How a Rochester phone box became a gallery
Plus Medway filmmaker's short film heads to iPlayer, a revised Isaac Newell project, we review TickTocks, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
More than 5,000 old red phone boxes across the country have been adopted by their community. In Rochester, one has been turned into quite possibly the smallest art gallery. We’ve been finding out more. Further down, we have news of a short film by a Medway filmmaker heading to iPlayer, a revised Isaac Newell project, we review TickTocks in Rainham, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more.
How a Rochester phone box became a gallery
Seed swapping is happening in an old red phone box by Café Nucleus on Rochester High Street. You can bring your flowers, vegetables or fruit seeds and swap them for something interesting. It’s the latest installation as part of the Medway Art Box, so we caught up with Vanessa Crew and Rachel Moore of Nucleus Arts, the team behind the unique gallery, to find out about it.
The Medway Art Box is an adopted red BT telephone box. “A K6 model, they are actually called telephone kiosks,” clarifies Rachel. The Nucleus Arts charity adopted it in 2022, “but Medway Art Box was born in 2020,” says Vanessa. It was initially created as a reaction to the covid lockdown. Rachel recalls that “we were due, Vanessa and I, and some of the other artists at Nucleus, to have an exhibition at the Pop Gallery,” which is in the Nucleus building next door “that got shut down.”
Knowing they still wanted to do something, they decided to use the phone kiosk outside the studio. “We gave it a really good clean because, as you can imagine, it was absolutely disgusting,” says Rachel. There were panes of glass missing, and it had an odour. “There was a hole in the door,” adds Vanessa.
When Vanessa and Rachel first used the kiosk in 2020, it still had a phone in it, which was, as mentioned, disgusting. Working together, they got the area cleaned up and “We got lots of other artists involved at Nucleus and the idea was we just put our art in, and the public could come and take anything they wanted just for the price of a shout-out on social media,” says Rachel.
Vanessa and Rachel want to give a shout-out of their own to Medway artists Jonathan Ash and Ann Palmer. When they first set up the kiosk with postcards and Vanessa’s acrylic jewellery, Jonathan and Ann gave them lots to work with. As word spread, artists started putting their work in the kiosk and sharing it online.
Before the adoption was complete, projects were initially inherently temporary, as they constantly expected to be told they couldn’t do this, given that it was still a phone box. When artists do projects with Medway Art Box now, they can lock the kiosk, depending on the exhibition within. An open exhibition where people can interact with the artwork is an option, explains Rachel, “but they do obviously run the risk of things getting damaged.” This is a risk that some artists seem to enjoy.
BT have an Adopt a Kiosk scheme where, from just £1, you can bring a red box back to life for the community. More than 5,000 nationwide have been turned into libraries, food banks, and homes for defibrillators.
The process here “took a while because of lockdown and admin,” explains Vanessa, taking over a year. As a result, though, it is now part of Nucleus Arts’ galleries. “It's in between a gallery space and a community space because we use it for so many community projects or projects that are public facing.” One highlight has been a project with Gillingham’s Unravel and Unwind, a crochet and knitting CIC, the ‘TARDIS’ yarn bomb. Vanessa approached them and said, “We'd love to do a yarn bomb. We don't really know what it is, and we don't really have any money,” and they said yes. As the project title suggests, they turned the kiosk into a TARDIS with crocheted Doctor Who monsters. “I didn't really need to do much other than give them measurements and give them the space.” Despite the risks, they took over the box completely, resulting in one of the Daleks being stolen. “That whole experience just stayed as it was,” says Rachel happily. “I think since we've been doing stuff with that phone box, it's been respected”.
Medway Art Box often put out an open call for artists and residents to get involved. They often work with the social art groups and teen art groups that Nucleus runs for projects throughout the year. “We like to do art as well as creative writing,” says Rachel. “We want to do some sort of sound project at some point.” “We've got big grand ideas,” confirms Vanessa, “but the thing is probably... no budget.”
You can head down to Rochester High Street with your seeds until 4 March and keep an eye on their website for upcoming installations.
In brief
🚣♀️ Active Kent and Medway have received a grant of £5,000 to provide coaching fees and qualifications around monthly kayaking sessions along the River Medway.
🏆 The finalists for this year’s Pride in Medway awards have been announced. Congratulations to all nominated.
🍺 KentOnline’s Secret Drinker has been down to review The Princes of Wales pub in Chatham. It’s a mixed bag.
☕ A new coffee shop is set to open at Rochester Station on Monday. It comes nearly two years after the previous operator closed down.
