Happy Birthday Bentham News!

As regular readers might know, I write articles for and I am on the committee of my local paper, The Bentham News.  This month's edition marks the 37th anniversary of the BN, a community publication that is produced and delivered free by an army of volunteers to over 2000 households in and around Bentham, North Yorkshire.

It's a 'proper' local publication.  There are articles on local news and history, gardening and nature features, a handy 'What's On' guide and even a local social media roundup.

"So what?" I hear you ask.  "Local paper, been around a while, seems well liked what's the problem?"

Well perhaps unsurprisingly, its money.  Up until the pandemic the BN broke even.  The income from advertising covered the expenses of production, the lion's share of which are the printing costs.  However, post covid as costs have increased, advertising revenue has not kept pace.  This means that the BN is now making a loss every month.

No doubt there will be varied opinions at this news.  Some of you won't care a bit, so if that's you I guess you should save a bit of time and not bother with the rest of this blog!  Some of you will be concerned and I hope that's most of you.

The big question is of course "What are you going to do about it?"  Well, there are a few things we are looking at, but you don't need to have a degree in Advanced Economics to know, we need to lower our costs and increase our revenue.

"What's it got to do with me then?" is the obvious next question.

If you're a local, then it might mean the end of the BN in its current form.  That would be a huge shame as it's a full colour 48-page monthly publication that is pretty much unique in the local area.  Settle has a similar publication, but it only appears bi-monthly.  Other villages only have a paper newsletter, and some have only a website with no physical publication at all.  

If you live in some other part of the universe, then you might be thinking "what a shame for your rural market town."  Nevertheless, you can still read the BN via our website for free.  The website includes a directory of our advertisers and an archive of past editions going back to 2013.  Just because you're not lucky enough to live in Bentham, you don't have to miss out.

"Ok then you've made your case, but what can I do?"  A fair question.  There are a few ways that you can support the BN.

• Pay for it!  We really want to ensure that the BN remains free for local households.  But if you can afford it, we would welcome a donation of £1 for an issue.  There is a collection tin in Bentham Post Office and there will be details in the November issue of how to donate by bank transfer.
• Subscribe.  For those of you that don't live locally, you can have a copy delivered in the post every month.  We even deliver a copy to Italy!  Contact the BN team via the website.
• Place an ad.  If you have a business, then why not advertise with us from as little as £18.  We reach over 2000 local households; we can even help design the ad.

Let's all of us make sure that the Bentham News is still here in another 37 years!

So We Did It Then!

Pirate Studios Salford

Well after much planning and replanning with the help of many pints of ale, I found myself heading towards Manchester last Saturday morning.  A date to relive my musical past with four of my oldest friends.  We all had doubts, that much was clear.  James had only recently acquired a bass guitar.  Martyn no longer has his own drum kit.  Greg hasn't sung for years.  Yet we were all hopeful that the songs that have languished forgotten for 25 years could come back to life.  It might be like one of those dramatic resuscitations you see on A&E After Dark, where the patient splutters into life for a while but ultimately passes away.  We hoped not, but after such a long time we all felt somewhat nervous.

Arriving at the unassuming industrial estate in Salford Quays wasn't easy in itself.  The trains were on strike so everyone was on the roads.  City were playing at home and the road leading to the rehearsal studio from the motorway was closed.  This meant a lengthy detour around Media City.  Eventually after annoying my Land Rover Sat Nav by refusing multiple U-turns, I finally arrived.  

We were booked into Studio 12 and we ventured in with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.  Exploring the building we found the Studios were numbered 1-11.  After 10 minutes of frustration, we discovered by checking the fire evacuation poster, that Studio 12 was accessed from another door around the side of the building.

Finally, we were in a confined space with instruments for the first time since 1996.

Startled and blurry Band

"What shall we play?" asked Tim.

"What do you fancy?" replied James.

"I don't know, what about The Price?" said Greg.

"Ok" was the almost unanimous response.

"Which ones that?" asked Martyn, who thinks in terms of drum rolls instead of lyrics.

"You know, it goes like this...."

Cue A minor add 9 chord with riff. (Technical stuff).

Away we went.  We played all the songs we planned, plus a couple we hadn't.  We changed some lyrics here and there, adjusted the tempo and feel of some of the songs.  Even the ones we felt were weak all those years ago, with a little polish began to sound much better.  It was like meeting an old friend that you haven't seen for years, and you suddenly realise you've missed them like crazy.  It was like we'd never been away.  Apart from the grey hairs, and aching limbs we could have been back in that draughty Liverpool warehouse in the 90's.

Greg & Tim

James in usual Bass Player pose

Martyn in his natural habitat

We were all amazed that we could remember the songs easily, but even more amazing was that we played together so well.  Really tight, being that great little band that we were all those years ago.  It was like we must have some kind of telepathic link, or that we had played those songs an awful lot in the past.  Whatever the explanation it was still remarkable.

So, the burning question is what next?

We all agreed we need to do it again and get the songs recorded properly.  We have at least 25 original songs in various states of completeness.  Maybe we could produce an album since 2023 will be the 30th anniversary of Tim and I forming the band in the first place.  Something I talked about in a previous post here.  James even wants us to play a festival in Manchester next September.  So why the hell not?  That and some better photos, we were concentrating on the music instead of the visuals!

First step, we need to plan, and plan in detail.  There should be much planning.  I think it's probably my round.