Eyesaac

Since the extinction of bears in the medieval ages and wolves in the 1800s, no terrestrial predator poses any great danger to humans in Britain. So, there aren’t any man-eating beasts roaming the wilderness … or are there?

The allure of cats, big ones at that, has captivated mankind since they first met as prehistoric ancestors. 300,000 years ago, early humans Homo Heidelbergensis lived in tandem with sabre-toothed cats, competing for prey as apex predators.

The UK is not a nation renowned for its exotic wild animals. Deer, boar and otters are about as large, dangerous and beautiful, respectively, as it gets on the British Isles. The idea that there are big cats stalking the rural landscape dates back millennia and since the press began, stories of sightings have kept local newspaper columns ticking over nicely. Notable examples of ‘phantom cats’ to make news bulletins include the Beast of Bodmin/Exmoor/Dartmoor, Essex lion, Pershore panther and the wildcat of Warwickshire.

One species of wild cat is native to the UK. The Scottish Highlands are home to a small population of the European wildcat, though these are no bigger than domestic ones. What thousands of people claim to have spotted are big wild cats – leopards, pumas or lynx. The three largest big cats (tiger, lion and jaguar) are not included as possible species behind the phantom theory, they’re too distinct to go unnoticed and no potential evidence has ever surfaced. From all the (albeit lacklustre) video footage and witness accounts, theorists unanimously agree that if phantom cats do exist, they’re the smaller ‘big cats’. Still, leopards and pumas, similar in size, can reach 2 metres in length and weigh up to 90kg, while much smaller lynx are more than capable of killing deer and sheep.

The current consensus from scientists and the government is that there are not any ‘alien’ big cats running wild in the UK. At least not any more. During the first half of the 20^th century, keeping wild animals as pets was not uncommon. A lack of regulations and awareness for proper animal welfare meant exotic species could share receipt space with handbags and jewellery. Perhaps the most well documented high street animal sale is Christian, an African lion purchased from a Harrods window as a cub in 1969. Before outgrowing his owners, he’d spend a year living in a Chelsea flat, walking along the Thames and going to restaurants.

In 1976, the government introduced the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (DWA), prohibiting private owners keeping exotic species without an appropriate license. Obtaining one required owners to install costly adequate enclosures. Those not inclined to do so made one of three choices: rehome their animals to zoos, put them down or “mistakenly” release them. Thus from 1976 onwards, sightings of big cats surged followed by sensational press reports, accelerating public interest and fear. As of 2020, there are 200 wild cats (smaller species, of the genetic subfamily‘Felinae’) and 50 big cats (‘Pantherinae’) privately owned in Britain.

Several amateur organisations have emerged with the aim of documenting accounts of sightings. The British Big Cat Society “was set up to scientifically identify, quantify, catalogue and protect the Big Cats that freely roam the British countryside.”, as stated on its website. Mike Potts runs BeastWatch UK, “we will monitor & investigate reports of ‘out of place’ unrecorded non-native species which appear to be living wild in the UK.”

There’s a stark contrast in knowledge of phantom cat theories between urban and rural residents. It’s my guess that most people living in urban areas are completely unaware of the theory at all, let alone believing it. In certain rural areas though, it’s common knowledge these cats exist, or have at least existed in recent years.

A key character in the midst of Britain’s big cat myths is Mary Chipperfield. A notorious animal trainer, circus owner and co-owner of Plymouth Zoo, Ms Chipperfield was allegedly responsible for releasing three pumas on Dartmoor after Plymouth Zoo closed in 1978.

As the claim goes, one day in 1978, a woman loaded a van with five pumas at what was then Plymouth Zoo at the city’s Central Park. She was due to drive them around 10 miles to Dartmoor Wildlife Park, but by the time the van arrived, only two pumas were on board, with three spare animal tags in the back.

This unsubstantiated claim was made by Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cat Society. Since Ms. Chipperfield’s death in 2014, the allegations have been refuted by her husband Roger Crawley, who breeds white tigers in southern Spain. The pair were convicted of animal cruelty after a high-profile trial in 1999.

While it wasn’t illegal to release exotic animals until 1981, questions have still been raised over the ethical nature of releasing fauna into country where the species is not native. As it goes, big cats, especially pumas and leopards, are incredibly versatile in adapting to all kinds of habitats. Leopards have the largest range of the big cats. Across nine subspecies, they can be found from South Africa to the Russian Far East. While pumas inhabit the length of the Americas, from Patagonia to Canada.

Dartmoor zoo’s previous owner, Ellis Daw, was a local legend in the Plymouth area. He had long, impressive careers in various sectors, from the military to a timber contractor to stock car racing driver before utilising his farming background to found Dartmoor Wildife Park in 1968. By no means a ‘by-the-book’ man, Daw’s disregard for protocol landed him in hot water over the course of his tenure at the park. He faced sixteen claims against him, but was only charged with one – for breeding Siberian tigers outside of a captive breeding programme and poor husbandry. As a result, he was fined £200 and had his tigers confiscated. This lax attitude toward the animals’ welfare could potentially be the cause of the moor pumas.