🎛️ Craig David is the first act announced for this year’s Rochester Castle Live. He’ll chill on Sunday 6 July at the venue, and tickets are a mere £50.
🌊 A new zipline has opened at St Andrew’s Lakes in Halling. No thank you.
Medway filmmaker’s short heading to iPlayer
We spoke to MidKent College alumni and BAFTA breakthrough alumni Mdhamiri Á Nkemi in 2023 about, among other things, the award-winning short film he had directed. This week, it was announced that his short film Original Skin is being included in a season of short films screened on BBC iPlayer.
The BBC’s British Film Premiere season will air a brand new premiere every Friday night on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The series will also introduce the films, feature them, and feature brand new shorts, which will also be available on iPlayer. The season started on 14 February, but there is no indication yet when Original Skin will screen.
When we reached out to Mdhamiri as part of our catch-up feature at the beginning of the year, he was under a strict NDA and unable to catch up. Back in 2023, Mdhamiri told us that the origin for Original Skin had been developing in his head over time around the central idea: What if when you had sex with someone, you swapped bodies?
In a world where bodies are moving and fluid, Mdhamiri wanted to use this as a metaphor to discuss society and how people interact. It shows how we judge each other based on physical appearance and how that could change if we changed and chose what we looked like.
You can watch a trailer for Original Skin here:
The LGBTQIA+ science fiction short film was executive produced by BBC Film and the National Film and Television School and has been successful on the short film circuit, screening at Tribeca and serving as an excellent calling card for Mdhamiri’s aspirations as a filmmaker. The film has been nominated for awards, winning for Best Sound Design.
While we wait to see Original Skin on iPlayer, Mdhamiri has been developing ideas for feature films. He is continuing his interest in sci-fi and using it to explore the human experience. We look forward to seeing more from him.
We’re launching a sister title! We’re proud to announce that we’re going to be launching a second local news title in April called the Kent Current. Nothing will change here with Local Authority, but the Kent Current will cover the same sort of ground we do here - local news, politics, culture, and more - but looking across the rest of the county. We can’t wait to get started. You can subscribe to the Kent Current for free here.
Out to Breakfast: TickTocks
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been down to TickTocks in Rainham…
Found in the Rainham shopping precinct, near ample parking, TickTocks is a fine-looking café that has perhaps taken its clock-based theme a little too far. As you enter the door, there is a distinct plant-based barrier, with a sign informing you that they would prefer you pay cash. I waited to be directed where to sit in the largely empty café. Once the friendly staff confirmed which of the equally empty tables were available, I sat down and ordered.
I ordered four rashers of well-done bacon, three fried eggs, two pieces of toast, and a portion of mushrooms, along with a pot of breakfast tea and apple juice. Instead, I received four rashers of bacon that were not well done, three fried eggs, one piece of toast cut in two pieces, and a portion of mushrooms, along with a pot of tea for two and apple juice. These are subtle differences, and some would argue they are fundamental.
The bacon was delicious, so imagine how good it would have been if it had been cooked properly. The eggs were yolky and went well with the thick-cut toast, even if there was not enough to mop up all the yolk. The mushrooms were of good quality. Serving such a large pot of tea meant the second cup was stewed. The apple juice was such a delight that I had a second glass.
Despite the tone of the review, I do recommend TickTocks if you are looking for breakfast in Rainham. Just be super clear about what you want when you order.
Futbol! A revised Isaac Newell project
There is a growing movement to celebrate Strood’s Isaac Newell. As part of that, our Medwayish side quest worked with The Hazlenut Press in 2023 to develop a tea towel, famously the most iconic way to commemorate a local icon. However, due to a complication that will be explained later, a revised version of the project is now on the table.
Heather Haythornthwaite is an old-school printmaker, and her Hazelnut Press studio is a delight to see. If you have the time and opportunity, it is particularly worth a visit during Medway Open Studios. Heather was the artist behind the Isaac Newell tea towel, and she told us a little about the process that goes into her design and printing work:
“There are many tiny subtleties involved in this apparently simple technique. I'll only tell you some of them. I use flooring offcuts and unused vinyl floor tiles, which are sanded with a fine grade of wet and dry glass paper to make the surface very smooth. I transfer the design - which must be reversed if it is to print correctly. Sharp tools are faster and more responsive than blunt ones, so the first job is to sharpen them. This cutting process is irreversible, when it's cut, it is cut- I have to get it right. The marks I cut can emphasise how the design feels, offering energy, direction and strength as they take a little ink. These subtleties only happen with a hand cut print. The printed area is what is left behind.
