LeftLion Magazine - September 2021 - Issue 139

#139 September 2021

Credits

Supporters These people #SupportLeftLion

Al Gilby Al Gorithm alan.gilby@leftlion.co.uk

Ashley Carter Editor ashley.carter@leftlion.co.uk

Jared Wilson Editor-in-Chief jared.wilson@leftlion.co.uk

Natalie Owen Head Designer natalie.owen@leftlion.co.uk

Curtis Powell Head of Video and Photography curtis.powell@leftlion.co.uk

Adam Pickering Marketing and Partnerships Manager adam.pickering@leftlion.co.uk

Frieda Wignall Editoral Intern frieda.wignall@leftlion.co.uk

Lilith Hudson Editioral Intern lilith.hudson@leftlion.co.uk

Hamza Hussain Web Developer hamza.hussain@leftlion.co.uk

Jamie Morris Screen Co-Editor jamie.morris@leftlion.co.uk

Tom Quigley Photography Co-Editor tom.quigley@leftlion.co.uk

Editorial Assistant Lizzy O’Riordan (lizzy.oriordan@leftlion.co.uk) Cover Natalie Owen Intern Daniela Loffreda Sub-Editor Lauren Carter-Cooke Writers Bassey Pam Digva Jason Edgar Sean Harper Victorian Hayward Megan Hill Rachel Imms Michael Krawec

4

Anna Murphy Fashion Editor anna.murphy@leftlion.co.uk

Tom Errington Web Developer tom.errington@leftlion.co.uk

Rebecca Buck Stage Co-Editor rebecca.buck@leftlion.co.uk

Fabrice Gagos Photography Co-Editor fabrice.gagos@leftlion.co.uk

Creative Digital Assistant Ekam Hundal (ekam.hundal@leftlion.co.uk) Leanne Moden Lizzy O’Riordan Kelly Palfrey Georgianna Scurfield Abigail Stevenson Photographers Harry Bamford Eric Chapman Andre Hart Tom Haslam Wesley Morgan RE Diana Schmies Chris Spencer Tracey Whitefoot XR Nottingham

George White Editoral Assistant george.white@leftlion.co.uk

Dom Henry Stage Co-Editor dom.henry@leftlion.co.uk

Rachel Willcocks Art Co-Editor rachel.willcocks@leftlion.co.uk

Marketing & Editorial Assistant Katie Lyle (katie.lyle@leftlion.co.uk) Illustrators Liv Auckland Kasia Kozakiewicz Kelly Palfrey La Petite Femme Tracey Meek Kate Sharp Carmel Ward Editorial Illustrations Emily Catherine

Al Draper, Alan Phelan, Alison Gove-Humphries, Alison Harviek, Alison Hedley, Alison Knox, Alison Wale, Andrew Cooper, Ankunda, Annie Rodgers, Ant Haywood, Anthony Blane, Anthony Gariff, Ashley Cooper, Bad Squiddo Games, Barbara Morgan, Barrie the Lurcher, Ben & Jack, Ben Jones, Ben Lester, Ben Lucas, Betty Rose Bakes, Bob Allison û, Bridgette Shilton, Carla Prestwich, Caroline Le Sueur, Chloe Langley, Chris Rogers, Claire Henson, Clare Foyle, D Lawson, Dan Lyons, David Dowling, David Knight, Dawn Pritchard, Diane Lane, Donna Rowe-Merriman, Eddie, Eden PR, Ellen O’Hara, Erika Diaz Petersen, Felicity Whittle, Frances & Garry Bryan, Friday Club Presents, Hayley Howard, Heather Hodkinson, Heather Oliver, Helena Tyce, House of Pain Wrestling Academy, Ian Storey, Ian Yanson, In memory of Anna Novak (Bradford and Scoraig), In memory of Jenny Smith, Ivy House Environmental, James Medd, James Place, James Wright, Jane Dodge, Jason Jenkins, Jayne Holmes, Jayne Paul William & Pirate Jack, Jed Southgate, Jim Lloyd, John Haslam, John Hess, Jon Blyth, Jordan Bright, Joshua Heathcote, Julian Bower, Kate Newton, Kath Pyer, Katherine Sanders, Kathleen Dunham, Kay Gilby, Kaye Brennan, Kiki Dee the Cat, Livi & Jacob Nieri, Lizzy and Margot, Luke and Flo, Marc Weaver, Mark, Mark Barratt, Mark Gasson, Mark Rippey, Martin, Matthew Riches, Matt Turpin, Matthew Riches, Max Sherwin, Mighty Lightweights, MinorOak Coworking, Monica White, Nick G (real living wage rocks), Nicola Baumber, Nigel Cooke, Nigel King, Nikki Williams, Norman the Dog, NottingJam Orchestra, Oliver Ward, Paul Woodall, Pete Gray, Rachel Ayrton, Rachel Hancorn, Rachel Morton, Raphael Achache, Richard Barclay, Richard Goodwin, roastinghouse.co.uk, Rob Arthur, Ron Mure, Ros Evans, Roy Manterfield, Ruth Parry, Sam Hudson, Sam Nahirny, Sarah Manton, Simon Evans, Siobhán Cannon-Brownlie, Spicer, Steve Lyon, Steve Stickley Storyteller, Steve Wallace, Stuart Jones, Sue Barsby, Sue Reader, Tara de Cozar, The Sultan, Tim Foster, Tom Markkanen, Tracey Newton, Tracey Underwood , Tracy Lowe, Wolfgang Buttress

Fancy seeing your name (or the name of your band, small business, loved one, pet etc) in this mag every month? It only costs a fiver and the money supports this magazine.

Plus you get all kinds of other treats too.

patreon.com/leftlion

Featured Contributor Lilith has just graduated from her degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Nottingham and has plans to study a Master's in Magazine Journalism in September.

This summer she’s joined the team at LeftLion as an intern and is very much enjoying doing all the things she did while she should have been studying, minus the guilt!

When she’s not writing you’ll probably see her outside a pub in Lenton with a pint in hand (weather permitting).

Either that or with her head in a book.

It very much depends on the state of her psyche.

You can read Lilith’s interview with Claire Henson of the Anxiety Map Programme on page 27

/leftlion leftlion.co.uk/issue139

@leftlion

@leftlionmagazine

Contents 14

16

A Paul Tale

We catch up with the design icon as his Hello, My Name is Paul Smith exhibition heads to Nottingham Castle

19

Aging Bull

Hip Hip Hurraya

Guinness World Record holder and boxing legend Steve Ward on winning his world title and hanging up his gloves for good

Fresh off the back of receiving his MBE, AlHurraya CEO Asad Fazil discusses the work he does for Nottingham’s BAME communities

13

A Bus Driver in Notts

28

20

Future Fighter

33

Crocus Focus

23

Wild City

34

Scalarama X

25

Tickled Pink

36

Bailey Affirmations

27

Breathing Space

42

Moden Words

Our bus driver in Notts explains why his Asperger’s and love of driving make him a perfect candidate for driving you around town

Self-proclaimed Notts rebel Tracy Neale discusses being at the front of Extinction Rebellion’s fight against climate change

Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham volunteer Victoria Hayward explains how the city’s wildlife has been affected during COVID

With a remit to tackle inequality through vaginal comedy, Major Labia are heading back to Nottingham Playhouse this month

Sometimes anxiety hits when we least expect it. Claire Henson is helping to create spaces throughout the city for people to take a breather

Editorial

Where There’s Hope

Rachel Imms visits Hopewood Hospital to talk to specialists caring for new mothers overcoming symptoms of complex psychiatric conditions

Michael Krawec of the Nottingham Crocus Volunteers explains why planting more of the flower will help us connect with our natural heritage

The nationwide, month-long celebration of cinema is back for its tenth year, and Nottingham is as well-represented as ever…

Singer/songwriter Liam Bailey discusses Ekundayo Inversions, New York producer Leon Michael’s reworking of his 2020 album

Poet Leanne Moden talks swimming the channel, Wikipedia rabbit holes and accidentally becoming a teenage goth

Heavens to Betsy, would you look at the time - it’s September already. Just as summer was getting ready to kick off, the shops are starting to tip-toe into Christmas territory. Such is life.

But if there’s one thing you can set your watch to, it’s LeftLion continuing to pump out the mags, celebrating all that is beautiful about our dear city. I’ll be honest, it’s a pretty eclectic one this month.

We kick things off with a chat with our old chum Paul Smith, whose exhibition Hello, My Name is Paul Smith is open at Nottingham Castle now. Our Frieda Wignall headed down there for a preview and quick word with the design legend, and you can read what she reported back on page 14.

Next up was an interview that I enjoyed immensely, as I travelled over to Mansfield for a chinwag with manmountain and living legend Steve Ward, which you can check out on page 16. If you weren’t aware, Steve is a threetime Guinness World Record holder for being the world’s oldest active boxer, and recently hung up his gloves at the ripe old age of 65, having finally bagged himself a world title. Proper Cinderella story, that one.

The legends keep on coming, as we also talk to Al-Hurraya

CEO Asad Fazil MBE about the superb work he and his Lenton-based charity do to support Black and Ethnic Minority communities in the city.

As well as that lot, we feature Xtinction Rebellion, Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham, Major Labia, Scalarama X, Liam Bailey, Leanne Moden and a whole heap more. Like I said, proper eclectic.

As we get ready to welcome new Arts Editors into the team, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank Rachel Willcocks for all of her brilliant work over the past two years. She did a superb job in shaping the Art section alongside LJ Vaughan, and will definitely be missed.

Oh, and Emily and Jack - I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness x Until the next one…

Ashley Carter, Editor ashley.carter@leftlion.co.uk

LeftLion Magazine is fully recyclable and home-compostable.

We print on paper that is recycled or made using FSC certified sources, on a renewably powered print press. leftlion.co.uk/issue139 5

Going Underground Our mole on the ground isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to bring you the Notts stories you might have missed...

Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers Get The Pawty Started Believe it or not, some daft buggers threw their mutt a birthday party worth £3,000. A music video, custom cake and videography were paid for by the seemingly insane Notts couple, making sure the pampered pooch in question - an English Bulldog named Dave - had a ninth birthday he’ll still immediately forget. Because he’s a dog.

New Bond Film Isn't it about three years old now? We’ll be interested to see what it’s like, but the thing we’re most bothered about is the cars. Is it an Aston Martin as usual? A View To A Kill had a Lotus and C5. Dr No had a Sunbeam! It’s Daniel Craig’s send-off too isn’t it? He’s been a decent Bond we suppose, but he’s not a patch on Roger Moore. The music was always better in the old films too - it’s all a bit too trendy now.

The Space Race Bezos, Branson and Musk have all got unimaginable amounts of money and so why not do this if it’s what they want to spend their money on? They could end world hunger and feed the world instead, but they might not be so bothered about that. It’s just a shame no-one built on Concorde forty years ago. It was built by the British and the French and went to the edge of space. If they’d carried on with that they’d be there by now.

Throbbin Wood This is the sort of story that lot at my old paper would kill each other to write up, as you could pretty much guarantee you’d hit your monthly click quota with it. That’s right, two mucky sods were galavanting around Sherwood Forest in their birthday suits. I popped up just in time to get a right eyeful and, let me tell you, the spirit of ‘Little John’ lives on.

Is everything a bit more back to normal now?

Yes it is. We went to get our ears syringed the other day.

On the way back we spotted a sign for a croquet club. We thought, “Let’s have a bit of that.” So we went to ask if we could play. However, the chap at the club told us that the croquet season only lasts between April and October. But he said that if we mentioned it in LeftLion then he’d let us play next year. So can we have a game of croquet please, chap?

Hidden in Plane Sight I like a trip down to Skeg as much as the next mole, but I’ve never been so desperate to go on my billys that I’ve tried to board a plane via the baggage carousel. That’s just what one plank tried at East Midlands Airport recently, leading to a stream of jokes on something called ‘Twitter’. The police even got involved, posting a Die Hard GIF. Top banter, lads.

What have the stars got in store for you lot this month...

“You’r e you’re not disabled just fa , t”

k do g s to thin “I used t y, but I’d ir were d d mine” fee t s a br e

see y don’t “I reall t in R av ioli” in t he p o “No it ’s that ’s not the don Scot tis key T HE O h IT ’S GR E ”

ad your d ect for egg p s e r ll a eat an “I lost saw him t tle spoon” li w he n I a h d w it c u st a r

“She's li millen ke a nial K aren”

ea t to r id “I wan ight up into r bicycle e” s r a is h

“W hat ’s the G n a me for Jas er man on? ”

a cat h r ow e o f t h e m t ’t n on ca “You t hitting ooters” ou sc w o l w it h l dy ye bl o o

ss ing dre a wedd just a g in r a “We do is r st ag- ? ” on you it ’t n is hé bit clic

d Eye an all, R ib essar ily w n r o “C ec . Not n AC/D C rder” o in that

“We’re n reinve ot tr y ing t o nt slic e d br e a d he

r e”

traceymeek.com leftlion.co.uk/issue139 7

‘

interview and photo: Georgianna Scurfield My clothes are all cheap and old, much in the same way that I am. Everything that I’m wearing is second-hand, except my trousers. I bought these when I was feeling sad, and they were expensive. It was a few years ago, and they cost me about £100. At the time it felt like a legitimate purchase, and every time I put them on I think, ‘These are my special trousers.’

I’ve been coming to the Cattle Market since 2017 when I moved to Nottingham with my wife, who is from here. I guess you could say that I’m a relative stranger to the area.

We originally started coming here because we couldn’t afford any furniture. Our entire house is furnished with £20 purchases from the auction house, so whenever we need something we head down here. You can’t really buy cheap furniture in London, so now when my friends from down south need something they always ask me. It’s turned me into this weird, niche antiques dealer.

I feel like the internet auction has changed things quite a lot, and stuff tends to be more expensive now. I was just in the auction room when a guy from America paid £500 for a violin that would have otherwise gone for about £30. It’s good that they’ve got the business, obviously, but it’s definitely changed things.

It’s easy to get sentimental about this sort of thing, but it’s such a rare example of a decidedly antiquated, but still extremely worthwhile, community experience. You only have to hang out here for the day to feel invigorated, even if you’re not buying anything.

Kit

Pick Six

This month, we’ve tasked Sauce Shop co-founder Pam Digva with choosing a few of her favourite things... sauceshop.co

Film True Romance I could watch this film on repeat. The best love story ever and super cool, it makes me laugh and cry every time I watch it. Honourable mentions go to Amelie and of course the classic that is Dirty Dancing. I am definitely a romantic at heart.

Meal Steak and fries As soppy as it sounds, there is nothing better (in my opinion) than my husband James’ steak and fries. The cut of choice is sirloin, cooked rare but well seared in butter, served with crispy French fries and loads of aioli or garlic mayo.

Book The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read...

Child psychotherapist Phillipa Perry’s book takes you through the dos and don’ts of raising children in an unpatronising, relatable and often funny way!

I have a four-year-old and a two-year-old, so I found it very insightful. I’ve also just finished Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Notts Spot Hockley I love the relaxed vibe you get walking down Goose Gate, Broad Street and the surrounding area. For me it really sums up Nottingham’s creative culture, which is my favourite thing about the city. I enjoy eating at the independent restaurants and shopping in the vintage shops.

Song What Went Down by Foals This was the hardest of my six to choose as I’m a huge music fan. I’m massively into dance music but I love a bit of rock and Foals have to be one of my favourite bands of all time. This song is my go-to for a drive home after a taxing day of business ownership!

Holiday Destination India Not your usual annual holiday destination but I’d go there every year if I could! James and I made the trip for our honeymoon in 2014 and I’ve wanted to return ever since.

For me, there is nowhere that evokes the same emotion – the colours, the food, the spirituality, it has to be experienced to be believed.

