Moseley B13 Magazine December 2020-January 2021 Issue 514

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B13 MAGAZINE

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DEC 2020 ISSUE 514

C O V D N A L A CE C LO IN 3

M SELEY

Christmas in Lockdown: Support our Local Shops

REFLECTIONS OF A HAPPY DEAD PERSON: DEBBIE ALDOUS NOVEL

WORLD OF STRANGE:

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

A MOSELEY MINUTE:

NIKKI FRANCES HAIR

2020: A MOSELEYITE’S RETROSPECTIVE YEAR IN REVIEW

MOSELEY B13 MAGAZINE

DEC20

EDITOR Mark Baxter (editor@moseleymagazine.co.uk) THE TEAM Ian Cook, David Isgrove, Stephanie Silk, Maria Arroja Ferreira, Tipton. Debbie Aldous, Max Jalil, PHOTOGRAPHER Position Vacant CONTRIBUTORS David Spilsbury, Moseley Local History Society, Tessa Lowe, Ruth Yorke, Val Hart. Martin Jeffers, Tim Chilvers PROOF READER Jane Barry ADVERTISING Position Vacant SOCIAL MEDIA Position Vacant TREASURER Leanne Holloway (accounts@moseleyb13.com) DESIGN Andy Wickett (andywickett@gmail.com) MAIL Moseley Publishing House Ltd. Moseley B13 Magazine, c/o: Moseley Exchange, 149-153 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8JP. ONLINE YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCqC-sOw9T6mBgpj8ox9Ph0Q?view_ as=subscriber instagram.com/moseleyb13mag facebook.com/MoseleyB13Magazine twitter.com/MoseleyB13Mag info@moseleyb13.com www.moseleyb13.com PHONE 0843 289 3665 BOARD David Isgrove (Chair) Stephanie Silk (Editorial) COMPANY SECRETARY Position Vacant LEGAL STUFF Moseley Publishing House Ltd is a non-profit voluntary run company based in England and Wales. Company No. 07786560.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or part, without express permission.

All material is believed to be correct at the time of going to print.

Cover image: Mark Baxter (photo of Moseley Park and Pool from December 2017)

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WORDS FROM THE

EDITOR

That was the year that was, and I’m sure for many of us it was a struggle, with loss, anxiety and uncertainty at the core of the pandemic. Good things also came out of the lockdown with kindness and support from neighbours and businesses, and the invention of safe and creative ways to stay connected.

All of these things helped to fill the void in our community and brought new and unexpected avenues of friendship and entrepreneurship as we hoped for brighter days.

We’d like to say a big thank you to those who have helped to keep the magazine afloat since OUTLETS the springtime, whether it’s A and R News (320 Yardley Wood Rd) community funding, support with Drinksville (23 Woodbridge Rd) Greenhill Garage (89-91 Billesley Ln) distribution or just anyone who Indigo Foods (50-52 St. Mary’s Row) has contributed or bought the Moseley Post Office (149 Alcester Rd) magazine.

Nima Deli (103 Alcester Rd) To top 2020 off, the editor’s One Stop (117 Billlesley Ln) email recently went on the blink Select and Save (174-176 Alcester Rd) Aiden McDonnell Hair (56, St Mary's Row), beset with technical problems, but it’s now up and running again Ladypool Cycles (404, Ladypool Road) Maison Mayci (148, Alcester Road), Newslink if you’d like to get in touch.

(3, Alcester Road), Palmyra (13, St Mary's Oh, and congratulations to Row), Spend and Save (211, Swanshurst Lane) the Moseley Farmers’s Market Farmers’ Market (Village Green) with the news that they’ve been finalised in the Farm Retail Awards 2021. Let’s hope this is the start of good things for 2021.

Have a Very Happy Christmas NEXT PUBLICATION DATES and New Year!

ISSUE COPY SALE

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Mark

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IN THIS ISSUE

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NO.73

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NEWSHOUND

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CHRISTMAS ISN'T CLOSED

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CHRISTMAS IN LOCKDOWN

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REFLECTIONS TO A DEAD PERSON

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OLDEST CHEESE MAKING FAMILY

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ADVENT CALENDAR WINDOW TRAIL

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WHAT A YEAR!

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A MOSELEYITEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RETROSPECTIVE

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NIKKI FRANCES HAIR

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TOMMY QUANG

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MOSELEY MEMORIES

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HEAD RAMBLES LOCKDOWN TWO

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VICTORIAN QUIZ

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JUST TO SAY

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AMPLIFY SOUNDS

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BY MARK BAXTER

NEWSHOUND

Tipton, the B13 Newshound Twitter: @B13Newshound / Instagram: @tiptonb13

ALL CHANGE AT LIMELIGHT HAIR SALON

Limelight Hair Salon has closed after having been open for the past seven years. But there are hopes that a new salon will be opened on the same site at 112 Alcester Road

very shortly.

In a personal message to customers Emma and Rob from the salon said: “Dear clients of Limelight, thank you for the support and loyalty you have shown us over our seven-year journey. Emma and I regard many of you as much more than root touch-ups and haircuts.

We are truly grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to get to know you on a personal level. We’ve had to make a big decision since re-opening after lockdown…Limelight will be closing!”

The message added that stylist Emma will continue to work in a salon close by, details to be revealed soon. Her Instagram page is @hairwizardemma and her Facebook page is \~ Lilly’s Mane .

Emma and Rob also said: “For any clients that want to continue having their hair done at the same premises, you are of course welcome to. There is a hair stylist currently in talks about taking on the lease, and we will update you once we know more.”

NEW MOSELEY ‘SHOP LOCAL’ DIRECTORY LAUNCHED Moseley Community Development Trust (CDT) is developing an online local business directory. It is hoped the directory will make it simpler for people to shop locally this Christmas, whilst also highlighting some of the amazing businesses and makers that Moseley has.

The directory will be a place that local residents use to get inspiration for Christmas gifts – be that local art, jewellery, food or gift vouchers. The Trust would love to include as many local businesses as possible in the directory. If you'd like to be featured send an email to Marketing@moseleyexchange.com and they will let you know what information they need.

