Issue 84 · Autumn 2026 · Free in 60 shops and cafés

News, food and what’s on

Brantwick’s independent magazine since 2014

About the Lantern

Local news, written by locals

An independent magazine for Brantwick and the villages around it. Free in print every month, and online every week.

A cobbled street of old shops strung with bunting

Twelve years of the town’s own paper

The Lantern started in 2014 as a four-page sheet about the fight to keep the Market Hall open. We printed 500 copies, left them in cafés and ran out by lunchtime.

Twelve years later it’s a 48-page monthly magazine, a website and a Friday email, but the idea hasn’t changed. We write about the town we live in: who’s opening, who’s closing, what’s on, what’s good to eat and what the council is up to.

We’re paid for by local advertisers, not a media group, and we never run paid-for stories without saying so. If we get something wrong, we print the correction on page two.

Founded

2014, at a kitchen table on Corn Street

In print

Monthly, 4,000 copies, always free

Online

New stories every week

Owned by

The people who write it

The masthead

Five of us, all living within three miles of the Town Hall.

Portrait of Helen Marsh

Editor

Helen Marsh

Started the Lantern in 2014 after twenty years on regional papers. Writes the front page, edits everything else and answers the letters.

Portrait of Tom Ridley

Deputy editor, business

Tom Ridley

Covers the high street, the council and anyone opening, closing or moving a shop. Grew up above his parents’ newsagent on Bridge Street.

Portrait of Ruby Ainsworth

Food and drink

Ruby Ainsworth

Eats her way round Brantwick so you don’t have to guess. Pays for every meal she writes about and never tells the kitchen she’s coming.

Portrait of Sam Okafor

Listings and what’s on

Sam Okafor

Compiles the listings every week and goes to more quiz nights than is healthy. Send him your event and he’ll put it in for free.

Portrait of Graham Pell

Columnist

Graham Pell

Retired history teacher, parish councillor for nine years and our most argued-with columnist. Writes every other week.

Free every month

Where to find a copy

The new issue is out on the first Friday of each month in 60 places around town. These always get theirs first.

01

Market Hall, north entrance

02

Brantwick Library

03

Corn Street Books

04

Flour & Fern, Station Road

05

Vault, Market Square

06

The Plough, Mill Lane

07

Spoke & Chain, Tanner’s Row

08

Riverside Leisure Centre

Contact the newsroom

The Lantern, 2nd floor, 14 Corn Street, Brantwick BW3 2LT

Story tips and news

Seen something we should know about? Tell us in confidence.

Letters

Up to 250 words, with your name and the part of town you live in.

Advertising

Rates, sizes and deadlines are on the Advertise page.

Corrections: if we get something wrong, email us and we’ll fix it online the same day and print a correction on page two of the next issue.

Create a free website with Framer, the website builder loved by startups, designers and agencies.