Dartmoor Zoo’s current owner, Benjamin Mee, gives some clarity and a balanced assessment of the fabled three pumas in a 2019 interview. He recounts his own sighting shortly after taking ownership of the zoo in 2006. Driving down a narrow country lane at night, he spotted what, at first glance, he thought to be the head of a deer, peering over the brow of the roadside hedge. As he stopped the car to get a proper look, he said it transformed into a huge puma, broad-shouldered with a large, rounded head. “What we think we saw was a young male between 3 and 10, in its prime – the two girls that we had were much smaller. I just thought this is… Where have we? … I’ve brought two little children to this place and there’s wild pumas in the village, what’s going on?!” The following morning, he told the keepers, to which one replied “oh yeah there’s puma round ‘ere, granddad let ‘em out.”

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Mee says there’s two versions of one story behind the loose cats. The first; three pumas, irresponsibly housed in a farmhouse, suddenly escaped, unbeknown to Daw – who then set about looking for them on the moors with his rifle, to no avail. The second version of events is that of Ms. Chipperfield, as explained earlier, transferring the five pumas to Daw’s Dartmoor park.

Whether Chipperfield released three of the five on her own before reaching the park, if Daw’s negligence is the reason, or if the two owners colluded before releasing the cats, in a joint effort to re-wild them, remains unknown. “That’s not such a far-fetched idea and I’ve heard that story perhaps more than the other ones”, Mee says. The jury’s still out on each tale, but we can conclusively say there were at least three loose pumas around Dartmoor.

“All the farmers around will tell you, quietly off the record, ‘when Ellis had the place there were always cats out.’”

Mee had his own feline mishap in 2016. Flavieu, a Carpathian lynx escaped for a number of weeks before being returned safely. In the midst of the frantic find for Flavieu, Mee recalls how the local livestock behaved differently, detecting the presence of a potential predator. “My neighbour said all her horses gathered in one place in the middle of a field, ‘just like the old days’, she said, ‘when the puma was around.’” 

Another story Mee calls a “very strong, more or less confirmed sighting” came from the vet who worked at the zoo. A seemingly grouchy “old-school guy who didn’t suffer fools or explain things, one day, after several years, confided he’d seen a puma on the A38, jumping from some roadkill at 4.00am.” The cat apparently cleared the length of both lanes in one bound. “He clearly, as a vet, saw it in the air with its tail. And he said, ‘I haven’t told anybody because they’d assume I was part of the loony brigade.’ And I said, ‘I saw one David, in the village!’, and he looked at me like I was part of the loony brigade. It was really good – he had his failings in other ways but he was a credible observer of animals.”

Between 2010-15, 455 big cat sightings were logged by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to The Sun, and thousands more are reported directly to amateur organisations annually. A good chunk of sightings consists of people claiming to see black cats. This immediately excludes pumas, as they only come in red, tawny-brown and tan coloured coats. What many are describing in their claims are ‘black panthers’.

A black panther is in fact just a melanistic variation of either a leopard or a jaguar with a rare recessive gene mutation, causing their coats to appear black. Furthermore, ‘black panthers’ aren’t completely black. Their coats are of a very dark brown hue, with an almost-opaque effect on the normal, rosette-patterned coats, which are clearly visible up close under bright light. Studies estimate only 11% (at most) of all leopard/jaguar populations constitute as black panthers. Among those claiming to have seen one, is broadcaster Clare Balding.

So, how come more than half of claimed sightings in the UK relate to an animal which is extremely rare even in its natural habitat? I wish I could provide a definite answer – I can’t. What is clear though, is that a substantial amount of reported sightings are simply false. “There’s this predisposition of people to think they’ve seen one”, Mee tells his interviewer. Much like when we see a piece of black thread and assume it’s a spider for a split second, our brains have evolved to fill in the blanks and assume the worst instinctively.

The inception of the DWA no doubt triggered a mini exodus of big cats into British countryside. “This is why the DWA caused releases, because of the expense of housing them properly. I’m sure lots of them did go to zoos but there would’ve been a limit.” On “current sightings based on [releases due to] DWA”, Mee says he’d be “amazed, personally” if there were any cats still around either released since 1976 or offspring descending from such specimens. 

On a random note, I once met Mr. Mee at his zoo in 2011 as he strolled around the park talking to visitors. If only I’d taken the opportunity to probe him further on the pumas, I may have been in with a decent scoop for this story.