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CHANTRY ROAD MANSION, ADVERTISED FOR £1.2MILLION, IS SOLD A much loved Chantry Road property advertised for sale at £1.2 million has been sold. The sixbedroom period mansion boasts fabulous gardens and its own wine cellar.

The detached house has other attractive features too. A tarmac driveway provides off-road parking for several vehicles and has decorative flowerbeds and hedgerows. The rear of the property offers wonderful views of Moseley Park and Pool and the garden area is a perfect place to entertain guests. There is a crazypaved area with a wooden pergola and an inbuilt barbecue which makes it ideal for enjoying a summer garden party. The property has three floors.

In the entrance are Italian hand-laid mosaic-tiled flooring, and stairs with a decorative balustrade. As well as six bedrooms the property boasts a living room, dining room, kitchen, snug, servants’ pantry and double-storey garage as well as a further side garage.

The home has a coach house as well as a number of other out-buildings. It also has its own cellar as well as an individual wine cellar.

The property was marketed by Rice Chamberlains Estate Agents who described it in these words: "Offering delightful sunny views of Moseley Park and Pool to the rear, this superb home offers an abundance of period character and charm.”

Ashley Lowe from Rice Chamberlains said: “It has been a real joy on so many levels being able to deal with such a lovely home and family. The location, character and history of the house are wonderful, it has been a real honour being able to act on the sale. We very much hope the lucky new owners will come in and love the house as much as we and the current owners do, I am sure they will!”

TABULE KITCHEN CLOSES “UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE”, BUT VOWS TO RE-OPEN Tabule Kitchen, the Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant at 16-18 St Mary’s Row, has closed its doors “until further notice”. The restaurant’s Facebook page said the move was a “hard decision to take” but added that Tabule will re-open.

Highly regarded for its fresh take on North African and Middle Eastern cuisine Tabule has brought a colourful palette using fresh ingredients and toppings with traditional Mezzas and grills since opening in early 2019.

The Tabule Facebook page says: “We are closing Tabule Kitchen until further notice This is not the end... we will be back stronger than ever. We will keep you posted on our social media platforms.

Stay strong and stay safe.”

info@moseleyb13.com

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SCHOOL ROAD MODAL FILTER DIVIDES RESIDENTS – SOME APPROVE, OTHERS DON’T

School Road’s trial temporary modal filter has received a mixed reception from those who took part in a council survey to measure public opinion about the new traffic management scheme.

The ‘modal filter’ – two large planters placed in School Road close to its junction with Greenhill Road and Greenend Road, with a pole in between –aims to stop through traffic using School Road as a rat run, thus avoiding the congested A435 Alcester Road, when travelling between Moseley and Kings Heath. The filter allows through those on foot, bike or mobility scooter, but not cars or other motor vehicles.

Looking at the top 100 of the 472 comments left on Birmingham City Council’s webpage, respondents appear to be divided between those in favour of and those opposed to the filters, which have been in place for the past month.

Typical of those supporting the scheme was one local respondent who, in reply to the question: “What do you think about the proposed modal filter on School Road?” said: “It’s an absolute success. The roads are quieter, there appears to be less traffic and it is safer.

“I walk to school twice daily and am loving how much safer the walk is. I haven’t experienced any cars speeding, or drivers mounting kerbs or shouting expletives. Having less traffic on the roads has also enabled us to walk on the road, allowing for social distancing. I have also noticed an increase in the number of cyclists, walkers and scooter users, which is wonderful to see. Well Done BCC!” Typical of those opposing the scheme was one respondent, a Moseley resident who said: “I object to this filter as it is driving more traffic down Greenhill Rd onto Billesley Lane.

Also Ashfield Road and Valentine Road are adversely affected with extra traffic. There is now also more pressure upon the junction of Valentine Road and Kings Heath High Street, for example, making it difficult for traffic to get out of Valentine Road. All that has happened is that the problem has moved, to make it someone else's problem. It’s divisive.”

Another opponent said: “Makes our lives very difficult. Old people with illnesses like arthritis or heart disease live in these areas and are dependent on their cars, mainly for shopping. Other roads in the surrounding area are very congested and cause delays in journeys, causing much more congestion and pollution. Life is becoming more difficult.”

Although the scheme is said to be temporary it is unclear how long it will last. A council Information Briefing earlier this year gave the following guidance: “An experimental traffic order such as this can stay in place for up to a maximum of 18 months. During this time, the impact of the measure is monitored and assessed to review how it is operating and inform on whether it should remain in place.”

Ian Cook COMMUNITY

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CHRISTMAS ISN’T CLOSED

Where would Christmas be without carols?

Where possible, some of Moseley’s churches have decided to have both live services and streamed services. AND there’s more going on than you think – take a look!

St Mary’s and St Anne’s are running live services online – check out facebook.com/ StMarysMoseley and moseleychurch.org.uk (1) Christmas Eve 5pm Christingle Service on-line.

Riverside Church, having moved from Queensbridge School to its base at Riverside House (21 Alcester Rd, B13 8AR, 0121 442 4484), where it has a hall that usually can take 150 people, is having a variety of Christmas services that you can join in at home and opportunities to go and help on Christmas Day: see riverside-church.org.uk/ christmas for details, times and booking-in for services.

(2) Christmas Eve Midnight Mass service starting at 11.30pm. This will be at St Mary’s if possible but also live-streamed over their Facebook page and website (as above).

(3) Christmas Day Family Service at 10am.

This Christmas Eucharist Service will also hopefully be live and live-streamed on Facebook and their website.

All information on whether it’s possible to go to the services will be on these two churches’ websites nearer the time. You might have to book a place, so keep your eyes open! But you’ll still be able to watch and join in from the comfort of your home.

(1) They have an Advent calendar you can buy with Fairtrade chocolates, that has a video link on YouTube for every day of Advent.

(2) Sunday 13th – Christmas for all ages: loads of fun for all the family with four live services throughout the day at Riverside House, one of these being live-streamed.

Christingle with a difference!

St Agnes will be running live-streamed services up to Christmas on their YouTube channel. Check out the details from their website stagneschurch.co.uk.

(3) Sunday 20th – CAROLS!!! Where would Christmas be without carols to cheer us up?

There’ll be four live services again throughout the day at Riverside House with one of these being live-streamed.