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 9

Notts Shots

Chim chim cheree RE - @rzbngn

What we do in the shadows Tom Haslam - @thomas_haslam

Want to have your work featured? Send your high-res photos from around the city, including your full name and best web link, to photography@leftlion.co.uk

Just add water Chris Spencer - @cspencer.photography

10

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

Next generation Tom Quigley - tomquigley.co.uk

Power drip Wesley Morgan - wesley-morgan.com

Blue sky thinking RE - @rzbngn

Tomorrow never knows Eric Chapman

Virtue outlives death Tom Haslam - @thomas_haslam leftlion.co.uk/issue139 11

A Bus Driver in Notts Bus driving isn’t exactly what I thought I’d end up doing, but it’s something I had an interest in when I was at college in the nineties. I just enjoy driving. I’ve got Asperger’s, so because of that, if I find something interesting, I dive in and try and find out as much information as I can about it. I gathered an awful lot of information about bus driving and then ten years later I actually got the chance to become a driver. The company were amazed about how much I already knew!

What I didn’t expect was the neck muscles – the steering doesn’t do your body in, it’s your neck! The first week I got out of training school, I was surprised about all the turning around. The amount of neck movement you do is unbelievable, but by now it’s all muscle memory. Another thing I didn’t expect was seeing a guy run naked across the ring-road near Beechdale Baths soon after I started, but there you go.

In some ways the job is repetitive by nature, but in others it isn’t. Every time I get on a bus, yes, the route is the same, the schedule is the same, twirly time – that’s around half past nine when all the little old ladies come on – is the same, but every journey you make is completely different. I’ve driven at six o’clock in the morning and had a full bus and the very next day driven the same hour with an empty bus. Before, I used to drive lots of routes, but now I just do a single long one. There can be monotony to it, but I’m also going through fields and I like getting to see the seasons changing, horses, cows.

The role is customer-facing and interacting with passengers is both the best and the worst part of the job. I especially like saying hello to the kids when they get on board, though I try to enjoy all passenger interactions. Most of the time I’m a jolly person who’ll have a

illustration: Kasia Kozakiewicz

laugh and a joke with people, and then there’s occasions when you just don’t feel like it.

But it’s different every time a child gets on, because they’re excited that they’re getting to ride a bus. Kids always look surprised when I say hello because somebody’s actually talking to them. By the time they get off they’re usually talking back to me, which is nice.

She started off on one, yelling, ‘Do you know I’ve got a Master’s degree?’ and I was thinking, ‘Well, I’ve got a bus driver’s license and I haven’t got infrared vision Unfortunately, there are some passengers that will take the Michael, try and get free rides, that sort of thing. I try to be understanding and say, ‘Look, I’ll let you off this time, but please remember for next time.’ One time I was driving at night and nearly missed a woman who was at the bus stop dressed all in dark clothing. When she got on, I told her that maybe she should wear brighter clothing otherwise drivers won’t see her. She started off on one, yelling, “Do you know I’ve got a Master’s degree?” and I was thinking, ‘Well, I’ve got a bus driver’s license and I haven’t got infrared vision.’

Passengers also expect you to be a SatNav for them. They’ll come up to you, show me a postcode and ask, “Does this bus go here?” – ah, let me just look at my crystal

ball! People don’t understand that we don’t know everything. That person has a phone, they’ve got Google Maps on it, they can put in a postcode. I’ve got a route that’s fifteen miles long, I can’t remember everything that goes off from it and definitely don’t have all the postcodes in my head.

But, really, driving is the most challenging thing. You’re handling something that’s forty feet long, eight feet wide and weighs twelve tonnes – and that’s without passengers! Every fifteen passengers adds a tonne on and most of our buses are eighty plus capacity so that’s a lot of extra weight. Trying to squeeze that through a gap can sometimes be very difficult.

You have to anticipate any vehicles in front of you. I once had an eejit come the wrong way around a roundabout and nearly crash into the front of the bus, head on. I’ve been with the company twenty years now and must’ve been in about one hundred close calls, at least.

As for the future, there’s currently a bus trial in Edinburgh where they’re trying out self-driving buses, but my job is guaranteed to be safe for the next ten years or so. What’s termed the ‘Frankenstein Complex’ will not allow bus companies to go autonomous. That won’t happen for at least fifteen to twenty years unless they come up with a way of having every vehicle on the road controlled in the same way by the same device and everything is moving at a similar pace.

Unless you have that, you can’t have truly autonomous vehicles because there’s too many unexpected variables.

For now, when I finish work, I wind down by watching TV and being still. When you’re constantly moving, travelling at fifty miles per hour with intense concentration, you’re processing a hell of a lot of information. Just being able to stop helps slow your mind down.

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 13

Sir Paul Smith Career Timeline

Born in Beeston

Left school at fifteen to work in a clothing warehouse

Opened his first shop in Nottingham

Set up his flagship London store

Made Royal Designer for Industry

Granted Freedom of the City of Nottingham

Knighted in the Birthday Honours

Published his first book, You Can Find Inspiration in Everything

1946 1961

A Paul Tale

1970

We get a one time only look around as Sir Paul Smith makes a homecoming to Nottingham Castle to visit the Hello, My Name is Paul Smith exhibition on its last stop of a fourteen-country world tour – the Design Museum’s most successful touring exhibition in its history.

1979 1991

1997

2000

2001

I am the wrong person to be doing this is what I’m thinking as I approach the Castle Gatehouse. I’ve already been chastised by my nearest and dearest for not knowing who Paul Smith is, come on after I told them that I would be meeting the man himself today. Okay, so obviously I knew the name, and somewhere in the foggy depths of my brain I knew he was from Nottingham, but not much beyond that. Sue me – clearly I’ve been living under a (sartorially ignorant) rock. Here goes nothing.

My first thought is that the title of the exhibition – Hello, My Name is Paul Smith – feels pretty plain and inadequate for a man whose brand is not only a British institution but a global sensation.

I soon realise that that is the point. Paul Smith is not a man with airs and graces, despite all his success – 50 years of it to be precise, celebrating the company’s golden anniversary in 2020. Even today, the 75-year-old is dressed impeccably but not ostentatiously. That said, he’s by no means ‘ordinary’ and the exhibition explodes with colour to reflect this. Some sections are beautifully minimalist and others deliciously maximalist – a highlight is the Wall of Art, featuring a collage of photos, prints and artworks that have inspired Paul. Whatever direction you look in, there’s a feast for the eyes and for the mind. Paul is all about inspiration, after all; according to him, you can find it in everything. “If you train your mind to think laterally, you can always be ahead of the game.”

The exhibition hosts 1500 objects that encapsulate Paul’s personality. But his favourite? His wife Pauline’s paintings on the Wall of Art – “I owe it all to her.” The Wall also features a photograph of Paul with his parents in front of their old house in Beeston. Later, Paul points out a camera belonging to his late father, an amateur photographer. He holds court with magnetism and humour, leaning on the display cases. At one point he pulls a scarf (pattern inspired by a view of the Andes on a trip to Chile) from the display and quips, “I’ll probably get in trouble for that.” He’s still got a spark in his eyes when he talks about his work, passion that evidently hasn’t dulled over the decades. Does he still like what he does? “No, far more than that. I love it. It’s beautiful. I’m very privileged.”

The exhibition encourages you to get acquainted not with a master fashion guru, but with an old friend Won Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards

Exhibition Hello, My Name is Paul Smith opens at Nottingham Castle

2011 2021

Finally, I get my chance to ask Paul two very precious questions of my own. When I tell him I’m from LeftLion, he immediately quotes back “Where Nottingham meets!” – memories of his 2007 interview with us still fresh, apparently. I ask whether he thinks there’s a future for fashion in the 21st century that is genuinely sustainable.

“Certainly, as a company we’re making enormous headway. We’re doing a lot, but in order to run a business and survive, it’s hard to be 100% squeaky clean. Hopefully lots of people will be arm wrestled into paying attention to it more. A lot of companies will be put in an embarrassing situation where if they don’t do it, they’ll feel like they’re in the wrong.” By the end of 2022, 100% of Paul Smith packaging will be recyclable. He’s also just recently designed a sustainable Mini Cooper, which will be displayed in Munich in September.

But what I really want to know is, is there anything uniquely ‘Nottingham’ that has influenced him throughout his career? “Not from a creative point of view, but I think the fact that in Nottingham, I was always just Paul. Feet on the ground. There’s no room for big egos, whereas unfortunately one of the things the world suffers from these days is too many of those.”

In Nottingham I was always just Paul. Feet on the ground.

I agree with him. There’s a frankness, a boldness to his curiosity that I recognise as authentically Notts.

Throughout the day, he’s keen to stress that the exhibition is absolutely not about self-adulation.

That grounded, what-you-see-is-what-you-get deal is very Paul and very Nottingham. He wants young people to know that “if you’re gentle, polite and you do things properly, you’ll progress.”

The gallery is still open to the public today and he’s chatting with everyone, not just the press and the coterie of councillors and donors (I particularly enjoy watching people’s faces as they realise, ‘Oh my god, that’s him!’). He cheerily accepts a hand-knitted Robin Hood hat from an older Castle volunteer. Of course, I’ve not witnessed the exhibition in its other glamourous touring spots – Seoul, Shanghai, Kyoto – but it just feels right having him and the show here, where it all began.

Whether you’re a long-time admirer or a little bit clueless, like me, the exhibition encourages you to get acquainted not with a master fashion guru, but with an old friend. This is simply Paul introducing himself and showing you his things. So, as it turns out, I am the perfect person to be writing this piece. And though you won’t get Paul in the flesh, as I was lucky to, his presence thrums in every component of the exhibition. If you get a chance, see it. It’s not every day we get to welcome back one of our own in such a fitting way.

Hello, My Name is Paul Smith is open at Nottingham Castle until 20 February 2022. nottinghamcastle.org

words: Frieda Wignall photo: Tracey Whitefoot

leftlion.co.uk/issue136 15 leftlion.co.uk/issue139 15

interview: Ashley Carter photo: Curtis Powell

16

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

Steve Ward has just about seen and done everything the world of boxing has to offer. From turning pro in the late seventies, fighting underground in bare knuckle fights, holding three Guinness World Records and now, finally getting his hands on a world title at the age of 65. We talk to the Hyson Green-born, Mansfield-based boxing legend as he finally hangs up his gloves...

You recently finished your career off in style, bagging your first world title against Adrian Parlogea just a few days before your 65th birthday. Tell us a bit about the fight...

The World Legends Championship belt was the one I’d been after, and I knew that if it didn’t happen against Parlogea, it was never going to happen. The fight was in Mansfield where I wanted it, and the people there were going mad. Parlogea was Romanian champion with over 300 fights, and he’d fought underground as well. He was a good fighter.

I trained for 8-10 hours a day for seven days a week, but three weeks before the fight I found out that my opponent wasn’t a heavyweight – he was a cruiser. I was 16st 6lbs, and had to lose over 3st in three weeks to make the weight.

People thought I’d be weak and slow, but that wasn’t going to happen. I was as strong as an ox and fast as lightning.

I intended to feel him out in the first round, and then step it up from there. But he made one big mistake. I’m very patriotic you see, and when I saw him messing around and not showing respect when the national anthem was playing, he’d signed his own warrant. I came out throwing big punches right from the first bell. I put him down after a minute, then again after two minutes. Then just before the end of the first round, I finished him. I’d got the World Legends Championship Cruiserweight title.

Two days after I won the belt, I took it down to Bulwell Cemetery to show my dad that I’d won it for him Could you have picked a more perfect way to say goodbye to boxing?

It was a fairytale ending. After checking Adrian was ok, I was jubilant, but that only lasted for an hour or so. As I started walking down those steps out of the ring, I just stopped dead. I was filling up, and had a real lump in my throat.

Boxing has been my life since I was nine years old, and I realised that it was going to be the last time I would ever walk out the ring. It was hard to come to terms with. Leaving the ring for the last time made me think of the first time I ever got in one.

When was that?

I was nine when my dad first got me into boxing. He took me to a gym and told them to put me in with the bigger lads to toughen me up. I got a bit of a bloodied nose, black eye and lost some teeth, but hey-ho, it makes you realise you need to move a bit quicker! I didn’t really want to be a boxer - I was pushed into it, I suppose. It wasn’t until a dozen fights that I actually started to enjoy it. My dad owned a newsagent on Radford Road, and he had this little sepia photo that said “One day, this man will be a world champion”. He died in 1978, so that was always my aim.

It sounds like your dad played a big role in your boxing career?

When I first fought for the world title, it was in 2017 against Andreas Sidon, who was a 6’9” giant. For six rounds I was murdering him, and winning every round. But when I came out for the seventh, I felt my rotator cuff go, and I couldn’t lift my arm. The ref stopped the fight because he knew how bad the injury was. I felt like I’d failed my dad. He never missed any of my fights. So two days after I won the belt, I took it down to Bulwell Cemetery to show my dad that I’d won it for him. That was one of the nicest things I’ve ever been able to do.

Has the end of your boxing career made you feel reflective?

Exceptionally so. There’s always things that you dwell on and think about what you should have done differently. My father died just after I’d turned pro, and my will to fight just went. I was turning up to fights without having trained, and just being a fool to myself. I ended up with a mediocre professional career: I had 148 amateur fights, with 136 wins and 72 stoppages. But as a pro, I only won half of my sixty-odd fights.

In 1986, I retired and fell into what I call the ‘naughty era’. I went behind closed doors into the world of bare knuckle fighting. I’m not going to give the names of the people who looked after me for my own health reasons, but they took me around the world and I won all 41 of my fights. I eventually retired from that after a 250kg block of concrete landed on my foot in 2006.

How did you recover from that?

It crushed my foot completely. Some Harley Street specialists said I’d never walk again without crutches, or at least a severe limp.

When I got told that I started having all sorts of silly thoughts about finishing myself. But then I met a Chinese lad who told me that his uncle could help me. I was clutching at every straw I could, so I said, ‘Yeah, why not’. He was in Hong Kong, and a fortnight later I was on a plane over there. I still don’t know what they did to this day, because it was all done cash-inhand, under the table. But he fixed me, and he stopped me from taking my own life. That’s not a maybe, that’s a definite.

Can you tell us a bit about your Guinness World Records?

With my dad owning a paper shop, I always used to pick up the Guinness World Records annuals. I’ve got no end of them at home. I used to look at it and think ‘one day, I might get one of these.’ I was given the record for World’s Oldest Active Professional Boxer, but someone took the title off me while I was injured. I was devastated, but I got it back. And now I’ve got three of them.

From listening to you talk, you sound like you’ve enjoyed the last ten years of your career more than any other part of it. Is that fair?

The last ten years I’d had my wife Louisa backing me. She’s my lover, my best mate and she’s not a bad cook, either! Without her, I couldn’t have done it. She was one of my ring

girls at the Parlogea fight, and was pushing me all the way. Being pro was ok, but I never really wanted to do it. But that changed in the last ten years – I got that appetite back, that will to win.

I wanted to prove to my wife, my friends, my dad and myself that I could do it.

People thought I’d be weak and slow, but that wasn’t going to happen. I was as strong as an ox and fast as lightning Who are your boxing heroes?

I’ve got three main ones. Muhammad Ali – he was just an awesome guy, and far more than just a boxer. Then there’s ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler, who I sparred with. I caught him once, too. They cut that round short, but he made up for it! The next one felt like it lasted for four hours, and he knocked the Hell out of me! I have a lot of respect for him, and he taught me a lot.

The third is the late, uncrowned champion of the world, Kirkland Laing. God bless him and rest his soul, he was a fantastic fighter. He gave Roberto Duran a real boxing lesson in Detroit.

What advice would you give to young boxers just starting out?

Be serious and sure that it’s you that wants to do it, and not your mum or dad pushing you into it. It’s hard, and only gets harder as you get older, so don’t delude yourself into thinking that it isn’t. You can play football, you can play tennis, you can play rugby, but you cannot play boxing. It’s real. You have to be good enough to win, or you could end up hurt. But it’s one of the greatest sports you can ever get into – you’ll make friends for life.

Now that you’ve hung up your gloves, what’s next?

I’ve got my autobiography, The Legend, coming out in October. A Notts filmmaker called Keith Large has also made a documentary about my life, The Champ of Champs, which has picked up about forty awards around the world. There might even be a sequel now that I’ve won the world title!

