superstitious considerations this season. In practical terms, both Holly and Ivy berries are poisonous to pets and humans (especially little humans) so no ingesting! Ivy can sometimes be an irritant and the spikes of Holly can be sharp. Nevertheless, Holly and Ivy can be added to winter wreaths to be hung on front doors or else added to indoor displays, although superstition would have it that this only happens on Christmas eve.

Ivy

Trees are not just for Christmas!

As ever, Trees in and of Beeston have gifted hope for me this year. There is an old saying ‘For every child, a tree’. With that in mind, back in May, I along with a couple of talented pals and our lockdown children, established our very own socially-distanced ‘Lockdown nature club’ and adopted a tree in Highlands Park.

We made a small sign ‘Tree of Hope’, and the children painted hopeful stones to place at its base to inspire passers-by to stop, to gift a smile and for others to join.

The painted stones have reflected peoples hopes and joys and changed with the seasons.

This hopeful artistic intervention has maintained itself, as fellow Beestonians have added their own stones while some have been taken in turn. If you go to Highfields for a constitutional walk, see if you can find it and if you are feeling especially creative, why not find a stone and decorate it. Share the love. Pass it on.

If you’d rather do something in your own space, consider planting any acorns, conkers or sycamore keys you might find. Maybe purchase a tree – a bonsai perhaps or a seedling in a pot, or look out for Broxtowe’s Tree giveaways towards the end of October that have happened the last couple of years so you can have an ornamental or fruiting tree in your garden to enrich the biodiversity of Beeston. You can also consider seed swapping or planting flowers and veg – Beeston’s Eco Action Team and Beeston Gardening groups of Facebook are a good place to start. You could also consider donating to a Tree charity – Trees for Cities and The Woodland Trust both do excellent work in planting trees for the future. If this season is for giving, then giving to the future and the prospect of springtime new growth is a sustainable way to go.

Wishing you all a restorative and peaceful festive season. Be kind to yourself and others and take good care, Dr JN

Stan Bullard’s Green Man

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Where to Get a Copy n a i n o t s e Be thi n g t

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Due to the current situation, lots of our usual outlets are either closed or unable to stock issues.

However, we will still be available in two of Beeston’s stalwart independents that are able to continue trading through lockdowns – The Cycle Inn and Fred Hallams.

Even easier is having a copy delivered direct to your door. Simply visit our Ko-fi page - ko-fi.com/thebeestonian - make a donation and give us your address.

Minimum donation is: £1 per issue if you live in NG9/Lenton Abbey or £15 full year subscription (delivered at publication) £2 per issue everywhere else in the UK £5 per issue internationally You can actually donate as much as you like! More funds means we can make The Beestonian bigger and better and print more regularly.

The Mask & the Red Death

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s we enter a second lockdown, initially for a month, I’ve thought about how much has been written and debated about the Coronavirus since it appeared globally at the beginning of the year. Some real, some false and some downright dangerous. Injecting bleach.

Really? I’ve known a few people who have been asked to self-isolate, as they may have come into contact with someone who may have had it. Someone I know at work caught it, but are better now. But I don’t know anyone locally who has been diagnosed with it. So, I was stunned to find out that one of my Beeston-based Facebook friends announced recently that they had been infected and have had it. So I contacted them, to find out whether they would be willing to share their experience of catching the scarlet coloured killer. They were happy to, as they wanted to make as many people aware of the seriousness of the pandemic.

Paolo Lannattone comes from Ausonia in central Italy, and has been living in Beeston with his family for more than five years now.

They love Beeston, and plan to stay here for a long time. He is a piano and music theory teacher at MLC Academy in West Bridgford and has composed music for Italian films. He also attended the last year of a degree course in Music Technology at the University of Derby.

Firstly I asked Paolo how he initially became aware that he might have caught Covid. “In mid-October, the NHS app reported to the whole family that we had been in contact with someone who tested positive. So we self-isolated. A few days later, my wife and daughter started having the first symptoms and requested the test.