St Columba’s details aren’t finalised yet but keep your eyes peeled for notices online.

Calvary Church (Oxford Road) has also still to announce its services but they are joining with their sister church in Aston to have services on-line. See cogic-aston.com and youtube.com/c/CogicAston

(4) Thursday 24th – Christmas Eve Service live on our Facebook page.

(5) Friday 25th – Riverside Christmas Day Lunch Delivery. As we’re unable to run this at Riverside House, they’re going to attempt a huge home delivery … can you be a caterer, deliverer, or happy recipient? Contact Judy Moore using the number above or judym@ riverside-church.org.uk. There will be the traditional meal or vegetarian alternative.

If you know of someone who would benefit (including yourself), get in touch.

Hope Chapel (corner of Alcester Road with Reddings Road) has also still to announce its services but you can check their on-line services at hope-chapel.com SO – Christmas isn’t dead – but is alive.

Carols will cheer you up and singing does wonders for our mental health! Let’s join in together as a Moseley community to celebrate this Christmas – even in our pyjamas!

(6) Christmas Day Party – in the morning they’re having a PYJAMA ZOOM PARTY – YES you read that right – live on Zoom in our pyjamas!! This must be a first for a church. info@moseleyb13.com

David Isgrove

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CHRISTMAS IN LOCKDOWN: SUPPORT OUR LOCAL SHOPS

2020 has been a difficult year for local independent shops. The virus and the resulting lockdown have left many of our local shops struggling.

Just as things were beginning to improve, a second national lockdown started in what would be the normally busy shopping period in the run up to Christmas. The closures have meant local businesses are again faced with extremely challenging trading conditions.

Our local businesses have been there for us and now it’s our time to be there for them.

Let’s support them this December and help them to enter 2021 on a high.

Different businesses are adapting different strategies, some remaining open while others are offering a click and collect service. Here are just some examples of how great local shops are offering fantastic gifts, perfect presents for all the family this Christmas.

ENKI - KINGS HEATH

ENKI based in Kings Heath is an artisan gifts and card store by Faith, a Birminghamtrained jeweller, who as well as repairing and remodelling old jewellery offers a personal service creating bespoke jewellery using traditional techniques. The Kings Heath store shows the work of many independent craftspeople who have become almost invisible on the high street today. Offering everything from baby clothes to pottery, jewellery to cushions, ENKI has just the gift you are looking for. They also sell beautiful and unique cards and wrapping paper to make your present that bit more special.

During the lockdown, ENKI are offering both a postal and a click and collect service.

Collection times from are: Monday: 5pm – 6.30pm Wednesday: 5pm – 6.30pm Friday: 5pm – 6.30pm Sunday: 10am – 5pm.

ENKI are also offering a wrapping service on all gifts.

Nima Delicatessen has been operating in the heart of Moseley village for many years.

They remain open throughout the lockdown and continue to provide wonderful deli foods, chocolates and sweets. There is a wide variety of goodies to choose from that would make perfect Christmas gifts.

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NIMA DELICATESSEN – MOSELEY VILLAGE

Nima Delicatessen has been operating in the heart of Moseley village for many years.

They remain open throughout the lockdown and continue to provide wonderful deli foods, chocolates and sweets. There is a wide variety of goodies to choose from that would make perfect Christmas gifts.

Nima Delicatessen is open 9am to 7pm on weekdays, 9am to 6pm on Saturdays and 10am to 6pm on Sundays. Be sure to pop in and check out all the great goods on offer.

ARMADILLO – KINGS HEATH

Armadillo is an independent gift and craft shop which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. They sell gifts, cards, throws and rugs, locally made gifts, yarn, craft kits and COMMUNITY

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www.moseleyb13.com

craft materials, and much more. Armadillo aims to sell products which are sourced as ethically as possible.

They have a retail website which is under construction and will be open very soon, and in the meantime are doing ‘click and collect’ where customers can order and pre-pay for goods and collect them at a time to suit them, plus free local delivery and postal delivery, via: the Facebook page, ArmadilloKH, or email armadilloshop@tiscali.co.uk, phone 0121 443 5808, and also WhatsApp.

INDIGO HEALTH FOODS – MOSELEY VILLAGE

Indigo Health Foods has remained open throughout the lockdown.

Its current opening hours are 10am to 6pm, 7 days a week.

In addition to all the delicious and healthy produce available, Indigo is a perfect place to pick up ingredients for Christmas meals and great gifts such as chocolates and advent calendars.

Martin Jeffers info@moseleyb13.com

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COMMUNITY

REFLECTIONS OF A HAPPY DEAD PERSON Debbie Aldous is a local writer, therapist and life coach. Moseley B13 Magazine chatted to Debbie on the eve of the release of her new book...

1) What is your new book Reflections of a Happy Dead Person about?

It’s about a woman called Felica who finds people’s lost happiness. If you don’t keep an eye on your happiness, it runs away from you and a variety of negative emotions creep in to take its place.

Unfortunately, one fateful day Felica gets killed by a bus on the way to meet a client.

She ends up in a strange room neither totally dead nor alive, COMMUNITY

and has a limited time to find her way back to her life by reflecting over her life and solving a puzzle.

2) The book is inspired by true-life happenings? Tell us more.

OK, yes, very very loosely based on my life. I like to think that I help make people a little happier with the work that I do – I am a mindfulbased cognitive therapist and life coach amongst other things.

I have always had this feeling deep inside that the point of my life, or you could say my life purpose, is to help people become happier.

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I have always been blessed by being surrounded by colourful characters. Knowing these people has fired my imagination, which in part has fallen out onto the pages of the book in surreal and eccentric ways.

3) You are reading out a chapter a week on Facebook.

Why did you choose to use social media in this way?

I have actually decided to pull back a little on a chapter a week, and I am aiming to do a chapter every two weeks, it’s more feasible and realistic.

I am a storyteller by nature.

I have over the last few years performed storytelling at various venues. www.moseleyb13.com

So with the current lockdown and restriction of performances it seemed a natural avenue to give people a taste of my book.

4) When did you start writing the book?

I started writing this book about four years ago. It was originally going to be my life story with a dark twist. But writing about my life was boring even me, so it was shelved for many years.

