Provincial towns you jog round

Here kitty, kitty!

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Yorkshire has given my life a lot of cool things.

This part of the world is often the punchline of jokes thrown around by smug southerners, but I for one have a special affinity with the northern region. My favourite book when I was a young child (with a fey manner) was the resplendent and camp A Woman of Substance, written by Yorkshire’s very own Barbara Taylor Bradford. I would read it alone in my room in a sort of secret lockdown, hidden for fear of being interrupted. I wanted nothing to come between me and the sheer outrageousness of the pages.

Flash forward several decades and I am not a multi-millionaire business tycoon as promised by Barbara, but Yorkshire is still a part of the world that keeps giving me delight.

However, this time around it isn’t the written word its inhabitants have gifted me. It is delicious vegan beer.

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We love you LEEDS! LEEDS! LEEDS!

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In some parts of the world, it can be a struggle to be a vegan.

If you are located a long distance from a major city, plant-based foods and cruelty-free supplies can be difficult to track down let alone finding a vegan social event in your neighbourhood. London spoils me for choice, but I never forget what it was like to live in smaller, less vegan-friendly locations. Heck… I was even situated (for a short period) in Rockhampton, Australia. If you care to investigate, I believe you will discover Rockhampton is considered the beef capital of Australia.

For isolated vegans, the light at the end of the lonesome tunnel often takes the form of a local vegan/veggie support group. Likeminded individuals get together to share advice, recipes, food, friendship and interests. Your local support group can often be the only time your choice to be cruelty-free is taken seriously.

There are a huge number of veggie/vegan support groups all over the UK but as Leeds is close to my heart, I would like to focus on the Northern city for a moment… specifically the Leeds Vegetarians and Vegans group.

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More vin ordinaire

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What do you get when you couple a moving musical experience from a musical hero with a dull, overpriced meal in a tiny restaurant in a suffocatingly upper-middle class town? Read on if you think you can deal with the dizzying highs and tedious lows of my recent trip to Cambridge.

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Who the hell is Melanie Sykes?

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You will probably have noticed that I like to start my stories with an anecdote or two. Just a little something to make you sure you made the correct choice by clicking on my link.

But I have a problem.

I sat down with an idea in my head on how to write about a fabulous health food store I discovered in the English countryside. My desire was to make witty references to several famous citizens from the town where the store is located. I searched high and low for a famous name I recognised, but I kept hitting a brick wall. Time after time and search after search, only one name came up as a notable person from the village. Dear readers, I give you the lovely northern town of Mossley and whoever the heck Melanie Sykes is…

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Chips, ice cream, cake & sausage

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The Globe of Glossop

I recently enjoyed the chance to return to one of the best vegan food providers in the UK. The Globe pub in the northern town of Glossop is as near to a religious experience a vegan atheist can get. The cosy inn delivers plate after plate of cruelty-free comfort food and my only regret is that it isn’t situated closer to where I live.

That said, I must admit location is but a mild irritation. Distance exists only to be laughed at when a FGV is hungry and let’s face it, when am I not at least peckish? So grab your warmest coat and wrap up tightly… we are heading into the windy wilds of Derbyshire for a spot of overeating.

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Walk on with hope in your heart

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My passion for veganism and my love of Morrissey often intersect, but not usually in such a meaningful manner as they did a few weeks ago.

When I heard world wide web whispers of a vegan fair taking place in the Midlands town of Wolverhampton, I went through my usual Morrissey tragic routine of recalling the significance this UK city holds for lovers of the Mancunian legend. As any Morrissey fanatic worth their weight in NME-related litigation would know, over 20 years ago the artist bestowed the honour of his first solo gig upon Wolverhampton. The Smiths had recently been consigned to pop history and Morrissey wanted to show the world he was ready to tread the boards once again.

The fact that a vegan fair was taking place in this historically-significant (for Moz fans) city was almost enough to get me there. What I found out next sealed the deal and got me leaving the south and travelling north (no horses were harmed).

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Shake, baby shake

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A fat, gay vegan must work hard at a couple of things to qualify as a fat, gay vegan. Obviously, you have to be same-sex attracted in order to fill the gay requirements. If you want to call yourself vegan, don’t eat or wear non-human animals. To stay on top of the fat moniker, consume as many gourmet milkshakes as humanly possible.

This blog entry is a thank you to Shakeaway for assisting this FGV to stay worthy of the name.

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I know I won’t be leaving here

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Josh has taken on guest reviewer duties once again following a recent trip to Glasgow. Take it away…

I am seriously impressed by Glasgow and it’s hard to know where to start.

When I found out that my job was taking me to Glasgow for four days, I immediately looked to HappyCow and was delighted to see that there was not one, not two… but FOUR completely vegan eateries located in the city plus several vegetarian places.  How could I possibly fit them all in?  Apologies in advance for the dodgy phone-photos.

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Alma matters

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As I am busy preparing for London Vegan Drinks (that is, harassing people via email and Twitter), Josh has kindly stepped in to keep you informed of vegan eats and drinks in the town of Oxford.

Take it away, Josh.

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