It’s Looking A Bit Black Over Bill’s Mother’s is a local magazine covering wildlife, nature emergency and conservation issues, natural history, walking, running, cycling and more in Sheffield and the northern Peak District.
I’ve been a feature writer and photographer covering these subjects in the local media for 30 years, but it’s now a real struggle to make ends meet after the vast anti-social media giants hoovered up readers and advertisers under their let’s have your personal data for free, please, business model.
These organisations have no interest in providing real, trustworthy local news, but this publication has that aim as its guiding principle.
I’ve set up this Substack magazine under the wing of the marvellous and supportive Sheffield Tribune. To provide an outlet for in depth news and features in The Outdoor City, we both need your support.
Asking readers to pay a small fee for a decent, reliable, read is working. Do try us out for free for a few weeks. After that, becoming a full paying subscriber is the only way for this publication to survive and thrive.
What Do I Get?
You’ll be the first to see regular news and features from the publication, and you’ll be showing your support for this kind of thing. Full subscribers have access to all posts in our huge archive, and as we gain more full subscribers, there’ll be more posts just for them. And it costs very little: £4 a month at present.
What happens?
New stories arrives in your inbox, or in the free Substack App, if you have it. We have a free read every Sunday morning, a regularly updated What’s Out There listings and links service, and one or two extra features for paid and trial subscribers every so often too.
Our amazing paid subscribers have helped get all this off the ground (thanks everyone!) and will now get a few extra posts every now and then, as well as access to the full archive.
How you help.
Subscribing for free helps me see how many people are reading, which also helps me get other people to talk to me, so I can generate stories.
And if you like what you read, that £4 / month (or £44 / year) subscription will help me pay the bills to keep covering this stuff.
Finally, do tell your friends, family, colleagues, anyone who might be interested, as the more readers we have here, the better.
(To find out more about the company that provides the technology for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.)
And please, sign up here:
