The Shrewsbury Biscuit Podcast

Join Alex as he takes on Loopfest 2023. With his mic in-hand he is determined to cover as much of the festival as he can. But with over 120 artists performing at 25 different venues across Shrewsbury he far can he realistically get? Starting at Shrewsbury Castle, moving onto the Bulls Head and then finishing at The Anchor Inn, it seems not very far! Biting off more than he can chew, this task was...

Today this episode is brought to you via the River Severn. Alex and Verity are on the Sabrina Boat's picnic boat and for this episode they will be talking about river safety. Joining the show for this one are experts on river safety Andy Neal and David Brown for West Mercia Search and Rescue. Also joining the show is representative from 'Make Our River Safer' - Victoria Ireland. Where does 'Make O...

Today we are talking about the Shrewsbury International Comedy Festival 2023. We have idly watched by as this magnificent event rolls into town year after year. So we are very pleased to be in amongst it this year. Alex is joined my Canadian comedy superstar JJ Whitehead and festival organisers Beth McGowan and Neville Street. We spend the first half of the show talking to JJ about his career and...

This is such a fantastic episode, whether you enjoy art or not. When we talk about passion, especially that which comes from hunger or desire, it is really hard to not find it infectious. Alex is at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery for a private exhibition for Shrewsbury Arts Trail 2023. We have all seen the pictures of the amazing sculptures throughout the town, this is the sculpture trail. Well...

It's the 10 year anniversary of Shrewsbury Food Festival, the sun is shining and The Quarry is absolutely buzzing with activity. Alex and Verity are on site for another spectacular event with mics in-hand, ready to document this fine occasion. To add a fun twist on interviews for this episode Alex and Verity are going head to head in a game called Word Up! A game where they take random words that...

In this bumper episode we bring you 2 great pieces of content, all squished into one. Part one Alex enlisted the help of Tara Brindle from the Courtyard Collective to go into the rural village of Ryton where a meeting was taking place. This meeting was a gathering of locals who are planning on saving their local pub, The Fox Inn by turning it into a community Pub. Alex and Tara speak to Davide Tho...

We missed UK Proms in the Park last year, much to our disappointment. So we were delighted to be invited to come along to this year's event, set at the West Mids Showground. The UK Proms in the Park is an open-air classical concert featuring a wonderful orchestra lead by Alex Postlethwaite and conducted by Joe Davies. When is comes to culture, classical music is the engine that drives it. Whether...

For this episode Alex is joined by Kate Taylor, a very well established writer and editor who has embraced a new lease of life without the one thing that was causing her so much anguish, alcohol. After deciding to quit the booze Kate found an inspiring community online who offer warm, judgement free support for those wanting to make such a big change to their lives. Kate has an online following of...

Well here we are again, The Belle Vue Arts Festival 2023. When Alex talks about The Shrewsbury Biscuit, he always talks about it being like viewing Shrewsbury on and iPad (other brands are available) and you zoom in closer and closer until you find an interesting story. We have never found it difficult to find extraordinary people to talk about. Events like the BVAF make it so easy to find interes...

This episode is almost an investigational piece. As Alex isn't from the rural or farming world and having never attended the County Show, (I know right!?) the mission today is to find out what this show is and what it means to people. So Alex starts off by speaking to the young farmers of Shropshire, speaking to Mollie from Shropshire Federation of Young Farmers, moving onto Edward from the NFU -...

Alex and and Verity are coming to you from Albert & Co's Frankville in Frankwell. They are speaking to LOOPFEST organiser Jamie, who is on to talk about his journey with music in Shrewsbury/Shropshire and the conception of LOOPFEST. LOOPFEST is an event that takes place on Saturday 8th July across 25 different venues, offering entertainment from 125 different acts. All of this needs to be orga...

As this episode was recorded, it was Mental Health Week so for this one we thought we'd let Shropshire Mental Health Support take over. So joining Alex and Verity, we have Maree and Ruth (from Shropshire Mental Health Support) who have brought along a guest to speak to. Our guest today is Helen Pritchard, who unfortunately lost her son Stephen to suicide in early January 2020, just one week after...

This is episode 1/3 Alex and 'Bigger-Mini Biscuit' Leon are here to cover two days of DRAWN 2023. It has become a welcome tradition for The Biscuit to feature at this event and it was a huge privilege to speak to so many wonderful creatives. Starting off with DJ Raggs, what a guy he is. Started DJing in his 70's and is now absolutely smashing it. Gary Drew, of course we HAD to speak to him, he's o...