Two days after the title win I was back in the gym. I can’t stop. I’m not training as hard, but I’m training just as regularly. The World Legends Championships want me to be a global representative for them, which would be a great job. I think I need a few weeks to come back down to ground, because I’m still on cloud nine.

Is there any chance you’ll fight again?

None at all. I might do an exhibition fight – there have been times in the past where I’ve been close to fighting Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone. But I’ve got that gold belt now, which is all I wanted.

Steve Ward trains at Starbox Boxing Gym in Mansfield @ward_legend @starboxgym

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 17

Hip Hip Hurraya Asad Fazil is the frontman of Lenton based organisation Al-Hurraya, who’ve been working since 2014 across Nottingham, Derby and Burton-on-Trent to provide support to communities of colour affected by substance abuse, mental health, crime, radicalisation – you name it. Asad sat down to talk about his journey and the MBE he was recently awarded…

What’s the story behind Al-Hurraya?

I grew up in Lenton. These are my ends. I’m so attached to the area, but it was very deprived. Growing up I saw a lot of ‘hidden harms’ that were normalised in my community. I myself hit a rock bottom during my journey of addiction. When I eventually went to some mainstream services, I wasn’t getting the support I needed. There was a real lack of cultural competence – back then it was really bad. I went on to work for Framework. While I was there, I was discovering gaps in treatment for BAME individuals. Al-Hurraya was developed out of that, a journey which took me to university, to education, an Addiction Studies course at Leeds and then Humanistic Counselling at the University of Nottingham. From there, Al-Hurraya was born.

It’s having a real, deep cultural awareness. Every community will have different issues, it’s about recognising that Who was the first person you thought about when you received the news about your MBE? Well, I received the news on Eid and my first thought was, ‘Is this real?’ – I thought it was a hoax. We even checked with the Home Office. But then I thought about my dad who passed away in 2008. I remember him saying “my son will make me proud” and I thought, ‘I’ve done it, he’d be proud today.’

Do you consider yourself to be a role model?

In the Pakistani community if you’re a bad lad, in and out of trouble, you can have many negative names put to you. When I was on Notts TV the headline was ‘Lenton man who was an OG now has an MBE’. If you’d said twenty years ago, Asad you’re going to be a counsellor, therapist, CEO and have an MBE, I wouldn’t have believed it.

How does a ‘culturally wise’ approach to mental health differ to mainstream counselling?

There’s a lot of buzzwords but it’s just being culturally competent. Communities are changing – we’ve worked with Syrians through the resettlement programme.

If you talk to them about ‘mental health’ there’s some barriers straight away. They don’t speak that language.

It’s the details. Things like domestic violence and how people disclose and how to do risk assessments for honour-based violence. It’s having a real, deep cultural awareness. Every community will have different issues, it’s about recognising that.

What does your Islamic twelve-step programme (the first in the UK!) look like?

I got permission from Alcoholics Anonymous to modify the original twelve steps, which were from a Christian point of view. I read through the Quran and Hadiths and picked out which parts would align with each step.

I was seeing kids using drugs on a Friday and then repenting on a Saturday in this vicious cycle. They thought religion itself would make them abstinent. I was combining the religious part with the practical psychosocial interventions. It’s a nice balance. We have young Imams working with us so interventions can be clinical or theological.

Have attitudes changed around the issues you work on since starting Al-Hurraya?

It’s getting better. Once, we weren’t allowed into mosques to talk about drugs. Last week we were at a mosque doing a session on shisha pens with girls.

Back in the day, you wouldn’t be allowed in to talk about forced marriage and honour-based violence.

The younger Imams today and even the older ones are changing. The mosques reaching out to us to deliver workshops is a big thing.

There’s been political changes too. We’ve lost Paddy Tipping who was our Police and Crime Commissioner who funded us for five years. We don’t know yet how these changes will impact the service.

I received the news on Eid and my first thought was ‘is this real’, I thought it was a hoax Your work must be intense and challenging at times?

How do you handle that?

We haven’t got a huge staff and, bless them, everyone works long hours. Not one person is doing just one job.

You have to have a lot of self-care. Personally, I’ve had a lot of burnouts and that can be detrimental to my recovery. The self-care for all our staff members is a priority.

At what point will you be satisfied with the work you’ve done?

I would like to have culturally specific rehab and schools. Kids who go into the prison system and come out need a place to go that understand their needs.

There’s a need for an institution or a school that isn’t Alternative Provision. AP can just be another breeding ground for criminality. I’d love for there to be a school for these kids that are complex. These are the things that are in my vision. If I were to have a legacy from Al-Hurraya I would want it to be that. al-hurraya.org

interview: Frieda Wignall photo: Ekam Hundal

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 19

interview: Megan Hill photos: XR Nottingham, Diana Schmies, Fabrice Gagos

Future Fighter A self-proclaimed rebel, Tracy Neale is on the front line in the fight for our future in her role with Extinction Rebellion. I spoke to Tracy about her active role in the XR Nottingham faction and beyond in order to understand a movement which is so much bigger than any individual...

Tracy sits outside the Theatre Royal in her rebellion of one. Last month the IPCC declared ‘Code red for Humanity’- stating that the Global Climate crisis had become largely irreversible.

The world’s media, of course, pounced on the announcement as though it were breaking news, as though it was a tragedy impossible to predict. And yet this media frenzy was simply confirmation of what Tracy had gravely informed me of when we had spoken weeks before.

“There is a tipping point where problems will massively escalate and we can do nothing about it,” Tracy explains, telling me that this see-saw moment is predicted to occur in less than a decade. “We have nine years until we reach the point of no return. Nine years to take definitive action before all our efforts will be futile. We can prevent that but we need to start working now.

Right now.”

Simply put, I could be celebrating my thirtieth birthday with the news that humanity is doomed.

Pretty bleak, huh? But hope prevails in the form of Extinction Rebellion (XR), a movement born out of the realisation that for thirty years the scientific community’s concerns have been falling on deaf ears, and we cannot not afford thirty more. “We are hurtling faster and faster towards extinction with very little resistance,” Tracy states. “We can choose to wait for a series of catastrophic events that our systems can’t cope with, and then the inevitable food shortages, destruction of homes, desperate migration and ultimately violent conflict over scarce resources… or we can plan, act, change course, looking ahead to prepare and protect ourselves as far as possible.”

Extinction Rebellion’s approach is peaceful, but it is far from passive. Frustrated by empty elections and endless petitions, XR took on a new approach, one of non-violent, disruptive civil disobedience. In other words: a rebellion.

An informed rebellion that, Tracy explains, “combines an understanding of the science whilst acknowledging the inadequacy of the economic system to deal with the threat.”

The fact that the world’s richest 1% are responsible for 78% of all greenhouse gas emissions prompts me to ask Tracy how long people will continue to choose profit over life, “I think the rich live under the illusion that money will protect them,” she answers. “I suppose until now it has, but they haven’t come up against mother nature yet.

“The very structure of society is causing the problem,” she continues. “Injustice and the continued extraction of finite natural resources are built into our system-it is completely unsustainable.” How can we possibly turn to the root of the problem to look for a solution?

And so, once again, we must rely on our most underrated secret weapon: the power of the people. “Engaging the public is a top priority, because public opinion influences government decisions. The electoral cycle means parties are

20

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

only ever thinking a few years ahead and how to get those votes at the next election. This problem is bigger than that, it requires a long term plan and long term commitment.”

Within the UK, XR is centred around three demands, one of which is the formation of Citizens Assemblies: bodies of ordinary people, educated by experts, who would then advise the Government on climate and ecological justice.

Tracy clarifies, “We are cautious not to push our own solutions because we think people have to be involved in the collaborative process.”

This belief remains at the core of the Extinction Rebellion; it is a ‘do it together movement’.

There is nobody ‘in charge’, there is no ruling committee. “We are very open to new suggestions, if someone has an idea then we’re more than happy to go for it!”

In fact, if you’re a Notts local you may have spotted one such idea recently, as members of the XR collective staged a campout on the Embankment. “We spoke to so many members of the public over that weekend. I like to think that engagement with the public contributed to the County Council’s declaration of a climate emergency.” While Tracey acknowledged the progress, she was quick to reiterate that actions will always speak louder than words. Just weeks later demonstrators at County Hall were left disappointed after their objections to plans for a new incinerator in Nottingham were ignored.

“The council is just really ill-advised, it feels as though they are constantly pushed for time and their funding is relentlessly cut, they don’t have access to the expert information that they need.”

XR is a joy to be involved in. Yes it can be nervewracking, but at the end of the day those personal inhibitions have to be silenced, because there is more at stake The disparity between pledges and actual policies is a huge concern. Even high-profile commitments like the Paris Climate Agreement are being shunned, leaving the world at risk of catastrophic warming nearing three degrees.

“That’s the biggest danger. People are constantly being told by fossil fuel companies, by banks, by our own Government that they are ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’,” Tracy says. “They have recognised it is in the public consciousness and so they must now at least say the right thing to appease people. But these are buzzwords-nothing more.

Watch them closely.”

This frustration is exactly why ‘tell the truth’ remains XR’s primary demand. “They know the science, of course they do, it is their job to know the science. But they do not want us to know.”

How can the people begin to demand what is needed, if they do not know what that is?

By the end of our talk, I am exhausted. It has been quite the emotional rollercoaster, rays of hope are quickly cloaked by smog - literally. I find myself very sheepishly asking Tracy, whether she thinks all of this is going to work. It is a painfully accurate summary of affairs - I am asking a stranger through a screen if my future is secure, because my government continues to be woefully inadequate. Tracy notes my concern. “I’m scared too. I find it hard speaking to your generation, actually. I wish you didn’t have to deal with it but there’s no way around it and liberation comes in facing it. It’s not easy, we face a lot of criticism: ‘How is this going to work?’, ‘The problem is too big’, ‘You’re going about it the wrong way…’ I just think, well, have you got any other suggestions!?

We’ve been conditioned to feel powerless, but we don’t have to be. Now we must face our reality, say we know what’s coming but we are willing to do something about it.”

Tracy refers to Greta Thunberg’s now infamous image of the burning house, “For myself I extend that too. If my house was on fire and my children were inside, I wouldn’t stand back and say ‘oh, that’s too big of a problem’ or ‘I think I’ll just wait for someone else to come and help.’ No! I’d be doing absolutely anything I could, no matter how futile. Nothing would stop me putting that fire out.”

Tracy’s courage and commitment is contagious and she is eager to welcome those willing to support the movement. “We believe that if we equip people with knowledge and support while empowering them as individuals, they will then naturally take the next step themselves,” she continues. “XR is a joy to be involved in. Yes, it can be nerve-wracking, but at the end of the day those personal inhibitions have to be silenced, because there is more at stake. And it’s just a relief to be around people who understand! It helps cure the fear. I feel as though I am taking back control of our future.”

There is no criteria for entry and it is never too late to get involved. “Everyone has something to contribute, even if that is just another face in the crowd.”

Extinction Rebellion is built on the shoulders of ordinary people, like Tracey or you or I, who have awoken to the extraordinary threat we are facing. Any one of us can join the fight - it will take all of us to beat it.

Find out how to get involved at: xrnottingham.org @XRnottingham

words: Victoria Hayward photo: Andre Hart

wi l d c it y Victoria Hayward, a volunteer at Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham, explains how the city’s wildlife has been affected during COVID, and how an encounter with a rare golden oriole drew national attention...

For many of us, the last year has felt like a strange stasis.

A violent stillness that buffeted us with the force of its imposed inaction. We were unmoored from the usual rituals of normality - birthdays went unmarked, festivals went uncelebrated. Life stopped.

But nature did not. The wheel of the seasons continued to turn. Those of us unleashed from office confines saw the outdoors beyond the hours to which our lives had so long ticked. No longer leaving and returning to our houses in darkness, we saw flowers bloom and birds sing - for the first time, we felt the rush of the starlings’ murmuration overhead. As we detached from the old reality, we connected with an older one. The primal changing of the seasons, the inevitable cycle of life, decay and renewal.

This was especially true in the city, where grasses grew and wildflowers bloomed for the first time in parks and verges were allowed to grow wild. People were at home, and noticing nature more. They were finding tiny creatures the cat had brought in and gardening more than before - inadvertently strimming a hedgehog’s face or lighting bonfires containing nests of mice. Wildlife rescues have been busier than ever.

Some of these hurts we can mend. Our veterinary volunteers are dedicated, exhausted people who spend their days caring for pets in a practice. They return home to feed baby animals every few hours throughout the night, a small act of care to restore a population decimated by human intrusion.

We are species agnostic at FAW - if we have the facilities and ability to rehabilitate an animal, we will do so, no matter the perceived value of its life. Pigeons are amongst the most delightful animals to raise. They start as helpless little yellow-furred blobs on the day of hatching to become within a mere week loud creatures with endearingly bad attitudes.

The uninitiated mistake them for ducklings, eagles and dodos, so outlandish is their appearance.

Recently however, FAW rehabilitated a very rare bird which drew the attention of the national press, one which likely appears in the wishful fever dreams of birders in the pit of the night. The golden oriole is a jewel-like creature with ruby-red eyes and a pure voice like molten gold to go along with its bright feathers. It is exotic and elusive, a bird that flits between the green shadows of trees, for a few short months passing through our small island on the long journey it makes to and from central Africa. Our bird was nicknamed Aurora, after the goddess of the dawn, and the time at which golden orioles sing. Aurora was found unable to fly at a school in Melton Mowbray, her bright plumage leaving her vulnerable to predators. She was very fortunate to be taken to a leading avian vet who called FAW - probably one of the only wildlife rescues in the UK with experience of caring for orioles (our avian lead having been a zookeeper).

We monitored Aurora with cameras to minimise stress (a killer in wild birds), sampled her droppings for parasites and flight-tested her in a soft net mesh so she wouldn’t damage her feathers if panicked. We spoke to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) about ringing and recording her as part of their conservation mission. When she was ready, Aurora was released in secret, to avoid the descent of birdwatchers on the release site. We were conflicted about depriving people of the opportunity to see her, but we had to be led by both the need to give her a calm and quiet release, and COVID restrictions at the time.

After the BTO had placed the rings on her leg, our bird lead gently took Aurora to a stand of trees, and let her fly free. It was early evening in the Nottinghamshire countryside, the light dreamlike in the clear air after a summer shower. It was electric to watch her disappear, a flash of gold against our grey skies. Despite their protected status in the UK, many orioles are killed during hunting season in some European countries. It is too painful to think of the elegant creature which so many hands had worked to save being destroyed for sport. So we think instead of the fact that we gave her a chance and that she had been lucky so far we hope that her luck holds and that she safely makes her journey home.

Pigeons are amongst the most delightful animals to raise. They start as helpless little yellow-furred blobs on the day of hatching to become within a mere week loud creatures with endearingly bad attitudes.

You may not know, but we have lagoons a few miles outside of our city. You must banish any thoughts of tropical waters and nodding palm trees, but I still hope to entice you even after I tell you that one of the bodies of water is named the ‘slurry lagoon’. Netherfield Lagoons is a beautiful site, reclaimed from industry (like Attenborough) and cared for by Gedling Conservation Trust. Like FAW, these are volunteers who receive no funding, and rely on donations to carry out their work. There is a fantastic walk round the site, including along a high causeway looking down on the water and nesting terns, gulls and warblers. Access is a little trickier than Attenborough, but the peace and quiet make it more than worthwhile I’d like to leave you with a simple thing you can do to help wildlife. Fresh drinking water is a lifesaver in this heat (literally for hedgehogs, who often come to us severely dehydrated). Another lifesaver is keeping the drinking water clean - even if you only have time to tip the bowl over every week and allow it to dry out, that will be sufficient to kill a pesky little protozoan currently decimating our songbird population. Trichomoniasis gallinae has existed in some form since the time of the dinosaurs, and there is evidence it was able to lay low the mighty T-Rex. It is sending our greenfinches and chaffinches the same way, but by drying out your bird baths, you can kill it dead. A small act that makes a big difference.

fawrescue.co.uk

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 23

24

leftlion.co.uk/issue138

photo: Pamela Raith

Tickled Pink

From role-playing as the market square pigeons to performing Mary Berry-inspired raps, Major Labia are spreading laughs across Nottingham. As they get ready to perform live at Nottingham Playhouse this month, we chat to the Television Workshop alumni Siobhán Cannon-Brownlie, Phoebe Frances Brown, Gemma Caseley-Kirk and Narisha Lawson about their new show, comedy’s gender imbalance and chasing Lou Sanders down the street…

For the uninitiated, tell us a bit about Major Labia…

Major Labia exists because we got bored of drunkenly yelling ‘women are funny’, and decided to put our money where our mouth is. We are an all-female comedy collective smashing the patriarchy one vulval pun at a time. Like Blazin’ Squad, we once rolled ten men deep, but are currently made up of director Siobhán Cannon-Brownlie and performers Phoebe Frances Brown, Gemma Caseley-Kirk and Narisha Lawson. All of us are proud Notts natives who trained at the BAFTA award-winning Television Workshop, where we honed our improvising skills, which we rely on heavily when creating Major Labia sketches.

