Local Websites in a Nutshell

Local Blogs

This is a directory of local sites on a blog platform. They are sorted into regions, and then alphabetically by community name. Very well established sites which are good places to learn “how to do it” are marked with an asterisk *.

East Midlands

Nottingham City Council LOLs , Nottingham

Want to know what your favourite local council (and some of its friends) gets up to? We trawl through all the boring minutes, press releases and Freedom of Information requests so you don’t have to. Just in case anybody was wondering, this site is not in any way connected to Nottingham City Council, gets no money from them (well, apart from Council Tax benefit) and if we ever did have anything to do with them would probably have been sacked by now. They probably don’t even like us. But then you knew all that didn’t you.

Radnor’s Nottingham, Nottingham

A guide to things to do and see in Nottingham, with a sprinkling of historical fact and contemporary comment.

Nottingham Daily Photo, Nottingham

A photographic daily dose of my thoughts and what I see during the day around Nottingham, Beeston and sometimes further afield . The good, the bad and the amusing. Comments regarding the pictures are very, very welcome. You’ve looked at them, so why not say something about them! All my photographs are copyright, so please ask before poaching them and saying that they are yours.

Nottingham is Crap, Nottingham

Well I don’t really think Nottingham is totally crap. Like a lot of places it has its good and bad. But this blog is a place to rant about the things that really annoy you about Nottingham. If you want to rant about something about Nottingham then please post it in the comments box.

Parwich.org, Derbyshire

A community website for the residents of Parwich, Alsop-en-le-Dale, Ballidon and Pikehall in the Derbyshire Peak District, brought to you by the Parwich Memorial Hall committee.

Plight of Pleasley Hill, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire

Home site of Pleasley Hill People’s Network. Creating community and a voice for Pleasley Hill.

East of England

Cambridge by Richard Taylor, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire – (* Presentation via Google Map, focus on Plannnig Applications)

Excellent site with regular articles about Cambridge. Arranged with an additional location based presentation via Google Maps.

Special focus on planning applications and scrutiny of the local authority.

Ely Online – The Other Side of Ely, Ely, Cambridgeshire

News, views, reviews, and events in Ely. 500 entries over 5 years.

St Albans Blog, St Albans, Hertfordshire

St. Albans blog contains information and independent reviews about living, shopping, eating and drinking in St. Albans. It’s authored primarily by a man in his 30’s who moved to St. Albans in around 2003.

London

Bexcentric, Bexley, London

Written by someone living and working in the London Borough of Bexley, covers goings-on in and around the area.

Brockley Central, Brockley, London

The online home for all things Brockley (SE4), St John’s, Ladywell and Telegraph Hill.

Brockley Central is a community news and discussion site, which attempts to  over every aspect of life in Brockley, London SE4.

It was first published in February 2007 as a way of promoting the work of the Brockley Cross Action Group and the Brockley Common project, but it quickly grew to reflect the vibrancy of local life and the regeneration that the area is undergoing as a result of the East London Line extension.

Love Clapham, Clapham, London

Love Clapham website is the local guide for residents and visitors of the Clapham area, London. This includes Clapham Common, Clapham North, Clapham South, Clapham Old Town, Clapham Junction and the surrounding areas of Battersea, Balham, Stockwell, Vauxhall and more.

Deptford Dame, Deptford, London

Delights and devilry from deepest SE8. Stay with me if you want to learn more about my manor. Ignore the slaggers, disregard the high street’s down-at-heel appearance, and come with me on a voyage around SE8. It will be a truly local experience, in the best possible meaning of the word.

Leabank Square, Hackney Wick, London. (Has had the honour of a Cease and Desist letter from the Olympic Delivery Authority).

This is the blog site of Leabank Square. We are in Hackney Wick – in east London, UK.  It is for everyone who lives in Leabank Square to chat about the amazing neighbours, great gardens, wonderful Lea River – and best of all…. the best community spirit!

Kings Cross Environment, London

The site is written by and for people who live and work in Kings Cross, London’s most fascinating neighbourhood. It is about efforts by the local community to keep the streets of Kings Cross in London clean and live-able.

We Love Larkhall, Lambeth, London

A community information site for residents living in Larkhall ward, in the London Borough of Lambeth. Check for updates about local meetings, campaigns, and information for Stockwell and north Clapham. This site is maintained by Pete Robbins, Labour Councillor for Larkhall.

Londonist, London (*)

Blog about London life, news, events.

Transpontine, South East London

South East London blogzine – things that are happening, things that happened, things that should never have happened. Things to do in Deptford when you’re not dead, plus New Cross, Brockley, Old Kent Road and other beauty spots.

Transpontine: ‘on the other (i.e. the south) side of the bridges over the Thames; pertaining to or like the lurid melodrama played in theatres there in the 19th century’.

Northern Ireland

Slugger O Toole

Slugger O’Toole is a news and research portal, looking at various strands of political aspects of life in Northern Ireland. It brings together comment from a full range of the political spectrum that should be of interest to the specialist and the general reader.

