Urban Tiger Radio

As far as I am aware, this is the sole recorded output of a duo who were prevalent on the Folk/Poetry scene in Sheffield in the 90's. This album dates from '91 and I know I saw them prior to that. They are Stuart Arfield (Guitar) and Rob Smith (Spoken Word). Most of the sentiments expressed here were sarcastic comments on the way the world was progressing (?) Unfortunately for us, the world seems intent on imitating Bob's astute observations. Stuart's guitar can be heard around Yorkshire with Big City Blues.

What better way to 'Walk Yourself Happy' than to take time out with the Julia Bradbury inspired two day adventure set amongst beautiful surroundings in sumptuous hotels with 4 acknowledged experts in the fields of well-being. Two days that will kickstart your motivation to living a better, longer and more fulfilled ilfe. Listen to Gina Bradbury Fox describe how this and her childrens charity came to provide outdoor clothing for small and underprivileged children. Find out how to Donate!

This is not a Diet! But I will tell you what I do and why, and why you should probably do it too. Eating to Live instead of the other way around resulted in a loss of 30% of fat body weight I did not need. All by following Doctors Advice from 1957! Good advice never dies, it just gets lost in the detail of modern thinking. Links worth looking at: https://bit.ly/47KFh9k (Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken) https://bit.ly/491mHe6 (Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia.) Tim Spector at Joinzoe.com. I'd also like you to take a look at this website: https://theoutdoorguide.co.uk/wellbeing-retreats-walk-yourself-happy/ Run by Julia Bradbury, the fabulous exponent of all things Natural, these courses promise a new you in two packed days of events and training. Walk yourself over there and take a look!

This is the Prize-Winning story from the 'Parracombe Prize' competition. The author, Penny Woods, sister to Tim Woods of 'Rambling Man' fame penned this story guaranteed to make you think twice about your early Life Choices. Parracombe Prize details can be found here: prize.parracombe.org.uk BY THE WAY! I made the CAKE!

An excellent track from an up-and-coming writer, Tim Woods. This story relates to people who spend so much time in diversionary hobbies that their own life very rapidly becomes an unsatisfactory past. Tim says that this story was inspired by one of my own and for those few kind words, I am very grateful

Had good customer service and quality during the pandemic? I have. And here's another one to listen to. These people do not disappoint (in my experience!) Treat yourself and your loved ones.

I think you will like the light-hearted message behind this story from my friend 'Juke-Box Tom'.

Blow your brains out with the best curries I've experienced! An unapologetic Thank You for Great Customer Service!

Here’s a reworking of my favourite track, Almost Home, from my favourite Sheffield musician, Andy Whitehouse, and fellow musician Matt Howden. This is a track I use frequently to front my podcasts and it has resonance with me on all sorts of levels. You might remember Andy from two of my previous podcasts. If you don’t, go and look for the links in our podcast library. You’ll find a full interview in Kelham Island Discs playlist and a major contribution from Andy to ‘A Stent In Time’. https://andywhitehouse.bandcamp.com/track/almost-home-2 andywhitehouse0@gmail.com

Jack Whitham: Football legend for Sheffield Wednesday, Liverpool, England under 23's and others. A lifetime of devotion to Football, to his family, his talent for writing a good song and for performing them too. His career was curtailed by tragedy but Jack has risen above that through a determination and spirit that encompasses all the many walks of his life.

Okay so this isn't Radio One and I'm not really a DJ. But... here are a few original tracks from people I have interviewed over the last couple of years and one or two others thrown in. The mood is variable, as I say I'm no DJ, but I hope enjoyable. Get your stompin' boots on for some of them too!

Recorded entirely in Room 324 by kind permission of the Holiday Inn overlooking Brentford Lock in London, Jorge Ramirez displays vividly why his music and good humour helps to fill restaurants and pubs wherever he plays. Jorge is a long-time friend who I don't see enough of. He also attempted to improve my guitar playing...Hmmmm...

