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LeftLion Magazine #130

5 October 20 words: LeftLion

Featuring Nadia Whittome's first column, The History of the Goose Fair, a Paranormal Investigator in Notts, Nottingham Contemporary's Grace Jones Exhibition, Hogs of War, Most Haunted revisited, Wild Clothing Store and more... 

"I started to cry because I just wanted to know what was wrong with me" - A 28-Year-Old's Battle With COVID-19

If you think that being young is protection enough from COVID, think again. 28-year-old writer and photographer Dani Bacon, who...

D7 Sauce Are Creating Homemade Hot Sauce in Sherwood

02 November 20

Hot sauce can be an uncomfortable condiment to eat. I like a bit of spice, but the hot stuff generally doesn’t bring me much joy. However, D7 Sauce’s Scarlett’s Hot Sauce, with its bright packaging and promises of flavour made me want to give it a bash. Minutes before I was set to interview its owner and creator Mark Walsh, I did just that. My mouth imploded with the gorgeous rich, smokiness of the sauce – and then boom, I was hit with that signature hot kick. My senses were sizzling and I was fired up for a chat. And thankfully the tongue-tingling subsided just before we were set to begin...

Object Walk: 1978 Chess Set

01 November 20

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 chess set made by an unknown prisoner incarcerated at Wormwood Scrubs in 1978 to Dee Miller of the MinorOak Coworking.

A Paranormal Investigator in Notts

29 October 20

Who ya gonna call?

Tech Nottingham Are Helping Women Succeed in the Technology Industry

30 October 20

With a focus on improving the city as a place to live and work in technology, Tech Nottingham has been hosting events to an ever-increasing audience since 2014. With a string of exciting online events coming up, we catch up with Director of Projects Anna Dodson to find out more...

Book Review: Connections by NTU's MA Creative Writing Students

29 October 20

We check out the anthology put together by Nottingham Trent University's MA Creative Writing students...

Food Review: Rikshaw Urban Indian Kitchen

28 October 20

Our Food Editor tucked into some serious bad boy Indian street food...

Why We Decided to Watch an Episode of Most Haunted in a Dark, Empty National Justice Museum...

23 October 20

We should do something Halloween-y for our October issue. Yeah, okay. How about with the National Justice Museum? Good shout. But what? I dunno. They made an episode of Most Haunted there, you know. Really? Yeah it’s on Amazon Prime. Imagine if we went over there and watched it in the dark where they spotted the ghosts. Do you think they’ll let us? We can ask...  

"You’ve got nothing to lose and your life to regain" - A Cocaine Anonymous Member on His Road to Recovery

27 October 20

No matter how far into addiction you may be, it’s not too late. We talk to one of the members of the Nottingham branch of Cocaine Anonymous, who wishes to remain nameless, about addiction and his own personal road to recovery...

Out of Time: A History of Witchcraft in Nottingham

26 October 20

While many of the best-known events of England’s 17th century witch-hunt came with ‘Witchfinder General’ Matthew Hopkins in East Anglia, Notts was home to several high profile incidents of witchcraft, possession and exorcisms of its own. From exposing fraudulent exorcists to framing innocent women of murder, we take a look back at the history of witchcraft in Nottingham…

Tender Coven: The Monthly Subscription Box That Merges Wxtchcraft and Support for Emerging Artists

24 October 20

Alex Stubbs catches up with artist, curator and educator Wingshan Smith to discuss Tender Coven, an online community and monthly subscription spell box that merges wxtchcraft with support for emerging artists...

Shaun Hoolan, New Owner of Hockley Vintage Store Wild Clothing, on Preserving the Shop's Legacy

19 October 20

Wild Clothing first opened its doors in 1983 and, when its original owners decided to retire recently, word spread that the legendary location would be shutting its doors for good. But this couldn’t be further from the truth: our fashion editor, Anna Murphy, chats to Wild’s new owner, Shaun Hoolan, about his passion for this iconic Nottingham store and his plans for the future.