Of the many grainy videos scattered on the internet, even the most convincing footage shows an above-average-sized tabby. Take a look at just some of the stories compiled below to make up your own mind.

express.co.uk/news/uk/855678/big-cat-sighting-UK-puma-pictured-London-garden

devonlive.com/news/devon-news/everyone-reporting-big-cats-sightings

cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/big-cat-size-alsatian-captured

cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/dog-attacked-panther-before-owner

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/big-cats-theyre-real

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/local-news/multiple-beast-bodmin-big-cat

plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouth-dad-claims-saw-big-cat

somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/big-cat-pictured-field-decapitated

thesun.co.uk/news/11637610/big-cat-decapitated-lamb-mauled-devon

thesun.co.uk/news/2162853/big-cat-uk-spotted-britain

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/drone-footage-show-large-cat

burytimes.co.uk/news/17186351.second-big-cat-sighting-sends-horses-frenzy

northdevongazette.co.uk/news/ilfracombe-big-cat

wired.co.uk/article/uk-big-cat-hunters-investigations

Featured image courtesy of Chirs Luxford, via Flickr.

*This article was first published in May 2021*

“Oh, alone, I’m alone, I’m alone, I’m alone … / And I never, never … oh … had no one ever”, swoons Morrissey, narrating his feelings as a 20-year-old Mancunian on edge when walking the streets of his own hometown. Poetic proof that mid-eighties’ youth angst existed in much the same entity as today’s.

For lack of a suitable term, ‘social prosperity’ refers to a person’s calibre for creating and maintaining solid relationships. The coming-of-age period is perhaps the most critical time in anyone’s life, when big decisions determine destinies. Social media, cultural pressures and differences in upbringing are some of the factors at play in dictating a person’s social prosperity. These pressures can take their toll, affecting a person’s ability to integrate.

In dissecting such a complex dilemma, it is essential to define loneliness. By contrast to the arbitrary feeling of just ‘being lonely’, something which everyone experiences in small daily doses like tides of patchy fog; loneliness, a psychological condition, is like an endless storm of dejection.

Feeling lonely is a temporary state of mind, coming and going in periodic stints. Not to undermine the similarly depressive effects being on your tod can cause, but the premise of poor social prosperity strictly concerns the substantially sorrowful state of mind attributed to loneliness.

It hits very differently. “Sometimes it’s so overwhelming, I have to drive to the nearest beach, which is half an hour away from my house. It’s really ridiculous. The journey to the beach and the walk is my haven. If I don’t go and stay within my four walls, I know from past experiences I’ll spiral out of control, break things and harm myself.” Those are the words of one respondent of a questionnaire I conducted through social media, which is unpacked below over a funky graphic.

Forming over a good chunk of time, usually in tandem with a handful of mental health problems, symptoms include feelings of social exclusion, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. In general, we subconsciously associate loneliness with certain social groups. Introverts, the elderly, those with physical and mental impairments are typically more likely to suffer, but loneliness is by no means confined in this way.

Widespread adolescent loneliness certainly predates the Covid era. In 2019, a YouGov report found that young people feel more lonely than older generations. Of the 2,000+ adults in the UK surveyed, 31 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they felt lonely often or all the time, compared to 17 per cent of over 55s.

With that in mind however, the issue has no doubt been exasperated by the pandemic.

In order to gauge how loneliness has recently affected some young people in more depth, I conducted a questionnaire.

Posing an initial question, ‘do you suffer from loneliness?’, to an Instagram story, over 60 people were surveyed. In the interest of transparency, the sample was reduced to 48 people; consisting of close and distant friends, loose acquaintances and followers I’d never met. Respondents were followed up with eight questions, as laid out below.

As a result, respondents demonstrated how using one brush to paint all sufferers of loneliness is redundant, for it’s multi-faceted and affects people in a number of different ways.

It’s not all doom and gloom.

On the flip side, loneliness can prove beneficial in some cases. It’s always possible to be surrounded by too many people. If, like Natalie and Michael, someone has a load of heads on hand to turn to, they may find only a handful are bona fide friends who’re genuinely prepared to offer support.

Bethany illustrates how she plays her reverse card on loneliness. “I also find that my loneliness and the anxiety that comes with interacting with others means that I tend to do things by myself that others would do with friends or family. For example, I would take myself out to the seaside and have lunch, but wouldn’t invite someone else because that loneliness to me now feels ordinary and I like being able to control my activities and time.”

Thereby, using loneliness as a means of social detox can be profoundly proactive. Although, it remains essential to maintain a healthy balance between time spent alone and socialising; prioritising tasks and ensuring to reconnect with people after isolating.

Changes in interaction

When was the last time, if ever at all, you made a tube journey without unlocking your phone or being isolated by headphones? Prior to this writing, I’d never done so. Like most, I much prefer the sound of my own music taste over the howling screeches of locomotive heavy metal echoing around the underground.

But one day, I had a natter with other passengers. Between Brixton and Paddington, I’d made fifteen-or-so new acquaintances. The patter was flowing and I had some sentimental exchanges, while those who aired my greeting (there were plenty) shrugged and shook their heads.

