Samuel McIlhagga

1 week ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

Plus: who are the movers and shakers shaping Brum — and Britain — in years to come? Welcome to The Dispatch. We're Birmingham's new quality newspaper, delivered via email. Join our free mailing list to get two full editions a week: a Monday briefing, full of things to do and bitesize news, straight from Brum's streets, and a weekend feature, taking you deep inside your city and the West Midlands. To get total access to all four of our weekly editions, you can join up as a paying member.

3 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

The tip dropped into my inbox on a cold February evening. “If you give me an address to drop the package of details I am often in Brum. I trust in your discretion though, I have relatives at the farm. Yours, TerryP.” This nugget of information had been prompted by a feature I wrote for The Dispatch, exploring the work of filmmaker Jonathan Meades. The piece touches on the set of DIY cabins known as plotlands, clustered in the Severn Valley, near the picturesque Worcestershire town of Bewdley.

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

A few weeks ago I was standing in front of my window with a cup of coffee, watching the world go by. A tiny woman walked past, hauling around five massive black bin bags behind her. As she reached the gate of the adjoining property, she quickly glanced around, making sure there were no witnesses and, one-by-one, threw each bin bag over the fence. My fence. As she turned around, I caught her eye and she sprinted off.

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

A quick reminder that right now, we're running a special 50% Spring discount. If you're yet to sign up to a full Dispatch membership — that's access to all our editions, events and exclusives in your inbox and online — now you can, for just £1 a week. Back local journalism now, for less than the price of a morning coffee. Where I’m from: As some of you might have gauged, horrifyingly — I’m not from Birmingham. However, my life is full of distant Birmingham and West Midlands connections.

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

In the heady summer of 2022, while Birmingham was hosting the Commonwealth Games, two leaders of the Westside Business Improvement District (BID) were compering a comedic parallel, the ‘Commonman Games,’ in the Walkabout Bar.