The Most Haunted Spots in Nottinghamshire

23 October 20

The National Justice Museum might be the most haunted location in Nottingham, but there are plenty more creepy spots to try your hand at ghost hunting. So grab a torch, a brave mate and a spare pair of kecks, and check out some of the following supposedly haunted Notts spots…

The Licengoons: A Short Film Which Pokes Fun at the BBC's Decision to Scrap Free TV Licenses for Pensioners

19 October 20

Our Screen co-editor Jamie Morris speaks to the stars of The Licengoons, Miles Anthony and Alex Greensmith, about their hilariously punchy new short film…

Nottingham Contemporary is Reopening with Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio

15 October 20

Places to Visit in North Nottingham

18 October 20

For anyone who grew up in the city and its suburbs, north Nottinghamshire was either where you sometimes ventured to feed the ducks in Rufford, or to perhaps explore the patchy remains of Sherwood Forest, communing with Robin and his Merry Men. In fact, to many city-dwellers, it is defined by its coalfield status, an imaginary wasteland of former mining towns. But North Nottinghamshire, centred around Worksop and Retford, has always had more to offer and, lately, is undergoing a renaissance. The 2020 pandemic-induced rediscovery of the day trip or overnight stay close to home make this the perfect time to venture up the M1...

Art Preview: The Near Room at Bonington Gallery

16 October 20

Muhammad Ali described “The Near Room” as a mental space he would enter during a boxing match – an otherworldly state where you are accutley aware of your own mortality. Sophie Cundale’s new moving-image work, The Near Room (2020), gives substance to this imagined space. Set in a vivid hallucination in the mind of a disorientated boxer, The Near Room muddles historic references with the fantastical and supernatural...

The History of Nottingham's Goose Fair

10 October 20

If 2020 hadn’t been enough of a stinker, this year’s Goose Fair has officially been cancelled for only the third time in its long history. In recent years, nearly half a million of us have flocked down to Forest Rec for both peas and prizes, and while both a reduced capacity or a longer ten-day run were considered, it was not meant to be. While we mourn the fate of all the pennies we could have wasted on the Waltzers, we did some investigating into the fair’s colourful history, and discovered twelve things you didn’t know about Goose Fair… 

Back to School: Twelve-year-old Jagoda Talks Returning to Education During a Pandemic

13 October 20

With all the talk of politicians, parents and teachers, it’s easy to forget those most affected by the decision to reopen schools after lockdown: the students. Twelve-year-old Jagoda Brown-Polanowska lets us know what returning to school in the midst of a global pandemic is really like...

City Stylin': Luke Ridsdill Smith

12 October 20

We took to the streets to find Notts' best dressed...

Food Review: Bar Iberico

12 October 20

We got down to one of Notts' best loved tapas-spots to see how things have changed post-lockdown... 

5 Nottingham Albums to Listen to This Month

11 October 20

The latest Nottinghamshire releases... 

Sherwood-based Stone Sword Games Raised £90,000 in Two Days to Create a Hogs of War Minatures Game

09 October 20

There’s an element of risk in launching any crowdfunding campaign. If you don’t reach an audience, the failure can hang around the neck of a project like an albatross. But get it right, and the rewards can be limitless. The latter situation is one that Sherwood-based Stone Sword Games found themselves in recently, when their Kickstarter campaign for a miniatures version of classic PS1 game Hogs of War smashed through £90,000 in just two days. We caught up with co-owner Paul Allen to find out more...

Comedian Sara Pascoe on Her Move From Actress to Comedy and Singing For Robbie William's Dad

08 October 20

Stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, author, podcast host. There aren’t many things in the world of entertainment that Sara Pascoe can’t do. Ahead of her return to Nottingham to play Just the Tonic this month, we caught up with the popular comic to talk lockdown, her two new TV projects and being a backing singer for Robbie Williams’ dad…

The Thompson Brothers on Joe Biden. Birthday's and Chrimbo Trees

06 October 20

Nottingham's most opinionated grocers on...

Under Cover Artist: Kate Sharp

06 October 20

Local artist and LeftLion regular Kate Sharp was kind enough to take a crack at our October cover, and I’m sure you’ll agree that she did a beautiful job. Here’s what inspired it...

Overheard in Notts

05 October 20

Big baby has heard some things, man... 

Road to Recovery: Hospitality Venues on How Nottingham BID Helped Them Through COVID

05 October 20

With the hospitality industry in the most precarious state it’s been in for a generation, we catch up with five of Nottingham’s most popular venues and organisations to find out they’re thoughts on the ever-changing Government policies, adapting to life post-lockdown and the important role the Nottingham Business Improvement District has played in supporting the sector...

Nadia on... The Climate Crisis

05 October 20

In the first of her new monthly columns, where she will discuss issues going on in both Nottingham and Westminster, Nadia Whittome talks the climate crisis... 

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