North-West

Didsbury Village Blog, Manchester.

Didsbury News and Events. Didsbury Village Blog is a collection of posts about the happenings in Didsbury Village, Manchester.

Manchester Blog, Manchester – Established summer 2007.

Manchester Blog wants to make a difference in showing Manchester to Mancunions and the rest of the world.

You tell us what you want to know about Manchester and its surrounding towns and we’ll do our best to provide the information for you.

Preston Blog, Preston. (Jan 2009)

Blog Preston is set up to act as a hub of information and views about the city of Preston in Lancashire, UK.

North West Scenes, North-West

Travel,history and culture for the North West of England.

This site aims to celebrate everything that is the North West of England.

It will promote the area both for people that already live in and for those who want to visit. It will aim to bring together people with a common interest in the region,give interesting insights into the area and act as a forum for discussion.

Scotland

Inversnecky, Inverness.

We aim to bring you the least reliable news, commentary and bored speculation that the city of Inverness has ever see

South-East

Beare Green village, Surrey

A blog which covers all sorts of things that relate to Beare Green – its people, the support and  services as well as general village life.

Blog Royal, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent

A spritely 30-something living with my beautiful wife in the most fabulous town in the entire world, Royal Tunbridge Wells.

We love to generally soak up the culture, nature and the countryside in this idyllic part of the Weald, and because we love our town so much I made this blog to share it with the rest of you.

Ventor Blog, Isle of Wight (* – since 2005, nearly 5000 articles)

VentnorBlog was set up to celebrate everything that the Island has to offer for residents and visitors alike. VentnorBlog aims to let you know about what’s happening on the Wight, be it news or events, weekday or weekend.

South-West

To be added.

Wales

To be added.

West Midlands

Birmingham It’s Not Shit, Birmingham – (establised 2002)

Birmingham: It’s Not Shit loves Birmingham, its people, arts, animals, buildings, parks, grass verges, factories and bus stops. We’ve even got a soft spot for the Black Country.

B:iNS runs The Brummie of the Year Award, Talk Like a Brummie Day and organises odd stuff like spending eleven hours on the eleven bus on the eleventh of November.

Bournville Village, Birmingham

The latest news, pics and chat from the Cadbury community.

Brownhills Bob’s Brownhills Blog, Walsall

Life in the northern wastes of Walsall

I’m a middle-aged tech geek with a love of cycling and the outdoors; I care passionately about people, the environment we all share and the social stuff that glues us together. I do a job that makes me think about how things work, and have an inquisitive, argumentative nature. I know what it’s like to be a carer, and what it’s like to struggle and only just survive.

I love Brownhills, it’s my home. I despair of what is happening to it. I’m concerned about the motivations of those who make descisions on our behalf, about their judgement and lack of foresight. I fear for the future of local democracy.

Created in Birmingham, Birmingham

Linking up Birmingham’s Artistic and Creative Communities.

Created in Birmingham is a weblog that has been written on an almost daily basis since January 2008, promoting, discussing and being part of Birmingham’s vibrant creative community. An online home for the Birmingham arts scene.

Creative Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton – (running on and off since 2006)

The aim of Creative Wolverhampton is to promote professionals and individuals practicing and studying in the city, and to provide a showcase for the creative and cultural industries.

On this blog you will find news, articles, events and updates about the creative and cultural industries in the Wolverhampton area.

CW was devised by Debut in 2006. The site is maintained and updated by Debut, with a small group of regular contributors who share the desire to raise Wolverhampton’s profile as a creative city.

Digbeth is Good, Birmingham

‘Blog covering Digbeth, an inner city area of Birmingham currently suffering from a severe case of the regenerations. Symptoms include schizophrenia and susceptibility to artists. Also has lots of old man pubs.’

The Lichfield Blog, Staffordshire (* – well established group blog, filling gap for closed local paper)

The site was created as a platform for my views on this strange little corner of South Staffordshire. Thankfully, the site has proved popular enough to be expanded and introduce a wealth of new writers and contributors – many of whom will be introduced over the coming weeks.

Pits’n'Pots – The Radical Press, Stoke-on-Trent

This is the chance for all the people of Stoke on Trent to have their say on the issues that are facing our city. Local politics & news. We write about the stories that attract the most local interest, and give you the chance to have your say.

Tamworth Blog, Staffordshire

Tamworth Blog is a blog for both local people and those looking at visiting the beautiful, Staffordshire market town.  The aim of the blog is to open discussion to discuss developments in the town and things that effect us.

Wednesfield Blog, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton

WV11.co.uk is website for people living and working in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton (and nearby). WV11 refers to the postal code of the area.

Our aim is to create somewhere online that covers local news and events, and generates discussion about issues that affect the local community. We hope you join us.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Bishopthorpe dot net, York, Yorkshire

This is a community web site and has a range of sections all about local affairs here in Bishopthorpe, York.