Arthur Thickett passed away some time in 2011. Perhaps he'd had enough of our capacity to make war not love. Arthur's is a moving life story of a remarkable man. Here, his loves, hopes and desires are wrestled with on a daily basis. Here also are the things he hated, mostly war and hypocrisy. A more-than intelligent child of his time, struggling to overcome humble beginnings, Arthur chimes for us all. Queenspark Books are available at queensparkbooks.org.uk.

This time the Urban Tiger is in conversation with Stewart Lodge, a comedy practitioner who defies convention and genre. There is a thin line between comedy weird and comedy genius and I think Stewart stands astride that line in a way that I respect and admire. Especially when he performs 'Little Johnny Cash'. See if you can categorise his talent, I can't...

A Stent In Time by Bill Allerton

Hi. This is an in-depth interview with Richard Hennessy, Proprietor and founder of Focused Hypnosis in Sheffield (Website here: https://sheffield-hypnosis.co.uk/). Richard shares his experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for this branch of alternative therapy and explains why it is rapidly gaining popularity due to its undeniable track record as a force for good and as a readily accessible vehicle for life-change on a personal level.

Hi, this is Bill doing his bit for the community. The community in question is Burngreave, an ethnically diverse area right in the Heart of our Fair City of Sheffield. Burngreave Messenger are the local community newsletter who seek to add podcasting to their repertoire. Never being one to refuse an opportunity to spout in public, I agreed to help my good friend Angela Robson by taking down some techie equipment and talking their hind legs off for an hour. This podcast contains many of the voices, opinions and sense of purpose within this vibrant and committed group.

Hi. Side two of 'Turn the Page' by New Jersey Turnpike, a real blast from 1976! Enjoy again...

Hi. This is side one of the 'Turn the Page' album produced by New Jersey Turnpike in 1976. I bring you this as an echo from my past, along with that of many others, because we are all coming of an age now where these bands and songs are in danger of being forgotten. Never thought of myself as an 'Endangered Species' before. I wonder if the Tiger or the Mountain Gorilla ever share that thought... Enjoy again... and again... and again...

Hi. Red Stripe Candy is my contribution to the Watch & Wait anthology. I have to say that of all the stories I have ever written, this one, certainly, if not the best, I consider to be in the top 3. It is a light fantasy along the theme perhaps that when you have just made yourself comfortable, someone always comes along and tips you out of the chair. No, perhaps the story is deeper than that. I hope you find it so anyway. Thanks for being here, Bill Allerton

Hi. Danuta Reah is a multi-award winning crime writer. Much of her work is set in South Yorkshire so just like the rest of us here, it stands for no nonsense!

This track is 'Cheval'. 'Cheval' is the old french word for 'Horse'. Used today it describes a tall, slender mirror that stands free on four feet. Sometimes those feet can be very ornately carved, like the proud horses in the story. The story is about how we begin as a child with an open mind to the magic in our imagination, then as we grow older and have more responsibility we begin to lose touch with it. But don't worry, as we get older still our imagination finds ways to reconnect us with the magic. I hope you enjoy this one Bill Allerton

Hi. This is an interview with myself! Actually, The Urban Tiger was interviewed on Sheffield Live!, a local radio station in my home town, by Jane Armstrong and Chad Bentley. Learn a bit more about me... I learnt a bit more about myself during the interrog... sorry, interview. And we had more than a few laughs along the way. This track is released on my birthday! Merry Christmas from me and Nell!

Hi, this is another track from the Watch & Wait anthology of short, gifted stories. This one is from Caroline Pitcher, children's author of great renown and author of 11 o'clock Chocolate Cake, also featured on Urban Tiger Radio. This story is about the sea, so immerse yourself...

The War Poetry of Bryony Doran and Isabel Palmer from their anthology, 'Home Front', as interpreted by Radio 3. Home Front (Buy it here> http://amzn.eu/d/0XMZ8dz ) is an anthology of four poets, two American, Jehanne Dubrow and Elyse Fenton, and two British poets, Bryony Doran and Isabel Palmer, writing their way back to sanity after their loved ones went to war. Powerful and moving words.

