Dear readers — welcome to your Monday Briefing. We hope you’ve been safely cloistered away from the worst effects of storm Boelo having lost nare an odd sock to the weekend’s howling winds.
At The Dispatch, we are feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, for two reasons. First, Kate’s conversation with the Booker-nominated writer Luke Kennard on Thursday had the Actress and Bishop packed to the rafters. If you missed this one, keep an eye out for tickets to our next event.
Secondly, our office is happily cramped these days. You’ll have noticed our new writer Jess Berry’s byline on recent stories, from this one about the rise-and-fall of global buffet empire Jimmy Spices, to this one about the so-called patriots patrolling the streets of Chelmsley Wood. If you have a tip-off, be sure to send Jess an email. Now, on with today’s news.
Catch up and coming up:
- Last Wednesday Olivia asked what’s behind the success of Birmingham China Town? The story includes a very minor power struggle over plans to build a traditional Chinese archway and what one reader called the “jazziest cycle path in the country”.
- On Thursday we were inside the ring to unpack the Midland’s pro-wrestling legacy through events like Nothing But Wrestling and Royal Brumble (two very different sides of the same sweaty coin). Read it here.
- And over the weekend we heard from those fighting to keep recording The Archers in Brum, following the news of BBC cuts. Plenty of you took to the comments to raise concerns on Birmingham being an “afterthought”. Catch up (and sign up as a Dispatch member to have your say) here.
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Photo of the week
Kate and Luke delving into his Booker-shortlisted book Black Bag at our event last Thursday. Photo: The Dispatch
Brum in Brief
Gone with the wind
Storm Boelo has taken more victims than just recycling bins this weekend, with a passenger plane seen veering off the runway and into the grass verge at Birmingham Airport (no one was harmed, thankfully). Extreme weather has caught transport and power services in its throes, with many midlanders spending Sunday afternoon by candlelight. Gazebos were sent flying in Warwickshire, damaging electrical infrastructure and more, while over in Wolverhampton a zoo keeper was smacked by a tree branch. At Dispatch HQ, we got soggy traipsing through Cannock on the trail of the mythic Pig Man – more on that this Halloweekend. Not to fret, the worst of the storm has passed and weather is set to calm over the coming days. But not for long! Low pressure approaches from the Atlantic and we’re in for a cold and stormy winter.
Wolverhampton NHS Trust care for transgender patient ‘too late’ to save her
We’re keen to find out more about this story from Wolverhampton, where the mother of a 27-year-old woman who died of an aggressive form of lymphoma claims her daughter was denied a bed sooner because she was transgender. Joelle spent 16 days in a side ward awaiting placement in a cancer-care facility. However, after an initial target of £45,000 was set as part of a fundraising effort to secure a medical negligence claim and inquest by the Trans Legal Clinic, the donation counter was removed from their site. Know more? Contact The Dispatch — all information will be treated as confidential.
Unloved Midlands child?
Over the weekend, the BBC reported that John Healey will announce a £7 million feasibility study into a "northern" Olympics in Wednesday's Budget. This follows a call from North of England Mayors and former Olympians and Paralympians including Dame Laura Kenny and Dame Sarah Storey, and would involve venues across the north, not just concentrated in one city. But is the Midlands missing out? Perhaps Andy Burnham's administration, which has a disproportionate number of cabinet ministers from the north-west, should heed the words of consultant Nick Varley, who told The Dispatch: “It would be a tragedy if the achievements of the [2022] Commonwealth Games were just forgotten.”
The Great Escape (2028)
A colony of gentoo penguins is being released from the shackles of southern living, to join 16 of their pals at the National Sealife Centre in Birmingham. A huge campaign has urged the relocation of the birds following welfare concerns about their access to natural light and fresh air at Sea Life London Aquarium, where they have been for the last 15 years. Merlin Entertainments has committed to working on “enhanced” enclosures, moving them out of their cramped studio flat once and for all. They’re also set to be the last generation of penguins in the care of the company, as campaigners have pushed them to cease breeding of gentoos. If you like to marvel at flightless birds and fake glaciers in varyingly sized settings, do so before it’s too late. (The Telegraph)
Quick Hits
👩⚖️ Billy Allison, a member of Raise the Colours (the group responsible for large numbers of the Union flags hanging around Birmingham), who pled not guilty to murdering pub landlord Matthew O'Gara in a bar brawl in Lichfield, begins his trial in Stafford today.
🕳️ A portal has popped up in Centenary Square on Friday, connecting Brummies with our sister city over in Frankfurt. To celebrate 60 years of twinning, you can hop on a lunch-break zoom with some German pals.
🐎 Faster horse – a huge inflatable green structure – has been traipsing round the city all week, last seen in Centenary Square. The installation is the brainchild of Bruce Asbestos, born of the infamous quote that Henry Ford probably never said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
🖌️ The Mander Centre is flinging open its doors – and walls – for a psychographical art project across three days. Led by local practitioners, all are welcome to create a gigantic drawing on all things Wolverhampton. (BBC)
💡 Walsall Illuminations could be making a return as soon as next year, with the council now sharing feasibility studies for the project. Lovers of LED pirates with gappy teeth rejoice.
Some things to do this week:
📖 The Sunday Times have sized up our very own Luke Kennard, positing him as the “wackiest” potential Booker winner in the running. See what they make of Black Bag here.
🕷️ If you’re in the market for bug hunting, RSPB Sandwell Valley is hosting a variety of wild and spooky family-friendly activities this Wednesday. Bring your scariest wellies for the wildlife challenges – Halloween costumes are encouraged.
👻 Mike Myers has reached Digbeth, but be not afraid – The Mockingbird Cinema will protect you. Join Dr Loomis for an interactive screening of Halloween this Sunday, with “suitably sinister wine” tastings poured throughout. We aren’t sure what this means either, but we are frightened.
🏫 Across Saturday and Sunday, a coming-of-age drama on black girlhood takes to the Hippodrome stage – from the award-winning collective behind Dugsi Dayz. Off-Key is set against the backdrop of a Birmingham grammar school, full to the brim with overachievers and teenage delusion. Expect chaotic schemes and heartfelt scenes.
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