The oil based traditional ink is worked up to become pliable, (more pliable than marmite, less gloopy than ketchup. Maybe about as smooth as really smooth peanut butter) The ink is applied with a roller to the cut design, which is no longer a piece of discarded flooring as it has become a printmaking 'plate'.
It is positioned on the bed of my 1860s Albion press. Paper is laid on the inked plate. Then the inked plate and blank paper is rolled under the cantilevered pressing part of the press, called the platen. The lever is pulled, the platen presses the paper firmly and precisely against the inky plate creating the print and rises up. The plate is rolled out from under the platen. the paper peeled off the plate, revealing the print.
Every element of this process requires levels of experience knowledge and skill . They combine to produce the print.”
The design celebrates the story of the man who took football to Argentina and has a football team named after him: Newell’s Old Boys. Heather told us that “with this design, I wanted to get a powerful feel through the deliberate use of energetic and seemingly unpolished typographies coupled with accurate club colours and symbols, and to have Isaac himself here too, the English Edwardian football coach.” The design featured a popular local chant of ‘Carajo!’, a way of showing frustration. However, other areas could interpret the wording as rather more explicit.
Whilst the original tea towel proved popular, a new opportunity arose to bring a new version of the design into the world. Heather revised the design into a more ‘safe for work’ format. “I like to make things that celebrate what can be overlooked or lost. This creative driver applies equally to the Thomas Waghorn print as it does the Ban The Mindreader print. Each has its own vivacity. All these pieces offer moments of reflection, humour and delight in the Medway Towns, and I hope you'll take them into your lives and enjoy them.”
A crowdfunding campaign has been initiated to get the new design printed, which Kickstarter have listed in their ‘Projects We Love’ section. Incredibly, the project has already achieved more than 90% of its target within the first week, proving that there seemingly is a stronger demand for Isaac Newell-related designs than one might initially think. Supporters of the crowdfunder can get not only the new design but the original version and the other brilliant tea towels Heather has designed. “Sweet or savoury - you can choose. The Kickstarter will enable more people to enjoy it,” notes Heather.
The Futbol! Isaac Newell Kickstarter is now live and runs until 14 March.
Events this week
📖 Sat 22 Feb - Zahra Barri book signing // Author, comedian, and Local Authority columnist in store signing copies of her novel, Daughters of the Nile. Waterstones, Chatham. Free.
🎤 Sat 22 Feb - John McCulloch // Award-winning poet performing with support from Medway poet Bethany Goodwill. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Free.
🚥 Sat 22 Feb - Luton Lights grand finale // Luton’s family-friendly light festival celebrating creativity and community. Invicta Social Club, Chatham. Free.
🎸 Sat 22 Feb - Schande // Excellent London indie rock band make their way to Rainham for the mighty Careful Now Promotions. Oast Community Centre, Rainham. Tickets £8.
📹 Tues 25 Feb - Medway Voices // Film celebrating local history and community stories, featuring Ayesha Chouglay and Sian Hookins. St Margarets Church, Rainham. Free.
🚀 Wed 26 Feb - Interstellar 10 // Organ performance of Han Zimmer’s score from the scifi film epic, performed by original organist on the film, Roger Sayer. Rochester Cathedral. Tickets from £10.60.
🏳️🌈 Wed 26 Feb - Memorial To Those Who Wore the Pink Triangle // Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Chatham Memorial Synagogue. Free.
🗣️ Thu 27 Feb - Medway Council budget meeting // Season finale for Medway Council, who are obliged to pass a balanced budget despite facing a shortfall of millions. St George’s Centre, Chatham. Free.
More Authority
We published our latest Voice column, which features Gillingham and Rainham MP Naushabah Khan this month. In it, she discusses the early months of representing her constituency.
We’ve got a bumper crop of content coming up over the next week:
Sunday: Our weekend interview is with author, comedian, and new Local Authority columnist Zahra Barri (paid subscribers only).
Tuesday: Our regular news briefing.
Wednesday: We’ll examine the situation surrounding the former Buzz Bingo site in Chatham, its potential redevelopment, and its impact on the nearby Spotlites Theatre (paid subscribers only).
Thursday: We’ll be running live coverage of Medway Council’s budget meeting, as the council attempts to balance the books for another year (paid subscribers only).
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: All Things to All People by The Pastel Waves and Last Punk Standing by Wild Billy Childish & CTMF.
I enjoy Steven’s food reviews. Could some idea of prices be given as well, as this will be a contributing factor in a decision of where to eat.