One session IPA and six ghosts caught. Not a bad haul for a Monday evening. The IPA was smooth and required little effort. Catching the ghosts however involved dealing with a relentless bang and clatter, red flashing lights and getting shouted at by a nameless, faceless voice from the ether. It also involved some skill... Continue Reading →

We’re a nation of consumers. Listen to a few tunes or a podcast on the way to work. Read an article online and ‘like’ some glamorous photos on Instagram at lunchtime. Get home and watch a film or catch up on season 1 of the latest Netflix sensation. Every day from early morning until late... Continue Reading →

Birmingham has three Michelin Star restaurants. I’ve been to one of them. It was nice. Pleasant. Agreeable. There were an absurd amount of courses but I was still hungry when I left. It was an oddly unsatisfying experience. It also clarified that comfort food is probably my default setting. Maybe it's everyone's default setting. Last... Continue Reading →

Anyone who follows me on Instagram will have probably figured out that I have a slight obsession with night photography, particularly the city at night. It doesn’t just apply to Birmingham, it could be anywhere. Something about jaunty bright lights contrasting against a dark moody background. The slight sense of danger. Streets and public spaces... Continue Reading →

It’s early evening on a dark miserable wet Wednesday in November but 1000 Trades on Frederick Street is an oasis of calm as I step into the low lit bar with the soothing beats on the stereo. I order a local beer called ‘Gentle Zephyr’ because its name is great and makes very little sense... Continue Reading →

It’s the smell that gets you. If your commute home from work is like mine and takes you through the small Livery Street entrance of Snow Hill Station then you’ll know what I’m talking about. Of course you could go back to the humdrum familiarity of your home but there’s this warm aromatic smell permeating... Continue Reading →

“What costs you £300,000 here’s gonna cost you almost a million down there!” said the man with the moustache at the bar in a thick Brummie accent to his two pals, nodding in agreement clutching their pint glasses. They don’t play music at The Wellington so while the barman was pouring my pint I could... Continue Reading →

The Rock&Roll Brewhouse is my favourite bar in Birmingham because there is nowhere else like it in town. On the watering hole spectrum you have a multitude of different flavours, from the traditional rustic pub to the glamourous and characterless high street chain bars to the exposed brick and light bulb craft ale joints that... Continue Reading →

I recently watched an episode of 'Parts Unknown', filmed in Miami with the late Anthony Bourdain where he asks Iggy Pop to describe his perfect day. Pop spoke about not being on a schedule and the sun appearing as a “hazy tropical orange orb”. Looking back to my first evening in Brighton these words resonated... Continue Reading →

I don’t necessarily loathe cars themselves, I just loathe being in them and the myriad other ways they are permanently seared into society. I can appreciate the beauty of finely crafted Italian sports car like a Lamborghini Miura with its curves arcing from the headlights to the taillights or the rugged bravado of a Ford... Continue Reading →