by Katie Isham. Join our travel writer on her close to home expeditions. I love travel. My summer months are usually filled with adventures: far-flung holidays, long weekends immersed in a festival, a few days by the coast, or up-at-the-crack-of-dawn day trips to bustling cities. This year, my passport is...
Brave New Southampton: Wyndham Court, modern architecture & the municipal socialist city
by Owen Hatherley. This essay was originally written as a lecture to accompany Southampton photographer Rachel Adams’ exhibition Life Is Brutalist: a portrait of Wyndham Court, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the city’s landmark building. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the planned physical exhibition had to be called off, but...
Those on low incomes struggle to find homes in Southampton, research shows
New research conducted by Citizens Advice Southampton has revealed the almost impossible task of finding a home for those on low incomes. Of 135 rental properties advertised on a popular website, just 14 said that they would accept tenants on benefits – highlighting the difficulties facing many prospective tenants...
Talented Southampton poet contributes to first global covid-19 inspired anthology
by Ben Biddell. ‘Together: An anthology from the COVID-19 pandemic’, is a true collection of the many voices of humanity during the hard time that has been and still is in 2020, curated by Dutch researcher Dr Pauldy Otermans and social educationist Dev Aditya from London. The 444-page book,...
Opinion: Black lives matter in Wales (with thanks to some white women)
by Jim Baker. For many Black people, Southampton is a place of arrival but for Wales it is a place of forced repatriation after both World Wars; Black merchant seaman who served Britain and were then forced to leave by government and trade unions. As was Hull (World War...
Photos: reflecting on the end of shielding
Pictures and words by Mike Daish. Shielding has been paused so I am now gearing up to return to my normal job which is working a local shop. After four months spent mainly at home and having been on my own for much of that time, it will be...
Opinion: Industrial Workers of the World uniting in Southampton
by Nathan Brown and Pete Hayward. Activists from the Industrial Workers of the World union (IWW) are seeking to launch a Southampton branch. Currently they come under the auspices of the Reading branch, but as local members have started meeting and organising, they are going to go through the...
Opinion: cycle lane debates need compromise, not politicisation
By Martin Brisland. The current local debate in Southampton on cycle lanes and the imminent local council decision on them has prompted me the following observations. Sadly, today’s politics seem to have become increasingly polarised with no middle ground or compromise. Many will just keep stating the same point...
Opinion: Black Lives Matter?
by Don John. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matters “movement” many individuals and institutions have grappled with how they can respond to this phenomena in a positive way. However, one thing that many fail to appreciate that is...
Featured artist: Donna Mcghie
by Sally Churchward. As a child, Donna Mcghie had been allowed to paint whatever she wanted on a wall of her bedroom. She grew up with a love of art, so when she decided that working in social and inclusion work was no longer for her, she returned to...