Miles Ellingham

24 hours in Kyiv | The Observer Art, raves and four-minute warnings: how the city’s young are clinging to normality while war rages on

Two weeks ago, @observeruk.bsky.social sent me to Kyiv. There’s normality in the capital but it’s fragile and continuously interrupted by war and fear and violence. I wrote a diary and tried to capture that. observer.co.uk/style/featur...

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Why do fascists love yoga? | The Observer For more than a century, elements of the far right have been attracted by the rigour of eastern disciplines. But does the connection stand up?

My first piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social about a fascinating new book and the hellish gateway at the centre of the fascism/yoga Venn diagram. This was a strange one to research.
observer.co.uk/culture/book...

I'll still be writing for The Londoner; I love London, but I'm also excited to cover events outside the M25.

Cleaning the dark: What goes on in the Underground after the last train Every night, workers scrub a mixture of hair, skin and metal filings from the walls of the Tube. Miles Ellingham joins them for a shift.

7. Cleaning the dark

I walked under the earth for this. I still think about how the air felt down there. It was thick.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/tube-cleaner...

Seizing the means of promotion How to mount a coup at a non-league, east London football club

6. Seizing the means of promotion

This explains how to foment lasting revolutionary praxis at a non-league, east London football club.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/story-of-cla...

Dog Days At Romford: London’s last surviving greyhound track Romford Stadium will soon be the last dog racing facility within the M25. Miles Ellingham visits the outpost and traces the sport’s controversial history.

5. Dog Days At Romford

Greyhound racing is deeper than you think, as is Romford.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/londons-last...

To catch a hooligan Over the years, the Met have developed a network of “spotters”, dedicated to monitoring football violence. Miles Ellingham shadows them for a day.

4. To catch a hooligan

Enjoyed following the Met's policing unit around as they searched for football hooligans. Sadly this meant I had to spend an extended amount of time with Tottenham fans but there you go.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/to-catch-a-h...

“I thought I was in heaven.” How residents actually feel about "the deadliest estate in Britain". Back in 1961 the Brandon estate was meant to revolutionise social housing. Then its reputation declined.

3. “I thought I was in heaven.” How residents actually feel about “the deadliest estate in Britain”.

The Brandon was labeled “Britain’s deadliest estate” by The Times. I got to know residents and something more nuanced emerged.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/i-thought-i-...

The maverick who built London's best club Jan Mohammed shot AK-47s with the Mujahideen and raved in prison. Now he's remaking the capital's nightlife in his image.

2. The maverick who built London’s best club

Jan really is a maverick. This story goes from Venue MOT to some unexpected places head-spinningly fast.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/the-maverick...

Inside the hidden, (mostly) silent convent at the heart of London Meet the cloistered nuns of Tyburn. They're always praying and can't leave except to vote or access medical care.

1. Inside the hidden, (mostly) silent convent at the heart of London

This was probably the best story I wrote. Harry Mitchell and I spent time with the Tyburn nuns who are literally always praying and only leave the convent to vote or access medical care.

www.the-londoner.co.uk/inside-the-h...

🚨 Thought it might be worth posting that I'm going freelance. Please get in touch if you need some writing or just want to meet for a chat. I really enjoyed working as a staffer at The Londoner and I'm very proud of the features I produced there. Here’s some of my favourites.

Counting the homeless dead Every year, hundreds of homeless people die in London. If we don't know they existed, how can we mourn them?

Whilst researching this for @londonermag.bsky.social, I often had to pause and pace about the room or leave to catch my breath outside. It's about the homeless dead. It's a hard read, but, I think, a necessary one. Great edits by @hkatewilliams.bsky.social.
www.the-londoner.co.uk/counting-the...

In 2018, the Brandon was dubbed 'the deadliest estate in Britain'. For the past few days, I've been speaking to dozens of residents about their lives. I ended up writing about it for @londonermag.bsky.social

“I thought I was in heaven.” How residents actually feel about the deadliest estate in Britain. Back in 1961 the Brandon estate was meant to revolutionise social housing. Then its reputation declined.

