Nic Treadwell’s Storyville Nic Treadwell

As a result of funding cuts by Birmingham City Council, there is now a proposal to reduce the library services budget by up to 40%. This would mean that many beloved local libraries around Birmingham would need to close, staff levels would be reduced, transferring library services to other non-council owned locations and creating an unspecified number of “hub” libraries. 
This plan would be an unprecedented disaster for everyone that uses the vitally important services provided by our public libraries, which lie at the heart of our communities. 
A campaign called Birmingham Loves Libraries has been formed by members of the public in order to try and overturn this decision and get Birmingham City Council to realise just how important our local libraries are.  
Link with the campagn here
https://www.birminghamloveslibraries.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/949227466905839/
https://twitter.com/BrumLibraries
https://www.instagram.com/brumloveslibraries/

A personal reflection and tribute to Brendan Higgins who died in January 2024. Big Bren was a writer who was well known around Birmingham for his unforgetable poetical outbursts at events over many many years. He also fronted the avant garde free jazz banf Big Bren's Combo, was a novelist, playwright, actor, facilitator and event organiser.

In this podcast I reflect my friendship with Bren , his creative output and his legacy.

Including poetry, music and more from the man himself.



Further infomration about Brendan can be found @ Big Bren's Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/308653259223097/

In Oct 1973 the Midwest United States experienced a UFO flap that ignited the imagination of the country. Sightings of strange light, craft and beings flooded the TV and Radio.

One such strange incident happended one rainy night in Zanesville, Ohio. Seventy five year old Eric Gillan (suffering with the late the stages of Alzheimer's disease) woke up in the middle of the night and saw a strange light out of the window of his care home .

What happend next would have a profound effect on him and his son Will.



Written and narrated by Nic Treadwell (C) 2023.

Angelsong - written by Marc Cohn & released Atlantic Records 1991



Help and support for families affected by Alzheimer's

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/

https://www.alz.org/

A one act, one scene play set in a living room of a quiet suburban home in the West Midlands. Jules has been waiting patiently for Baz to return from the pub, where he’s been most of the evening. Their son Ricky is in his room playing on his Xbox. It is around 10pm when Jules hears the front door slam signaling Baz’s return.



Credits:

Sorry Luv, was written, recorded and produced and performed by Nic Treadwell

Additional music sourced from freemusicarchive.org under creative commons license included:

Prelude No 21 by Chris Zabriskie  - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/chris-zabriskie/ CC BY 4.0 DEED LICENCE - https://chriszabriskie.com/

Free Day By Denys Kyshchuk https://www.audiocoffee.net 

httpsfreemusicarchive.org/music/daynigthmorning/business/free-day/ CC BY NC-ND 4.0 DEED



Additional Original Sound Recordings sourced from Freesound.org

In part Two of this two part podcsst, i explore some of the horror films that made a big impresssion on me during my teenage years - Jaws, The Fog, Poltergeist, The Burning, Alien, An American Werewolf In London and The Omen.



There will be a spcial spotify enhanced version of this podcast feauring soime of the music from the films.

in part one of this two part podcast, I revisit some of the strange and weird kids tv shows I was subjected to as a child.

Shows such as The Pipkins, The Boy From Space, Chocky, Wurzel Gummidge, Public Information Films and Project and Survive.

In part two I will tackle some of the films that terrorised my teenage self.