It came back positive. A few days later, I too started having the first symptoms, such as fever and a cough. So I too took the test, to which I also tested positive.”

“We don't know exactly who transmitted the virus to us. The app respects the privacy of users, so it only warns that you have been in contact with "someone" who has tested positive. So you must self-isolate. However, I must underline that thanks to the NHS app we were able to self-isolate a few days before having the first symptoms, thus avoiding any further spreading of the virus.”

“A few days later, the symptoms became more difficult to manage. In addition to having a fever and cough, a strong sense of fatigue and shortness of breath appeared. For 10

days, it was very intense. Although I am an amateur runner, running more or less 20km a week, I was struggling to climb the flight of stairs in the house. More than once I thought that soon I would end up in the hospital with a ventilator because my breath was really short.

It helped a lot to sit or lie in bed, so I could manage my breath a little better.”

“Fortunately I did not need any hospital treatment. Although for a few days I was afraid of having to call 111, as I was advised to by the NHS operators who were in contact with me daily. Just in case I needed it. I’ve had the symptoms of Covid-19 for about 25 days now and they have not yet completely passed.

I tire easily. I have sudden coughing episodes, especially when I wake up and when I go to sleep. I have completely lost my taste and smell and have not yet recovered them.”

“So you are still struggling?” “After my fever passed, the NHS allowed me to go out again. I don't go out much because I don't have much strength in my legs. I go for small walks with my wife Claudia and dog Jackie. At present I don't know how long these symptoms will last.

Some acquaintances of mine, who contracted the virus, has had the same symptoms, and they’ve lasted for two and a half months now.

Considering my situation, this is an entirely probable scenario. I think it is good to have patience and wait for it to pass. Hoping it does not leave deeper consequences. Considering that science does not have a thorough knowledge of this virus yet.”

“What about the rest of the family. How are they doing?” “Claudia and Ali are getting better. Ali has returned to Bilborough College. Claudia will go back to her job after the lockdown. They got exactly the same symptoms but fortunately it hasn’t lasted as long for them.”

Christopher Frost An interview with someone who caught the virus...

“What’s your view about the imminent availability of a vaccine?” “Obviously I think the vaccine is great news, but it will take longer than we think to get it for everyone. The first problem is that it needs to be preserved and transported at minus 80 degrees. I'm not sure about how many facilities we have in UK for this kind of storage at the moment. The second is that the number of requested doses is very high and we have to be patient. It won't be available for all for a while.”

There are of course other drug companies around the world that are working on a solution to the virus. So maybe between them, they should be able to come up with something to see the virus off. Or it may be one of those diseases that humanity has to live with, like the flu, the common cold or malaria. And as Paolo says, we will just have to wait and see what happens.

CF

#BEESTON Peter Robinson A glimpse at the future...

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ince January an independent group of individuals, inspired by the past and passionate about the future, has been encouraging an online conversation about the future of Beeston. They did so in anticipation of a special #Beeston2020Vision event planned at the Pearson Centre - initially intended for May 2020, but now postponed twice by the pandemic until some safe point in 2021.

This simple step of seeking creative ideas to help shape our town over the next decade continues, with each delay drawing more contributors from a broad spectrum of the Beeston community from the Mayor down.

Their responses show how tapping the imagination and insight of Beestonians can contribute to a depth of understanding when creating a diverse, independent and vibrant future.

We can use this information to begin to unpick why Beeston is special, what makes the town centre tick, what becoming an exemplar carbon-neutral community might mean and much else besides. There are exciting project ideas, thoughts on lockdown and much more.

The #Beeston2020Vision project stems from ‘The Story of Beeston’ written by local historian David Hallam and commissioned

by CP Walker and Son to mark their 120th anniversary, and from an earlier Vision for Beeston event sponsored by the Beeston and District Civic Society in 2017.

Why is Beeston special?

We are special because of a rare mix of a good fortune. As a diverse community we share a riverside location with a world class nature reserve, close to the City and to the University. Grace Li, (Youth Mayor Broxtowe, 2019-2020) describes with pride her experience of growing up in a lively, creative, multi-generational and multi-cultural Beeston, well connected to a wider world.