We have performed in many Notts venues including the Old Angel, Broadway and Rough Trade; we love sharing our sketches, raps and physical comedy in non-theatrical venues and platforming other creative women in the city at our gigs. We are currently Creative Associates at Nottingham Playhouse, where our latest show will be performed and livestreamed from.

What can you tell us about the new show?

The new show features Gemma and Narisha and is directed by Siobhán (our Phoebe is making her own show, The Glad Game, which you should also check out!). We all write the sketches together and this time around you’ll meet fan favourites Mary Berry (rapping about the pastry-archy), Felatia and Miss Mattie (inappropriately honest children’s TV presenters) and Jane Torvill and Christine Dean (it’s Bolero, but not as you know it). There are also a host of new sketches featuring some ‘Girl Boss’ business women, the Female Problem Police and Henry VIII with a strap-on.

There’s been a lot of discussion about leveling the gender imbalance in comedy in recent years, with the BBC bringing in a no-male-only panel shows policy, for example. Have you seen much of a tangible change in the industry?

No.

In her documentary Women Aren’t Funny, comedian Bonnie McFarlane spoke about the expectation on women to perform a certain type of comedy, which she said can be creatively limiting. Is this something you’ve experienced?

Honestly, no. We don’t put limitations on ourselves in terms of what we explore or how we explore it.

Some of our work has an overtly feminist or political angle, but a lot of it is just pure silliness. We work with what makes us laugh; whether that’s a young, mixedrace, working-class woman from Notts playing an 85 year-old, white, middle-class woman, or straight-up clowning. We always ensure that our sketches ‘punch up’ and that we create from our own experiences, but we don’t feel under any pressure to create a certain type of comedy or to avoid talking about certain topics (e.g. periods).

Laughter brings people together and it’s a genuine honour to be able to do that, especially right now What makes you laugh?

Is it poor form, bad, distasteful or inappropriate to say: each other?

Who are your own comedy influences?

So many! We love women who can play the clown as well as the straight ‘man’, so to speak. We adore sketch creators such as Roisin and Chiara, Lola and Jo and Lazy Susan. We’re big fans of fellow Notts women Charity Shop Sue and Sarah Keyworth. Then there’s Desiree Birch, Tiffany Haddish, Aisling Bea, London Hughes, Bridget Christie, Anna Maxwell Martin

and of course the OGs - the Smack the Pony crew, French and Saunders, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood (RIP, angel). And Stewart Lee is pretty funny (for a bloke). Honestly we could go on all day.

We also have a track record of literally chasing comedians we admire down the street; our apologies to Lou Sanders who mentioned the incident on Richard Herring’s podcast, and our apologies also go out to the startled Nish Kumar (who to be fair shares a nickname with our Narisha). It’s good to go to great lengths to become friends with your heroes: Siobhán wore light up shoes to the opening night of Sara Pascoe’s debut play, but unfortunately Sara wasn’t in attendance, and a nasty review was published about the shoes in The Times. (Honestly! Check #DiscoBallLydia on twitter.)

With the last two years having been universally quite shit, how excited are you to be able to perform live and make people laugh?

Very! Laughter brings people together and it’s a genuine honour to be able to do that, especially right now. We feel really connected to our fair Notts, and we’re made up that our first gig back is in this city. The Panny-D (can’t quite bring ourselves to say pandemic) saw us pivot to making more filmed work online with awesome local film-maker Georgianna Scurfield editing our silly Zooms together for our latest music video - and an audio-only sketch, where we played the market square pigeons. We’re so grateful to be back in a rehearsal room together. It also means we’re back to writing new sketches, as we were starting to become a rap group!

Is there anything else you want to tell the LeftLion readers?

Join a union and always wipe from front to back. Oh, and stop littering ya slugs.

Major Labia are performing at Nottingham Playhouse on Wednesday 8 September nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/major-labia @major_labia

Siobhan Phoebe

Gemma

Narisha

Breathing Space The Anxiety Map Programme (AMP) works to provide safe spaces across the city for those who live with anxiety or panic disorders. Founded by Claire Henson, a qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead at Nottingham Forest Community Trust, the project aims to create a network of venues trained in anxiety accessibility and mental health awareness...

Can you tell us a bit about AMP? What do you do?

I began building AMP in 2019. We work with venues across Nottingham who are willing to provide a safe space for anyone who’s experiencing panic or anxiety.

The idea is to give people spaces within city centres to take a moment, take a breath, and use facilities if they need to, so they can then carry on with the rest of their day. From personal experience, I know that an anxiety or panic attack can derail the rest of your day if you don’t have that sort of space to go to. It’s not about avoidance behaviour, it’s not about giving people places to hide, it’s about people knowing that wherever they are in the city, they can take a break until their symptoms pass.

Where did the idea come from?

I’ve lived with an anxiety disorder since I was a teenager and I always felt that my brain worked differently to everybody else, which meant that accessing public spaces was difficult for me. I had to think about how I would access them, what the most comfortable route was, that sort of thing. I just assumed that was the way things would always be - that the rest of the world was ‘normal’ and I was different - but, as I got older, I realised that with small changes to venues or to public transport, we can actually make public spaces more accessible to people like myself who live with anxiety disorders.

Who are your training programmes aimed at and what do they entail?

I’m really lucky to have been trained by some fantastic organisations in mental health awareness and suicide prevention, so I’m able to offer a range of different training. This also includes my own training that I’ve written and developed which focuses on anxiety access. With the mental health awareness and the suicide prevention courses, I run open sessions that anyone can book onto. I’m also working as a consultant, so people can hire me to train their business and organisation. The anxiety accessibility training works a bit differently.

It’s targeted at businesses who want to help people access their venues.

What sort of venues will be involved with AMP? My initial idea was to start with independent businesses, but as I talked about it with more people a lot of interest came from larger scale venues; we’ve been talking about the possibility of working with leisure centres. AMP can be applied to any space. It’s not about specific places or shops, or giving venues a set policy. Instead, it’s about asking venues what they can offer, and creating an entire network of spaces.

For example, if a toilet wasn’t available in one venue, they would know a venue that has one nearby. I had already internally built that network myself because I go into the city regularly. I knew spaces where I could get a few moments respite - Broadway cinema was a key location for me - and that was where the idea came from. Really, any venue who wants to be involved can.

What does it mean to make a public space ‘anxiety accessible’?

Anxiety manifests in so many different ways.

Personally, I can go to large scale events as long as I know I have access to the facilities I need - I will always sit at the end of a row when I go to the cinema because I know that’s safe for me - but somebody else may need additional requirements. What AMP doesn’t promise to do is cover every eventuality, there’s just too much to cover. AMP is about having open

communication channels between visitors and venues so people know who to contact. People like myself who live with anxiety spend a great deal of time gathering information about places they’re going to visit in order to cover every possible outcome - it’s exhausting. Often it’s just a case of setting up those communication channels so people know where they can go or who they can ask.

You're hoping to pilot a network here in Nottingham.

How has that been going?

Unfortunately, the pilot network has been delayed with the pandemic. I thought it was important that venues were given the time to re-open and get back on their feet after lockdown. But the idea behind it is that as venues take on the training, they will sign up to the network. I’ve been slightly overwhelmed with the response! I think that after lockdown, people have identified that anxiety will have increased, or at least become more visible.

What are your hopes for the future of AMP? For me, it would be to really make Nottingham the centre of the project - not just the city centre but the whole county of Nottinghamshire. While I’m only one person and I can’t cover every single location, I can provide toolkits to users to be able to plan their own maps. They can then let others know about venues that work for them. The big plan for me is to make Nottinghamshire the pilot so we can set a precedent for other cities and counties within the UK. I always have so many questions running around my head when I’m visiting a new city, and I’m not saying AMP can eradicate those fears, but it offers some security.

I’ve realised we can make life better for people by building communities that incorporate anxiety accessibility. anxietymapprogramme.com @anxietymapprogramme

I know that an anixety or panic attack can derail the rest of your day if you don’t have that sort of space to go to

interview: Lilith Hudson

Where There’s Hope Nottingham is a hub for maternal mental healthcare. Writer and former patient Rachel Imms visits Hopewood Hospital in Woodthorpe to talk to specialists caring for new mothers as they overcome severe (and often scary) symptoms of complex psychiatric conditions.

July 2021. I’m sitting on a sofa in the tranquil, clean reception of Green Haven, Nottingham’s purposebuilt outpatient facility and inpatient ward for new and expectant mothers, admiring the positive images of smiling mums and babies on the wall. I’m waiting to interview two of its managers for this article. I’ve been here before.

More than the baby blues…

January 2019. I’m sitting on the edge of a sofa in the Green Haven reception, scared and exhausted, tearfully feeding my three-week old son. I’m waiting for an urgent assessment by a psychiatrist after being referred that morning.

“I am concerned about your state of mind,” the GP had said, a sentiment echoing that of my midwife the day before. “This seems like more than the baby blues to me,” she’d noted, shaking her head – much to my growing distress.

It certainly seems like it to me. I’m plagued with hyper-realistic visions of my tiny son being snatched out of his pram and thrown off a bridge, into the road, off a cliff, unsure if it was me or some demonic stranger who had done this to him. I desperately need to sleep, but even during the brief intervals I’m able to lie down in my own bed, all I can hear is my baby screaming. But he’s sleeping peacefully on his dad’s chest.

Losing it Put simply, I feel like I’m losing the plot – not ideal with a child to look after, dependent on me for everything. Following a long and complicated birth and a short stay in neonatal intensive care, I feel afraid of – and alienated from – my own son, with no idea how to look after him. Breastfeeding is agonising and I have no confidence in my own ability to even change a nappy – things that society tells us should come naturally.

As the days go by, I long to die. I’m walking over Trent Bridge as my son’s father pushes his pram a few steps ahead of me. If only I could jump off this bridge right now. But who would feed the baby?

What if the fall didn’t kill me? Then what? Surely, they’d be better off without me, anyway? I feel trapped, exhausted, and unsure of what’s real and what isn’t. I begin hearing, seeing and even smelling things that aren’t there. I’m terrified of life as I now know it. And I’m so tired that my bones ache.

Diagnosis and recovery “I can’t cope,” I tell the psychiatrist. He nods, understanding, without making me feel ‘mental’, judged or, as many mums fear, that I’m at risk of having my baby taken from me. He listens, gently asks questions, and makes me feel heard. Diagnosing severe postnatal anxiety exacerbated by preexisting mental health issues, he puts together a care plan featuring some of Hopewood’s highlyskilled and experienced team of health professionals.

In the days and months that follow, I start a course of medication, attend appointments with a perinatal psychiatrist and have weekly home visits from Nicola, a dedicated Community Psychiatric Nurse.

A Perinatal Nursery Nurse, Megan, visits to help me bond with my son through baby massage classes.

And slowly but surely, thanks to this team of caring

experts, life as a new mum becomes bearable – and then better.

of family members, friends and baby groups,” she says.

Maternal mental health matters

“We’ve seen a lot of women whose mental health has been adversely affected by the pandemic – it’s been a really lonely time for a lot of people, and we’ve seen mums who might have been poorly for some time, who’ve felt unable to go and see their GP. We’d advise that they do this, because there’s always help available.”

Hopewood is a lifeline for expectant and new mothers experiencing severe mental health issues in the communities of Nottinghamshire and Bassetlaw, with a multidisciplinary team looking after women with babies aged up to one year.

For the most acutely unwell patients, the eight-bed Margaret Oates unit (named after world-renowned Consultant Psychiatrist and Nottingham resident Margaret Oates) offers around-the-clock care, with a focus on keeping mothers and babies together.

“One of our main aims is to empower mums to look after their babies, even when they’re very unwell,” says Ward Manager Debbie Sells, who’s been working as a Perinatal Psychiatric Nurse since 1992.

“We share a message of hope. You will get through this, you will leave the unit with your baby – and you will feel better. We also provide consistent care in the community, supporting mums and their families during their recovery at home.”

The impact of COVID The pandemic has had both traumatic and positive side-effects. “It’s not ideal having to wear several layers of PPE when you’re caring for women who already feel anxious and may be having paranoid delusions,” says Debbie.

“We’ve had to work extra hard to gain their trust.”

However, the fact that the facility was quieter during the lockdowns (as in other NHS settings, visitor numbers have been restricted) has had some benefits, Debbie explains. “The clinical team has been able to focus on each patient and do some really intensive nursing,” she says.

“We’ve seen positive outcomes from the work we’ve been able to do in the last year. Women have recovered more quickly, and have been able to leave the ward sooner to continue their journeys at home.

“We’re learning that a quieter, more focused environment can be better therapeutically, so we’re making changes to the way the ward is organised – still encouraging visitors, but also giving our patients space to just ‘be’.”

Community focus Community Care Manager Lisa Carter, also an experienced Psychiatric Nurse, reflects on how difficult life has been for many new parents during the last year and a half.

“Lots of people have felt isolated, without the support

The team at Hopewood is currently looking into new programmes to help dads and co-parents cope with the stresses of a new baby, as well as projects to help families on the ward and in the community.

If you’re interested in donating or raising funds for the vital work carried out at Hopewood, contact the team on 0115 9529477.

words: Rachel Imms illustrations: La Petite Femme

Cheryl’s story Testament to the fact that recovery is possible is Nottingham resident and mum of two, Cheryl McAulay-Wainright. She experienced severe mental health issues following the birth of her first son Joel, now sixteen. “It seemed to come out of nowhere,” recalls Cheryl. “I had so much energy, but couldn’t focus on anything – I didn’t feel I needed sleep. I was spending erratically and felt very ‘hyper’, with no off button. I was saying and doing things that didn’t make sense to anyone else.

Eventually, my mother-in-law contacted my GP, as she was so concerned. I ended up in the QMC mother and baby unit (the previous inpatient site before Hopewood was built), and was there for three months.”

Diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, Cheryl underwent an intensive programme of medication, therapy and work to help her bond with her new son as she recovered. “The care I received was invaluable,” she says. “It inspired me to pursue a career in mental health, and I’m now very proud to work at Hopewood, supporting other mums as they go through what I did.”

Cheryl recently gave birth to her second son, Lockie – now aged four months. Aware of the elevated risks of Cheryl developing postpartum psychosis given her medical history, the team put a care plan in place early on in pregnancy. She saw a CPN (Community Psychiatric Nurse) and was prescribed antipsychotic medication immediately after the birth. “All this helped me have a much more ‘normal’ experience the second time around, despite having a baby in the middle of a pandemic,” said Cheryl. “Of course I was concerned about a relapse, but I also felt really supported and understood by the team and could get on with enjoying the newborn experience.

“My advice to anyone who’s concerned about their mental health would be to contact your GP. They have access to the right resources, and can really help. If you’re still not happy, don’t be afraid to request a second opinion.”

Action on postpartum psychosis:

Help is out there…

What is postpartum psychosis?

If you’re a new or expectant parent and concerned about your mental health (or that of your partner, friend or family member), there are resources to help you.

Postpartum psychosis (PP) is a severe mental illness that begins suddenly following childbirth. Symptoms include hallucinations and delusions, often with mania, depression or confusion. Over 1,400 women experience PP each year in the UK (1 to 2 in every 1,000 mothers). An episode of PP can be very frightening for women and their families. Most women go on to make a full recovery, however the journey to full recovery can be long and difficult.

