BAME VOICES: Life As A Mixed Race Woman in Belper
(Our writer asked to remain anonymous) I live in Belper, which as most people know is a very white area,
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OPINION
Hospitalised: The Anonymous Diary of an Inpatient During Lockdown
It all started one afternoon with excruciating pain in my abdomen accompanied by vomiting. This continued for about 7 hours
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Coronavirus Impact on Prisons
By Kate Smith, Liberal Democrat Candidate for election as Police and Crime Commissioner POLITICAL “GOVERNMENT’S HAND WILL BE FORCED
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Youth Voice: What Is Lockdown Like For Children?
Although I have known about corona-virus for a while, I didn’t really think it would affect me to start with.
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Family: A Postcard From Adelaide
This is a piece by guest writer Nell Holland, a “Belper Girl” in Australia. Many years ago, I was my
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Message From The Editor
The fragility of an unfunded independent press is illustrated by the lockdown. Nailed is entirely volunteer-run, and minimally funded by
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Belper Lockdown Life – Angels
Here we share a tale from Rachael Fox of how the coronavirus crisis is affecting life in Belper. If you
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Stop Panic Buying!
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused all kinds of irrational behaviour, from aggressively trying to sell lies about it not being
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Former Amber Valley Mayor Norman Bull Has Died
An “exceptional, knowledgeable and committed” former mayor of Amber Valley and long-serving councillor has died aged 75. Cllr Norman Bull,
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Book Review: The Long Petal Of The Sea
“The Long Petal Of The Sea” (published by Bloomsbury, 2020) by Isabel Allende is a work of historical fiction which
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Opinion: Rage Against The Machine
As with so many things these days which are downloaded from computers, East Midlands Railways’ (EMR) timetables give information that
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Opinion: Where Are We Now?
People need agency. It is a human right. Many people lack agency – the more disenfranchised and disadvantaged they are,
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Christmas Play From Captive Audience Adults
On Wednesday evening I went to see the rehearsal of “The Butterfingers Angel, Mary and Joseph, Herod The Nut, and
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Review: Peter Pan Pantomime
By Layla Marshall When Clare (editor) put a shout out for a family to review the local pantomime, Peter Pan,
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Editorial: How We Are Running Election Coverage
A very swift and unexpected general election is upon us. The manifestos weren’t all ready, and nobody has read them
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Review: Ross – A Scottish Play
I’ve been spoilt by the recent shows of the Belper Players. Ross isn’t as good as one might expect after
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Opinion: When The Loonies Came To Town Pt.2
Some Nailed coverage has been delayed due to short staffing and illness. Are the Monster Raving Loony Party really as
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When The Loonies Came To Town Pt. 1
Some Nailed coverage has been delayed due to short staffing and illness. Top hats and peacock feathers abounded. The assembled
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Youth Voice: Strike for the Climate Emergency
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Opinion: Parking on Pavements
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Great British High Street – Why Belper Stands Out
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Opinion Column: On Populism
In Ece Temelkuran’s “How To Lose A Country: The Seven Steps From Democracy To Dictatorship” (4th Estate, 2019) Temelkuran problematizes
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Column: Pauline Latham MP on Great British High Street
By Pauline Latham MP For many years, Belper traders have led the fight against what has seemed like an unstoppable
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Town Snub For John Nelson
If you take a look at the 57 photos of the In Bloom judges tour taken and posted on the
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Review: Short Play Festival
In a packed “Little Theatre” in the Old King’s Head there was an attentive audience for the Short Play Festival
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EU Election: Brexit Lies
No other topic in the history of mankind has created quite so many lies as Brexit, with the possible exceptions
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EU Election: Comprehensive Candidate Guide
There are no comprehensive guides to EU election candidates in the East Midlands for 2019 … until now. This information
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Review: Romeo and Juliet
We all know that Romeo and Juliet were young teenagers. Have you ever seen the play performed by actors who
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The Arts Trail Was An Inspiring Success
The Arts Trail is over for another year. How many artists did you manage to see? I tally mine at
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Local Election Editorial: Pulling Hippopotamus Teeth
Local elections are usually a piece of cake, unlike General Elections. Three or four groups of people, all trot out
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Book Review: The Nature of Spring by Jim Crumley
For a view from Northern Scotland and the Islands and a weather eye on the climate with a sensitivity to
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Review: Road – Belper Players (Suitable:16yrs+)
It’s a f***ing long play init?* At two and a half hours, I think that this is the longest play
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Myth spinning: AVBC and the Green Belt
Far Laund – Tories want to build 345 houses on this site, when there is no reason why this
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Criticism of Police on Speed Limits
The deputy leader of the county council has taken aim at the police for “point blank” rejecting every attempt from
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Opinion: Protest To Save Babington Echoes Start Of Fightback
‘SAVE BABINGTON HOSPITAL’ read the placards. Protests stopped the traffic and cars tooted their horns in support. Many people believe
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If We Only Had a Heart: Petitions and Protest Column
This is the occasional column for community action. Cause: Stop the Closure of Babington Hospital Form: Celebration Protest Date: Friday
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Opinion: What If There Had Been No Government Cuts To Sustainable Energy?