London is of course colloquially famed for its ratty or reserved residents. Yuppies barge around as if they’re on a literal high horse, or some commuters are so intent on ignoring everybody else, they seem utterly lifeless inside. So, this is not wholly representative of British society – the rest of the UK, the Welsh especially, are favourably pragmatic and polite people. Still, you’d think one of the world’s most culturally-diverse places would be a tad more embracive.

Why did I feel as if I’d just devised a strange social experiment? All I did was greet people and ask how their day had been. Most were taken aback when spoken to, and herein lies the fundamental problem.

Humanity’s reliance on technology for communication is now second nature. Not that the internet is solely to blame, but its inception of the information age and subsequent impact is too profound to be overlooked. Now, A-Level B grades aside, I am by no means a sociologist. So, the basis of this argument rests solely on my personal experience growing up as a ‘mature Gen Z/young Millennial’ and recognising subtle but substantial changes in communication.

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The gradual divergence in societal norms from traditional, organic dialogue to 21^st-century touch-typing has abundantly altered how we communicate. The digitally native generations naturally have less practice in talking, thanks to the ease of access to communication modern technology provides.

Perhaps the notion that ‘people are less friendly than before the smartphone days because they’re too engrossed in their online realm’ holds some truth, but it would be a sweeping statement, to say the least.

To conclude with a dose of optimism then, battling loneliness can be a display of defiance. Whether new to the game or a seasoned loner, do not sit in silence and do nothing. FaceTime someone, breathe fresh air, turn some pages, spin a record, write stuff down and get stuff done! Loneliness is sure to be spreading to more people of all ages by the day during the remaining months of desolation, like another new strain. Never before has it been so important to take advantage of these digital days by using the black mirrors for keeping up with people who matter, completing tasks and, ultimately, enhancing your profile in the real world. Make sure that the user in our rocky relationship with technology is always you.

Featured image by Engin Akyurt via Pixabay

Original article photographs by Rajiv Arjan

*This article was first published in February 2021*

A 2016 survey by England Athletics found 74% of 13,000+ participants agreed running significantly improves their mental health and overall wellbeing.

Half the battle occurs in the mind. Whether it’s the rational fear of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) or fearing ‘the wall’, there are a fair few factors to consider before lacing up your trainers.

The highest hurdle for me is always getting out the door at all. I’ll make a pact with myself, usually past midnight, to hit the road or trail later that morning – only to still be cocooned in my duvet until midday.

Whenever I do manage to commit to a run, my focus shifts toward rhythm. If I can sustain a solid breathing tempo then my legs should take care of themselves. Fartlek, Swedish for ‘speed pacing’, can quench tediousness. Lampposts can act as measurable markers for which to alternate speed between, though any old object or occurence will do. I like to slowly jog when I spot a dog and sprint for thirty seconds if a yellow car drives by. Fartlek’s fun factor is all in the freedom to formulate whatever rules one chooses. It can be an erratic or rhythmic means of engaging a run with the surrounding environment.

Music is another instrument for pacing; “Don’t you dare slow down on this song”, I tell myself. It’s all good until Kanye’s twelve-minute-long ‘Last Call’ plays.

A common mishap in the running realm is the instinctive desire to have the best tech. It principally detracts from what running’s all about, and novices need not stress over expensive gear. Undeniably, a decent pair of trainers can drastically improve performance and fancy gadgets ease running’s banalities. Even if it’s your preference to look the part on a run, just do it.

I spoke with Gwylym, a 31-year-old activity organiser, triathlete and member of the South West Road Runners, about the thrills and spills of running. Born in New Zealand, Gwyl took to the athletics track aged seven, following his father’s footsteps as a competitive sprinter. “My mother would drive us around the island. I got a Casio watch which was such a revolution. I’d time how long it’d take my mum to drive us wherever and try to match it.”

“If I go for just half an hour a day, I’m a much nicer person!”

Kids run as their bodies are fresh and energised, but what drives someone to continuously rack up the miles into adulthood? Gwyl tells me, “I use my running, as a mental health thing, so if I go for just half an hour a day, I’m a much nicer person! I don’t run either with music either. I really run to clear my head.”

On an October evening, I found myself in a strange exchange. Four kilometres into my biweekly run, severely underdressed for the cold, I had Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathoner of all time, in my ears giving me his words of wisdom via a Nike Run playlist. Jogging on the spot waiting for the green man, I could feel a pair of scornful eyes. A woman turned to me and asked, “why are you running?” I could sense the look of disrelish on her face, and thought to myself ‘twenty minutes into jog and chill and she gives you that look’.

In response to her baffling question, I replied “why aren’t you running?” in my best attempt at a Nigerian accent. I took a chance. Embarrassingly for me, she didn’t catch the gag; a reference to an iconic internet meme, a scene from the Nollywood movie ‘Pretty Liars’. If, like the equally bemused girl, the reference zooms straight over your head, then all I can do is highly recommend digesting Nollywood dramas, they’re sensational.