This is the second track from the Watch & Wait anthology we published on behalf of raising funds for Lymphoma Action, as they now like to be called, and is a tale of people struggling to cope with their own human frailty in adverse situations, overcoming their fears and finding that in courage, there is a great freedom.

Hi. I'd like to introduce you to a superb new writer, Stephen Mellor. Stephen's prose is strong, muscular and his narrative is compelling in the extreme. Stephen came third in the 2018 Novel Slam at Dinas in Sheffield organised by the Sheffield University and guess what? He won me as a prize! Prize what I'm not sure, but I'm sure you'll tell me. Meanwhile, sit back and listen to Stephen and his recent work. Cheers, Bill Allerton

Hi. This is the first track from a new album/playlist from an anthology of short works by twenty known/unknown authors. These stories were gifted by the authors in aid of The Lymphoma Association. https://lymphoma-action.org.uk/ We raised £1200 on the launch night alone. These stories are on here for download or live listening. If you feel you wish to donate, please follow the link to the Lymphoma-Action site and contribute there. Then we'll know that all our hard work was not in vain. Thanks, Bill Allerton

VISIT Eleonora here> https://www.eleonoramignoli.com/ Eleonora Mignoli is an Italian writer based in Sheffield. I came across her work at the 2018 Novel Slam supported by the University of Sheffield. The standard was very high again this year and Eleonora was a worthy participant, beating most of the stiff competition with her new novel, 'Oneirika'. Set in Japan, Oneirika is the name of a game where Players compete in the land of their dreams. Eleonora is also multi-faceted, as you will hear while she tells her own story to The Urban Tiger.

A link to this book on Amazon here> http://amzn.eu/d/dtJSp5G A truly amazing 'pull-you-along-at breakneck-speed' book for early teens from a consummate, internationally published expert in the genre! Also includes easy-to-make recipes for Emma Peek's favourite midnight snacks, including the title one of '11 O'Clock Chocolate Cake' Amazing book. See it! Read it! Eat it! Enjoy my cover design! Buy it for your kids at Christmas or for their Birthday! (Bill Allerton)

Hi. The first book ever published by Cybermouse Multimedia.com is here! > http://amzn.eu/d/g8z9cDx The link takes you to The Jewellers Skin, an amazing exploration of the way we treated people with a mental disability between the first and second world wars, and the convenient ease with which they were used to sweep unwanted people out of the way into obscurity.

Hi. This wonderful novel by Berlie Doherty was re-published by Cybermouse Multimedia in 2014 and published again in 2018 by 'BillyWorks'. The book is available here on Amazon> https://amzn.to/2J7UDLv and I would urge you all to buy this for your most discerning friends. Superb book, and truth rings through it with the clarity of a church bell... (and my cover isn't too shabby either! Bill)

Hi. This is an excellent Christmas or Thanksgiving present for the more discerning reader. Buy it from Amazon here> https://amzn.to/2P02Jey or visit Bryony's own site here> https://www.bryonydoran.com/ Meanwhile, let's hear what The Book Bag website has to say about it... "The China Bird is a delicate novel. Not over-emotional, it hovers like an insistent moth around the edges of your consciousness, quietly insisting that you turn just one more page. Spot-on characterisation ensures you will have a view on each of the protagonists, a view that will change as the book moves back and forth, but one which will always have you wanting to know what will become of their hopes and dreams and disasters." Go on... spoil someone you love with your excellent book choice.. Cheers, Bill Allerton