BelperStuff travelled to London last Monday to attend the SERA (Labour Environment Campaign) celebration, 10 years of the Climate Change
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Match Comment: Belper Town vs. Loughborough Dynamos
by Jack Drury Despite the result looking tight, Belper’s 2-1 victory over Loughborough Dynamo was anything but. Domination from
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Was The Brexit Referendum Democratic?
In “Democracy And Its Crisis” A C Grayling states that the proportion of the electorate that voted to leave the
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Youth Voice: Belper – We Need To Talk About Racism!
By Madeleine Washbrook When talking to Belper locals, negativity and Belper can often feel like the antithesis of each other.
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If We Only Had a Heart: Petitions and Meetings and Protests. Oh My!
If We Only Had a Heart is a new occassional column which I am introducing to enable people to mobilise
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Opinion: “AVBC Will Take The Lead, Will Own The Building And Will Make Final Decisions”
Following the feasibility study and the decisions made by Amber Valley Borough Council (AVBC) in March, Amber Valley Borough Council
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Opinion: “Two Years Or More Of Total Wonder”
Not everything comes in neat, tidy packages delivered to your door. Sometimes though, when you can be bothered to peel
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Opinion: “Happy Seventieth Birthday NHS – But Is It In The Balance?”
Austerity impacts on our lives in many ways. It can threaten our public services, even damage our health but it
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Opinion: “Our libraries Are A Key Public Service And Should Be Kept Under Local Authority Control”
Labour Cllr Fay Atkinson, Belper East Ward, speaks to Nailed about some of the local issues she has encountered since
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Opinion: “Salvation for the Belper Mills?”
To judge by the chatter around the plans announced by FI Real Estate Management (FIREM), for Belper’s North and East
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Opinion: Pauline Latham “Belper Deserves To Attract Further Tourism”
I was fascinated to read on this website of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s support for the wonderful Belper Arts Festival
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Opinion: Brexit – “It Is A Time For Lateral Thinking, Confidence In Our Ability And A Positive Outlook”
As the owner of a medium sized business in Belper, my main concern is a potential ‘fudge’ being created by
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Opinion: “Don’t Let Bullsmoor Disappear”
In the last few days Bullsmoor has disappeared into the fog. The same days that the public enquiry has been
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Opinion: “Never Allow Politicians To Play With Scissors, Matches Or Statistics.”
Reading Pauline Latham’s answers to the Nailed Brexit questionnaire reminds me of that old saying, “never allow politicians to play
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Opinion: “For The Sake Of Democracy We Need To Ensure That No Vote Is Bought”
We are a year away from formally leaving the European Union, entering an indefinite period of limbo in which we
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Opinion: The Hermeneutics Of A Hermit Of The Real
Social media and Facebook have been in the news lately. As someone who may seem a bit of an anachronism
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Opinion: “Time Is Running Out to Save Our Hospital”
Babington Hospital could close within two years at the latest. But why should we worry? After all, all of the
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Opinion: New Local Group Asks: “What Are You Doing About Plastic?”
