Antonia Charlesworth, Author at Blackpool Social Club

01 Apr

Music Q&A: Heavy Salad

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsMusic & GigsMusic

Formed in 2018 by Lee Mann (live bassist with The Moonlandingz), Rob Glennie and Allan Hutchison, Heavy Salad have since expanded to a seven-piece outfit, enlisting Ally McBoo, Esther Maylor, Lucy Hope (AKA The Priestesses) and Oscar Remers along the way. Charged-up on a myriad of musical influences from surf-rock and free-jazz to over driven pop and experimental rock, Heavy Salad occupy that intangible space between perceived reality and the abyss of your mind. They caught up with Blackpool Social Club as they were gearing up to play SXSW in Texas. They play Bootleg Social on 8th April as part…

01 Mar

Music Q&A: The Hara

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsMusic & Gigslive music, Music, Music Venues

Manchester trio The Hara visit Bootleg Social on 1st April as part of their We All wear Black Tour. The same day as the release of their eponymous EP, the night promises a special kind of riotous fun. Josh Taylor (frontman), Zack Breen (guitar) and Jack Kennedy’s (drums) music refused to be pigeonholed but fans of Yungblud, Bring Me the Horizon or Chase Atlantic will want to make sure they snap up tickets while they band is still playing the kind of special intimate shows Bootleg has become synonymous with. Zack Breen tells us what to expect. What informs your music and songwriting? Experience, context…

23 Feb

Crowning glory: Jubilee hopes for Blackpool kids

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsLocal NewsBlackpool, dance, Skool of Street

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Impressed by their professionalism, organisers of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations have invited a group of young people in Blackpool to take part. But they need the community’s help to get there. Angelo Diamante was nine years old when he moved to Blackpool from the Philippines in 2014. In a strange and unfamiliar town he found community at Skool of Street – a charitable organisation delivering a free programme of music, dance, visual and performing arts to children and young people. Now he’s one of a group of young people who have been hand selected to represent the skool and…

05 Nov

Brew Room supports campaign to combat sexual harassment

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsLocal News

After joining the movement for women’s safety, Blackpool Social Club’s Street Harassment Map prompted more than 50 women to share their experiences and provoked positive responses from craftivists, pubs and the council. Now we’re calling for more women to add their voices to the campaign A central Blackpool pub has lent its support to a craftivism campaign that aims to highlight sexual harassment in the town’s public spaces. The Brew Room on Church Street is displaying posters for We’re Sew Done, a textile art project that came about in response to incidents reported on Blackpool Social Club’s Street Harassment Map.…

01 Apr

Reclaim These Streets – Mapping harassment in Blackpool

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsLocal News

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Blackpool Social Club joins the campaign for women’s safety and asks women and girls in the town to add their stories of street harassment to our interactive map “Walking home from school I was followed by a man most of the way home,” remembers Aishley. “He eventually caught up to me and put his hand on my arm to stop me. He asked me if I wanted to go for a drink with him and when I said that my parents were waiting for me he became irritable and pushy. I tried to walk by him but he was…

18 Mar

Stanley Park Skatepark Project gets off the ground

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsLocal News, Sports & WellbeingBlackpool, development, news, Skateboard, skateboarding, skatepark

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Project manager Simon Bennett tells Antonia Charlesworth about plans for Blackpool’s own state of the art skateboarding facility Construction on Blackpool’s own plaza-style skatepark is expected in the coming weeks, the duo behind it have told Blackpool Social Club. Blackpool’s go-to skate expert Woody, of Big Woody's Skate Shop, and project manager Simon Bennett have raised over £200,000 for the 100 per cent concrete skatepark which will replace the existing dilapidated equipment and replicate street furniture, such as steps, rails and curbs. The pair also hope to build a California-style bowl. The planning application for the project is in…

07 Mar

Blackpool Skateboard Stories: Girl skaters get some air

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsSports & Wellbeingskate culture, Skateboard, women

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Whether it’s complete newbies or people returning to the sport, everyone is welcome at Ramp City’s Girls’ Skate Night. Antonia Charlesworth steps tentatively onto her board. Photos: Claire Griffiths I’m standing on a skateboard for the first time in almost twenty years. The last time resulted in a few weeks in a luminous pink cast on my left arm and now I have a lot more to lose. The truth is, even then I was no badass rider – it was a guy friend’s deck and I was feeling brave and asked for a go. I learnt my painful…

20 Oct

Taking Flight – Blackpool Grime and House of Wingz

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsMusic & Gigs

House of Wingz started as a dance school before evolving into a hothouse for all kinds of urban culture. Antonia Charlesworth speaks to the budding grime stars, break dancers and graffiti artists who are flourishing in a studio in Blackpool. Soph Aspin – Queen of Blackpool – and Josh Tate, aka Little T, might have to bury their rivalry soon. A high-profile London producer is interested in working with the young grime artists from the seaside town and their shared management team isn’t going to let an ancient YouTube videos stand in their way. Both artists reluctantly accept this might…

25 Sep

Interview: Karima Francis – music, mental health and homelessness

Antonia Charlesworth1 CommentMusic & GigsKarima Francis, Music

Blackpool musician Karima Francis has made a welcome return this year, with poignant singles tackling big themes of homelessness and mental health. Though unassuming, a fierce will and determination has taken Francis from this seaside town that offered few options – where she was raised by a single-mother facing various challenges, and left school with few prospects – to another stretch of coastline. In her part-time base in LA the weather doesn’t necessarily suit her oversized and monochromatic clothes, but the rich musical traditions suit her soulful tones and vast talent. And despite the deprivation she witnessed growing up, it’s…

24 Sep

Our Time and Our Turn – Female skateboarders return to the ramps

Antonia Charlesworth0 CommentsFood and Drink, Local News, Sports & WellbeingRampcity, skate, skate culture

Blackpool’s female skateboarders are set to return to Ramp City for the popular girls’ nights launched shortly before lockdown. Chris ‘Woody’ Wood, a well-known fixture of Blackpool’s skate scene and owner of Big Woody’s skate shop was inspired to start running female-only skate nights after noticing a growing number of girls buying boards while the ramps in Blackpool’s renowned indoor skatepark remained largely dominated by men. When over 40 females of all ages turned up to the inaugural event in January, it was clear they had just been waiting for permission. Two successful nights were held before lockdown was imposed,…