Although it’s unclear exactly what causes the illness, experts believe that post-birth hormones, genetics and pre-existing mental health conditions can play a part. However, some women who experience postpartum psychosis have no history of psychiatric problems.

These are common symptoms, which can begin very quickly following childbirth: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Feeling excited, elated, or ‘high’.

Feeling depressed, anxious, or confused.

Feeling excessively irritable or changeable in mood.

Being more talkative, sociable, on the phone an excessive amount.

Having a very busy mind or racing thoughts.

Feeling very energetic and like ‘super-mum’, or agitated and restless.

Having trouble sleeping, or not feeling the need to sleep.

Behaving in a way that is out of character or out of control.

Feeling paranoid or suspicious of people’s motives.

Feeling that things are connected in special ways or that stories on the TV or radio have special, personal meaning.

Feeling that your baby is connected to God or the Devil in some way.

Having strange beliefs that aren’t true (delusions).

Hearing, seeing, feeling or smelling things that are not there (hallucinations).

Having an unnaturally elevated (high) mood with loss of touch with reality (mania).

Experiencing severe confusion.

Action on Postpartum Psychosis is a charity dedicated to helping people affected by the condition. Find help, information and links to peer support at app-network.org

GP

In the first instance, contact your GP. Their role is to listen to your concerns, referring you to the appropriate secondary service where necessary (for example, the team at Hopewood).

Midwife

All midwives have training in mental health, and know to look out for the warning signs of illness. If you’re concerned, talk to your midwife.

PND Mummies: A group run by Doulas and mums, supporting women in Notts and Derby with their mental health both ante- and postnatally facebook.com/PNDMummies

Open House Nottingham

A self-help group that aims to create a safe, confidential and relaxed environment where people affected by postnatal mental health issues can support each other. facebook.com/OpenHouseNottingham openhousenotts@gmail.com

Smells like tea spirit

words: Daniela Loffreda photo: Ekam Hundal

Nottingham’s Biscuit and Brew is a little tea shop with some big ideas. We pop down to meet the owners, Darren Brookes and his fiancée Dee, to find out why so many locals are raving about this hidden gem...

Nestled down Hounds Gate in Nottingham city centre is the charming, elegant Biscuit and Brew Tea House. It's a little bit of a challenge to find, but totally worth it.

“Would you like a pot of tea?” owner Darren asks as he passes me a copy of their drinks menu. I’m presented with a list I could mull over for hours.

Watermelon Sugar, Moonbean and Banana Fudge are just some of the blends I contemplate, but my curiosity about the Jaffa Cake tea ultimately gets the better of me.

The relaxed ambience is a refreshing change from the chaos of the city centre. The vibe is homely and comforting, and the neutral colour scheme teamed with some cosy lighting helps get me in the mood for a nice warm drink.

Dee, co-owner and Darren’s fiancée, brings over a teapot with a strainer - containing the tea - and a separate tea cup.

After a quick and easy demonstration, I am left with the freedom to brew my drink for as much or as little as I please. As someone who likes their tea quite strong, this is greatly welcomed. All these loose leaf teas are made and packaged by Darren and Dee, and served in understated glass tea sets.

After working in industries hard hit by the pandemic, both felt ready to take a chance on a new business venture. When they first laid eyes on this Nottingham-based venue, they knew it was the perfect place to bring their vision to life.

Tea is the focus, not the packaging that it comes in, you know, not the pretty box, not that lovely China “It was a nice way to find our feet and get the menu sorted,” says Dee on opening mid-pandemic.

Popping to Biscuit and Brew is about much more than having a quick cup of tea and a bite to eat, though. Darren and Dee, who will marry next year in France, have worked to create tea that tastes like music. Following the former’s career as a musician, he has created blends that can be listened to with his tunes, creating an immersive sensory experience.

The name for the tea house came about when the pair would invite friends round to try their new blends and call it biscuit and brew. This love for hosting means the duo put customer experience at the forefront of all that they do.

“Above everything is that we just want people to have an experience that they can go away with and go, ‘That's memorable’; an experience with meaning that they can't get anywhere else. We treat everyone as if we are welcoming them into our house.”

Discussing how Biscuit and Brew can maintain their friendly and intimate atmosphere if the business expands, Darren says, “We want to grow, but by finding people with the same attitude. We always want to remain a small business or we wouldn't be able to have the same relationship with it.”

“It's about finding people who care as much as us.”

Dee agrees.

Whatever happens in the future, if you’re looking for a quiet spot to escape the stress of everyday life or fancy a natter over a tailor-made brew, it’s safe to say the couple have already made this little gem the perfect place to slow down, chill out and enjoy a proper cuppa. facebook.com/biscuitandbrewteahouse

food for thought

“Tea is the focus,” Darren explains. “Not the packaging that it comes in, not the pretty box, not that lovely China.”

Biscuit and Brew opened in February this year, but Darren and Dee’s journey to opening a tea house started long before then. Darren’s interest in loose leaf tea started about six years ago when he decided to stop drinking alcohol, and shortly after the couple started experimenting with different types of tea and adding their own twists.

New Business Blend at EastWest Blend cafe have opened a brand spanking second venue, bringing their trademark, um, blend of tasty treats and proper nice brews to Tollhouse Hill. eastwestnottingham.co.uk

To Nosh Korn Ribs - 13th Element Vegan sweet corn ribs. A smoky salt and butter dressing. From one of the city’s favourite plant-based kitchens. You can’t go wrong. @13thelement_

To Sup French Mojito - The Bodega Sometimes nothing beats a classic, and The Bodega’s French Mojito is perfect for keeping things fresh during the sesh. @bodeganotts

words: Ashley Carter

Pizzamisu

blind rabbit

There’s nothing quite like pizza, that versatile comfort blanket for your gob. It’s the only food that can legitimately be eaten as a meal at any time of the day, at virtually any temperature.

With my own oft-vaunted personal history of pizza cheffing (or being a pizzaiolo if you’re doing it enough like an Italian) across four different pizza joints including a couple of Notts’ finest, I consider myself a bit of a specialist.

So it was with great delight that I noticed this new place on High Pavement, claiming to make authentic Neapolitan pizza. One look at the flaming Italian oven, set proudly in their front window, and a brief and illcomprehended chat confirming that the pizzaiolo was very much Italian later, I was excited. About a month passes and I'm here returning for my third visit; already assured by now that this is the perfect Neapolitan pizza - in all its minimalist, pillowy, slightly charred glory - my fellow diners and I confidently go about trying some new toppings.

You thought Nottingham’s drinking and dining experience had it all? Think again. You know where to grab a tasty burger. You know where to find Instagrammable cocktails. You might even know where to play Daytona USA 2. But where can you enjoy all three in one sitting?

The answer is hiding behind the doors of Nottingham’s newest bar.

Step across the threshold of The Blind Rabbit and you’re transported from the cobbled streets of Weekday Cross to the worn leather and neon lights of downtown New York.

Inspired by The Big Apple’s dive bars, this joint is decked out with retro signs, sports memorabilia, stained glass lampshades, oh, and a giant bald eagle suspended above the entrance. Born from the creative minds behind Magic Garden and Penny Lane, The Blind Rabbit promises more than your average dining experience.

murat’s not all folks We’ve long been fascinated by the Aladdin’s cave of wonders you can find on the shelves of our Sneinton neighbours Murat Food Centre. After years of keeping us fuelled with milk, sweets and more than our fair share of Red Bull, we decided to dig a little deeper to find just how eclectic their stock really is…

Bag of Hummus If, like me, you’re a fan of hummus but have grown bored of the convenience of plastic tubs, why not try this handy-dandy hummus bag. As well as being impossible to open and harder still to re-seal, your 1kg of chickpea deliciousness is guaranteed to get literally everywhere as you try to squeeze it out of the opening you’ve fashioned with a knife.

Poo Pop A wise man once told me that you can have a sweet tooth and a scattalogical obsession, but never the twain shall meet. Well, I’ve got news for you, wise man, Murat have ripped up the rule book and created the sweet treat that every man, woman and child will be clambering to try: the lollipop that (literally) looks like shit. Delicious.

Anonymous Luncheon Meat Who among us can resist the alluring charm of an anonymous tin of meat. Is it chicken? Is it pig? Or could it be cow? Who knows and, more importantly, who cares?

Just carve that bad boy open and slap it on a couple of slices of Warburtons’ finest.

Tantalisingly, they tease us by labelling it as having a ‘beef taste’. I’ll take ten.

With a delicate burrata and mortadella ham starter, we then opt for a well-balanced Salame (Salami, ricotta), a flavour-packed Saliccia (Italian sausage with friarielle turnips tops), and a classic Capricciosa (ham, artichokes, black olives). There are veggie/ vegan options available too. Having started my Pizzamisu journey - as you should - with a Margherita back on trip one, I can assure you theirs is on point, joined as per previous entries with primo fior di latte cheese, olive oil, basil and a simple tomato sauce (likely using the traditional San Marzano variety).

We finish with their homemade Tiramisu namesake, and it doesn’t disappoint. Across the board Pizzamisú delivers pure pizza bliss, with all the relaxed but incredible hospitality you’d expect of its Naples and wider Italy born owners. Bravo, e grazie. Adam Pickering pizzamisu.co.uk

We begin with a selection of cocktails. I savour a milky option named “Zoom Quiz”.

Yep, we’ve reached the stage of the pandemic where we’re naming cocktails after our favourite lockdown pastimes. While the name might risk triggering your PTSD, the cocktail certainly won’t. Indulgent and decadent - with a base of peanut butter whiskey and vanilla vodka, topped with creamy milk and caramel syrup - this is the true taste of the States.

Their menu is sprinkled with just enough American culinary classics to emanate class over kitsch - think juicy burgers, buffalo wings, and deep-fried frickles. Choose from eleven burgers, with two vegan options, all of which come with a side of skinny, lattice or curly fries. I opt for a “Baby Yoda” - the names are inspired by iconic film and TV characters consisting of buttermilk fried chicken, creamy avocado, crispy bacon, and herby mayo. If that’s not enough to tempt you, you can also enjoy two cocktails for £9.95 during happy hours! Lilith Hudson @theblindrabbitnotts theblindrabbitnotts.com

To Follow 31K If you’re a fan of fancy cocktails, delightfullooking dishes and charming city shots, make sure you get 31K on your Insta feed. @31k.notts

Want your Nottingham foodie business featured in the mag?

Fancy writing for us?

Email us at editorial@leftlion.co.uk

Festini Is Lambrini just that bit too refined for your tastes? Are you tired of having a functioning liver? Well, have I got the solution to your boozing needs. Meet Festini, the drink that made Shane McGowan finally quit the sauce but, more importantly, works out at around 80p a pint. Excuse me if you don’t measure your wine in pints, m’lord.

Mega Wow Egg With childhood obesity on the rise, now seems the perfect time to introduce a chocolate egg three times the size of your traditional Kinder Surprise to make sure your kids are getting hooked as early as possible. The geniusly named Mega Wow Egg looks like it was birthed by a Cadbury’s pterodactyl, and promises a ‘surprise’ inside. I’d call diabetes more of a shock than a surprise, but each to his own.

Sour Fruit Bar There’s nothing particularly odd about stretched fruit - I love a fruit winder as much as the next guy. It’s the fact that this example is the size of a tennis racket and looks like the underside of a Civil War saddle that really caught my eye. That, and the cartoon turtle daintily collecting what I would assume to be a metric ton of plums in order to make this beast.

A3 Wafers We’ve all been there: Andre the Giant is coming round for supper, and you’re fresh out of A3 sized wafers for the gigantic pudding you’re making him. It’s a tale as old as time. But fear not, Murat have got you covered with these edible commandment stones that can double up as riot shields if the need arises. leftlion.co.uk/issue139 31

∞ save even more with student mango ∞ scan on, scan off and we’ll do the rest ∞ pay as you go travel ∞ instantly top-up from anywhere scan me to download for apple & android trentbarton.co.uk/mangoapp

Environment

crocus focus

words and photos: Michael Krawec

Michael Krawec, founder of the Nottingham Crocus Volunteers group, delves into why planting more of these iconic flowers will add a bit of colour around the city and help locals reconnect with their natural heritage…

South of Nottingham city centre lies The Meadows, a housing area home to approximately 10,000 people. But before the houses were built, The Meadows was, well, actual meadows. It was where Nottingham’s cowkeepers pastured their cows, and for the rest of the Nottingham population it was an area of natural beauty that was popular for walks and recreation, as described by Matthew Henry Barker in his 1835 book Walks Round Nottingham: “There are but few places in the kingdom that can boast of sweeter spots for recreation than Nottingham,” he wrote. “How delightful it is, when weary with the bustle and the noise of business, to escape from the narrow streets filled almost to suffocation and to spring over the bridge near the Navigation Inn, bursting at once upon Nature, arrayed in her richest verdure!"

Every spring, thousands upon thousands of lilac Crocus flowers would bloom in the Meadows. The beauty of the Meadows in Spring inspired local poets and painters: for example, Mary Howitt wrote a poem titled The Wild Spring Crocus in Nottingham Meadows, and Thomas William Hammond painted Nottingham from the Meadows at Crocus Time (1890).

Nevertheless, the development was unpopular with many Nottingham residents. Local poet Anne Taylor Gilbert wrote ‘The Last Dying Speech of the Crocuses’, lamenting the death of the crocuses: ‘While o'er its head a coming spring in brick-red trance is seen, As factory, mill and wharf besoiled our home of meadow green.

One gentle shriek the silence broke, one quiver of despair, 'Our fatherland, farewell!' we cried, 'Farewell, ye meadows fair!'

'Dear children born of yester-spring, —dear children, yet to be— Ye shall but read of Crocuses, no more alas! to see.'’

As development followed development over the decades, the Nottingham crocuses reduced further in number.

Today you can only find small patches of them scattered around the city; they are not as strong a local symbol

as they used to be. It is my hope that the Nottingham Crocus could have a resurgence, especially in the Meadows, where they used to grow in such abundance. There are plenty of patches of grassland throughout the Meadows today: between the houses, along Meadows Way, on Queen’s Walk and Recreation Ground, and along the Embankment. Crocus bulbs could be planted in this greenery, to bloom in spring, and naturalise and spread year on year. This would add a bit of colour to the area in late winter and early spring, provide an early nectar source for our struggling pollinators, and give the area a stronger connection with its history.

I got in touch with a bunch of local organisations – Nottingham City Council, Green Meadows, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, to name but a few – to ask if anything was being done about the crocus, and it turns out that the council’s Biodiversity and Greenspace Officer, Charlie Roberts, is putting together a plan to translocate crocus bulbs from existing colonies to new sites around the city, including in the Meadows.

Details are still being finalised, but at time of writing the plan is for a group of volunteers to meet up on 21 September to help dig up the bulbs at donor sites, transport them across the city, and plant them to create new colonies which should grow in size year on year.

If you’d like to stay updated, to find out where and when to meet, you can join the Nottingham Crocus Volunteers Facebook group, and together we can begin to restore this iconic Nottingham flower.

DIG THIS

Crocus flowers are not native to the UK, but two species are strongly associated with Nottingham – the Spring flowering Crocus vernus and the autumn flowering Crocus nudiflorus. These were brought to Nottingham centuries ago from Southern Europe, and they naturalised and spread, becoming especially abundant in the Meadows, and they became a local symbol for

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Neither Nottingham crocus is as common as it used to be, largely due to development as the city expanded from the mid-nineteenth century. Two hundred years ago, Nottingham had a severe housing crisis with the vast majority of the working population living in deeply unpleasant slums.

Building houses on the Meadows was one step towards alleviating this crisis and making conditions better in the town; it was the only real option the town had, and on balance the loss of the Meadows as a beauty spot and recreational area was the lesser evil compared to allowing Nottingham’s unhealthy overcrowding to continue.

