The Medwayish Gift Guide
From prints to mugs to books to tea towels, we have it all
This time last year, I published a Medway gift guide, highlighting all kinds of weird and wonderful unique things you could buy from Medway creatives and local businesses. The idea was that this would become an annual feature as we approach Christmas. That plan has been thrown off a little by us getting into the hyper-competitive Medway-related gift market ourselves through our sister Medwayish project as an additional way of funding our news output. Because capitalism, I guess.
As a result, I hope you’ll excuse this self-indulgence as we highlight some of the great items we’re currently stocking from Medway creatives that might make excellent stocking stuffers.
We’ll start with the most obvious of Christmas gifts…
Tea Towels
We’re thrilled to stock three unique tea towels by The Hazelnut Press in Rochester. Our latest addition is a celebration of Strood legend Isaac Newell, who took the little-known sport of football to Argentina, where Newell’s Old Boys, one of the most decorated teams in the country, is named after him. Despite this, there is little recognition for Newell in Medway, though recently an exhibition about his life has been displayed at Strood Sports Centre. There is an ongoing effort to celebrate him with a statue. But for now, a tea towel will have to do. The Hazelnut Press’ Newell tea towel joins their existing and popular designs featuring Thomas Waghorn and the legendary Ban the Mindreader graffiti that used to be displayed on the wall of Medway Hospital.
Buy here:
Isaac Newell tea towel
Thomas Waghorn tea towel
Ban the Mindreader tea towel
Books Books Books!
Good writing about our towns is hard to come by, so we’re delighted to stock several books across a variety of genres. We’re especially excited to be exclusively stocking Stephen Morris’ definitive book on Medway music, DIY: A History of Music in Medway, which covers our globally recognised scene from the 1970s until the 2010s. Elsewhere, we have the incredible street photography of Dan Gardner’s collection of images taken in and around Wainscott, which features a unique and insightful body of work. If fiction is more your bag, Medway: A Novel by David Cramer Smith is exactly what it says it is. A novel set in our towns, recognisable to anyone who spent any time here.
Buy here:
DIY: A History of Music in Medway
Walking Wainscott
Medway: A Novel
more books here
The Designed by Esther collection
Designed by Esther is the brand name of Esther Johnson, a phenomenal local artist who has worked with organisations all over the country. We interviewed her about her work earlier in the year, and are proud to stock her fine Medway products. Esther’s unique style translates into beautiful maps and drawings of landmarks in our towns, the latter of which is also available on the old favourite of a tea towel.
Buy here:
Medway Map print
Medway tea towel
Medway Collective print
The Nick Ashton collection
Nick Ashton was the first illustrator that we worked with on Medwayish, and we continue to be amazed by his output. From commemorating the legendary battle between MechaWaghorn and Godzilla at Rochester Castle, his imagining of Chatham town centre as some kind of zombie hellscape, or Thomas Draghorn, the pride edition of our beconed statue, few are showing off Medway like Nick.
Buy here:
MechaWaghorn vs Godzilla print
Pentagon zombies t-shirt
Thomas Draghorn print
Plus loads more…
Buy here:
The Usual Subjects mug
Local Authority tote bag
Chatham Pocket sticker
Our Medwayish range has grown significantly over this past year, so this only represents a sample of what is available. Please head over to the Medwayish website to view the full range. You can also get free delivery when you spend over £25 by using the code FREE25 at checkout.
The greatest gift of all
If none of these options are working for you, why not give someone the greatest gift of all: a year’s paid subscription to everyone’s favourite/only Medway newsletter? It’s the gift they never knew they wanted.
Thanks for indulging us in this shameless self-promotion. Your normal newsletter service will resume tomorrow.