This is episode 2/3. Alex and Leon return for Day Two of DRAWN at the Flaxmill in Shrewsbury. They had a room full of Shropshire's finest artists and a PORTABLE MICROPHONE you know, so they could get about and speak to people! The task of the day was doing this all before the batteries ran out so the best way to do this was with a good ole Biscuit-run. Hit record, walk and talk and don't stop unti...

This is episode 3/3. To wrap things up at DRAWN 2023 we thought it was a great idea to sit down with our good friend Charlie Adlard, co-creator of The Walking Dead, comic-book royalty and one of the most iconic UK artists, y'know that guy. With a little help from Leon, Cherie Jerrard and Pearl, Alex gets deep into conversation about, well, everything really. We wrote a list and yeah, they pretty m...

Alex Whiteley is ready, mic in-hand on the football fields at SCAT (Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology) on London Road. This mission today is to speak to coaches, parents and players about the world of coaching, girls football and the positive impact it can have. Alex speaks to coaches Adam, Jess and Marv about the roles that they play at Shrewsbury Up and Comers u11 Girls. Women's football...

Imposter Syndrome...what is it? How do we face it and how do we stay motivated when there's a mind-goblin telling you you're not worthy? Well you mentally punch that goblin in the nose and prove it wrong. A life coach is a great person to have around when you need to make some positive changes. Today's guest Mandy Taylor is a life coach who is at the beginning of a career where she is determined t...

How do we talk about cancer? Do you, or have you struggled to have conversations with friends or family about their cancer? Is there a way we can approach the subject without being too intrusive? Well, today on the Biscuit Alex and verity are joined by Mary Perry, a survivor of breast cancer who is here to talk to us about her journey in a really relaxed, casual way. This episode felt so natural,...

Alex Whiteley is at the Shrewsbury Town FC Supporters Awards Night at Montgomery Waters Meadow. It was an intimate event with only around 200 supporters and the whole Shrewsbury Town present who were up for awards nominated by the supporter groups attached to the club. The goal today is to investigate the connection between the supporters and the club, especially as a huge effort has been made by...

Today Alex is chatting about travel with Rhian. Who, after experiences her own travel adventures is going to be passing on her knowledge in a series of seminars at Highly Flammable Studios from 12th May. We start off by discussing Rhian's own adventures and the lessons she has learned along the way. Travelling is something that envelops us all in a mixture of emotions and may give us multiple reas...

Please read the bottom of this, we have a challenge for you. We have a very cool show for you today. Featuring guest co-host, all the way from Australia, Rich Carter. Rich has been a close friend of The Biscuit from the very beginning and AL was super pleased to have him by his side to speak to todays guest. Author Kate Mclanachan sits with Alex and Rich to discuss her book "The Workhouse Almanac:...

The sun is starting to peek it's head out and we are about to embark on festival season. With Shropshire being such a cool festival county, it seems fitting that we sit and discuss one of the biggest festivals of the year, Camp Bestival. Alex and Verity are joined by Bestival founder and world famous DJ, Rob Da Bank. There is not much that isn't covered in this interview. Starting off with how doe...

In this Episode TV chef and friend of the show Marcus Bean drops in to chat with Alex and Verity. First thing's first, apologies are in order for the technical difficulties that were had at Pod Aid back in September. But what can you do eh? We get a recap of Marcus' rise to fame, his story is astonishing, especially for a self-taught chef. How does someone without a fancy culinary education get on...

For this special episode Alex is joined by Katy Rink from My Shrewsbury Magazine at Shrewsbury Ark. The Ark is a hub for people that are homeless or are need of support for adverse reasons. The mission for today is to understand what Shrewsbury Ark offers in way of support and also to open up a channel to its users. Speaking to Chair of Trustees Emily Bell, we find out about the day to day running...

Join Alex and Verity as they sit down with good friend of the show Thomas Corbett, who is representing Shrewsbury Wargames Society. Alex is not at his er...best today so it's a good job he has a brilliant co-host and guest to prop him up. From the very beginning, blanking on the name of not just a guest, but a genuine friend that he's about to speak to. The needle definitely scratched the vinyl on...