Others refer to a welcoming, tolerant and resourceful place, where community action is shaping our lives. Volunteering is at the heart of the success of the Attenborough Nature Reserve, the recent Canalside venture, station improvements and other initiatives channeled through strong local institutions such as the Middle Street Resource Centre, Beeston Library and the Pearson Centre.

Jeanie Barton, notes just how many creative people live in Beeston, including musicians of all genres, plus poets, writers, film makers, graphic designers, photographers, dancers, actors, presenters, painters and so on. She

describes it like Camden without the physical vibrancy, leading Jeanie to start the Beeston Street Art project to reflect and encourage the abundant creativity of our town. Attractions and events help the retail experience and cultural vibrancy is attractive to residents too.

She believes that creativity is a unique selling point for Beeston that will continue to bring in visitors from far and wide.

David Hallam sees Beeston is a resilient community that has successively and successfully reinvented itself over the past 120 years to meet changing needs. Public initiatives will play an important part in future change, but input from all who care about our future – that should include all of us – is essential and can make a difference by developing ideas and driving them forward.

Managing a changing Town Centre David Hallam also notes that towns are judged by their centres, now increasingly under threat by out-of-town shopping and online buying. Encouraging places where people can relax with a coffee and more has worked well in Beeston, but Covid and increasing online shopping has accelerated this threat to retail. He suggests encouraging a sustainable number of demand-led retail outlets, returning empty units to residential use. This could be transformational especially if coupled with more green space. An agreed strategy to protect and manage the High Road area might protect us from the worst of market forces and help to achieve longer term objectives.

Nelson Blackley suggests that the future of Beeston town centre depends on flexibility and resilience; localness, connectivity and greening. He notes that pre-pandemic Beeston had a retail vacancy rate of 5%: lower than the national average of around 12%, while above average numbers of hair, beauty and nail salons, barbers and estate agents reflect the relative health of the personal care and property markets in our local economy. At the same time Beeston had only around 5% of its total shop units occupied by local and national charities, that is below the national average of 8% for towns of similar size. Beeston could do with a marketplace or public square where people can gather, as Beeston Square is too off-centre on the main retail axis of Chilwell Road and High Road to fulfil that function.

Peter Swann, praises Beeston as a good local retail centre, with many excellent shops, cafes and restaurants and with much of the High Road pedestrianised, yet Beeston does not achieve especially good ratings in the league tables produced by various consultancy companies.

2020VISION These rankings are designed for high streets and retail parks that have many of the big brand chain stores, and that sort of measure does not do justice to the things that Beeston does well. Peter would like to see a new sort of location ranking emerge, which is not so preoccupied with big brands, but tries to measure how well a retail location serves the diverse needs of a local population. Such an index would go beyond existing measures of retail quality to consider rankings for retail diversity, sustainability and a healthy independent sector, doing justice to things that make Beeston special.

Beeston as an exemplar sustainable community?

On broader issues Gary Smerdon-White believes that a sustainable carbon-neutral policy will be central to every aspect of future town development, design and construction over the next decade. Embedding sustainability into all activities, developments and programmes will help climate change, enhance air quality and improve our health and well-being. Gary would like to see Beeston and Broxtowe working with the City to become a medium sized town exemplar in sustainability.

He develops this theme in the contexts of the built environment, transport and travel, suggesting Beeston as a working hub for green technology. Considering the extent of detailed individual adjustments necessary to make this happen, he asks whether we are ready for this challenge?

Creating a Green Corridor and other proposals Giving Beeston a bio-friendly makeover need not cost the earth and we could create a lush green environment as part of that process.

Robert Howard proposes an imaginative green canopied corridor from the Square via the High Road and Broadgate to the University’s West Entrance to restore a sense of vibrancy and difference. A continuous canopied run on both sides of the High Road, with well placed wind breaks, could be achieved in stages over time as resources permit. This practical idea is the incremental extension through enterprise and partnership of our present green pedestrian area. As the climate warms, so trees, shade and breezes become ever more important.