“I get its good for you, but isn’t it a bit lame? At least catch your breath at the lights.” With my BPM already through the roof, I saved myself the bother of rowing with a random. “Grow up. Health is wealth.”, I resumed my marathon mentor and continued on my way. There were three takeaways from this odd encounter. One; if someone thinks running is lame, they’re probably lame themselves. Two; you may look uncool running; you’re blowing out your arse, dripping in sweat and trying to extinguish a burning stitch. But in reality, all you’re doing is drastically improving your fitness for a more prosperous innings. Thirdly; not everyone’s on the same level of meme references.

So why should everyone consider running? Obviously, it does wonders for your physical and mental state. It’s also incredibly rewarding for introverts – as a proud hermit I can wholeheartedly stand by this. Most runners are socially sound and outgoing and mixing with different personalities proves positive for all. As trite as it may sound, appreciating having the ability to walk at all is worthwhile. One could only imagine how much someone with a disability or physical impairment would give to be able to do so. Likewise, being able to run in a safe environment without the fear of being in a war-torn or politically hostile setting is a blessing often taken for granted by most.

Getting over the cultural perception painting runners as reckless road-rulers or try-hard fitness freaks is constructive. If you’re somebody who scoffs at the mere suggestion of running, then all the more reason to leave your comfort zone and give it a go.

Continue reading “Why are you running?”

It’s no secret our oceans are suffering from mankind’s persistent consumerism. Plastic waste accounts for 60-80% of all open water debris studied, and it seems the damage caused to earth’s essential ecosystems has already been done. Phenomena such as the Great Pacific garbage patch (or ‘trash vortex’ as they say across the pond) act as disturbing reminders of humanity’s neglect towards nature. It’s often widely misreported; the patch does consist of large, intact debris. However, 94% is a sludgy substance, made up of microplastics in a soup-like form, perfectly illustrating the catastrophic scale of litter.

There’s no doubt about the inevitable impact ocean trash has on marine wildlife. Humboldt penguins are endemic to South America’s west coast, specifically Chile and Peru. Small in size with a larger than life character, they are culturally treasured in both nations, prompting significant protective measures to be implemented by governments and conservation agencies. There are less than 20,000 wild penguins remaining worldwide.

London Zoo accommodates an infamous colony of Humboldt penguins. I visited the park to see some for myself, finding out much more about the symbolic species in the process.

Speaking to Suzi Hyde, a ZSL legend and keeper at the Penguin Beach exhibit, I picked her brain on the wholesome Humboldt and questioned how plastic poses particular problems. Stinking of fish, “it’s my work perfume”, Suzi outlines the vital role these penguins play in balancing South Pacific nature cycles.

I don’t know what it is about penguins, people just love them. Maybe its Morgan Freeman’s Attenborough rendition in March of the Penguins, or the John Lewis ad some years ago. They just warm the heart. What can you tell me about the Humboldt?“
How long have you got? But yes perhaps! They are very anthropomorphic creatures and its such good fun for kids here. We have a few species but the Humboldts are easy to spot because of the jet-black fur on their backs and white fronts with a black strip across their chests. They’re fairly rapid in the water and can swim between 20-30 miles per hour. Their name comes from the Humboldt Current [in-turn named after Prussian naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt] which is cold and not very salty. Where it meets tropical currents near the equator, the waters become upwelled, essentially shifting nutrients from the seabed causing lots more biological activity – perfect for penguins who only eat small fish, krill and squid.

It goes without saying oceanic plastic pollution is a direct threat to them, but how does this issue subordinately affect them?
“Of course, the penguins can become tied in debris and sustain injuries. I’ve seen for myself dead marine animals washed ashore tangled in litter. For these penguins to survive they’re completely dependent on the abundance of fish, which die from consuming microplastics. So this is just an indirect consequence which has a massive impact beyond this species.”

It’s an age-old question this, what can everyday folk do to make a positive impact on ridding the oceans of plastic?
“Well getting rid of the plastic already there is absolutely impossible. The biggest challenge is changing people’s attitudes. Reducing our consumption, buying less single-use items and disposing of them properly are all important. As ZSL staff members it’s our collective duty to inform and encourage people to engage with the natural world and we want visitors to leave with food for thought.”

As enticing as they are, what relevance does the humble Humboldt penguin bear on the everyday lives of Londoners? On the surface, not a lot it would seem. As one of the world’s megacities though, with significant global economic and cultural influence, lesser nations look to London as a talisman in the battle against waste pollution and for championing wildlife conservation.

Cue #OneLess – an initiative birthed by ZSL with the very simple concept of challenging the public, Londoners in particular, to ditch single-use plastic bottles in exchange for reusable ones. Since 2016, #OneLess has pledged to change the way Londoners drink water, working in unison with businesses, cultural attractions, events and policy makers in the capital to ‘find and implement solutions to enable a refill culture’. In the four years of operation, 28 public drinking fountains have been installed with over 80,000 bottles retrieved from the Thames. Okay, the river is void of exotic penguins. But in kick-starting the revolution domestically, others internationally may make sure to follow suit.

