The local scene of Coventry and Warwickshire

In yesterdays Telegraph it was brought to my attention that there is a new book showing the UK's crappest towns. You know the type, the books that end up in The Works for £1.99 in a year. Well Nuneaton and Coventry both make the top 10 crap towns at 8 and 7. I also accidentally ended up on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire breakfast show on Thursday too as a local lady had stated she would never go to Coventry in a million years and I tweeted that I'll be moving my business there soon due to Fargo!

Coventry

I'm going to start a new regular piece on the blog about what is GREAT about the area. From buildings and musicians, to parks and shops, to show that Coventry and Nuneaton isn't all concrete and charity shops.

As I live in Nuneaton it is actually a pretty sad state of affairs with no real new direction being made (new KFC! *sigh*), but the old Ritz Bingo hall is being talked about becoming a theatre or community space so hopefully soon will turn a corner.
It has only been in the past 2 years where I've seen a little more of Coventry and I, like the lady on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, thought it was a bit of a dump at first, but after spending a lot more time there, there is so much to do and so many great shops, all independent, it's an exciting time. Fargo Village will be the go-to place too.

Nuneaton

In the shop I will have local acoustic music, or any music really, just not loud rock bands! My first 'Focus on' piece is on a band close to my heart.
It's me.
I've started with me just to get it out the way, and when I say me, I actually mean Jonathan Coates and I, also known as Barricades Rise.

We've been playing together over half our lifetime and mainly in and around Coventry and Warwickshire and we've played some magnificent venues. We'll no doubt grace the Bookshop stage a few times so here's a little song by us to show you what to expect.

For more on us visit www.barricadesrise.co.uk, follow on twitter @barricadesrise and like on Facebook.

I'll be focusing on loads more musicians in later blogs, but just wanted to ease you in.

Michael

A manic few weeks for The Big Comfy Bookshop

Trying to open a shop is hard, but when it comes together it feels fantastic. I'm not jumping the gun just yet but the premises I have lined up is fantastic, flexible and in the ideal location. But let me say this. It is not in Nuneaton.

Nuneaton

I've spent the best part of 9 months trying to start in Nuneaton to no avail. I've covered why in this blog here so I won't bore you with other reasons. I'm not announcing just yet where the shop will be until the lease is signed.

Last week though all the good vibes evaporated as I was burgled. I currently run The Big Comfy Bookshop from my house and so my day-to-day job involves cataloging books, writing blogs, doing social media stuff and generally spending 6-8 hours a day on my laptop. Last Monday though whilst I was out some ####ers smashed my kitchen window and stole my laptop and camera. A lot of the bookshop is backed up but some isn't, so this week will be damage limitations. The kick in the teeth though is that every photo of my 18 month old from the day he was born was on the laptop, and we have no back up. Couple this with the fact my wife Heidi who works at North Warwickshire and Hinckley college, had a week of rehearsals and performances of Miss Saigon at the local arts centre so she's been out for 12 hours a day, and then 3 gigs in my band Barricades Rise in 24 hours, it has been exhausting for both of us.
The college show was superb, see some great pics by Jonathan Coates at www.jscoates.com. The band gigs went well too with a great review by Rob at Redwood photos here.

Miss Saigon performed by NW&H College. Fantastic

This week though is a new start and back on track. I'll be updating the blog more often and letting you all know my thoughts on the shop, books and more.

I've just finished Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun so I'll be doing a review soon. I'm currently reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods for our book club. Feel free to join either by Facebook or just let me know on this blog (comment below). I'm also dipping in and out of Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Michael

Nuneaton Carnival - My experience

Photo by Jonathan Coates - JSCoates.com

This Sunday June 9th I took part in the Nuneaton Carnival by holding a stall on the Gala field.
The Nuneaton Carnival occurs every year and each year has a different theme. This years theme was 'A Book at Bedtime'. Local schools, groups and clubs hired floats and got in the party spirit by dressing as their favourite book characters. I couldn't actually see the floats as I was in the field but I was told by my wife that everyone looked great. It was nice that authors and book characters were given the chance to come alive, although how Shrek can be classed as a book character baffles me a little!

Front

I was given a great pitch and was excited to use the large space. I could have bought twice the amount of books! I had a helping hand setting up then by 10.30 I was more or less ready to go. Up until 1.30 it was deserted, the odd few people passing, but this was expected as the carnival was in full swing in the town centre. Once 1.30 passed and the floats were finished the field was swarmed and people started buying books. I met some great people who had heard about the bookshop via radio, social media and this blog and came along to say hello.

Back

My brother gave a helping hand in selling and promoting the shop and together we felt we had a good day. About 4.30 the crowd had dwindled so we packed up and left by 5.15, with help from my dad. A family affair! Along the way a lot of friends came by and said hello (some using the gazebo and shade I had plus chairs to ease their weary legs for half an hour!). Overall the day was a fun, sunny, great success.

My musical partner in crime Jonathan took along his camera and caught some great shots. See them on his photography website.

Someone walking their fox at the carnival

I'm in Coventry at the POD, Lamb Street tomorrow Wednesday 12th June from 12-2pm selling books then again in Leicester at the LGBT centre from 11-3pm. It's a busy week!

I also will hopefully have news on a property by the end of the week. Fingers are still crossed.

Michael

HMV closes in Nuneaton

It's been living on the edge for years and now it's finally tipped over. HMV in Nuneaton is no more. The local Newspaper has just put out a short story to say it'll be gone. It's not a surprise but I have mixed feelings about it. Firstly, it was the only place in town to get new CD's & DVD's but then again I haven't bought one from there for over a year, the Internet has killed it for me. My musical life partner Jonathan has written a great little bit about it all himself and I agree 100% with him. Have a read HERE.

As for books, well, it never stocked many and those that it did were no cheaper than Waterstones. Hopefully one reason why my shop will flourish! Let's hope the space left behind by HMV will not be taken up by the 98 pence store. I'm unsure if the demise of HMV will benefit me in any way as I won't be selling DVD's or CD's (bar local musicians), but at the least, if someone likes to go into shops to browse, they have an option of TBCB.

Will there be a resurgence in our town centre? or any similar town any time soon? I guess that's why this whole bookshop thing came about. People moan (rightly so) that it's dying out there yet no one is willing to do anything about it. I am hoping that they all flock to the shop once opened.

Talking about the shop, today I received a letter from the solicitors inviting me in to see and sign (hopefully) the lease, 10 minutes later I get a call from the estate agents asking when they can do some work on the place before I start! Not long now (I'm still not counting chickens though).

Well this blog has been pretty eratic.

Michael
@bigcomfybooks