Petit Fours
(4 December 2025)
𧢠This weekâs âTop Pickâ @WeightmanPR: Taking a bite out of Tunstall Tortillas
Staffordshire oatcakes hold a special part in the lives - not only of the people of The Potteries - but also of anyone who have ever visited Stoke-on-Trent and tried one! Nothing quite says Stoke-on-Trent, or reaches into the culture and DNA of The Potteries quite so much as a delicious, hot oatcake oozing with a filling of your own choice. Now, a brand new book Tunstall Tortillas by award-winning, Stoke-on-Trent-born photographer, David Fletcher, is set to take a fresh bite out of the Staffordshire Oatcake. What started as a mission to simply document the remaining oatcake shops in Stoke-on-Trent quickly turned into something much bigger for Fletcher who, since 2023, has been crisscrossing the city, capturing everything from long-standing family businesses still cooking on original stoves to exciting new entrepreneurial ventures. This beautifully illustrated photo-documentary is a mouth-watering portrait of a cityâs food, culture, and community - the perfect âsnapshotâ of one of the key ingredients that makes Stoke-on-Trent so special.
𧢠Derby: the city where modern art began?
This is quite a claim. For any city in the world. But for Derby to even be a part of the conversation, when such grand matters of art are discussed in the finest museums and galleries around the globe, speaks volumes for the fact that the city is being talked of as the place where one of the biggest tipping points in art history took place - from âtraditionalâ, to âmodernâ. And itâs writer and art historian Matthew Wilson, who has opened the debate through BBC Culture Online, by claiming, Why this 1768 painting could be the real birth of modern art. The painting he is referring to is Joseph Wright of Derbyâs An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768) - one of The National Galleryâs Top 10 most requested paintings, and presently one of the many stars of the show at The Nationalâs exhibition which runs to 10 May, Wright of Derby: From the Shadows. âWhile many argue that âmodern artâ began in the 1800s,â writes Wilson. âCould it actually have started with Joseph Wright of Derbyâs An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, nearly a century before?â
𧢠A Winterâs Trail - follow in the footsteps of Rimbaud in Charleville-MĂŠzières
A finally⌠a seasonal take on following in the footsteps of world famous poet Arthur Rimbaud. Born in Charleville in 1854, and buried in 1891 a few steps from Place Ducale in the cemetery of Avenue Boutet, the legend of Rimbaud - âthe man with soles of windâ - still lives-on in The French Ardennes. And for the past few years, locals and visitors alike have been able to follow in the footsteps of the regionâs âenfant terrible of Charlevilleâ through a remarkable contemporary visual and historic art trail. The giant illustrations on the walls of the city cross between an illustrated book and an open-air museum, which also pass by the entrances to a museum and a house which reveal still more about the man, his life, and his work. Copies of the trail are available at the Charleville-Sedan Tourist Office and at the MusĂŠe de lâArdenne, both located Place Ducale in Charleville-MĂŠzières. A free audio guide to discover the route is also available via a QR code, here.
𧢠Going loco down at The Engine Room
The Engine Room, located on Riverlights Boulevard in Derby, just metres from the River Derwent, has brought more âupscale-casual diningâ to the heart of the city centre. Offering âbold flavours, an inviting atmosphere, and an easy-going approach to serviceâ, The Engine Room doffs its Guardâs cap to the cityâs rich railway history. Located within the Holiday Inn that is soon to be reinvented as a the first Voco Suites offering in the UK, The Engine Room has been created not only as a place to eat, but also a place for locals and visitors to the city to gather, share and savour.