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Green and pleasant land: how The Meadows is building sustainability and community health

Five years ago, the Notts suburb of The Meadows got a major funding boost to help the community live greener, richer lives and take local action on climate change. With that grant now ending, local resident Lottie Limb takes a look at what the Green Meadows project has achieved and how it can evolve.

Undercover artist: Heather Hodkinson champions Green Hustle festival

Our Green Hustle festival-inspired May cover is the work of artist Heather Hodkinson who, as well as helping to shape the visual identity of Green Hustle, has lent her talents to promote lots of other green initiatives around Notts. She talks to us about her love of collage and why it’s important to get out and about.

What to expect from Green Hustle festival 2026

After five joyous, community-celebrating and grassroots action-galvanising Green Hustle Festivals, the team behind the event are this month putting on the most expansive and exploratory edition yet. With the theme of ‘Sow Good’, Green Hustle CIC Co-Director and LeftLion Environment Editor Adam Pickering guides us through how the crew hopes to seed a sustainable and thriving Notts through creativity, inclusion and inspiration.

Professor Elemental + Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer + Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq.

Put your records on: eleven Notts vinyl stores worth visiting on Record Store Day

On 18 April it’s Record Store Day – a celebration of that unique grassroots culture which, even in the face of constant adversity wracking the UK music scene, endures and provides a community for innumerable lovers of physical media. Since the fifties, Nottingham’s been a hub for well-visited record stores, some becoming legendary like Selectadisc – which once hosted The Clash in store – and Way Ahead – who as well as selling vinyl also sold tickets for one of Oasis’ biggest tours. Music has changed a lot over the last few years, but here’s eleven record shops still worth checking out

A walk in the park: how the King George V Memorial Fund helped preserve our green spaces

We’re lucky to have lots of local parks in Nottingham – but they don’t just establish or maintain themselves. As the lungs, playgrounds, and life-givers of our city, they’ve seen a whole range of uses over time, from wartime food growing through to cricket grounds, football pitches, and skate parks. Celebrating the enduring legacy of King George V’s memorial fund, genealogist and local historian Russell Davies of Leaves of History digs deep into the origins of the parks it bestowed, and their shifting purposes and stewardship.

Thomas Green - Brainstorm

A one way ticket to nostalgia: visiting Alfreton's 80s Video Shop

Right on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire sits the 80s Video Shop – a one-way ticket to the age of neon, fuelled by original Big Box Rental VHS Tapes. Owners Chris Annable and Rob Lane talk to us about the story behind this tucked away portal to another time… 

Seeing the wood for the trees: what makes Nottingham a 'green' city?

With the recent success of urban greening projects, like the Green Heart Park, Nottingham is starting 2026 with lots of love for spots of nature in-and-around its city centre. Caradoc Gayer looks at what makes Nottingham a particularly ‘green’ city, and how in 2026 we can continue to ensure that it stays that way. 

Me & Mr Jones Quartet [jazz/soul/blues]

E.ON, Green Hustle & My Square Metre Launch Really Big Wildflower Meadow Project in Aspley

Green Hustle are at it again transforming Nottingham parks into wildlife (and human) oases - this time they're working with E.ON, My Square Meter, and Nottingham City Council to rejuvenate a massive meadow in Aspley.

Nottingham Film Festival: Green

Walk With an Expert: Beeston Trees 2

Beyond the Wall: the New Art Exchange team talk telling stories with street art in Hyson Green and Morocco

In recent years, the New Art Exchange gallery in Hyson Green has sought to firmly centre their ambitions in serving the local community – placing the cultural needs of the neighbourhood first. A big part of that has been their street art and murals project: Beyond the Wall, which via lots of ambition and creativity has spanned both Hyson Green and Marrakesh, Morocco. We spoke about the project with NAE CEO Saad Eddine Said and artist Laura Decorum – whose work has been vital to Beyond the Wall…

Greening the streets: street artist Anna Wheelhouse on community and big canvases

Anna Wheelhouse is one of Nottingham’s most well-known street artists, with her signature, verdant nature-themed murals enlivening buildings and walls around the city, from pubs to parks to back gardens. We talked to her about her lifelong passion for the arts, and the benefits of working on a larger canvas. 

The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

Playwright Caroline Bird on writing The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

The Playhouse continues its streak of consequential new plays with the upcoming The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse, starring Maxine Peake behind those infamous horn-rimmed spectacles. Caroline Bird speaks to Leftlion about how and why she wrote about the 'most dangerous woman in Britain'... 

Greenwood Community Centre

Bhajis in Beeston: visiting Indian street food café SuRano

Julia Head, AKA Instagram’s The Nottingham Food Guide, takes us to Beeston’s plant-based Indian street food café SuRano.

Basket Face - A Tribute to Green Day

Me & Mr Jones Quartet [jazz/soul/blues]

In photos: Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer at JT Soar, with Revenge of Calculon

Revenge Of Calculon Vs Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer.

The Thompsons talk Restaurant Week, Cinemas and Hyson Green

Here's what Nottingham's most opinionated grocers had to say about restauarant week, cinemas and Hyson Green Community Action...

The Great Green Wall