Inevitably there are many other possible projects. Based on experiences elsewhere Ian Culshaw would like to see locally run cafes in the town’s parks to encourage safer use. He would also like to see less plastic, fewer pubs, more clubs and more focus on younger people.

There is an idea for a bee based town trail and app, stimulated by the Beekeeper. Opening

up more of the town centre to pedestrians and a performance and exhibition space like Lakeside are other suggestions.

Lessons from Beeston in Lockdown There are thoughts on lockdown. Working from home can be empowering for some avoiding commuting makes the day longer, healthier and our world more sustainable. We are getting to know our neighbourhoods and our neighbours more intimately by exercising on foot, while more individuals, families and communities are volunteering. Lockdown highlights Beeston as a place of gathering that satisfies a real need, but social media is no substitute for face to face contact. Proximity, rubbing shoulders, handshakes, hugs, are all things that we have come to miss.

That said suburban settings like Beeston are well placed to meet the needs of a more home-centred world. Our town is big enough to support supermarkets and small enough to be conveniently accessible on foot or bike, which makes it healthy for us and good for the planet.

Our past suggests that meeting changing needs is a tested survival strategy. If we want Beeston to continue as a shopping and services centre we must plan to meet needs that cannot be met easily online and as individuals and as businesses we must use our local services if they are to survive. Council led initiatives have a role in supplying a policy framework with clear objectives.

What can you contribute to the diversity, independence and vibrancy of Beeston?

Rex Walker defines modern day Beeston by its diversity, independence and vibrancy.

We are not a homogeneous community. It is the interactions and combinations that make Beeston a special place. Traditional town centres will continue to face overwhelming pressures over the next decade, but building our way out of trouble should be much more than a numbers game.

Developing pride of place starts with accepting and celebrating the town’s individual character. In ten years time each of us might look back and ask “how did I contribute to the diversity, independence and vibrancy of Beeston in the 2020s?” What will your answer be?

There is no shortage of ideas, but we would like to encourage more. Check out the Beeston Vision corner of the C P Walker website for yourself and the Facebook page, or contact us directly by email at beeston2020vision@gmail. com PR

Lulu Davenport It’s my un-party, and I’ll cry if I want to...

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hhh admit it, you know the words to the pop-tastic hit made famous by Lesley Gore from back in 1963, or its other various forms which include a cover by Drake and Rhianna in “Take Care”. Or maybe the American Metalcore version by Motionless in White? With their additional lyrics “Die if I want too?” on their track “Necessary Evil”? Of course you do.

This brings me nicely to my point in hand, it actually was my party. Well kind of. Being a November baby I celebrate my birthmas in this month and have celebrated this occasion over the years with parties in nightclubs, bars, catching legendary performers - The Prodigy, (No Tourists Tour 2018), Alice Cooper (Spend The Night Tour 2017). This year I spent the day in at home, drinking copious amounts of rum and coke and binge-watching music documentaries.

The contrast is stark, however I am a happy bear. Don’t get me wrong, I miss the pounding in my heart of live, ridiculously loud and heart-trembling bass, but the inner optimist in me is beginning to revel in this new life. I shall explain...

While we gloriously sugar coat the good old days when we could do stuff with rose tinted heart shaped glasses, there are so many aspects I don’t miss. Rock City toilets for example. Only those with a strong stomach dare enter, the mix of two pint beers and drunkenness make for a sorry state. I feel for the ladies who spend all night in there selling lollipops and the like. Don’t get me started on The Emporium Nightclub; I will leave that one there, only to say Rock City would be an upgrade...

There is more I don’t really miss about gig life, I don’t miss being five foot two and always, always being stood behind the tallest person in the venue. Don’t ask me how but they find me then barge past me to stand that close, I wonder if we should exchange phone numbers.

I don’t miss the smell, sweaty and nasty,

being in a club and seeing someone I know who has been in the mosh pit. They smell like one and that is from across the room, they make eye contact and oh dear god no they are heading over for a hug. It is too late, I try not to breathe, smile and wander off to find air.