Last year I dug out the few chapters of the book that I had written, virtually deleted them apart from the title and then let the book write itself.

As a child I grew up with Enid Blyton and C.S. Lewis.

fiction has always been Dean Koontz.

As an adult I have always enjoyed reading South American authors because of the way they weave reality and fantasy together. Two of my favourite South American authors are Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez.

7) How can readers get hold of the book?

The book is available on Kindle, it’s written under my pseudonym Autumn Aldous, Reflections of a Happy Dead Person.

Mark Baxter I recently discovered Ruth Ozeki and her wonderful book A Tale for the Time Being which again mixes reality with fantasy. My go-to junk horror

When I started to rewrite the book, it was almost like I was doing automatic writing.

Each day new chapters appeared on my laptop. I did not even know what was going to happen next, so it was exciting even writing it. I was laughing at the storyline as it was being written.

5) Any follow-up books on the way?

In my current book, my main character has four children.

The eldest child is the main character of my next book.

The book is going to be called Daffodil Saves the World.

I will write the book next year.

6) Favourite authors?

Inspiration when it comes to writing?

I have always been a reader, I am never without a current book or to that I am reading. info@moseleyb13.com

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COMMUNITY

dissolution of the monasteries

by King Henry VIII, had started to teach local people in order to preserve such skills.

THE OLDEST CHEESE-MAKING FAMILY IN THE UK If you venture down to our Moseley Farmers’ Market at the end of the month, you’ll come across a stall marked ‘Fowler’s Cheeses’.

Adrian is a very humble guy and loves to tell you about his different cheeses but unless you ask him, won’t share his incredible secret – that they’re the UK’s oldest cheese-making family, going back into the 17th century.

The family increased in number, taking over large, tenanted farms. By the mid1700s there are records of Fowler’s Derby Cheeses (less acidic with a crumbly texture) at Covent Garden, from where the cheeses were sent across the country. They used Watling Street near the farms to send the cheeses on dray carts, taking a week to get to Covent Garden. The Derby Cheeses were wrapped in sage leaves, probably to preserve and protect the cheeses.

In 1840, they all moved to the Hanbury Hall Estate, exchanging their tenanted farms for ‘Freeland’ – cultivated land that had been left to become bog Their story is fascinating. and wasteland. It took two The family originates from years for all the families Viking invasions from Norway, and animals to get down taking on a Saxon name Foule to Droitwich. They were which means a keeper of granted a two-generation chickens, ducks and geese. rate: the first 25 years was The story starts with Richard free, the second 25 years Foule in 1670, their first (or ‘generation’) was at a recorded cheese-maker who peppercorn rate so they could changed his name to Fowler drain, ditch and restore the by 1690, an Anglo-Saxon land, before they paid the full name in order to ‘blend rent in 1890. Cheese-making in’ better. His first cheese, continued.

Cheshire, was registered at In 1898, James Fowler, Ashbourne market in that who was a butcher from year. Cheshire became the King of cheeses due to its high acidity which kept the cheese free of dangerous bugs. The Fowlers kept mainly cows and sheep up on the Staffordshire moorlands by the River Dove around Ilam. It is highly likely that Fowler had been taught by monks who, with the COMMUNITY

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Smithfields, came up and bought Glebe Farm from the local church in Tanworth-inArden in order to develop the cheese-making business further. They bought farms in Showell Green Lane (Sparkhill), Acocks Green, Billesley and Kings Heath to create dairies. The current bus depot in Fox Hollies Road was one of their dairies. By 1904, the milk was being sent by drays to Earlswood for bottling and pasteurising, with milk for cheese-making being sent by train to Droitwich.

In 1918, 20 years after this massive expansion, the cheese-making was moved to Earlswood, where it has remained ever since. Adrian’s grandparents lived at the end of Wake Green Road near College Road and his greataunt on Windermere Road close to Moseley School.

Today, after 14 unbroken generations they make 17 different cheese styles, many of which can be tasted at the market. Buy some for Christmas at our December 19th Farmers’ Market and hopefully you will be able to share something of this remarkable story.

David Isgrove Find out more information at: fowlerscheesemakers.co.uk www.moseleyb13.com

FESTIVE FLASHBACK!

YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS This year has been tough for many of us, but that doesn’t mean that good things didn’t happen along the way.

To end 2020 on a high, we thought we’d share some of your happiest memories and bring in 2021 with positivity.

Remember 2013’s Christmas in Lights event in Moseley?

The lights were switched on by the late Ranking Roger, frontman of The Beat, and the evening was a little hampered by bad weather, but a top time was still had by all. The event also featured the first appearance of new in town pup, Tipton, the B13 Newshound. She even wore a high-vis jacket to join the team! (Photo was originally shared on Twitter).

info@moseleyb13.com

@anita-giz on Instagram: My son got engaged @carollynjohnson on Instagram: Having our house offer accepted, highlight of a very tough year We can’t wait to head into the new year with our best, most positive feet forward.

Maria Arroja Ferreira P.S. My own personal highlight: My older sister started university this year and is having an amazing time!”

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ADVENT CALENDAR WINDOWS TRAIL

Would you like to be part of a Moseley Advent Calendar trail? ll you need to do is put up a picture or item in your window from the list below between November 29th and 24th December.

On the 25th December, please put up a star or a Christmas nativity scene.

You can draw the picture and colour it in, cut it from a magazine or advertisement or put a toy/the actual item in your window.

You can also join in by using the chart below when you see the Advent Calendar items in Moseley windows. See if you find them all!

Ruth Yorke Put a star in the box when you have seen the item in a Moseley window Snow

Christmas Tree

Angel

Camel

Gingerbread person

Crown

Christmas elf

Donkey

Candy

Snow people Baby lamb

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King

Christmas stocking

wflake

Christmas bauble

Star

Candle Christmas hat

y canes

Christmas bells

(please only use a picture, not a real candle)

Christmas wreath Holly Father Christmas

Robin Reindeer

g

25th December Nativity scene or big star

info@moseleyb13.com

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WHAT A YEAR! A Christmas Reflection by Tim Chilvers, Senior Pastor at Riverside Church, Moseley What a year 2020 has been!

