The Journey of a Memorial Bench, from Woodland Walk to Basement Techno
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees MUSIC: Fireflies ft Gareth E. Rees In 2014 I went on a long walk through Brede High Woods in East Sussex, where I stumbled upon a memorial bench to a man named Duncan Sharp, upon which
Sound of the Sea & Shabby Magick
CONCEPT/FILM: ZEROH. MUSIC: Fritz Catlin, Simon&ThePope WORDS: Michael Smith ZEROH hired drone company Drone On to record the walk along the front from St.Leonards to Hastings to accompany a commissioned piece by writer/ artist/ performer Michael Smith. ZEROH asked Michael
Haunted by a Nuclear Power Station
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees LOCATION: Hastings In 2013 I left London for good. It was traumatic. Fifteen years in that city, longer than any single place I’d lived for the forty years I’d been crawling over the earth’s surface. In
The Stone Tide – Psychedelic Visions at the World’s End
FILM: Martin Fuller ‘The Stone Tide’, a short film by Martin Fuller, follows Unofficial Britain’s founder Gareth E. Rees, author of The Stone Tide [Influx Press, 2018] as he walks through Hastings with his dog Hendrix. “Winter by winter, the
Uncanny Waters: Life and Death by Coasts and Canals
LOCATION 1: London, The Social, 28th February – tickets here LOCATION 2: Hastings, Electric Palace Cinema, 2nd March 2018 – tickets here This February and March, Unofficial Britain is proud to take part in two evenings of film, stories and
Psychogeography from Huddersfield to Hackney
The latest episode of Inside Culture on RTE Radio 1 features a report by Regan Hutchins from the 4th World Congress of Psychogeography, which took place in Huddersfield in September. The report features Unofficial Britain’s Gareth E. Rees as he explores
Welcome to the Molly House
WORDS: Alex Cochrane In the 18th century the secret world of the molly house was a place for gay men to socialise, cross-dress and role-play. But it was also a place of danger and treachery. It must have taken some
The Death of Childhood: Drowned, Abandoned and Murdered Toys
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees PHOTOS: Various excellent Twitter followers At the end of their careers. Forgotten. Abandoned. Dealing with their demons. The icons of our childhood don’t always have it easy. Some fall prey to drugs and drink. Others can’t
Lowriders, Joyriders, Cruisers & Doughnuteers – Car Park Life at Night
LOCATION: A supermarket car park near you, probably. WORDS: Gareth E. Rees In 2014, Plymouth’s Crownhill retail park hosts a nocturnal gathering of around hundred cars and five hundred people. A twenty-year old named Christopher Budd enters a skills competition with
The Gallows Pole: Myth & The Taxonomy of Terrain in Yorkshire’s Rebel Landscape
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees LOCATION: Yorkshire Benjamin Myers’ The Gallows Pole [Bluemoose Books] is a novel about the Cragg Vale Coiners, a band of forgers led by David Hartley in the 18th Century. The Gallows Pole opens with a taxonomy
