Section: East Midlands

Driver shortages have a huge knock on as nearly 500 jobs lost in Derbyshire as logistics firms struggle to operate with a lack of drivers.

On the first anniversary of Central Bylines the team look back on what it means to them and the difference it has made to their lives.

Surrinder Chera on Making votes matter in the Midlands. How opposition parties can reclaim their share of the vote via electoral reform

In Part three of two academic years a Midlands head teacher concludes their account of the last two academic years

In this second article, a Midlands junior school headteacher describes what happened to ensure school staff and pupils responded

Farmers in Lincolnshire are being badly affected by broken supply chains. Brexit has led to a shortage of seasonal workers and lorry drivers.

The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, begun by UNESCO, is held on the 23rd of August every year. To commemorate this day, Molly Woodcock investigates some links the Midlands had with not only the slave trade, but also the abolition of the slave trade and slavery.

Derbyshire Dales council bailout Serco for the third time as the company fails to provide adequate refuse collection service.

Residents in Lincolnshire are unhappy with the nuclear waste proposal – will this lead to another ‘Lincolnshire rising’?

When Leicester’s Tara Munroe, an expert in Black Heritage and director of Opal 22 Arts and Edutainment found a stash of paintings ‘ stacked by the back door at Leicester’s New Walk Museum’ in 2009, she had no idea just how important these were at first. 

July’s Buxton Festival Fringe saw the debut of our very own Anna Girolami’s play, Laudable Pus (from Galen to Gallstones), a witty romp through the annals of medical history. The play was entertaining for old and young. In the relaxed setting of the High Peak bookstore, the highest bookshop in England, the well attended show […]

Summary Alfreton is considering allowing a 300 acre solar farm which would both affect local amenity value and remove precious farmland. Is this the right thing to do?

Concerns over Formula 1 sponsor The recent British Grand Prix saw concerns raised by campaigners in Towcester. DHL, a British GP sponsor, has applied to build a massive warehouse near the historic town which could change its character, they claim. The group, No DHL at Towcester said the proposed one million square foot centre is […]

The first in our series of articles (second here) looking at the looming supply chain crisis in the UK. Sir John Hayes (Conservative MP for South Holland and the Deepings) is a stalwart of the Tory party right wing and an ardent Brexiter. At the beginning of June he wrote a piece for his local […]

Molly Woodcock reflects on the trials and tribulations of student life during the pandemic lockdown and the damage it leaves behind.

I know little about trains, and how they run. I’ve never devoted much thought to franchise agreements and I can’t get excited about livery. I’m even ambivalent on HS2, as I don’t feel I’ve had time to engage fully with the perilously complex debate. I’m loosely in favour of nationalisation, but have no idea of […]

When councils fall out with one another in such an acrimonious way to hit the headlines one would expect them to be at different ends of the political spectrum. Not so when it comes to Melton Borough (MBC) and Leicestershire County (LCC) Councils, both Tory run, who have got themselves into a particularly bitter public […]

Ann Holland takes a ramble through Chipping Norton, meets blood-thirsty flies and muses on Clarkson’s farm

Peatlands are often seen as the poor relation of the countryside, holding little if any value. Traditionally, the nutrient-poor land was drained for arable farming, forestry, and grazing for livestock. Peat continues to be extracted for gardeners and commercial growers or to be burnt as fuel. And here in Derbyshire, the practice of rotational burning […]

A Chesterfield-based charity supporting street children in Uganda has had its only international development grant withdrawn when the government cut foreign funding from 0.7 to 0.5 per cent gross national income (GNI). S.A.L.V.E. International S.A.L.V.E. International is a Chesterfield/Ugandan charity, aimed at supporting homeless and out-of-school children in Uganda. It was founded by a group […]

Back in November last year, Central Bylines posted a profile of Lee Anderson which concluded that Ashfield, his constituency, deserved better than the Labour-turned-Tory-turned-antiwoke-warrior as an MP. Seven months later, we thought we’d see how he’s getting on. Is Ashfield getting a better service from its MP these days? If what you want from your […]