Issue 1463

£5.00
  • Issue 1463

Season’s greetings⁠
To our vendors you are much more than a customer. You’re a friendly face in a crowd, a warm word on a cold day, an English teacher, a friend, and often a lifeline. Those who sell the magazine in Yorkshire and Humber follow our North West vendors last week in wishing their customers a happy Xmas.⁠

Calling card⁠
A Christmas ghost story.⁠

High and dry⁠
Around nine million turkeys are reared for Christmas each year ⁠
in the UK but this year Brits are in a bit of a flap about whether bird flu will leave them without. Susan Griffin assesses the situation and finds out why we eat it in the first place. ⁠

Many hands make light work⁠
Energy bills may be soaring but there’s no chance of a blackout for the people who string thousands of lights across their homes each Christmas. Gary Ryan meets the people inside some of the North’s most illuminated houses.⁠

Central heating⁠
After a mild autumn the arrival of freezing weather has driven those who can’t afford ⁠home heating to use so-called warm banks or spaces. Roger Ratcliffe visits two of them.⁠

Music Q&A: Villagers⁠
Duke Ellington, David Lynch, the devotional music of Alice Coltrane and night swimming on a Dutch island are listed among the inspirations for Fever Dreams, Conor O’Brien’s fifth LP under his Villagers moniker. ⁠

Plus⁠
News, arts and entertainment, columnists Roger Ratcliffe and James Meadway, giant Xmas crossword - and more.⁠