Lee Gale

In autumn 1940, as the Battle of Britain raged, Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Göring gazed across the Channel towards Dover’s white cliffs and asked German fighter ace Adolf Galland what he’d need to defeat the RAF. “Eine Ausstattung von Spitfires für meine Gruppe (An outfit of Spitfires for my group),” was Galland’s reply. Göring’s response wasn’t noted but as the newly appointed Reichsmarschall was under intense pressure from Berlin to gain air superiority prior to an invasion of England (planned between Worthing and Folkestone), we can assume he wasn’t overly impressed. Adolf Hitler expected swift victories against air forces equipped with obsolete biplanes, not a furious defence by an island of obstinate garden-shed inventors.

When Brodsworth Colliery closed in 1992, the community spirit of nearby Woodlands in Doncaster was seemingly lost forever. But as the finest example of a workers’ village in Britain celebrates its centenary, Lee Gale discovers that a little yellow booklet has locals talking to each other again .

Budapest’s annual music festival is better attended than Glastonbury but chances are you’ve never heard of it. It’s planned as a British gathering which is why Sziget feels like a home away from home. It even has bobbies on the beat…

With its problems of prostitution and drug-dealing, King’s Cross in London had reached the end of the line, but £3bn of investment and an influx of artists and creative minds are changing the perception of this former no-go zone

One of the main problems with casual fashion is that the Iberian peninsula and, by association, South America, holds too much sway over the way the British currently dress. Where once our fashion pointers were derived from All Creatures Great And Small, golf or WWII armed forces, today’s High Street hotsteppas are more likely to resemble Mario Kempes on a post-Argentina ’78 beach holiday.

You see a simple lamp-post. Lee Gale sees an illuminating piece of design history. Here he shines a light on his eccentric passions, visits a secret street-lighting museum and tracks down a twin-armed concrete classic in Purley

You’d need to know New Order’s back catalogue with McWhirter-like obsession to realise that the soundtrack to the Indesit Moon washing machine commercial is Hey Now What You Doing from the 2005 album Waiting For The Sirens’ Call. New Order and white goods – let’s Hoover up the irony. I once asked bassist Peter Hook if drugs were ever a problem with the band, and he replied; “Yeah, sometimes we couldn’t get hold of any for days.”

One of the unsung architects of the Manchester sound, the Salford stalwart has influenced every major musical movement of the past 35 years. Whether pioneering post-punk with Joy Division, melding rock/dance with New Order, or blowing £1m on a nightclub, “Barney” was there. As his band limber up for an Olympic concert, GQ pays tribute to the straight man of Madchester

Do you claim to be the best driver on the road? Well, your crown might be slipping. In last year’s budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond proclaimed that driverless vehicles will be seen on UK roads from 2021 – and that we’d better be prepared for it.

YOUR DJ 2-NITE!
Moss from Daytoner, DJ, modern funk & soul leviathan and regular on BBC Radio 6 Music’s The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show.