You can read the piece here (for free):
www.the-londoner.co.uk/i-thought-i-...

In 2018, the Brandon was dubbed 'the deadliest estate in Britain'. For the past few days, I've been speaking to dozens of residents about their lives. I ended up writing about it for @londonermag.bsky.social

The maverick who built London's best club Jan Mohammed shot AK-47s with the Mujahideen and raved in prison. Now he's remaking the capital's nightlife in his image.

Tme Out named Bermondsey's Venue MOT the 'best club in London'. Even in the eccentric world of nightlife, the maverick who built MOT stands out.

@milesellingham.bsky.social meets Jan Mohammed, the Wakefield boy who smuggled heroin, threw prison raves & is keeping a DIY spirit alive.

The maverick who built London's best club Jan Mohammed shot AK-47s with the Mujahideen and raved in prison. Now he's remaking the capital's nightlife in his image.

Read it here (this one's free) - www.the-londoner.co.uk/the-maverick...

Before he was a club owner, Jan was throwing raves in prison cells and firing AKs with the mujahideen. He's currently watched over by his 55kg XXL Pitbull, Sox, who Mohammed occasionally enlists to help him chase away homophobes and racists.

Prepare to enter the weird world of Jan Mohammed. For @londonermag.bsky.social , I spent hours knocking back blue tequilla slushies with the man behind what Time Out has labelled “London’s best club". This one goes to strange places.

To catch a hooligan Over the years, the Met have developed a network of “spotters”, dedicated to monitoring football violence. Miles Ellingham shadows them for a day.

Here's the piece - have a read: www.the-londoner.co.uk/to-catch-a-h...

I shadowed a team of 'spotters' — specialised cops in the Football Policing Unit who monitor and follow 'high risk' fans. I wrote about the experience for @londonermag.bsky.social . Some incredible pics from Harry Mitchell in there too.

Postcard from Tokyo: the romance of heavy industry by night [FREE TO READ] ‘Kojo yakei’ cruises offer the chance to see oil refineries, chemical plants and steel works as dusk falls

Nocturnally staring at a load of factories was unexpectedly the best thing I did in Japan. I wrote about it for the @financialtimes.com - on.ft.com/43l2NKV

Some really inspiring stories in there too.

You can read it @londonermag.bsky.social . It's about the burden of hope and the thin line between dreams and nightmares.

"It's like the hunger games": How to try for West End stardom On Tuesday, hundreds of young aspiring performers waited up to ten hours outside the Other Palace Theatre for nothing. These are their stories.

On Tuesday I waited in a queue of aspiring actors hoping to land a part in the Percy Jackson musical. Hundreds waited for over nine hours only to be turned away without even being seen by casting. I spoke to some of these people and a piece emerged.
www.the-londoner.co.uk/its-like-the...

Speaking in Small Tongues Happy-clappy times in Knightsbridge and beyond.

An oil trader and an Old Etonian with a genius for PR, was Justin Welby the worst Archbishop of Canterbury since Thomas Arundel?

@milesellingham.bsky.social and @coramazov.bsky.social investigate

www.the-fence.com/speaking-in-...

Digging up London How the capital became one of the most densely excavated cities in the world

I’ve got a feature out in @londonermag.bsky.social about how London became one of the most densely excavated cities in the world. www.the-londoner.co.uk/digging-up-l...

After hours with 10 Foot, London’s most notorious graffiti writer He risks his freedom and his life nightly. Why?

If you enjoyed the recent @bigissue.com special on 10foot there’s a tremendous FT (!) longread on him from a couple of years back courtesy @milesellingham.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/45a1...

Really loved the little details of this @milesellingham.bsky.social piece.

Especially the fact that a model who has been in cover shoots for Gucci and Dior is one of the leading volunteers in the Natural History Museum's basement beetle rooms.