Since March 2019, the Peruvian government have banned single-use plastics in specific environments vulnerable to plastic pollution, such as beaches and protected areas. Firm plans to limit the levels of imported plastic for distribution, logistics and trade have been in place for several months. Furthermore, new legislation ensures plastic bags are taxed and requires 15% of all bottles to be made from recycled materials.

Ultimately, it’s down to governments and corporations to act logistically, but the real change starts at the bottom. The problem persists because too many people simply do not care. Conveying the sense of urgency and instilling an earnest mind-set into as many people as humanly possible is the name of the game. Those three wise words: reduce, reuse and recycle should resonate daily with consumers, as the onus is really on everybody to improve how we consume and dispose of plastic. I’m calling it a mamba mentality for mending the mess, and I urge you to think practically on plastic.

Paving the Way

Contemporary music scenes are fluid, conceptual entities. Jazz has historically been synonymous with shaping modern popular music; bridging the gap between the earliest phases of western popular music in the 1900s (when vaudeville, opera and big band were all the rage) and the exponential explosion of rock and pop. Some decades later, hip-hop became a thing, which, at this point, is the biggest thing in music – by way of revenue and cultural influence.

Pioneering the original fusion genre of jazz-hop is the masterful work of several American East-Coast rap groups from the late 1980s through to the mid 1990s.  Groups such as Digable Planets, Gang Starr and Jungle Brothers; musical luminaries operating with smooth sounds in a hip-hop sphere dominated at the time by street/gangster culture and rhetoric, founded the platform for alternative rhymes and rhythms. Grasping the baton of bright beats and bolting towards international acclaim and fame however, were De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Proficient, prolific and poignant; these two trios embodied the essence of jazzy hip-hop.

In welding traditional African-American music of past decades (jazz and R&B/soul) with a new-found form of contemporary black music, they cultivated a fresh spirit into an all-too macho scene beyond music – in fashion and moral attitudes too.  

Paying tribute to and reinvigorating classical jazz sounds whilst expanding the hip-hop horizon is absolutely paramount to the ethos of the movement. While the rhythms of jazz-rap stemmed entirely from hip-hop, the samples and sonic textures are extracted from cool jazz, soul-jazz, and hard bop.

A Soulful Spitter

Without doubt one of my favourite artists from the realm of alternative UK hip-hop is London’s very own Coops. At 27 years old, he’s released two stellar mixtapes and two fiery full-length LPs, each project teaming with self-reflective, intricate bars over sumptuously soulful, low-bpm melodies. His first ever live show happened to be at the O2 in 2013, where he opened the bill for Nas. *Mic drop*. Coops is merely the tip of a seismic iceberg of soulful British hip-hop talent.  

In an interview in late 2018 with Pyro Radio’s J-Fresh, Coops summarises his sonic stance. “I find it hard to coin myself as to what type of genre of music it is. I suppose it is hip-hop, it is rap, but it is also UK and it is fresh, its new”.

I was recently fortunate enough to see him perform, accompanied by a four-piece band. And where better to experience his live show than a stone’s throw from his native Tottenham at Camden’s famed Jazz Café? Check out some of his set below!

A Pro’s Perspective

In the pursuit of first-hand knowledge on the ever-emerging new-jazz eruption, I spoke with Ruben Astley, a sound engineer and music producer, whom I met at the Coops gig in November.

What’s your take on the sudden surge in the ‘new-jazz’ sound?“
Well I’m all for it! Ask any musician and they try to avoid labels but there is definitely a jazzy movement at the moment over here, in the States and Europe with a mix of different genres.”

Yeah right! Not that I’m a musician by any stretch, but I understand when I hear artists say that. Just for ease of reference with this feature though, I’m rolling with ‘new-jazz’. Do you see it breaking into mainstream territory?
I think certain artists’ music is already popular with the masses and it’s been that way for a while since streaming became so big. If you mean will it be topping the charts then I don’t think so anytime soon. Pop and commercial hip-hop are by far the most popular genres at the minute.

Who’s getting the most plays from your ‘new-jazz-ish’ playlists?
“Hah. That’s better, the ‘ish’ widens the margins a bit. I’ve been big into instrumental guys like Tom Misch, Yussef Dayes and Alfa Mist for a while now. [there’s] Also June Marieezy, Masego, FKJ and Jordan Rakei… how long have you got?”

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Of the artists Ruben reeled off to me, all are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, most of them very decent vocalists, too. To make matters finer, they are all closely affiliated collaborators, working in tandem both in studios and on stages.

Aside from stream figures and views on YouTube, would you say there’s a genuine interest in jazz at a grassroots, authentic level? Do people go to shows just to flex and post it on Instagram?“
I’ve engineered lots of gigs and a few studio sessions this year, not all of them were strictly jazz but it feels as though the majority of the crowd are there because they genuinely enjoy themselves. I’ve made loads of friends at shows who either make music themselves or know their stuff. There will always be people recording for whatever reason though.”

