Tuesday September 1, 2020

The law of unforeseen consequences has been hard at work during the Covid-19 crisis with locked-down people discovering talents they never imagined they possessed. Plaster and some building materials are in short supply due to a rush of DIY activity, some unlikely social media stars have emerged and enough banana bread has been made to […]

Saturday August 15, 2020

At an early age Damiano Rea realised he had won the lottery of life. Born of Italian heritage to hard working owners of an Italian Restaurant and living in Heaton, an area where he still lives and works. The restaurant was to figure large in Damiano’s early life. At age seven he was decked out […]

Monday June 1, 2020

The past few months have been about trying to find little rays of sunshine amid the doom and chaos. Captain (now Sir) Tom Moore raising £32m by walking his garden. More time with the family. My brother Zeno and his astonishing artisan bread making skills. The fact that I am of Italian heritage. Yes, I […]

Thursday April 16, 2020

Discrimination of any kind is a dreadful thing and while we have made great strides in recent decades, there is still a way to go. Notting Hill today is highly des-res, the abode of Luvvies, hedge funders and people who buy Gwyneth Paltrow products. In my parents’ day it was very different. A local slum […]

Sunday March 1, 2020

A perfect storm is heading for landlords in Heaton in the shape of Selective Licensing which is set to cost a small fortune to implement and a somewhat larger one if non-compliance can be proven. I estimate it will collectively cost our landlords six to seven hundred thousand pounds to ensure they do not incur […]