Crumbling walls, ear-shredding noise, filthy punks and long-haired metal fans, just some of the attractions of Birmingham’s Mermaid Pub during the 1980s. Two life-long friends and musicians, Nicholas Bullen, formerly of Napalm Death, and Johnny ‘Doom’ from Kerrang Radio, tell the story of an unlikely meeting place for anarchist punks and heavy metal fans, and explain how getting really, really drunk can sometimes lead to something beautiful in, ‘The Siren of Sparkhill’.

The Siren of Sparkhill by katherinejhgodfrey