That’s a wrap

All in all, instrumental-based music across a plethora of genres and cultures is experiencing a welcome resurgence to the ears of surface-level listeners. The boom in popularity is most certainly in part due to music’s ease of access these days. Fundamentally though, in DJ Gilles Peterson’s words, “people’s tastes have become more sophisticated […] particularly among younger audiences”. Jazz is hallowed by music purists, it exudes ritzy sentiments; people like to feel enriched and sophisticated when listening to it – I know this for a fact because it’s how I feel!

Jazz was always destined to couple up with contemporary components of hip-hop, R&B and electronica, and the resulting mish-mash of new concepts in an ever-demanding musical landscape saturated with lots of crap, is a blessing for music heads.

Image of Ruben and video by Isaac Robinson. All other media from external sources.
Satisfy your ear canals with some boppy, funk-infused and avant-garde neo-jazz projects down below, if you fancy…

Navigating through life’s complexities is difficult. As a young man, the intricacies of juggling academic, financial and social pressures can be particularly problematic.

It’s no secret anymore – guys tend to cram their emotions in a bottle. At some point, you either unscrew the lid or the bottle bursts.

As a little kid I couldn’t wait to grow up. For some reason, I had it in my naïve, prepubescent mind that I’d have it all figured out by my early twenties; I’d be a professional athlete or have a well-paid job land in my lap. Perhaps this innocent arrogance could have spurred some ambition into me. In fact, it caused quite the opposite effect. Instead it made me discouraged at the thought of having not secured a sizeable salary when I had made so many plans to do this, buy that, and go there.

Introverts Assemble!

After cruising through school with painfully mediocre grades, my attention quickly turned to social life.

I was intensely focused on the adolescent cliques within my social sphere; somewhat strange as a lifelong introverted, backseat-sitter. Someone who shares similar sob stories is Tom, 22, a friend and recent nursing graduate. I spoke with him at length about the intricacies of mental balance, particularly in young men.

“At college, I’d carry around problems from home, my parents were separated at this point and their new relationships were turbulent. After my diploma, I went straight into full-time work in HR – hated every second.” There was a wry smirk on Tom’s face, he would often recount on his torrid time there with jest. “And from there I went into nursing.”

So clearly that career change was a pivotal time for you. Was there ever a financial pressure as well?
“Actually no. I was on good money at SWAS, [South West Ambulance Service – his HR role] there was just no way I could be in an office eight hours a day. It was so passive.

What’s worth noting is his emphasis on being inactive and how it negatively impacted his mindset on the daily. Limited physical exertion can prove to be subconsciously detrimental to an individual’s mental wellbeing. With a particular scope on students, a recent, UK-based article in the Journal of Mental Health concludes “Engagement in physical activity can be an important contributory factor in the mental health of undergraduate students.”

Tom certainly agreed as we read through the article abstract. He continued, “[…] so as a dialysis nurse I was on my feet all the time, seeing to patients across most of the wards. Instantly helping people first hand made me realise this is what I enjoy doing. I was scraping the barrel on apprentice wage but I looked forward to going to work.”

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Life: The Biggest Troll

Social media’s role in affecting a person’s psychological health is undoubtedly instrumental.

At the forefront of a cultural crusade is Twitter, a platform I use pretty much every day. Be it for consuming hard news as it breaks, keeping in touch with friends or reacting to humorous content with a short exhale of air via the nose – Twitter stays undefeated.

Nothing actually comes close to Twitter’s ability in gauging public opinion; social media’s power lies within the numbers; likes and retweets equal traction, leading to followers, and that’s it. That’s the cycle. On the grander scale (world politics and the like), Twitter is at the bow of a perilous ship sailing toward a potential black swan event of geopolitical chaos. It’s Instagram however doing the most damage to individual mind-sets; it’s far too easy to compare self-worth with picture-perfect people plastered across feeds. I once overheard someone summarise the ‘gram with a simile: “it’s like a popularity rat race.”

The One-Thousand-Day Dry Spell: How sexual abstinence improved my mentality.

Mental health and sex – two of the most imperative subjects out there, yet we find them the most difficult to discuss. Both of these grey areas are paramount to every individual, and everyone interprets them differently. The surge in awareness for mental health issues has no doubt helped many sufferers, and, just as importantly, educated those who do not suffer on the convoluted ins and outs in the aim of relieving stigma. Sex on the other hand, is just the sweetest taboo.

For an undisclosed reason, I abstained from sex for exactly 1,123 days. The reason remains undisclosed because I’m genuinely clueless as to how or why it happened. One thing I know for certain though, I am thankful for it providing a revision of my outlook; as an intrinsic teenager, disinterested in debauchery, I piled pressure on myself in making sex a big deal. Like a slow-moving epiphany, the realisation that caring what other people think of your personal life is phony, was setting into my mind. The ‘it’s really not that deep’ notion filled my psyche with clarity and made space to focus on important aspects of my lonely life.