Belper Beats Plastic is a Facebook page which was set up recently with a view to encouraging Belper residents to
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Opinion: Pauline Latham “Belper Could Lead The Way In Trying To Be Plastic-Free”
From tissues to toothpaste to buying flowers for my daughter-in-law – never has the abundance of one-use plastic become more
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Opinion: New Year’s Message
At the beginning of every year, most of us will vow to change our lives for what we perceive to
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Opinion: “Now More So Than Ever Before We Need To Say Enough Is Enough”
I feel privileged to write on two subjects very close to my heart. Firstly my home Town of Belper and
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Cratedigger: 1977 When Two Sevens Clashed (40 Years On)
I recently found Guy Debord’s situationist tract “Society of the Spectacle” nestling in the classics section of a local charity
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Opinion: Have The Best Interests Of The People Of Belper And Mid-Derbyshire Been Ignored By New Report?
If you live in Belper, this week you could be forgiven for thinking you are on the moon – not
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Opinion: Why Patients And Health Staff Must Take To The Streets To Save Our NHS
We love our NHS, yet it is in danger. Nationally, £22 billion has been taken out of the budget in
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Opinion: “A Cloud Over Our Green Fields”
Today I would like to make clear my total support for Protect Belper’s campaign to protect our green fields and
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Opinion: Belper North and East Mills – The World Heritage Site in Belper in the Hands of a Vandal
In our town we have Strutt’s North Mill, one of the most important buildings in the history and culture of
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Opinion: “Is it always like this?”
“Is it always like this?” I went to the Amber Valley Borough Council Meeting last night. I go as often
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Residents Fight To Save The DVMWHS!
Amber Valley Borough Council released a report on Friday 8th September recommending approval for 118 houses to be built on
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Opinion: Belper Lane Development Shows ‘dysfunctional Borough Council’ Risk World Heritage Site
Belper is on the edge – we have a dysfunctional Borough Council that has put our World heritage Status in
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Well Worth Celebrating
This weekend’s Well Dressings at the River Gardens provided a wonderful outdoor gallery of creative endeavour as people ambled down
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Opinion: What I Learned In My First Year In Office At AVBC (Minus The Four Months Without A Full Council Meeting).
After the dreadful fire in London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea recently came in for much criticism, including from
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Opinion: My Journey To A Plastic-Free Life
A couple of years ago, I started to reduce the amount of plastic I buy and use. I was particularly
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Opinion: Derbyshire Save Our NHS – Babington Hospital Steers Toward Closure
Plans to close Babington Hospital in Belper and replace it with fewer services further away were published on Friday 23rd
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Reflections – Thoughts On Belper Goes Green 2017
I have now led the Belper Goes Green teams through 5 years of planning, doing, tweaking, reviewing and making every
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Election Special: Eight Years Of The Belper Foodbank
I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since Hope for Belper launched its foodbank ‘The Basic Idea.’ At the time
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Election Special: Looking For A Climate Of Honesty
Seven years ago Cameron and Clegg formed their coalition and set in train the ideologically driven ‘austerity’ programme. At the
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Review: Last Chance To See Tearjerking WW1 Play Hamp
I walked out of Hamp with only my waterproof mascara intact. This play, performed this way, will affect you. And
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Election Special: How Good Are The Conservatives With the Economy?
This election there are two sound bites that the British public have largely swallowed whole, basing their decisions upon those
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Fracking Month: “How I Started Amber Valley Against Fracking”
I first started Amber Valley Against Fracking (AVAF) back in September 2015, after hearing on a local radio morning show that
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Election Special: “Whoever Wins This Upcoming Election, Neoliberalism Is Dead”
Since the early 1970’s, the British Left has had to come to terms with neoliberalism over-determining British political life: what
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Fracking Month: In Space No One Can Hear You Frack
If you were a Martian visiting Earth for the first time, you would find it abundantly clear that fracking poses a
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Advertising Features Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Fracking
3 Perfect Bar Crawls. Jet Engine Testing Facility A Catalyst For Innovation. Get Your Patio Ready For Outdoor Entertaining. Top
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Rough Sleeping In Belper: An Increase In Homelessness?