For some of us, this year has been the hardest year of our lives. Whether we have battled grief, ill-health, financial issues, relationship hurt, or just the massive sense of fear and unease, there’s no doubt that for some of us 2020 has been brutal. For others of us, 2020 hasn’t so much been brutal but just unsettling. As we’ve juggled home-schooling, home-working, isolation and uncertainty we have constantly been forced to adapt to new ways of being.

Yes, quite a year. And, as we approach Christmas and the end of the year, no one quite knows what 2021 will look like either! What do we do with all this uncertainty? How do we cope?

can’t go back to the swing they’ve just left, but they’ve not yet arrived at safety. They are ‘in-between’ times.

I wonder if we’re a bit like that this Christmas. The world has changed. We’ve had to leave the old normal life before COVID-19. But we don’t yet know what life will fully look like in the new normal. And so, we’re ‘inbetween’ times. In a state of uncertainty and flux, just like the trapeze artist suspended mid-air.

is what ‘Immanuel’ means) that we realise we aren’t alone, suspended in midair. Rather, he understands our uncertainty and flux. He knows what it’s like!

And, not only that, he is actually there with wide open hands waiting to grab hold of us as we leap towards his safe and strong grip. He is God with us. No wonder that the birth of Jesus was announced as ‘Good news for all people’. It was good news for them, and it’s still good news for you and me For some of us, this is a today! Because he is there terrifying place to be with this Christmas, as he is all the nothing certain to grab onto. time, ready to put aside our For others, there’s a thrill troubles and grab hold of us about this sense of being out as we leap into the unknown of control. But for all of us, we towards a future that is safe, know that there’s no going secure and full of hope. back and we don’t yet know for certain what the future is going to look like.

As we look back through history, we realise that these This came to mind as strange feelings are not I thought back to an old new. And as a Christian the circus act I saw as a child. events of that first Christmas, It was the trapeze artists. I when Jesus was born, give remember being gripped by a perspective on things that that moment when the artist changes everything. It’s leaps from one trapeze before when we realise that God has being grabbed by another stepped into our uncertainty artist on another swing. and overcomes the fear and And for a moment, before the mess, that we discover they are held tight, they are hope. It is because we know suspended in mid-air. They that he is ‘God with us’ (which 18

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2020: A MOSELEYITE’S RETROSPECTIVE

Ah, 2020 – well what can I say? At least it wasn’t dominated by Brexit (well not at the time of writing).

As I sit here in Lockdown Two in front of the laptop which is now my life and fulfils far too many functions – work, play, socializing, inspiration, procrastination, pleasure, pain – wondering whether I’ll be allowed out in December, or if Covid Christmas (already sounding less appealing than Winterval was) will be cancelled. I ask myself, just how did we get here and where do we go now? (Well, nowhere for a while.) I’ll try and avoid the clichés that we’re all tired of now.

These might be uncertain times, but what times are info@moseleyb13.com

not, and this situation is no longer new and should never become normal.

My 2020 started with a hangover and my annual pledge to give up the booze, although my sore head might have been caused by the particularly acrimonious December election as much as the drink. Still, I had a sense of optimism about the year ahead – what could possibly go wrong?

OK, Australia and the Amazon were on fire and in China there were reports of a new virus caught from eating bats, but that all seemed far away. Closer to home it rained. A lot.

But Moseley is on a hill and I was more concerned about my daily commute 19

and whether I would be charged a fiver a day to drive through the clean air zone. Luckily that turned out not to be a problem.

By February the virus was in Europe and was being controlled through British exceptionalism and a series of three-word slogans.

Sales of hand sanitizer and signage soared. By March it was here, more measures were needed and after stripping the supermarket shelves bare we found ourselves in the strange world of lockdown, getting to grips with Zoom, home-schooling, Joe Wicks and queuing for the bank.

Confirmation that the virus was actually here, that measures really were needed and that shaking

hands was a bad idea, came in April when our jolly new PM caught it. Fortunately our May morale was buoyed by a newly discovered blitz community spirit and a feeling that we were all in it together, sustained by icons like Captain Tom, VE day street parties and the sort of rose-tinted nostalgia at which Britain truly is world-beating, culminating with the Queen saying “we’ll meet again”. The sun was out, the air was clear and my new ebike arrived in June, HISTORY

proving not everything from China this year is bad.

I fell in love with it and the empty streets of Moseley and beyond – I even got a key to the park.

The bubble burst in July with ill-advised trips to castles and a black man in the US being murdered, a scene caught on camera.

Although we and the US are no longer the same country this did bring up a view of our history that jarred with the one previously described, and along with the disproportionate rate 20

of Covid deaths in the BAME population, this led to protests around the world including the demonstration in Moseley.

Statues were pulled down and a mural appeared in the Heath, later defaced with a hammer and sickle as if somehow to respect Black lives is a communist act.

Although lockdown was lifted the less said about the orgy of gluttony that was August the better. I do feel blessed by the quantity and quality of our fine local eating establishments even though I am left considerably heavier than last year. I also feel for those who were unable to eat out to help out – thankfully some of the earlier community spirit survives in the networks of volunteers providing local foodbanks and support that so many have come to rely on (well done you people).

September brought a 10 o’clock curfew and the feeling that we were all drinking in the last-chance saloon, with impromptu street parties in the triangle featuring brass bands described as typical Moseley, meaning either vibrant or irresponsible depending on your point of view. With divisions deepening and trust in the media collapsing (can’t think why), by now everyone had a point of view: mask-wearing seen as a statement rather than a www.moseleyb13.com

health measure, lockdown essential or harmful, important to save lives or an affront to our very way of life. The same for vaccines, 5G, the Government’s Covid app, etc. Schools and universities re-opened and students returned, shortly afterwards to be incarcerated at their own expense.

In October, the talk of a second spike turned into reality (as the maths always said it would). In King’s Heath the Low Traffic Neighbourhood landed, causing congestion and controversy. Hopefully it turns out OK (well better than the bins anyway) and the clean air we loved in Spring will be back.

Halloween really was the last chance to party and

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November finds me here writing this. The novelty of Lockdown One is gone, we are no longer clapping for the NHS and Captain Tom’s fantastic fundraising pales in comparison to the amount squandered on dodgy contracts and apps.

