Bohemia Village Voice

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Bohemia Village Voice has a new assistant editor, local resident Julian Beecroft. Julian has been a freelance book and magazine editor and writer for a number of years, working for publishers such as Macmillan and A&C Black. Any stories you want reporting or investigating, just let him know by calling on 430460 or emailing him at john@johnhumphries.f2s.com, or else drop in to the office at 79 Bohemia Road (next to Masquerade).
NEW OFFICES
The Bohemia Village Voice moved in to new premises at 79 Bohemia Road at the beginning of February, in time for the relaunch of the newsletter after a break of two months. The office, which according to local resident Annabel Tilley ‘looks fab’, is open to callers every day from 10am until 1pm, though someone is often in the office outside these hours. If you have a story to tell, we want to hear about it.
DISTRIBUTION 
Distribution of the Voice has been greatly increased; it is now being delivered to all homes, businesses and organisations in the following 53 streets: Aldborough Road, Amherst Road, Amherst Gardens, Amherst Road, Barnfield Close, Blomfield Road, Bohemia Road, Buchanan Gardens, Chapel Park Road (to Ellenslea Rd), Cherry Tree Close, Church Road (to Ellenslea Rd), Clarence Road (and Upper Clarence Road), Cloudesley Road, Combermere Road, Cornfield Terrace, Cranbrook Road, De Cham Avenue, De Cham Road, Ellis Close, Five Acre Walk, Gilbert Road, Hillyglen Close, Hop Garden Close, Horntye Road, Linton Road, Linton Crescent, London Road (Needlepoint to Anglesea Road), Lower South Road, Magdalen Road (to St John’s Road), Newgate Road, North Road, Redmayne Drive, Salisbury Road, Selmeston Close, Spring Street, Springfield Road, Springfield Valley Road, St Catherine’s Close, St Matthew’s, Drive, St Matthew’s Gardens, St Matthew’s Road, St Paul’s Place, St Paul’s Road, St Peter’s Road, The Courtyard, Tower Road, Tower Road West, Upper Park Road, Upper South Road, Verdant Close, Winterbourne Close, and Woodland Vale Road.
COPIES
In addition, copies of the Voice are available from Wood’s Newsagents, Munday’s Newsagents, the Shell Garage, Alldays Supermarket, Bookman’s Halt, Empress Art, Hassan Pet Supplies, Horntye Sports Centre, Summerfields Sports Centre, Travelodge and Visual Magic.
DIRECTORY
A new directory of businesses, organisations and individuals trading or practising in Bohemia is due to be published. Proof copies have gone out to each of the 137 names featured, which include schools, churches, political parties and public utilities such as those which line one side of the lower end of Bohemia Road. Some 3000 A5 copies of the Bohemia Village Directory will hit the streets in March, available free from the usual outlets and also delivered to homes and businesses in the local area.
  The compiler and publisher of the new book, John Humphries, who also publishes the Village Voice, says he hopes the Directory proves to be ‘a useful guide to the range of services available in Bohemia, to encourage people to use those services’. John started compiling the list of names in the book back in November last year. He says he is surprised at how many different businesses there are in the area. Something in excess of 800 people are employed by these disparate organisations.
  It is John’s intention to update the Directory on a regular basis, and he already has plans for a second edition to appear some time in the summer. He is presently in the process of calculating how many unused business premises there are in the area. ‘For instance, in Tower Road’, he says, ‘8 out of 16 units are currently not being used as commercial premises, of which 7 have recently been or are now being converted for residential use. Sadly, this kind of commercial decline is echoed to only a slightly lesser extent in London Road and Bohemia Road.’ [JB/JLH]