I don’t miss the queues. The night even begins with one to get in. An hour in the cold and people who know people have joined the queue ahead of you, as you try not to get too annoyed five of their mates have joined the joiners. Finally in the venue and there’s a queue for the cloakroom yey! Ok, in you go and get a drink from the bar? Good luck with that, its 5 people deep and no one ever knows what they want. Who needed to see any of the support acts anyway?

My personal favourite pet hate is trying to remember where you were stood in a gig or festival, after a loo trip or bar run, now trying to find your mates in low lights while holding plastic cups filled with beer and bouncing bodies are everywhere, at seven pound a pint trying not to cry when Betty Knobhead decides to start a mosh pit and you realise why the floor is so sticky. Still, fourteen pound for two empty plastic cups, bargain!

"... the inner optimist in me is beginning to revel in this new life.”

And more than anything, the expense! It is an expensive hobby. A friend and I booked tickets for Hip-Hop “Insane in the Brain” band Cypress Hill back in 2018 - the tickets were £60, the hotel (the gig was in Leeds) was £120, so that was £180 not including train tickets food, drinks, taxi to the venue and back to the hotel. The gig was fabulous but the cost of a trip abroad, and the band were barely on stage an hour.

All these reasons swirled around my head as I sat on my comfy(ish) sofa on my birthday, as I poured myself a drink without having to queue, from a bottle of rum that barely cost me twenty good old pounds with mixer, with a lemon wedge plonked in for good luck. In a club that money could barely stretch to a two rounds, and I had whole lotta rum for my money. Bargain. The only tall weirdos that will get in my view are not really that tall and already live with me. There’s no sweaty encounters with drunken acquaintances and the restroom is free of gross uninhibited strangers and features a clean porcelain toilet to use at my desecration. This is the life!

My conclusion is this, while ‘Rona has changed every person’s life this year, we have to find the silver lining. I have enough gig experience to tide me over, I can wait, it ain’t gonna be forever, and while I wait I try and look at the positives. Don’t get me wrong, as soon as this is over I will be at ALL the gigs, festivals, raves et al, but until then, pass me a drink and I will party at home in my pyjamas. Of course I am still watching Netflix but what else have I to do?! Christmas? That’s sorted - bring it on, no unnecessary family trips and extra time in my pants singing “It's my parrrrrrttttehhh!” Oh, by the way you are not invited...

"The gig was fabulous but the cost of a trip abroad, and the band were barely on stage an hour...”

LD

Pet Shop Boys (and Girls)

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ack in October, the Beeston Street Art Group launched a competition through the Beestonian and Beeston Updated Facebook pages, to produce a picture of your pet. Here is an updated version of that article, as there has been a couple of amendments.

The renowned and much missed pet store Pet Mart are looking to return to Beeston in 2021 with help from Beeston Street Art. Sadly not as a physical store though, but its spirit and love of all things animal, as the Beeston Street Art group would like to invite children of all ages to paint a life sized pet. The artworks will then be placed around Beeston in the new year for a pet hunt.

Once the street art group find a suitable wall, this will be transformed into a mural of the famous shop by Nottingham based top

street artist Anna Wheelhouse, whose work can be seen at the Hocus Pocus soft play centre in Beeston and on the totem poles at Attenborough Nature Reserve. All the pictures will be judged and the best ones will be reproduced as part of this mural.

Christopher Frost

So get those paints and brushes out and get creating. The closing date has been extended to January the 4th next year, so you have more time to produce a picture of your pet, or friends’ pet, if you don’t have one. The emphasis is on pets, so animals like elephants, dolphins and penguins aren’t really allowed, unless you own a zoo, or it was possibly sold by Pet Mart.

If you are able, you can scan or take a mobile phone photo of your picture and email it to beestonstreetart@gmail.com.

Or if you’d prefer, you can send or deliver it to Pet Mart Art, c/o 108 Denison Street, Beeston NG9 1DQ. CF

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