This year has not turned out as any of us expected and we all seem more physically and emotionally divided than ever, but we are closer than we think.

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We can get back to where we were, to understand and trust one another. There is hope (a vaccine and fewer Trump tweets for a start) and I am looking forward to getting out and enjoying Moseley life in 2021, even without the drink. We all want a good Christmas and a happy New Year, and I wish you all both of these. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Max Jalil

A MOSELEY MINUTE

NIKKI FRANCES HAIR: IT’S MORE THAN JUST MAINTENANCE

It was a damp November day as I set off to meet a Moseley born and bred hairdresser in Cannon Hill Park for a socially distanced interview. After first approaching the wrong person I spied a lovely lady smiling at me: “This must be Nikki,” I thought, and luckily it was...

How long have you had your salon?

rolling from there. I was lucky as I have been working in Moseley for the last eight years and I have built up a good client base, so it wasn't built from scratch.

It officially opened on St Mary's Row on the 5th September 2020. I was working from home from the 4th July, but I didn’t How long have you been a feel safe due to the current hairdresser? pandemic, so hired a chair at I have been a hairdresser a salon until this shop became available, and the ball started for 16 years now. I started at 22

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Nikki Clarke when I was 14 years old – that is where I got my training. After spending time travelling, I came back to Moseley and started to freelance, doing hair for local clients and also weddings both here and in Europe, gradually building up my client base.

before on my own. I first went to India, then to Sri Lanka, then Singapore, Malaysia and Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

I started travelling on my own but during the trip met two other independent female travellers and we went on to travel together, which was great.

There seem to be a lot of hairdressers in Moseley?

During my last travels I wrote my business plan, then I came back and started to make it happen. My travels have definitely had an influence on the interior of my shop: you can tell I have travelled, I describe it as having a Scandi, ethnic, vintage vibe. It’s eclectic and has influences from India, probably because I have travelled to India nine times so far. I love the country.

I qualified from Nikki Clarke at 19 years old, the youngest person ever to qualify from there. I would be surprised if I do not still hold that record because I have always wanted to be a hairdresser ever since I was a child.

What’s hair up?

What makes you stand out?

I am self-taught with hair up although I have done a few courses. I used to do it a lot when I was younger and still at school. It was here that I discovered you can move hair around and not just do plaits.

Hair up is styling hair without cutting – for example, what you do for weddings. Over the last eight years I have been doing 15 weddings a year and over the last five years weddings both in England and Europe.

I want people who visit my salon to have an experience, almost like a spa. The head massage, shampoo (you can’t come to my hairdressers for just a dry cut). My slogan is hair’s more than just maintenance, the boring bit is the hair cut; it’s about the total experience, the shampoo, the cut, the styling – I want you to leave feeling amazing. My salon is a luxury boutique salon in the heart of Moseley.

Have you got a style?

Do you advertise the salon?

Yes, I do, it’s timeless and classic. I don’t have any preexisting idea of what the customers want, I let them guide me. I do like 'undone hair', hair that looks like it’s not styled within an inch of its life.

I have started to do reels on Instagram that are ‘how to’s’. Follow me as @ Nikkifranceshair

Yes, there are many, three others already on St Mary's Row and another one potentially moving in. I think it should be called St Hairy's Row instead! Moseley has lots of cafés, pubs and hairdressers, but I feel all of the hairdressers offer different services. Mine has a homely feel, like a lounge, so I call it my ‘slounge’. It has a warm and cosy feel with a sofa, lots of trinkets and things that I have picked up from charity shops and my travels.

Where have you travelled to and has it influenced your hairdressing?

I went travelling for the first time when I was 21, I had never even been on a plane

info@moseleyb13.com

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I also have a website: Nikkifranceshair.co.uk Debbie Aldous

TOMMY QUANGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S WORLD OF STRANGE

Christmas Crackers

Bonkers rap star Kanye West recently gifted his partner Kim Kardashian a hologram of her late father for her 40th birthday. The hologram informed Mrs Kardashian that she had "married the most, most, most, most, most genius man in the whole world, Kanye West".

However, there are more useful and less egotistical ways to use holograms, as proven by local inventor Reg Cylinder. Reg has designed holograms that can be used to help deal with the difficulties of social distancing this Christmas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have devised a way that people will be able to spend Christmas Day

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with family members, or at least the next best thing," Mr Cylinder explained. "I will upload the image of each relative, complete with a voice sample to generate realistic speech, and as much information on the personality and history of the individual as possible, to make a realistic hologram.”

consumption of copious amounts (both real and virtual) of Tia Maria and Cinzano, and various incidents under the mistletoe, divorce papers were served the following day. As a result I’ve been held responsible for the actions of my holograms and hit by legal proceedings.”

Reg went into detail about the test studies he had conducted with a family of holograms socialising with several real relatives. “The holograms conducted themselves in a functional manner, interacting in a happy and reasonable way with other relatives during the mock Christmas Day setting. This was of course an absolute failure in realism, so I had to reprogram them and carry out further test situations.”

I’ll end with a traditional Christmas ghost story based on the experiences of a Moseley man, so I recommend you throw another log on the fire and grab a glass of mulled wine as I recount this spine-chilling tale...

Aston Nibble got in touch with the World of Strange office to share the festive haunting by his former business partner that he experienced during Christmas 2019. He said the event was a bit like “that Christmas thing that used to be on telly at Christmas”. Mr Nibble is of course referring to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, with the claims that he was haunted by his deceased business partner of Vape & Shape vape shop & gym.

Mr Cylinder went on to explain the outcome of the cyber corrections. “After several hours of passive–aggressive bitterness and resentment, fake and painful gratitude through gritted teeth at gifts ranging from soap and body spray stuffed in a wicker basket, to shower gel and deodorant stuffed in a cardboard box, an argument about about whether to watch the Queen or Wallace and Gromit, and a full blown drunken fight over allegations of cheating during a game of Trivial Pursuit, I realised I’d finally got it right. The holograms had participated in a highly natural way during a traditional British Christmas scenario.”