Nottingham Green Festival Notts original green festival, running since the 80s, returns Sunday 12 September for another free entry eco-friendly extravaganza. Expect off-grid entertainment, stalls, plus plenty of vegan food. nottmgreenfest.org.uk

Incredible Edible Beeston A community group bringing Beeston together by reclaiming unused patches of land to grow food for everyone to enjoy. Have a gander, and please start doing this everywhere - it’s awesome. facebook.com/ incredibleediblebeeston

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Notts' leading conservation charity. Check out their 42 nature reserves across the county, support campaigns, get involved as a volunteer/member, or follow along for wild inspiration. nottinghamshirewildlife.org

Community or Catastrophe This year, Earth sweated under its hottest July ever recorded, with the most wildfires since global tracking began. Devastating floods and drought are on the rise all around us. All a result, many claim, of anthropogenic climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calls it “unequivocal” that human impact is responsible for our warming world, which oil giant Exxon’s scientists first hypothesised as far back as the 1970s - before the news was swiftly buried and distorted. The COP26 climate talks in Glasgow this November are, Sir David Attenborough says, our “last opportunity” to escape catastrophe.

So why the lack of response to this emergency? Is it too big for individuals to comprehend? Too complex for governments? I put this to Dr Chris Ives, Assistant Professor in the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham, with expertise in the human dimensions of environmental management. He believes that the key may lie in understanding the importance of our social interactions and group identities.

While campaigners have often targeted policy changes or individual action, Dr. Ives has found a potential solution in the question of climate engagement in faith settings, noting that group contexts influence how well environmental messages fly, and stick: “The community dynamic is important - not only in making people feel safe to change, but also (perhaps more importantly) sustaining positive behaviours”.

According to Dr. Ives, “We need to think about messaging and acting in ways that help to bring whole groups of people along.” He says that “people often avoid risking becoming socially exposed and vulnerable as a result of stepping out of group norms, even if a change in behaviour is seen as the 'right' course of action”. In a fractured society that sense of community might seem rare, but maybe by working with those closest to us - colleagues, friends, family, faith groups and online groups - we can give ourselves a chance.

words: Adam Pickering leftlion.co.uk/issue139 33

screen

After a hiatus owing to that-which-shall-not-be-named, Scalarama Nottingham is back with a bang. The nationwide, volunteer-led month-long celebration of cinema encourages communities to come together to share their love of films in usual and unusual settings. With 2021 marking the tenth anniversary of the festival, we run down what Notts cinephiles can expect from Scalarama Nottingham 2021…

Scalarama X Red Carpet Launch Night When: Wednesday 1 September, 6.30pm Who: Works Social Where: Works Social, NG1 1HS How much: Free Works Social are proud to host the opening party and, with this year’s theme being fashion in film, you’re expected to respect the drip and attend sartorially correct. The free event includes back-to-back screenings of each episode of the iconic Charity Shop Sue web series, Love and First Sight Vintage pop-up shop, a fashion in film picture quiz and a fancy dress competition.

Mother + Korean Food Night When: Thursday 16 September, 6pm Who: Nonsuch Studios Where: Nonsuch Studios, NG1 1EH How much: £5 (film) or £20 (film and food) Head down to Nonsuch Studios for an unforgettable night of Korean film and food, as they screen Bong Joon-Ho’s critically acclaimed Mother accompanied by a delicious South Korean inspired menu from the Nonsuch kitchen.

Combining the best of the cinema and restaurant experience, you can expect a three-course meal from 6pm, with the film starting at 8pm.

A Single Man + Dinner for Two When: Friday 3 September Who: Potting Shed Pictures Where: A Potting Shed in Ruddington How much: Free

Blade Runner - The Final Cut When: Thursday 9 September, 6.30pm Who: Works Social Where: Works Social, NG1 1HS How much: £10.30

Nottingham Pre-Pride P(arty) When: Friday 10 September, 3pm Who: DirtyFilthySexy Where: Fisher Gate Point, NG1 1GD How much: Pay what you can (suggested donation £4)

If you’ve ever fancied watching a bit of Colin Firth, complete with a delicious home-cooked meal for two in the tranquil comfort of a potting shed in South Nottingham, you’re in luck. Potting Shed Pictures are offering one lucky couple that very opportunity in what must be the most exclusive cinema event in the history of Scalarama.

The second film in this year’s eclectic Scalarama X Film Festival program is a unique pop-up screening of Blade Runner - The Final Cut. You can watch the definitive version of Ridley Scott’s iconic classic in the atmospheric ground floor event space at Work Social, complete with your choice of Rick Deckard’s favourite drink: Whiskey Sour, Tsing Tsao beer or Coca-Cola and hot bowl of instant kimchi noodles.

DirtyFilthySexy are proud to present a Pre-Pride P(arty) consisting of a multimedia arts exhibition, live music performance and arts workshop designed to promote LGBTQIA community cohesion and collaboration in the city. This event will be the perfect start to Nottingham’s Pride Weekend celebrations, beginning at 3pm with the sign making workshop and progressing to live music until 11pm.

Ahead of the Curve When: Thursday 23 September Who: The Carousel Where: The Carousel, NG1 1FH How much: TBC

Spice World When: Saturday 25 September, 7pm Who: Based on a True Story Cinema Where: Bonington Theatre and Cinema, NG5 7EE How much: £5

The Terminator When: Monday 27 September, 8.30pm Who: The Loft Movie Theatre Where: The Savoy Cinema, NG7 1QN How much: £5-£6.95

Whether you were a Ginger, Sporty, Baby, Scary, Posh, or even fancy yourself more of a Clifford, their long-suffering manager played by Richard E. Grant, you can dig out your best nineties costumes and get ready to relive the glory days as Based on a True Story Cinema presents Spice World in all its glory.

With tickets just £5, you’re gonna wanna go…

In the year 1984, Los Angeles college student Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) finds herself the target of a seemingly unstoppable hit man who appears hell-bent on wiping out all LA citizens of the same name. Join the Loft Movie Theatre as they present James Cameron’s science fiction classic, The Terminator, at the Savoy Cinema.

The Carousel, Hockley’s multipurpose art space, invite you to watch Ahead of the Curve, the extraordinary documentary about Franco Stevens, one of the most influential women in lesbian history you’ve never heard of. Featuring Andrea Pino-Silva, Melissa Etheridge and Lea DeLaria, Ahead of the Curve celebrates the legacy of a movement while considering the agenda of its future.

Scalarama Nottingham takes place across September. For more information and tickets, visit: linktr.ee/scalaramanottingham

34

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

interview: Daniela Loffreda photo: Harry Bamford

It’s Screen Too Long

Cinema is back. The cinema is back. Long may it stay that way As I head up the steps and onto the patio, brimming with cinemagoers savouring every bite of their heavenly pizzas and washing them down with Bitburger Pilsners and glasses of Pinot Grigio, I walk through the sliding doors and enter the hub of local filmmaking; a place that has hosted Quentin Tarantino, has been the headquarters of talented artists like Jeanie Finlay, and (most importantly) proudly displays LeftLion magazines at the very front of the building.

In truth, I don’t really know anything about the movie I’m going to watch (it’s Zola for those interested - not bad, not great) but what’s on the screen doesn’t matter - they could play a Derby County game on the famous Screen 1 and I wouldn’t complain. I’m just happy to be back in these stylish seats, adorned with the names of fellow film fanatics from throughout the years, ready to lose myself for the next ninety minutes.

As the lights dim and the ridiculously catchy beat of the Europa Cinemas advert starts blaring through the speakers, I crack open my Pepsi Max and a bag of Jelly Tots (now vegan, yay!), and allow myself a rare smile. Cinema is back. The cinema is back. Long may it stay that way.

words: George White

Carman collected Cinematographer, camera operator and colourist, there doesn’t seem to be anything Will J Carman can’t do. We chat to the Nottingham-based filmmaker about award nominations, future projects and the importance of expecting the unexpected…

You’ve worked as a cinematographer on several exciting projects. What does the role mean to you?

Also called the director of photography (DoP), they’re basically the director's right hand man or woman. Their main job is about taking the script from paper to screen - they manage and lead a team of camera and lighting departments to ultimately bring the director’s vision to life.

Is there always a clear vision of the shots that you want or is it sometimes more of a process of trial and error?

It depends on the project. If it's a narrative drama project, then there will be storyboards, shot lists and all that stuff.

But sometimes you just have to adjust to a situation. For example, I was filming a presenter-led promo for these newbuild houses. We showed up and there was no power on site, so we had to adapt by placing the presenter next to windows and using the natural light available. I think being adaptable is one of the key skills a cinematographer should have.

You were nominated for Best Cinematography at the Top Indie Film Awards for your work on Luther, Michael and Her. How was that for you?

It was really nice to get that recognition. It’s still one of my personal favourite projects because of its whole concept. It’s a classic budget film with just one location - the whole thing is set in a bathroom - but I like the idea of taking that one location and keeping it visually interesting.

Colour grading is often overlooked by those not in the film industry. Can you tell us a little about it?

It's similar to the way you edit your photos. It's about the colour of the image and manipulating it to look the way you want it to. Most cameras these days purposely shoot

in a very flat colour profile called log, which allows you the flexibility to create hundreds of different looks. I see it as the little cherry on top of the post-production process, and it can make or break your work.

As a freelancer, you’re regularly involved in everything from pre to post-production. What do you find is the biggest challenge?

Pre-production can always be a challenge because you're trying to anticipate what's going to happen when it actually goes into production. And sometimes you can miscalculate or underestimate certain things. You can't always see the location until the shoot so it’s just about trying to do the best you can, often with limited information.

What has been the most rewarding project for you to work on?

It would be Luther, Michael and Her, which had a good crew of minimal people. There was just me, a sound recordist, two actors – one of whom was the director and the writer as well - and a runner. We shot over three days and there was a nice feeling on set. It was very creative and satisfying to work on.

What are you working on now?

I'm working as DoP on my first feature film, which is also my first professional narrative project. Without giving too much away, it's essentially a road trip film about these two characters who meet through different circumstances and are both down on their luck. They're opposite people in certain ways so the film is about them connecting and developing a friendship through their shared love of music. willjcarman.co.uk

short reels

It’s a big moment for me as I make my way through the city centre. Believe it or not, after some of the apocalyptic weather we’ve experienced in recent months, it’s a warm, dry evening. The streets of Hockley are lined with beer drinkers and al fresco diners. And glistening in the Broad Street sunlight is that glorious retro sign, with the iconic lower-case ‘broadway’ plastered on the side. That’s right, I’m going home.

To Watch Nottingham International Film Festival Experience some of the most exciting independent movies from across the UK and beyond this September at Nottingham Contemporary. This festival really has it all; from experimental shorts to gripping features, there’s something for every film fanatic to enjoy.

The sixth edition will welcome filmmakers and cinephiles back in person for the first time since the pandemic, so this certainly isn’t one to miss.

To Remember Snatch (2000) This star-studded crime comedy remains a must watch over two decades later.

Featuring Nottingham-born Lennie James, it’s a go-to if you fancy a classic this September.

The Walking Dead star plays a small-time crook called Sol who finds himself wrapped up in a hunt for a stolen diamond. This isn’t one for the Guy Ritchie haters - but if you can handle a bit of grit, Snatch will have you in stitches.

To Follow Damien Ebanks See Nottingham like never before through the lens of this talented creator. Damien Ebanks showcases everything from local architecture to local people, while capturing the unique vibrancy of the city. If you like to fill your Insta with aesthetically pleasing shots, this filmmaker’s feed is definitely worth a follow. @damienebanks leftlion.co.uk/issue139 35

music

BAILEY AFFIRMATIONS

interview: Lizzy O’Riordan

Released towards the end of 2020, Liam Bailey’s genre-crossing album Ekundayo has been reworked by prominent New York producer Leon Michaels, founder of Big Crown Records. The result? Ekundayo Inversions, a dub/soul/reggae crossover that showcases Bailey’s silky-smooth voice like never before. We chat to the popular Notts singer-songwriter about his career highlights, collaborating with Michaels and taking long London walks...

What have you been up to since we last spoke to you in 2018?

I’ve just been on this big quest to drop a sick album, so 2017 and 2018 I started motivating myself. I stopped drinking, I stopped going out, I started going swimming and that. I’ve just started getting to know myself, actually. I started doing these long walks which are good for your mental health. I was walking all the way from Croydon area to Westminster Abbey.

How long did that take?

Might have been about four hours, five hours, but when you’ve got an audiobook on or a podcast it’s fine. Aside from that, I was doing bits and bobs with Juga-Naut, the Nottingham rapper. Mainly, though, I was going to New York to link with Leon Michels because I wanted to do the whole record with him.

You mention your new album, Ekundayo. What’s the story behind the name?

That was a name that I came across on Nottingham TV station back in 2002. There was a Nigerian woman on the show with a son whose name was Ekundayo and I thought that name was sick - she said it means sadness becomes joy.

During the pandemic things got quite deep and I thought this is perfect, some of the subject matters on the album covers some sorrow and I feel the album turns it into joy.

How did you find working with Leon?

Me and Leon are mates, we go back to 2007. My manager at the time was like, go and meet with this guy Leon Michels. We recorded When Will They Learn and Miss You then. We finally got it together to do an album and it made sense to put it out with Big Crown which is Leon’s new label.

There’s no way we would have made a record as good as this ten years ago. It’s a bit mad that I’ve got Lee “Scratch” Perry on my record, that was a bit deep because that song is about family issues and ugly truths, but then with this grandfather of reggae.

Ekundayo Inversions is a reworking of your first album. How did that come into existence?

The album was done and ready to release and then the pandemic hit. We thought, why don’t we do some dub versions of these, and whilst it wasn’t reggae, we could still approach it with the same ethos. That’s why you have the instrumental vibes in Faded and I Love NY. It was the perfect project to do over the lockdown.

Did lockdown make you go deeper into your project?

I think so, yeah - the lockdown got me to explore the music more as Leon was reimagining it. I read a review the other day that said it’s almost like these songs (on the Inversion album) stand alone, it’s like they never had the fully written songs.

The Glastonbury performance with Chase & Status was crazy because it was what I’d been building up to my whole life Who was your first musical love?

Michael Jackson - although the first album I can remember holding was a classic Motown album with a shiny silver cover. But yeah, Michael Jackson. The feeling I used to get listening to Michael Jackson was crazy. I really believe that’s why I’m where I’m at today, because of that feeling that those records instilled in me: Michael Jackson, Motown, The Beatles, Bob Marley. Even the paedophilia rumours haven’t poisoned those memories, but it’s changed the way I listen to him now - I don’t really listen to him anymore.

What’s an unexpected genre that you love?

There’s a band called Fugazi that’s a post-punk band. I also like Sonic Youth. I was a big indie kid at school, I got into Oasis in a big way when I was 14.

Are there any standout performances in your career?

There was a recent one for Arte. I did a thing for them during the lockdown. The venue was this sick old theatre all lit out like a TV studio.

Obviously, the Glastonbury performance with Chase & Status. It was crazy because it was what I’d been building up to my whole life, I used to sit cross legged and watch Freddie Mercury, Queen, Led Zeppelin performances. I wanted to smash it.

I remember being really nervous. Then in 2013 we did it on the other stage, which was even bigger.

The Rolling Stones were on while we were playing, and people started leaving then to come to us.

That must have been surreal?

I didn’t know that at the time, I just remember being surprised by how full it looked.

With the ten-year anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s passing, does it make you reminisce about your time at her record label?

Our relationship was always friendship with music, and I feel so lucky that I got to have a musical relationship in that way. But this time round I’ve remembered the darker things more and it hasn’t been as happy.

I did a tweet this year on the anniversary, and it went viral. I was saying that the week she died I was on a bender, and I came back to missed calls on my phone from Amy. Sky News wanted me to do a chat and I said I’m not doing it. They had a documentary and wanted an extra feature on Amy. Nowadays I see things differently with the media, I always wonder where the dark hand is.

You post a lot on social media about the climate crisis, is that something you’re passionate about?

No, I’m not passionate but I do like to express myself and it does worry me. I feel like they’re not being real with us, I think we don’t know the half of it. We’re consuming more and the planet’s dying.

So, I guess I just like to rant about it on Instagram.

We have to be collective now, collectivism is the only way to go.

Anything else you’d like to say to LeftLion readers?