A link to The Fox & The Fish on Amazon> http://amzn.eu/d/hgGz49V "...only the truly intelligent can enjoy the sumptuous good humour of this book..." 'Titus A. Phorskin' (Tailor to The Emperor) "...prose as rare as a Yorkshire Banjax..." (Donegal Heritage Museum) "...if you don't laugh out loud at this, you need a stent fitted in your Humerus..." NHS Humour Resources Dept. And now the REAL reviews: "...the writing is so original and the dialogue so inventive and funny it cracks me up. It's brilliant, clever and lyrical. You have one hell of a talent..." (Clem Cairns, Originator of the International Fish Prize for Literature.) "...We're told we're in an amorphous corner of an imagined Ireland, but we're never far at all from the likes of Flann O'Brien, Joyce, Milligan, etc.. Julius McEarly fancies Ruby, but he's having to wait… and then there's Anarchy, Freedom, Love and Immortality in the air… and there are buses and coffins… and more intellectual business than you can shake a shillelagh at… The laugh-aloud gag to me was about the kid called Cnut, but there are sly jokes everywhere - the paint stains… all the academic stuff… the chapter titles… the pawned watch. This book is sexy, and kind, and playful. It gave me weird dreams; it is a weird dream..." (Rony Robinson: Author, Playwright and Sony/Radio Academy Award winning presenter of BBC Radio Sheffield’s Morning Show)

'Love in the Time of Britpop' (an ideal Xmas present!) Hi. Enjoy an excerpt from a novel by Tim Woods, whose cover I have recently created. This is a revealing book for students of all ages, and indeed students of human nature. Get it here on Amazon https://amzn.to/2OZbmpC and buy it as a Christmas present for all those who love a relentless read! (My life was an 'Oasis', now it's something of a 'Blur'') Early Seasons Greetings from Bill Allerton!

HERE'S ONE FOR HALLOWEEN! Hi. Bill Allerton here from Urban Tiger Radio. The following story is VERY EXPLICIT so if you have tuned in any of your children to listen to the Wind in The Willows episodes, then now is the time to tune them back over to 'Childrens Hour' right here... https://soundcloud.com/user-68415326 This podcast contains scenes of violent, predatory, sexual activity. If you are offended, don't say that you weren't warned. The rest of us, enjoy a day at the beach.

Okay, so this isn't an adult story... or is it? Over on Urban Tiger Radio 2, 'Childrens Hour' (@user-68415326) I have started to serialise the original Kenneth Grahame text of Wind in The Willows. This is Chapter Two, 'The Open Road'. This the last one I shall post on here because I think you have come to expect something a little more 'hard-edged', but if you have any children between 3 and 15 years of age then treat them to a listen here then steer them over to 'Childrens Hour' on iTunes or Stitcher.com for many more hours of safe, enjoyable listening. Cheers, Bill Allerton

Okay, so this isn't an adult story... or is it? Over on Urban Tiger Radio 2, 'Childrens Hour' (https://soundcloud.com/user-68415326) I have started to serialise the original Kenneth Grahame text of Wind in The Willows. This is Chapter one, 'The River Bank'. If you have any children between 3 and 15 years of age then treat them to a listen here then steer them over to 'Childrens Hour' on iTunes or Stitcher.com for many more hours of safe, enjoyable listening. Cheers, Bill Allerton

If you've ever been the only person in the room who feels cold, listen on... Oh, and keep your hands off the thermostat... IT'S MINE! Get ready to pass the sun tan cream, these are The Good Years... Enjoy them while they last Cheers, Bill Allerton

I find it strange that we only ever got to hear our side of 'The War of The Worlds', and probably that of any other war too. 'To the Victor the Spoils' they say. And the Victor also gets to write the history. Have we ever discovered what really starts a war? I don't mean some overstuffed Grand Duke who gets himself shot by being overstuffed and in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I mean the REAL impetus behind it. Can their aims be more desperate than we at first realise? Take a listen to what the Martians have to say about it. Were they maligned by the Wells brothers... H.G. & Orson? Or was it an unintended consquence, as per my third and a half law of motion... Read on...

This is Side 1 of Bill & Martin Head to Head at The Harlequin, long thought lost (by me anyway) and now restored to it's full ad hoc glory due to an advance in noise reduction technology. This was a hilarious night and I would urge anyone who has listened to the earlier track of Head to Head to listen to this never to be repeated event featuring never to be repeated performers...