“It started last Christmas Eve when I was at home and had a visit from my dead business partner’s ghost, which seemed a bit unusual,” explained Mr Nibble. “He showed me a vision of a future where the tax people turn up and I find that all of my business receipts have completely vanished. Then, in the new year, the tax people did visit me and I found that the Quality Street tin where I kept the receipts was empty. It’s that ******* ghostly ex-partner of mine. He’s nabbed them for a top laugh. No one believes me and now I’m facing prosecution.” Mr Nibble pleaded for help, asking if I knew of anyone that was “a bit like that Eric Pakorah off the Most Haunted TV show on telly” who could prove he was innocent. I did know of a local medium, but realised I’d lost his number when I dropped my mobile phone into a vat of antique lemon curd while investigating a report of a haunting in a disused factory in Digbeth.

Reg has revealed that he hasn’t perfected the complete sensory experience for each festive family hologram. “I haven’t got the afternoon snoring sounding quite right, and I have to decide which smells will need to be released from the holograms to best represent Christmas Day. For this to work I’ll need to speak to the chef of the household to find out what’s on the combined real world and virtual menu. So far sprouts have always been on offer so I should be paid danger money for testing out this new technology.”

Mr Nibble is now in prison at the start of an eight-year sentence. I do hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a very happy New Year!

Sadly, just before going to press, Mr Cylinder contacted us to say the holograms won’t be available this Christmas. “One of the test sessions involved a real couple in Billesley celebrating Christmas Day with a virtual couple from Hall Green. After the info@moseleyb13.com

Tommy Quang

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Moseley Memories:

GOD AND THE SHINING CANON

Moseley National School was simply the village school when I first went there in 1944. It was only 20 years later, when I trained as a teacher, that I understood the significance of the stone block over the old entrance: ‘1828’. The Church of England, which had many country village schools at the time, established the National School Society in 1811, to bring Christian education to the pagan communities in the country’s burgeoning urban areas, after the industrial revolution. Moseley must have been one of the earliest.

The boys all sat on the left of the aisle, facing the high pulpit. Most services left me cold and by the age of nine, I had seen no evidence for the existence of God, and became a convinced atheist for the rest of my life. I did appreciate the beauty of the services and many hymns, however, even with the sun reflecting off Canon Cribb’s shiny forehead. Two types of service had a profound effect on me.

Every September, we had a traditional Harvest Festival, at which real produce was brought in from the nearby countryside.

Being tied to St Mary’s Church, we made Arrayed across the front of the nave was a frequent processions down Oxford Road rich display of flowers, fanned and bunched, for services. Just a few Jewish and Roman and fruit and vegetables. Baskets of humble Catholic pupils were left behind with a teacher washed potatoes, giant cabbages and what, who may or may not have been a believer of in a different context, I was praised for any kind. describing as “the proud boastings of stripechested marrows”. The baskets of apples and 26

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pears made us salivate, but they were not for the likes of us. I could only think of the underpaid farmers and their labourers who worked hard to produce our “daily bread”.

“For those in peril on the sea” with a deeper solemnity than we might have done another time. Sitting there, looking at the winter sun on his polished head, I joined my new-found respect for him with musing on God’s letting it happen, or even how free-will came into it.

In my proto-scientific way, I craved evidence and found none. I could only think that these were ordinary working men who went out, facing the unknown, to get the fish our family relished. It was cheap, nourishing and unrationed.

The second specific occasion was far more serious. In January 1950, we were all horrified by vivid accounts on BBC News of what was happening on the Iceland Banks fishing grounds. An Arctic storm had sent freezing fog across what were normally peaceful waters. Mainly Scottish trawlermen were climbing the rigging in a usually vain attempt to hack at ice, the boats building up into capsizing masses. Many rolled over, with all hands drowning as they sank.

The impact on me was so profound that, when I got my first pay packet in 1956, as an Austin apprentice, I took out a shoreline membership of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. I cannot swim, have never owned a boat or gone sailing, but my monthly subscription to the RNLI continues today.

Canon Cribb was moved by the effect on us and held a special service, to which the Jews and Catholics, and their accompanying teachers, were also invited. We sat, solemnly contemplating our thoughts, until the Canon stood up tall in the pulpit to give what must have been his most emotional sermon ever.

It was only when my brother-in-law became a Canon at Manchester Cathedral that I questioned the Rev. Charles Theodore Cribb’s title. Clearly, he was important in the Church in Birmingham. Born in 1888, he served at St Mary’s from 1945 to 1962, and died in 1976.

Perhaps we should know more of him.

We listened intently, some – including me – wiping away a tear or two. He picked out particular events in the radio reports, relating them to the self-sacrifice of Jesus’s crucifixion. We sang the mariners’ hymn

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David Spilsbury

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HEAD RAMBLES FROM LOCKDOWN TWO

St Anne’s usual haven on Christmas Day was obviously to be off the seasonal calendar this year.

Riverside too. Friends at Two was on the way and I home you can’t do, but if hadn't really been aware of Palmyra would open up, its swift arrival. I suddenly, something lovely and legal urgently, wanted to get my (and affordable) could be on locks off. First I had to find the menu. Great idea. Subhi out how to go about booking was up for it so that settled a hairdresser online. I tried that. Then came rumours and three. I decided that the first rumours of Lockdown Two. one to come back to me with Now we’re in it. a date was the one for me.

Palmyra’s only open for It was Nikki from newly takeaway. Must carry on opened salon Nikki Frances eating out to help out but Hair on St Mary’s Row. The where to sit now? On the one with stunning hand red and orange barriers? The painted pumpkins in the pavement? The bus shelter? window. It looked pretty Decided to ask the regular artistic to me and Nikki members of the bench club would definitely do. I sent on The Green if they were her a text: I want to look like open to newcomers. They a chic older chick. Just to were. Most welcoming. Now make sure she had some idea Subhi puts my dainty teapot of what I thought that meant and tea glass on a silver tray I gave her a YouTube video and I keep my standards up of Judy Dench’s immortal on the benches and make live performance of Send In new friends.