Yeah, I want everyone to check out local musicians that are currently doing bits in Nottingham and to check out my recent project. Also, Harleighblu has a project I want everyone to listen to. liambailey.music

36

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

music Reviews Frisco Boogie C.I.R.C.U.S (Album) Notts emcee and producer Frisco Boogie releases his third album in two years C.I.R.C.U.S sees him return to address the national lockdown and its effects on us.

He does this impeccably using his trademark, decades-crafted lyrical style, over a mixture of modern trap and old school style production. One9Ate7

El Michaels Affair meets Liam Bailey Ekundayo Interventions (Album)

Jake Bugg Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Album)

Led by New York musician Leon Michaels, the El Michaels Affair has developed a reputation for its work in producing covers spanning, but not exclusively, reworking a wide range of reggae music. Here, they rework Notts’ reggae-blues-soul master Liam Bailey’s Ekundayo album from 2020, building on beautifully soulful foundations to create a crossover between the old and the new. If you liked Ekundayo, you’re sure to love Interventions. Jason Edgar

Bugg’s latest album has been met with mixed reviews and, on some level, it’s easy to see why. Perhaps a victim of his own success, his fans have grown to expect something, well, Jake Bugg-y. But in another context, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning shows the Cliftonborn 27-year-old taking a leap into the unknown, treading a far poppier path than ever before. His iconic reedy alto is still there in all its glory and, as different as it might be, there is still plenty to love. Abigail Stevenson

Jerub No Good Alone (Single)

Low Woman Low Woman (Album)

As a finalist in BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge Introducing, Jerub is fast becoming one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents on the Notts music scene. His pop, soul and gospel influences are there for all to see, as is the depth of his heartfelt, yearning lyrics.

There’s a wonderful dichotomy between the uplifting, ethereal melodies and a voice expressing the pain of isolation and loneliness that cuts deeper and deeper the more you listen. Sean Harper

Derby-based singer songwriter Low Woman armed with just a guitar, has released a self-titled album of 22 painfully intimate songs that promise to hold you captivated throughout. Low Woman is a collection of delicate and fragile folk songs that sit comfortably in any collection of authentic work and her breathless vocals dominate a stripped back, personal sound that keeps you listening to every track and eager for her next release. Bassey

If you’re from Nottingham and want to get added to our music writers list, or get your tunes reviewed, hit us up at music@leftlion.co.uk

NUSIC BOX

Your new Notts music tip sheet, as compiled by Nusic’s Sam Nahirny. Want more? Check out the fortnightly podcasts and live sessions on the Nusic website.

Malvis Key With the world opening back up we’re starting to get gifted with one of our favourite things about Nottingham music: walking into a gig, not being familiar with the opener, then being absolutely gobsmacked, blown away and ‘omg-wtf-is-this’-afied by them. That was the experience we had with Malvis Key at The Chapel a few weeks ago. As if Jack Garatt and The Rhythm Method had a sad, but smirking, and very talented baba. @malvis_key

Melonyx Two faces that you’ll definitely recognise if you’re a keen Notts head - Georgia Copeland and Nadia Latoya - have now gone full Avengers and supergrouped themselves into Melonyx. Sultry neo-soul that would make Floetry proud. Already catching the ear of legendary label Tru Thoughts so much that they signed ‘em. And now, as COVID naffs off, they’re ready for a bit of NG soul domination. The debut EP is out now - and it should make you proud. @melonyxmusic

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 37

“

Perfectly contained and completely absorbing, spine-tingling" HHHH

The Stage on DARKFIELD’s SÉANCE

PRESENTS

We hope you enjoy your stay…

Wednesday 22 September – Sunday 3 October Tuesday 19 – Sunday 31 October Suitable for ages 14+ Lakeside Arts Find out more

art

UNDER COVER ARTIST

Re-Framing art

New Art co-Editor Kelly Palfrey explores the benefits of studying Art history, and the extent to which in can improve your confidence to work in the art sector...

When I tell people that I have recently graduated from university with a master’s degree in Art History, I am often met with a response along the lines of, ‘Art history, that’s just looking at paintings, isn’t it?’ I have since learned that this misconception is just the tip of the iceberg. To many, Art History is the degree equivalent of a dusty old armchair sitting in the corner of their grandparents’ house, slowly fading, becoming less important and being replaced by newer technology. This, however, could not be more wrong.

Art history is more relevant and more important than it has ever been; studying it gives you the skills to understand life in the digital age. For me, studying MA Art History at University of Nottingham has completely changed the way I see, question and challenge the world around me.

I have always been interested in art and design but art history was a foreign concept to me growing up; it was not a subject that was taught in my school. This, unfortunately, is the case for many young people across the UK. I first came across art history and visual culture as a subject during my undergraduate degree in Illustration at the University of Portsmouth.

I was inspired and realised that I needed to know more, so I moved to Nottingham in 2019 to begin studying it at the University of Nottingham. This was perhaps one of the best decisions I’ve made in recent years. One of the very first lectures that I attended was for a module entitled ‘Visualising Conflict’.

Studying at the University of Nottingham has given me the confidence to work in the arts sector and provided me with a strong sense of community In this session we were introduced to representations of conflict and trauma, and challenged to think about the ethics of depicting suffering. Throughout the rest of this module alone we covered issues of imperialism and theft, the role the arts play in healing and remembering after war, and debates around how to portray death. It certainly wasn’t ‘just looking at paintings’. The course content was clearly well thought out and featured a diverse range of artists, artworks and exhibitions which encouraged us to question why female artists and those from minority backgrounds have been frequently overlooked, ignored and side-lined throughout history.

In short, through these discussions the lecturers made me more aware of the ever present inequalities within our society, and encouraged a deeper level of self-reflection on my own attitudes, beliefs and actions.

Perhaps the most important skills that I learned from studying art history were critical thinking and the ability to visually analyse an image or object; being able to examine, deconstruct and decipher meaning from an image, object or exhibition has allowed me to better understand the world around me. In particular, I find I am able to think critically about the near-constant barrage of visual communications on social media and spot disinformation. In the age of ‘fake news’, this is a skill that is becoming increasingly important, as the last year has shown us.

Not only this, but I have found myself questioning and visually analysing the staging of certain images and events over the last year, like photographs of the Prime Minister on visits or delivering briefings. I no longer simply look at photographs as an objective medium, I ask questions of them; what story are they trying to tell? Who is this aimed at? Who created the image?

My only hope is that universities continue to see the value in it as a subject Outside of the academic benefits, of which there are too many to list here, studying Art History at the University of Nottingham in particular has given me the confidence to work in the arts sector and provided me with a strong sense of community. Nottingham has some of the best contemporary art galleries and spaces I have seen outside of major cities and by far one of the best arts communities, which means that the university is perfectly placed to deliver art history as a course; the lecturers took full advantage of this and arranged several exhibition visits to introduce us to the local art scene.

This, alongside the skills learned on the course, helped me to feel comfortable in the gallery space and led to me volunteering and then gaining paid employment in two different arts organisations. Of course you don’t need a degree in Art History to belong and feel comfortable in a gallery, but for me the course at the University of Nottingham made all the difference.

My only hope is that universities continue to see the value in it as a subject; it has equipped me with the skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in the digital age.

It is not an exaggeration to say that studying Art History has changed my life for the better, in more ways than I could ever have anticipated.

words & illustration: Kelly Palfrey

Our Head Designer Natalie Owen explains how Disney’s The Little Mermaid inspired her first LeftLion cover in over a year…

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I’m Natalie, the Head Designer for LeftLion - I have been here for six years this month, the first mag I helped out on was issue 71!

What was the inspiration behind the cover?

I bought myself a camera at the end of 2019 and then COVID hit so I was unable to really use it much. Finally, now things are opening back up, I’m trying to build upon my photography portfolio. I joined a Facebook group for photographers and models in Nottingham, and someone posted that there was an available slot to take photos with a few other photographers at TankSpace in Ollerton - I jumped on the opportunity!

I idolise Annie Leibovitz, I love her fairytale photography portraits and wanted to give it a go in my own style. One of the models at TankSpace, Chelsea Skye Etherington (@chelseaskyemodel), was wearing a black dress and had light blonde hair. When looking back at the photos, I thought it would be amazing to make her into an Ursula style (from Disney’s The Little Mermaid). I am obsessed with the Disney villains and after the new Cruella film came out I really wanted to make a set of editorial style photos inspired by Disney villains.

For this particular cover I combined photography and illustration. Hopefully it came out okay. I had a lot of fun creating it!

How does it compare with some other projects you’ve worked on?

I designed the cover of LeftLion issue 124 and I was really pleased with how it came out, so it was a bit of pressure to get this cover on the same level as that!

What was the biggest challenge that you faced in creating the piece?

This most challenging thing was creating the cover while also laying out the magazine, craft beer week designs plus a 100 page student guide! I feel like I rushed the design a little bit but I’m still really happy with how it turned out.

What have you got planned for the future?

I started my own business as one of my 30 things before 30 bucket list. I joined up to The Prince’s Trust and “Luna Lily” was born! I take photos and illustrate for others in my free time. I am trying to break into the wedding industry and I have shot two weddings now but I am looking to take more.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers?

Check out my website and give me a shout if you’d like me to take your photo for my photography project! lunalily.co.uk @natalieowendesign

leftlion.co.uk/issue136 31 leftlion.co.uk/issue139 39

literature

words: Daniela Loffreda photo: Ekam Hundal

Squeeze the Day Roza Bazrafshan is combining her biggest passions, writing and teaching, to share an important message. Having recently released a unique children’s book, the teaching assistant discusses what it's like to inspire the next generation of budding writers…

When Roza Bazrafshan read her self-published children’s book, Big Squeeze Little Squeeze, to the students at South Wilford Primary School, she never expected the response she would inspire from the kids. From writing fiction to drawing illustrations and pushing to publish their own work, the teaching assistant from Arnold has sparked a passion for writing in these youngsters like never before.

Roza started working at South Wilford in January during lockdown. It was by chance that one afternoon she decided to read her new book to some of the students. At first she worried the short story of a young sloth who sets about finding the perfect hug was perhaps a little young for the cohort of eight and nine-year-olds. Yet the class was captivated by little sloth’s journey through the Amazon rainforest.

On the school’s Pjyamarama day in May, every class at the Wilford school read and reviewed Roza’s short story.

“I’d say about half the school were my target audience, but year four, five and six were too old for it, so I was flabbergasted to hear such nice feedback,” she says.

Big Squeeze Little Squeeze is an uplifting story with an important message. It gives children a simple rhyme to help them remember an invaluable compression exercise which aids emotion regulation.

The technique can be applied either individually or in a group and involves hugging tightly for around

five seconds, releasing, then hugging tightly again for a brief moment, and taking a deep breath after.

Roza’s tale about the sloth’s travels not only captured the children’s imagination, but also inspired them to create their own stories too.

I have always written stories, so when I first properly wrote and published this, the little Roza inside was very happy “They come to me on my break times and they have whole exercise books now half full with about three or four chapters” she explains. “They’ve asked me to publish their stories, and I'm really excited to see what they do. Some of the stories and plotlines are fantastic and I would love to get a collection of little stories together.”

Roza plans to run an after-school club at South Wilford for the children writing their own tales and will also be offering author visits to other schools to share her work following the initial success of her book.

She admits she has always had a creative flair and found joy in storytelling. “Since I was young, I used to make films with my brothers and write scripts. I was always writing stories, so when I first properly wrote and published this, the little Roza inside was very happy.”

“As a teaching assistant, I’ve read hundreds of stories to kids of lots of ages. I find that a lot of the time, kids' stories are quite abstract, the writing is not very explicit, sometimes with hidden meanings,” she muses.

“So this story took a leaf out of how I would teach a message to children with autism. We’ve tried to use really explicit language.”

With a mountain of ideas still spinning in her mind, Roza has no plans to stop writing yet. With the help of feedback from students, she aims to make more editions of her debut book in the near future.

Big Squeeze Little Squeeze is a product of a larger project Roza manages, called My Calm Llama. It aims to support individuals with autism and anxiety through a range of methods, varying from speech and language resources for nonverbal children with autism to Calm My Llama, a booster session that can be delivered in schools.

Looking ahead, Roza hopes that My Calm Llama will fill critical gaps in available teaching and learning resources. Using her experiences working in education, she will share the best tips and techniques to ensure that every child has a positive experience. mycalmllama.com

Sanctuary by Richard C. Bower Bower was first encouraged to write by his bereavement counsellor after his mother passed. While the raw emotions of grief and lament permeate most poems, they are balanced with spatterings of hope, love and regeneration, culminating in a reposeful state of equilibrium. Bower’s mindful attention to the minutiae of nature and its cyclical patterns is likely influenced by Eastern philosophies; he wrote Sanctuary during a Buddhist retreat. His spiritual discovery is laid out across these 67 poems, imparting the notion that, with a little introspection, we can find sanctuary in our solitude. While each line is carefully constructed, it is the overall rhythm of the collection that captivated me, the short and digestible poems unfolding and flowing as if in perpetual motion. Sanctuary is poignant and profound without being pretentious. Lilith Hudson leftlion.co.uk/issue139 41

Book Reviews

Paralysis by Stuart A. Tongue This atmospheric collection of short stories brings abstract aspects of human existence to the page in vivid, engrossing detail. Whether it be sleep paralysis, insomnia or anxiety, Tongue expresses internal struggles in unique and absorbing ways throughout Paralysis, grabbing the reader by the collar and refusing to let go for the entirety of its 133 pages. Jumping between fast-paced dialogue and introspective first-person narration, the audience is consistently immersed in the confusing and distressing experiences of the book’s characters. At times, things threaten to become repetitive - but Tongue manages to keep things fresh by throwing in chilling old-timey tales and surreal stories of modern madness. The result is a compelling, haunting piece of literature that will burrow its way under your skin and stay there. George White

Beginning her work with children at around the age of 20, Roza quickly discovered her ability to easily connect to kids with unique needs. Writing a book seemed like a perfect way to combine the things that she loves most.

poetry

illustration: Toby Anderton

Queen of the Waves for Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the channel (1926) Tempestuous, the channel wants you dead, and flings her filthy flotsam in your face.

Just focus on your stroke, your breath, your pace.

Your strongest muscle now is in your head.

Exhausted, still you carry on the crawl; it’s fight or flight and you embrace them both.

You wonder where you ever found the gall but perseverance brings you to the coast.

And later, when they claim the sea was kind, you’ll taste the sting of salt, as sharp as blood and call the spiteful, surging surf to mind and question if it did you any good.

But, like the ocean, you will not be bid; “They said I couldn’t do it – so, I did.”

Leanne Moden

42

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

Moden Words UNESCO City of Literature, Paper Crane Poets, Poetry Takeaway, DIY Poets… Chances are, if you’re in any way involved in the Notts literary scene, you’ve come across the lovely Leanne Moden. As a poet, educator and spoken-word performer, she’s heavily involved in Nottingham’s poetry community, and even released her own collection, Get Over Yourself, last year. We catch up to chat swimming the channel, Wikipedia rabbit holes and accidentally becoming a teenage goth...

What inspired you to write about Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the channel?

It’s frustrated ambition on my part! Not to swim the channel, mind you! I studied history at university – I originally wanted to be a historical researcher – so, I really love the process of reading about these lesser-known stories from the past. I often get stuck down Wikipedia rabbit holes, and that’s how I came across Gertrude Ederle’s story. The dismissive attitudes she faced when training to achieve her goals really got my blood boiling – people in the 1920s just didn’t believe a woman could swim that far! The final line of the poem “They said I couldn’t do it, so I did” is something she actually said at the time. As soon as I read about that, I knew I needed to write the poem.

A lot of my writing process revolves around going to open mics and workshops, and listening to other poets perform, so when everything was suddenly cancelled, my confidence really did take a knock Your poetry collection Get Over Yourself was released last year, and focused on the themes of belonging and exclusion. What was it in those themes that appealed to you?