Many of us have been hearing rumours that there are individuals sleeping rough in the town and last Saturday I
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Andy Potter: His Legacy
It’s almost five years since Andy Potter invited me on to his BBC Radio Derby show to talk about the
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Crate Digger: We Will Win: Protest Songs mix-tape 1983 – 1986.
The Rebel Yell workshops starting at the Kings Head on the 19th of February inspired me to dig out an
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Guest Column: Despite Recent Events ‘We Cannot And Must Not Let Fear Of Crime Overtake Our Lives’
We woke up on Saturday morning to the most shocking and horrific news. Tales of men on the rampage on
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Opinion: I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach returns from retirement with a timely, savage indictment of the British benefit system. The film opens with Daniel
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Sustainability And Transformation Plan: Where Do We Go From Here ?
After a weekend of activity, the future of Health and Social Care in Derbyshire still appears to be shrouded in
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The Reality Of Climate Change: “The rains must come this year, they just have to come..” Victor Mughogho
How does climate change directly affect us in the UK? Looking around at the audience of the ‘Speak Up For
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March To Matlock Starts NHS Fightback
Remember all those glossy booklets promoting ‘joined up care’ that seemed to be prominently displayed everywhere in the run up
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WASPI Support from Palm D’Or Winner Ken Loach
At Derby’s Quad’s screening of ‘The Spirit of 45′, 17th August, I met 79 year old Ken Loach, the World
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Fear and Loathing in England and Wales
Back in January, having watched Suffragette at the Ritz, I warned of the consequences of disenfranchisement and the potential for
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IN or OUT – My Thoughts On The Referendum
I believe passionately in democracy and would have accepted an out vote with grace if the referendum had been conducted
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Youth Review for Belper Goes Green
I loved that the main focus was to try to change the way we look after the planet and protect
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Opinion: Where is the Truth in Local Politics?
I don’t like people taking me for a mug by thinking I’ll lie down and accept their lies without question.
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Opinion: The NHS Desperately Needs Our Help and Our MP is Part of the Problem
Yet another emergency GP conference has been called for the 3rd May, only a few weeks since the last one,
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Opinion: Labour Environmental Campaign Offers New Hope
Let me take you back to 1963 and a dark and smelly biology classroom populated by 36 scruffy and inattentive
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Helping Refugees: AV Solidarity Collection and more…
Before we begin, I’d like you to have a look at the original homes of the Syrian refugees in this
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Opinion: Belper Town Council Not in a Generous Mood – Except to Celebrate the Queen’s birthday
I attended the Town Council Meetings on Tuesday, 8th March as I do most times they meet. I am always
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Why Would Anyone Want to Become an MP?
How is it that decent, idealistic, intelligent people who desperately want to make a difference and leave the world a
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The Ritz – A Thinking Man’s Haven
I’ve seen two films at the Ritz recently. The first was ‘Ice and The Sky’, a French film charting the
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Opinion: Political Posturing Marred Planning Debate
I’ve just returned from the Amber Valley Borough Council meeting, and came away with the distinct feeling that most of
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Annual Existential Angst
It’s coming to that time of year when many people start to get unusually philosophical about their lives and the
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Will Babington Hospital Close?
At the moment it looks very much as if Babington Hospital is earmarked for closure. Among its many specialisms are
Read MoreMixed Messages on Renewable Future from Amber Rudd
David Cameron told a UN climate-change conference in September 2014: “We need to give business the certainty it needs to
Read MoreCalais Camp: Clair’s Story
The backstory is that my relationship broke up after 3 years, and I was suddenly left with 2 weeks annual
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Town Council Quiet on New Supermarket
So what did the town council say about Aldi … precisely nothing. I don’t think that a planning application has
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