by Howard Bowden. When The Beatles released their 1969 single The Ballad of John and Yoko – opening line: ‘Standing in the dock at Southampton’ – it would become the first of THREE number ones in just 32 months to reference events in the SO postcode area. Two years...
Features
First union for disabled people launches, renewing fight for equality
The Disability Union has launched, in order to build power and a national voice for disabled people powerful enough to influence policy; whilst also helping people with their day-to-day disability struggles. The date of this launch is significant as last month marked the 25th anniversary the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. The...
Southampton – City of Culture?
by Charlie Hislop. City of Culture? Southampton? Really? Too right! The announcement that we are competing to be UK City of Culture 2025 is the best news for the city in a long time. Strange right now with COVID lockdowns, theatres closed, and empty streets – but what an...
Photography: A little black and white
by Mike Daish. Once again, thanks to lockdown 2, I am shielding, so have been taking a few photos while out getting my daily exercise. I gave myself a little challenge to shoot some black and white images and to do as little post editing as possible. I am...
Experience: Cancer in a time of covid
by anonymous. There is a very thin line that holds the fabric of our lives together. Things can change at any minute. These are my reflections from the perspective of going through the journey alongside a person with cancer. The Second World War broke out on 3rd September in...
Identifying outside the boxes – non-binary people share their journeys of self-identification
by Sally Churchward. “I’d draw my own box and tick that.” B Parsons, a gender queer non-binary drip artist and performance poet from Winchester. They/their/them. “Before, I tried out different terms for myself, but I didn’t identify with them. When non-binary was put to me, I realised ‘That’s my...
Opinion: my experience of a Calais refugee camp
by Lewis MacLean. Immigration is a contentious issue for some and wishy-washy for others. In reality, things never change for the refugees themselves. After years of the press reporting on desperate immigrants losing their lives when attempting to cross the Mediterranean, the English Channel is now the focus. The...
Southampton’s Speakers’ Corner
by Martin Brisland. Did you know that Southampton has its own Speakers’ Corner? It is located in Hoglands Park, the second largest of our Central Parks. Situated near the former Debenhams store it is complete with dias and railings. Today people use social media to voice their opinions. The...
Facing fines and deregistering children – not all parents agree that schools are ‘covid safe’
by Sally Churchward. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that every child should be in school. But many parents are choosing to face fines by keeping their children at home or deregistering them. Could the government’s hardline approach to getting children back to school backfire, with parents being...
Southampton’s new online music archive
by Geoff Wall. Stick It In Your Ear (SIIYE) has just launched an online archive of local music originally recorded on originally recorded on reel to reel tapes and published on cassette in the 1980s. Southampton-based SIIYE started life in the 1980s as a magazine, rather like a catalogue,...