The Clowns to look at while If Boris continues this thing she went off to make me a up to and beyond Christmas, cappuccino. well, I guess we can get Nikki certainly did ‘do’. She takeaway from Palmyra more than did. The whole and meet suitably socially experience was a complete distanced, one separate delight. I couldn’t believe arrival at a time, in the urban how long and wavy my park. Good. overflowing hair had been Frustrated in a sudden when I saw it lying on her urgent attempt to emigrate stylish floor. to Penzance while the going Now that I was a chic older was good, I realised I’d have chick, I fairly floated across to stay here. This whole thing the road to show myself off got through to me for the at ‘Moseley’s Melting Pot’ first time. It is potentially all(aka Palmyra). We had plans round extremely depressing. to discuss Christmas.

I’ll have to find something What to do, what to do to do. Five hours gardening about ‘Christmas Together’ a day no longer appeals. I under Tier 3? (We were might have to start writing still in Tier 3 at the time.) regularly again. Not just once 28

a month articles for Moseley B13 Magazine. Anyway, I have retired from Moseley B13 Mag (in case you hadn’t noticed).

Luckily for me, Chris Fewings (writeyourworldalive.today) is starting a one-month online writing course with daily prompts and feedback.

Yesss! That should get me back to writing. Give me a focus. I’ll do that. So I do.

Best thing I ever did. Suggest you do it too. Whoever you are.

I’m going to start walking (ugh) in or through the parks. My friend Janet Moir does her ‘three park walk’ daily. She can show me how.

Plus, at 6pm each evening I am not, repeat not, any longer going to sit down and watch Midsomer Murders or Inspector Morse on ITV3 for the twenty-seventh time. I am going to learn to draw or paint at the kitchen table.

Happy Christmastide wherever you may be. See you on the other side.

Tessa Kate Lowe

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MOSELEY SOCIETY LOCAL HISTORY GROUP

A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS: QUIZ

1. In what four ways did people celebrate Christmas before the Victorian period?

2. What four new ways of celebrating Christmas were introduced during the Victorian period?

3. Who brought the idea of Christmas trees to Britain in the Victorian period?

4. When did the first adverts for Christmas tree decorations appear?

5. Using evergreens to decorate the home at Christmas became more elaborate in the Victorian era. How? 6. Who produced the first Christmas card in 1844?

7. Who is generally named as the inventor of the Christmas cards?

8. Who created Christmas crackers and when?

9. What was a ‘Miss Motto’?

10. When did Christmas day become a bank-holiday?

11. When did December 26 become a bank-holiday if it fell on a weekday?

12. Why is the day after Christmas Day called ‘Boxing Day’?

13. What country gave us Santa Claus?

14. What musical outing did the Victorians bring back in a big way?

15. Who wrote A Christmas Carol and when?

QUIZ –ANSWERS 1. Yule log; mince pies; plum pudding; holly 2. Trees; cards; crackers; presents 3. Prince Albert 4. 1853 5. Wreaths; ivy ribbons; mistletoe balls 6. William Charles Thomas (1817-1898) 7. Sir Henry Cole (1808-1882) 8. Tom Smith & Company, a London firm in the 1850s.

9. A ‘Miss Motto’ was a forerunner of the Christmas cracker, a sweetmeat with a love motto wrapped in a piece of fancy paper.

10. 1834 11. December 26th became a bank-holiday if it fell on a weekday after the passing of Sir John Lubbock’s Act of 1871.

12. Servants and working people opened the boxes in which they had collected gifts of money from the ‘rich’.

13. America 14. Carolling 15. Charles Dickens in 1843 info@moseleyb13.com

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Just to Say Dear Editor,

disabled soldiers, as Janet Berry reports. Some time after World War I ended, it reverted to its former use as a nursing home for the poor and needy. That is why I was born there in 1939 to a poor and needy woman living in the foul air and general neglect of Balsall Heath. I was one of the many who protested about its closure.

It's a pity the interesting piece on Sorrento omitted one crucial point: how it got its name. It was built for William Adams in the late C19. He was a director of Midlands Assurance and named it, rather romantically, after the Italian resort where he and his wife spent their honeymoon.

In 1911, shortly before his death, he opened it as an institution for the poor and needy. In 1916, Neville Chamberlain, Mayor of Birmingham, bought it on behalf of the City as a convalescent home for severely

Nice article; pity about the missing romance, though.

Yours faithfully, David Spilsbury Like a Frida Kahlo I hung my dress there On the line The raindrops are falling The wind is blowing There is another dress My mum puts it out on the line Every day for me Full of smells Oranges and sunshine Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my dress Katerina Chamberlain

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A M P L I F Y

S O U N D S

Amplify Sounds aims to keep live music alive, giving people the chance to watch artists perform live, in a time when live performance venues have been closed due to Covid.

On the last Sunday of every month at 9pm Amplify Sounds brings you 3 brilliant artists performing live on stage. The show champions the best in emerging artists & rising stars from in and around Birmingham and the wider Midlands.

The show is not only keeping live music alive, it is also providing a sense of community through its live interactive audience – viewers are encouraged to get on the chat room and give feedback or ask questions to the artists. Further to this it is also giving musicians the opportunity to perform and connect with fans, and gives those working behind the scenes in lighting, sound, and camera crew etc. a sense of much needed purpose, in time when the government has told them to give up and retrain in other non creative roles.

Whilst on the surface Amplify Sounds may appear as a simple online music show, it is so much more than that. It is supporting the mental health of those working in the creative industry both in front and behind the camera. By asking the audience to tune in live and watch the show in info@moseleyb13.com

real time, it creates a sense of coming together and community, which cannot be undervalued in a time of social distancing and isolation.

The format is similar to watching Jools Holland, 3 artists from different genres each perform three tracks throughout the show, they’re interviewed by the host and show creator – Alex Carr, who sits down with each artist and helps us find out a little more about what makes them tick musically, how they’ve been coping with 2020 and looking ahead to the future. The show boasts some great talent ranging from the Indie melodies of Bromsgrove’s Jack Goodall, the breath taking voice of Wolverhampton’s Cariss Auburn and the raw fire of Birmingham rapper Infamous Dimez. The next show promises to be even bigger featuring one of Birmingham’s brightest rising stars, check out the Amplify Sounds Instagram page for full line up info.

You can catch the next show **LIVE at 9pm on Sunday the 29th November** by simply heading to the Birmingham Streams website and clicking on the Amplify Sounds image. [www.birminghamstreams.co.uk] Instagram - @amplifysounds (img)

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