It’s funny, because I never set out to write a collection around a central theme, but I always get preoccupied by certain subjects, then realise I’ve accidently written a load of poems that just fit together. Between 2016 and 2019, I was writing a lot about my teenage years, and I think everyone feels excluded and craves connection at that age. Many of the poems in the collection were written as part of my first one-person show, which was about connection, the redemptive power of music, and accidentally becoming a teenage goth in rural Norfolk in the early 2000s. Surely everyone can relate to that?

Well, maybe not the last bit…

Your poetry combines humour, poignancy and often-visceral imagery. How much is your written work a reflection of you as a person?

I think all creative stuff is a reflection of the person who created it, and sometimes writing feels a bit like bearing your soul, which can be quite daunting. It took me such a long time to find my voice in my writing, and to feel like the poems were coming from an authentic place.

The idea with poetry, or painting or music or

anything, is to find a way to make something that only you could have created. That’s why I’m so keen on supporting other writers through the work I do with Paper Cranes, the collective I run at Beeston library. I want to be able to give other writers the space to find their voices too! (And, if your readers would like to join us at Paper Cranes, they should drop me an email at papercranepoets@gmail.com to find out more!).

How much did lockdown affect your creative process?

It really put a spanner in the works for me. A lot of my writing process revolves around going to open mics and workshops, and listening to other poets perform, so when everything was suddenly cancelled, my confidence really did take a knock. I also had to take on a lot of outside work in order to pay the bills, which made it much harder to find time to write. Thankfully, I’m part of a really kind and supportive poetry community in Nottingham, and I was able to reach out and connect with other writers via Zoom, in order to keep things ticking over. I’m so grateful to the Paper Crane Poets, the DIY Poets and the Nottingham Critters for their support over the last eighteen months. They really kept me going. Before all this, I genuinely thought I was an introvert, but the lockdown has really taught me a lot about myself, and I definitely need to be around people in order to function properly!

What is your writing process? Do you have a routine or any particular ritual?

I usually think of good ideas just as I’m falling asleep, so I have to sneak off and jot stuff down so I don’t forget it. I’ve tried to just hold the idea in my head overnight, but that never works. I always seem to remember having the idea, but not the idea itself – how unfair is that? Anyway, if I’ve scribbled down some ideas in the night, I often refine them the next day, usually after work when my head’s clear. Sometimes a poem comes to you fully formed, and you can bang it out in an hour, but sometimes you really have to wrestle with it to get it on paper. The longest a poem has taken me to write is about three months. Hopefully that won’t happen again too soon!

What’s the one poem you wish you’d written, and why?

I absolutely adore everything that Kim Addonizio has ever written, but her poem To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall is just such a beautiful piece of life-affirming writing. It’s brilliant. I also think The Orange by Wendy Cope is one of the most glorious poems I’ve ever read. I really want to be able to write about contentment like that one day!

You’ve recently been one of the ‘chefs’ involved at Poetry Takeaway. Can you tell us a bit about what that involved?

It’s such a fun project! The Poetry Takeaway is the brainchild of ‘head chef’ Michael Bolger, and involves a converted burger van. Only, instead of dispensing burgers and kebabs, we dish out poetry. We rock up to a market or a festival and set up the van. Then, the four ‘poetry chefs’ chat to people and write them bespoke poems, based on themselves and their lives.

When we had the van in Hucknall in August, I wrote loads of poems for people’s children, a poem in celebration of a dog and a poem about a lion. It was incredibly good fun, and a great challenge for us as poets too, as we have to deliver something on the spot, with only twenty minutes or so to get it all together. Talk about poetry jeopardy!

I was writing a lot about my teenage years, and I think everyone feels excluded and craves connection at that age You’re also the Creative Projects Coordinator at UNESCO City of Literature. Can you tell us a bit about what that involves?

Well, Nottingham received the UNESCO dedication back in 2015, which means we’re one of around 40 cities across the world who can call themselves UNESCO World Cities of Literature. In practice, it means we work with local, national and international organisations to support reading, writing and literature in Nottingham. At the moment, we’re running some brilliant initiatives for young people, including the Rainbow Library, a national project to support the creation of more children’s books featuring LGBTQ+ characters and stories. We’re also always looking for literary stuff to celebrate on our website, so if you have something happening that you’d like us to shout about, please get in touch!

What does the future have in store for you?

I’m running a series of online poetry workshops called ‘The Creativity Break’ for the Inspire Poetry Festival from September 20-24 , which will be fun and friendly activities to get us all writing across the festival week. I’ll also be hosting the Paper Cranes Showcase on the evening of Wednesday 22 September, which will be a fantastic night of performances from poets from across Nottinghamshire. You can find out all about both of those by searching for Inspire Poetry Festival on a search engine of your choice. Other than that, I’m keen to get back out into the world, read some poems, and talk to people face to face again. I’ve missed pubs, cafes, live music and adventures with friends. leannemoden.com

leftlion.co.uk/issue139 43

words: Ashley Carter ilustration: Natalie Owen

illustration: Natalie Owen

The links between Nottingham and Italian football are well known, from Mansfield Road-born Herbert Kilpin being a founding father of AC Milan to Juventus’ famous black and white stripes having connections with Notts County.

But while details of the former are relatively solid, recent research into the latter, conducted by Roger Stirland and Luca Forna, has provided far more detail about the Notts links to la Vecchia Signora - in particular, the role of English businessman Tom Gordon Savage. With this month marking the ten-year anniversary of Notts County playing Juventus in their brand new stadium, we explore exactly just how one of the biggest teams in world football has Nottingham to thank for their iconic stripes…

Origin stories are important. Just take a look at the cinema to see how many prequels are being pumped out every year, or how wildly popular websites like Ancestry or 23andme have become in recent years.

We want to know where things come from, when and why they formed and, more importantly, how.

And football is no different. Success is fleeting, as each new season wipes away the glory of the last, but events, people and trophies stand the test of time and help shape the identity of a club and its supporters.

Just look at the furor that came with Notts County losing their status of the world’s oldest league club following their relegation in 2019, or how much Nottingham Forest’s two European Cup wins shape the club’s DNA to this day. In football, the past is often just as important as the present.

The links between Notts County and Juventus have been known for years. The bond between the two clubs is so strong that, ten years ago this month, the

Magpies were invited to Turin to play a pre-season friendly at the brand new Allianz Arena. But recent research conducted by Roger Stirland and Luca Forna provides far more detail, as well as a few corrections, to the well-known origin story of Juventus’ iconic black and white striped kit.

Juventus players turning up to matches looking more like a gang of war survivors than a foot-ball team The Juventus Sports Club was founded on 1 November 1897 by a group of students from the Turin Massimo D’Azeglio Lyceum (Grammar School), led by brothers Eugenio and Enrico Canfari. Playing first in a white

strip, it was two years later, in the spring of 1899, that the football club named Juventus (meaning young boys) was formed. Being short on money, the Canfari brothers asked their mother to fashion a set of kits out of a pink and white percale, which the club used for both athletic sports and football.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Italian football was a world away from what you’d expect to see today. There were few fixed rules as such, a single game would last for hours and the physicality would make Giorgio Chiellini wince. Simply put, as nice of a gesture as Mrs. Canfari’s upcycled kits were, they couldn’t stand up to the rigors of an average game.

Enter Tom Gordon Savage, a Nottingham businessman in the lace trade, living and working in Turin with his wife Sarah and their two sons. Savage – who had previously been incorrectly called ‘John’ Savage - had been in Italy since 1890 and in late 1900, at the age of

now and then

Meadow Lane, 1910

44

leftlion.co.uk/issue139

Meadow Lane, 2021

33, he joined the ranks at Juventus, having previously played at Internazionale Club Torin alongside Herbert Kilpin. Though from different social classes, Savage and Kilpin became close friends, and together helped introduce the English rules to Italian football. It was also Savage that helped facilitate the change to black and white stripes which, until recently, has been wrongly credited as having taken place in 1903.

Recently uncovered by Luca Fornara, a long-forgotten column of Milan sports newspaper Il correre dello sport La bicicletta sheds light on the true date of the change. Dated Monday 9 December 1901, it reads: “With kind thoughts the people of Turin had adhered to the invitation of the management of the Milanese club and yesterday from 2pm they were on the field of the Italian Trotter showing off their new colour, no longer white and pink but black and white.”

Not only does this move the true date of the change back by two years, but it also shows that Juventus were playing in the black and white kit on a day when they faced Kilpin’s Milan. As Roger Stirland writes in his paper The Man Who Changed the Juventus Strip, “It is understood that Tom Gordon Savage of Juventus was at this game either as a player or their technical advisor and it is known Herbert Kilpin played and scored for Milan. I have no doubt Herbert would have made comment to Tom about the change of Juventus strip to that of Notts County, a team from their hometown.”

Another recent discovery, from the diary of Domenico Donna, one of Juventus’ original players, sheds further light on Savage’s involvement with the Old Lady.

Describing the time before the 1901 game against Milan, he wrote of the confused and disorderly nature of the club’s first few matches, and how the arrival of Savage, “a true Englishman who seemed to us to have personally invented the game”, helped improve their

understanding. It goes on to say that, “Savage is also responsible for Juve’s business arrangement with a Nottingham company that for some time has taken charge of supplying our footballs.”

With the pink shirts in a state of disrepair, and Juventus players turning up to matches looking “more like a gang of war survivors than a foot-ball team,” Savage sent a letter to that Nottingham ball supplier, asking: “Send us at once an elegant trousseau by team; let it be something lively, something eye-catching. We are tired of our muffled old-fashioned upholstery.”

After nearly a month, Savage turned up to a team meeting carrying a large cardboard box. Donna continues,

We were shocked when the first shirts came out of the box, one after the other, there were a funeral, sad, black and white striped jerseys “It was a strong disappointment for those of us who already saw ourselves wrapped in a shirt of dazzling red, we were shocked when the first shirts came out of the box, one after the other, there were a funeral, sad, black and white striped jerseys. Some of the players rebelled and began to swear against the English, from the Lords of Parliament to the last London scavenger.”

But as time passed on, the Juventus’ players learnt to accept their new kit and enjoyed an immediate upturn in their fortunes, receiving invitations to play in Genoa and Milan. “The new shirt perhaps did not bring such

bad luck,” writes Donna, “and the black and white stripe became a symbol of old fashioned Piedmontese elegance.”

Decades later in 1952, another of Juventus’ formative players, Umberto Malvano, was interviewed for the Sports Illustrato. “As a passionately strict teacher he (Savage) attracted more players with the same passion, it was a very happy coming together,” Malvano recalled.

“But Savage never liked our pink homemade shirts. He said, ‘Very bad shirts. I will arrange the supply of some new ones.’” He continues, “And from Nottingham…he obtained eleven jerseys with black and white stripes.”

In his paper, Stirling concludes that Shaw and Shrewsbury, one of the main sports outfitters at the time, were the most likely suppliers of the first Juventus kits. From their shop premises at the end of Carrington Street on Queens Bridge Road, they were primarily manufacturers and suppliers of cricket and rugby related supplies but, as an 1899 advert in the Athletic News Supplement shows, they also manufactured football shirts. In fact, one of the images used in the advert shows a football kit of black and white vertical stripes.

From these contemporary accounts, we now have a clearer picture than ever before of the true impact Savage had on the formative years at Juventus. In both shaping the understanding and playing of the game and using his contacts in Nottingham to facilitate the order of the black and white shirts, he wove his story into the fabric of the club’s DNA. He turned an amateur club into a serious one, earning the moniker “Marquis” from his players in the process. And while Juventus enjoy their seat at the top table of world football, boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Matthijs de Ligt and Paulo Dybala amongst their ranks, their origin story is dominated by Tom Gordon Savage, the businessman from Nottingham whose name may have been lost to history, but whose impact will never be forgotten.

Object walk We’ve teamed up with the National Justice Museum to put objects from the past into the hands of people of the present. This month, we took a 5-a-side football trophy which was won by inmates at Gaynes Hall Borstal, Cambridgeshire, in 1971 to Archie Crofts and Josh Walker of The Art of Football.

Starting in 1907, Borstals were run by HM Prison Service and were intended to reform young offenders. They were originally intended for inmates aged under 21, although this was raised to 23 in the 1930s. Gaynes Hall Borstal ran from 1945-1983, when all borstals were abolished and replaced with youth custody centres.

1

Josh: Is it a 5-a-side competition between the different wings of a prison? Actually, is it for the staff? If it was for the inmates, I can’t imagine them being given a trophy.

Archie: I guess it depends how good at football they were! Talent is talent at the end of the day.

3

Josh: Oh it was from a Borstal? I think those were violent places – it would be interesting to see how much the rehabilitation side of things worked.

Archie: None of the wording shouts prison or punishment. It looks more like it’s from a camp or something.

2

Josh: Because it uses the words ‘house’ and ‘dorm’. Those words feel too nice for a prison. Is it like a police academy?

Archie: It looks like it was meant to be used for years, but for whatever reason got ended after this first tournament. I wonder if something happened to stop it?

4

Josh: The fact they handed them a trophy shows that they wanted them to feel like they’ve accomplished something.

Archie: Yeah it’s like parenting, isn’t it? It’s that idea of positive reinforcement.

art-of-football.com nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk

BEST OF SEPTEMBER Demob Happy at Bodega When: Monday 6 September, 7pm Where: The Bodega, Nottingham How much? £13.20 If alternative rock is your thing, Demob Happy is definitely not one to miss. Join the Newcastle band on the ninth stop of their UK tour for an unforgettable night. Supported by Dead Poet Society and playing at one of Nottingham’s most renowned live music venues, it's set to be a great evening of music.

Green Meadows Picnic on the Park When: Saturday 4 September, 11am - 2pm Where: Queens Walk Recreation Grounds How much? £13.20 Grab your friends and head to Green Meadows Picnic on the Park this September. Embrace a range of activities from bike fixing to bug hunts, or enjoy the solar powered music if you’re looking for something a little less hands on.

Run by local climate action group Green Meadows, this day out is the perfect way to rally together and support a great cause.

Nonsuch on Trent When: Thursday 26 August Sunday 5 September Where: Victoria Embankment Bandstand How much? Free Get your festival fix this summer at Nottingham’s Nonsuch on Trent. The Hockley based studio will be holding events in comedy, theatre and poetry. With some events free to the public and activities available for all ages, there’s no excuse not to check out the city’s newest event.

The Remains of Logan Dankworth When: Thursday 9 September Where: Nottingham Playhouse How much? £12.50

Nottingham Ale Trail When: Friday 3 September Sunday 3 October Where: Various venues How much? Free

Outside Cinema When: Saturday 4 September, 6pm Where: Nottingham Castle How much? £13.00 - £15.00

The long-awaited ending to Luke Wright’s trilogy of political verse plays will finally take the stage this September. Follow the story of Logan Dankworth through one of the biggest political battles in years, the EU Referendum. This raw and human piece is a must see for those wanting their fix of drama.

Fancy a pint this September?

Choose from six of the new trails to get your fix of some of Nottingham’s best ales. Collect a pin badge when you finish one, and even a commemorative t-shirt if you complete them all.

Booze your way into autumn with mates and discover some of the best ale Notts has to over.

Make the most of the last of warm weather and chill out watching The Princess Bride over the weekend. Rated PG, this heartwarming tale is a great family night out. Kids can make the most of the adventure playground, Hood’s Hideout, before the screening, and those looking for a little more danger can pop along to the Outer Bailey to perfect your fencing skills pre show.

Alicia: An Immerisve Rock Opera When: Thursday 30 September Where: Colwick Hall, Colwick Park How much? £39.00 - £59.00 This is another great one for our music fans. Head to Colwick Park this September for an immersive rock opera experience. Enjoy international cast members like Victor Michael and Hayley Maria put on a show of classic songs such as I Put a Spell on You and Paint it Black with a fresh and unique twist. If you’re looking for something a little different this month, Alicia is certainly for you.

Middle Way Words Online Festival When: Sunday 5 September Saturday 11 September Where: Online How much? Free Featuring five days of events, interviews and videos, the Middle Way Words Online Festival aims to celebrate the large number of lesser-known writers in the East Midlands, and inspire a new generation to express their creativity in the process.

Organised by members of the Society of Authors, the festival will be opened by award-winning writer Kit de Waal.