Mankind’s advancement from shifting essential materials with wooden wheels to simply shifting gears in a steel vehicle is often overlooked.  Cars are ubiquitous commodities, integral components of rapidly advancing societies. Some are even pieces of art, iconographic symbols of cultural heritage.

There is something intrinsically satisfying about sitting in a tightly confined cockpit, leather-wrapped and forged from walnut, with an array of dials and switches at your fingertips. I marvel to myself at such sheer craftsmanship as I hop out of a 1965 E-Type Jaguar, and catch a strong waft of aristocracy as the door clunks shut. “I’d quite like one of these.”, I say as I turn to Caspar, the vehicle broker who was kind enough to walk and talk me through Hexagon Classics’ supreme fleet of prestige cars.

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“this desire for mechanical pleasure driving car cultures up and down the country. “

The particular car in question is undoubtedly one of the finest E-Type examples in the world; it’s all original, right-hand drive and has just over ten-thousand miles to its name. At a fiver under £250,000 though, it’s not exactly a bargain. Or is it? See, the classic car market is as prosperous as ever before. “Vehicles like these are simply relics in the eyes of their owners. All of our clients spending six figures on a car have several others anyway, so when they purchase a classic, it’s usually stored away and rarely driven.” Caspar is a proper petrolhead. He recalls the thrills of driving his father-in-law’s Jaguar, similar to the aforementioned E-Type, incidentally, oozing with exuberance.

It’s this desire for mechanical pleasure driving car cultures up and down the country. Typically, for a car to constitute as a ‘classic’, it must be no younger than twenty years. As of late 2019, there are more than 13.8 million cars on UK roads first registered before the end of 1999.

With that in mind, where does that leave the benign cars of yesteryears?  The dodgy Fiats, iconic Cortinas, maybe your dad’s old Volvo, a box on wheels, with exposed sponge from the upholstery. Motoring nuances form memories that stick with you forever. As a six-year-old I was riding shotgun with my Dad in his window-cleaning Transit, having just left for work. It was a sunny morning so I wound open the sunroof whilst my Dad put his hazards on and nipped into a shop. He hit the brakes as we approached a junction at the bottom of a hill and instantly a small tsunami of lukewarm soapy water had drenched us both. Who was I to know he put the buckets between the ladder rungs?

Capital Punishment

Without doubt, London’s air pollution levels are perilously high; a study from King’s College in 2015 concluded that nearly 9,500 premature deaths are directly and indirectly caused by nitrogen dioxide (N02) and particulate matter (PM2.5) each year. In order to curb such a crisis, Transport for London introduced the Low Emission Zone in 2008 and ULEZ in 2019, deterring vehicles from entering the 8.1 square mile zone and charging those which do not meet the appropriate emissions standards.

Where does that leave then, the car connoisseurs cruising around in their combustion engine classics? As much as I long to know how that feels, I needed a seasoned motorist to wag chins with and weigh in on the auto industry’s all-electric destiny. I visited London’s Classic Car Club, venturing to Hoxton where I met with Paul. He explained how his company operated: providing a posh car rental service, in essence.

“Not everyone can afford to buy a classic car outright. We provide our exclusive members with a choice of cars from the fleet. […] they buy packages of points to spend on days enjoying the open road”. As for the implications of London’s legislative assault on carbon, “there’s none for me. If I’m driving one of my oldies I don’t pay a penny”. Unbeknown to me before Paul’s explanation, cars older than forty years are totally exempt from LEZ/ULEZ rules and the congestion charge. TfL calls it the ‘historic vehicle’ tax class, and it operates on a 40-year rolling system.

This policy could be met with ambivalence; it’s an incentive for a small minority of driving purists to preserve their passion; on the other hand, the masses are all for climate-oriented reform.

The environmental onus is on manufacturers to gradually cease the production of combustion powered vehicles. In pursuit of some more intel on electric vehicles, I called the Tesla Motors centre in Chiswick and falsely registered my interest in buying one of their zero emissions, six-hundred horsepower ‘Model X’s. Prior to rightly questioning the legitimacy of my enquiry, the assistant pointed out how owners can use Tesla’s ‘Superchargers’ – “you can charge up to 170 miles of driving range in half an hour.” Impressive stuff. The major drawback though is the significant lack of these superchargers, and standard-level electric charging stations, too. Until the infrastructure is plentiful enough to support the government’s pledge for all new vehicles to be carbon free by 2040, it’s highly unlikely petrol and diesel-powered vehicles are going anywhere anytime soon.

The gradual shift towards sustainable transport is inevitable, meaning the value of these classics, both sentimentally and financially, will only increase with time.

All images by Isaac Robinson, unless otherwise stated.