The first in a two-part series of features written about JRR Tolkien's connection to Somerset. The mother of famed film director Edgar Wright was a great source of information for this feature, which uses images drawn by Edgar's brother in his youth. This feature, and its sequel, are the only times I've designed a page myself. I was aiming for a Two Towers bookend approach and devised the Elvish script myself. See the next feature for the translation.

A surprise star. I expected this feature to be spiked upon submission as it was not what was commissioned and faintly critical of Glastonbury Festival, who are friends of the newspaper. But it ended up on page three of the eight-page pullout and got a commendation in the features category at that year's EDF South West Media Awards

A real joy for me, interviewing a childhood hero. This formed the second of a two-part interview. I grew up reading Simon Furman's TRANSFORMERS, DRAGON's CLAWS and DEATH'S HEAD comics. I firmly blame them for a hobby/passion/addiction spanning two decades. And it was a real buzz to see that fans of his had read this and copy-and-pasted salient facts of it onto the Death's Head Wikipedia page.

Credit to the sub editor for making this a sexy looking beast. This assignment took me, and work experience student in tow, up on top of the Mendip Hills in drizzly weather to watch horses pull strange machines around while watched by men in flat caps. I have a soft spot for this feature, particularly the last line. And the silhouette photo used: a wife rung up to say her husband was clearly identifiable in the shot and we should give them a free copy of the print. We declined, so she bought one instead. Bizarre.

Alan Webb came to the newspaper's attention after the editor heard him speak about the impact of the then press reforms after the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Due to Alan's job, photography was an issue as to publish his face would damage his profession. So we opted for the blurry everyman angle. He was game enough to also pose in the bushes by the smoke shelter outside, climbing out with his face obscured by a camera.

The obligatory 'did you know Hot Fuzz was made in Wells' feature, I'm afraid. On the surface it sounded like a good idea: list the films made in Somerset and re-use some old shots from the library. But lists are very boring. And most of this stuff is already known by readers. So to avoid hitting them over the head with a patronising stick, I did a quiz!

This was like writing 52 haikus. I had to read 52 comics. Then I had to sum each up in 52 words. Then scan 52 covers ...

Not my favourite assignment to do on a Friday night, so to man up my own flagging interest I went a bit experimental on this feature: a repeating circular structure based on the shape of the track and, frankly, a failed attempt to mimic the minimalism of Chuck Palahniuk. The track owner rang up to complain about the quality of the writing upon publication. A few months later, it turned out his real gripe was with what he thought was an unflattering photo of himself.

Simon Furman (despite being a comic book hero of mine) was a real delight to interview. Questions submitted by email, and very full answers received in turn. Class. This was very much a precursor to the Death's Head feature, but I did enjoy creating my own FastFax box in the style of the comic. And the fans rushed to update the Wikipedia page with a few nuggets from the feature.

I was very much going through a motor feature phase when this came up. Which is odd as I hate cars, bikes and lawn mowers. So I attempted to try and find out why men do this strangely silly hobby for fun. I still don't understand it but can't knock its popularity. Though it's a dizzy sport to follow after a few drinks.

The second in a two-part series of features written about JRR Tolkien's connection to Cheddar Gorge. He honeymooned there and his famous passages about Helm's Deep are said to be inspired by the cliffs. This, and its prequel, are the only times I've designed a page myself. I was aiming for a Two Towers bookend approach and devised the Elvish script myself. See feature for the translation.

This was the first feature I wrote for Starburst Magazine (while it was in its infant online form). I was surprised no one had noted the landmark 18th birthday of the comic line - not even parent DC - so it took a long time to research and it's a very long feature, but it's definitive.

This was my fifth time writing about Cheddar Festive Night and struggled to find a fresh angle (the previous year I had been guest of honour and paraphrased the opening of Hunter S Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). So this time I went dressed as a bear, the newspaper's mascot, because no one else would. It was fun.