This is a short story that centres around the way that a sudden loss can bring about obsession, mainly as a replacement therapy for what is now missing from your life. Obsessions creep up on us slowly until they become all too obvious to everyone. Some obsessions, like Honesty, or a desire for the Truth to come out, can be harmful to those around you in those moments when your socialising senses have been nullified by grief. Other obsessions are more physical, and may have a far deeper meaning, like cleanliness...

This time around we have Don Oliver & Bryan Ducker. I have known these two singers for around 28 years, listening to them in various pubs and folk clubs around Sheffield and I thought it was time to dig a little deeper and find out who they are and from what background they came. What a surprise I got! Turns out we are almost related! Have a good laugh and a good listen to Don & Bryan. Many thanks as always to Andy Whitehouse for the loan of his track, Almost Home, for our intro/outro.

Hi. This is a demo disc I found lurking in a forgotten corner where it has languished for twenty years. I met the singer/lead guitarist Paul Bellamy in 1998 at an art class. Well, we should all try something we're crap at. In my case I have an unlimited choice... These tracks are not for the faint-hearted so I left them at full volume for you to enjoy. Get out the air guitar and stomp to KING DICE (NOT the American band, who must have stolen the name. Can't trust anybody. Leave a name lying around for twenty years and someone will take it... I don't know what the world is coming to.) Bill

I have had the misfortune to be present at the point of death of people close to me, and those experiences left me with an unanswerable question. How to explain the moments of lucidity that can appear prior to the loss of all bodily function, sometimes taking the form of one-sided conversations with loved ones who have passed previously. I have no answer for this, but having seen it in action I have tried to come up with an explanation that I can live with. This story is about just that scenario. Blame is a ravenous creature. It feeds on ‘what if’, not on ‘what is’. And eventually on you.

It's not what it says, It's what it implies, came into my possession in 1999. This is a compilation of 30 different poets, all basing their work around the ethic of the title. It came to me because I, like the other 29 poets, volunteered a track for the album. I know most of the other poets, but by no means all of them. These are people you may never hear again anywhere else, so I bring them to you because of that... because everyone has a voice... and because that voice needs to be heard, if only for what it implies.

This is a conversation with Paul Middleton who fronts what must be my favourite live band of all time, the Angst Band. It must be, I'm a Yorkshireman, and even I pay for a night out in Harrogate several times a year to go and have my ears blasted in The Blues Bar, a unique venue on Montpellier Parade (near Betty's) that has, apart from a strange but welcoming taste in decoration, wall to wall music, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. If you ever wondered what it feels like to be in the middle of a band while they are on stage then get yourself over here... and if you do, stay at The Crown Hotel. It's downhill all the way from The Blues Bar.

I hope you've all been enjoying Berlie's wonderful story of self-discovery. This is the last podcast from that novel and I'm sure that you will all now go to Berlie's incredible website: www.berliedoherty.com/ where you can contact Berlie herself and tell her how much you enjoyed her story. There are many of Berlie's other books on there and they are available online or at any good bookshop. Go and take a look. Berlie's catalogue of works is a wonder to behold for all ages.

Bryony Doran is at her best in this ethereal, exotic and ultimately convincing tale of a future that most people think will never happen. But if you look closely at the horizon, you may just see... This, the title story from Bryony's collection, 'The Sand Eggs', is a tale of dispossessed women, in which our near future echoes like a warning bell.

I was privileged to be asked to attend an interview in the Abbeydale Picture House, Abbeydale Rd., Sheffield, by Katharine L. Butchers, a student at Sheffield University studying the social aspects of life in the 50's and 60's particularly, although the history of this building stretches back to 1920 when it was built as a Variety Theatre. The Cinema is a colossus of a building that straddles the top of a small hill, dominating the entire surrounding area with it's outer shell of white stone. Lit up outside at night, as it remains in my memory, complete with a wrought iron, glazed shelter under which to stand while queueing in the rain for the next must-see Hollywood Blockbuster, this cinema was a magnet for all at the south side of town.

Hello, here is your free seventh chapter of Berlie's fascinating 'Granny was a Buffer Girl'. Enjoy!