Cardiff Life is one of the many up-market glossy's produced by Media Clash, a Bath based publishing…read morehouse that concentrates its efforts on putting together a suite of publications that cover some of the most desirable areas in the South West of England and South Wales. It's possible to find healthy stacks of these magazines in cafes and restaurants where it is permitted to take them away for free, even though there's a cover price... all very peculiar! The Cardiff publication "celebrates the best of city living". Published every three weeks, it includes features and classified adverts covering property, arts, dining and shopping, in Cardiff, Cowbridge and Penarth. The editorial is well written and the presentation of the content is colourful, and employs tasteful design principles. The only problem is that the stories that are featured don't usually tend to appeal to me as an individual, but occasionally they'll carry something of real interest.

Reminiscent of The Guardian's Guide, The Cut is one of the best free listings magazines Bristol has…read moreto offer. On the whole, these freebie mags tend to be jammed packed with adverts making it all gloss and no content. The Cut is completely different - its main focus is to show locals Bristol's best of the best in the world of music, theatre, arts, comedy and food. This monthly guide has listings, interviews and features on local Bristol businesses and people. The writing is witty, fresh and interesting, and the design is arty and accessible. It's the essential magazine for locals and visitors to the city to find out where to eat, dance and laugh. As a well known cheapskate it takes a lot for me to say this - but The Cut is the only free magazine that I'd actually pay cold hard cash for (but am eternally grateful that it remains free of charge!) The best places to pick it up are in Park Street shops, St Nicholas Market and Thekla.

This is one of the newer free music magazines in the Bristol area. It's a wonder that so many…read moremanage to survive. You've got Venue the paid for listings magazine, then comes 247 Magazine for all your music needs and there's a couple more smaller ones, The Scene, Suit Yourself Magazine and now The Cut. What amazed me about The Cut is that it had no adverts in it. How the heck was it funded? If you've been in publishing at all you will know that free magazines rely on advertising to pay the bills. It is the bane of any journalists life, having to cut pages due to a lack of advertising to pay for the print run but The Cut does not appear to have this problem and I just don't get it. Perhaps they will start pulling in the ads in future editions? It's largely written by an ex Bristol Evening Post and Venue music writer who knows her stuff so is a good read and the ones I've seen have pretty good artwork too.

Martin is The Big Issue vendor featured in the pictures. He's been selling The Big Issue on…read moreGloucester Road for the last five years. His story is an interesting one, and he's willing to share it with anyone who'd like to spend the time of day with him. He can also tell you a fair amount about Gloucester Road as well. He is both a landmark and a wellspring of information on this well loved street. Martin freely admits that The Big Issue has helped liberate him from his addictions, kept him out of jail, and made it possible to get his own flat. As far as he's aware the sales for The Big Issue have stayed pretty much the same regardless of the recession. He has noticed however, that there are a few less vendors out on the streets, and there are more 'foreigners' selling the magazine. As far as he's concerned, sales over the last five years have remained the same, allowing him to maintain a reasonable lifestyle. The format of the magazine has not changed a great deal over the last few years. It carries great editorial and picks up interesting stories that don't often get covered by other publications. I personally really appreciate the listings section, and the top ten things to do section has influenced my choices on a number of occasions.

Big Issue is a nationwide initiative developed to grant homeless people gainful employment in an…read moreattempt to build the esteem needed to get themselves off of the streets. The magazines are intended to take the place of 'spare any change?' and set people who have struggled to find work on the right track.. Although the journalism isn't always fantastic, there are some extremely interesting contributions from the people on the streets themselves. At the end of the day, you don't really buy the Big Issue to read it, you buy it because of the message of social change. The vendors are often enthusiastic and charming and nowhere near as intrusive as the 'charity muggers' who claim similar territory. So do the right thing, hunt for your spare change and buy a copy.

Bristol University's long-established student paper, entirely run, written and published by a team…read moreof hard-working students. Since I've been at university the paper has improved enormously. Although the current layout is a bit of a Guardian rip-off, it's still looking a lot better than it was before. The website has also been developed and is looking fairly good at the moment. It's a decent student paper although nothing particularly ground-breaking. The quality of writing has improved although is still patchy. Some of the articles are a tad insubstantial or ill-thought out as well. I remember as well numerous teething problems in printing articles - it was heart-breaking to slave over a piece only to find that the closing sentence had been lopped off by a failure to size the page correctly before submission to the printers. Gripes aside, the Epigram is probably of minimal interest to anyone other than students. It's worth a flick through in moments of boredom but until it gets its act together is condemned to line dustbins.

The Epigram is the Bristol University paper, run, and written by the student body. It is published…read moreonce every 2 weeks, and is much the same as the paper you get through your letterbox, although a little broader and student orientated. I find the student directed articles frustrating. They are a complete waste of time and pretty irrelevant and get in the way of the rest of the paper, which directs good writing at interesting topics. The Epigram have recently created a new very impressive website, much like the national newspapers, which is worth a look if you can't get your hands on the actual publications. Pick one up in any of the student buildings.

This Newsquest-owned local newspaper is a great example of a local town-based newspaper. It has an…read moreoffice in Thornbury, which is a great start considering the amount of 'local' papers which are now based in souless offices on out of town industrial estates in order to save a bob or two. Thankfully they don't appear to cut corners on the staffing front and have a small but dedicated team of reporters who make sure no stone is unturned when it comes to covering local issues, be it council meeting or planning applications or local crime waves and new businesses opening. As with all good local papers they have a regular jobs section and property section which is a must see for job hunters and house hunters respectively. The health reporter is a notable addition to the team covering all the major news from not just Thornbury but Bristol, where a lot of Thornbury folk go for healthcare.

Sawdays are a book publisher based in an old barn in Long Ashton. It is no ordinary barn, its an…read moreeco barn and that's because Sawdays are an extremely green, ethical, zero emissions publisher. The offices have a pond and all their water is cleansed through reed beds. They have natural light and solar panels and everything is recycled. The atmosphere is one of serenity through sustainability. Now to the books themselves - glorious guides on special places to stay across the world (French Bed and Breakfasts, Ireland, Italian Hotels etc) but all with a green twist. They also publish the Big Earth series, the eco strand of their exercise, and the more recent Go Slow series about a slower, greener pace of life. I've been lucky enough to have worked with Alastair himself and the rest of the team and they are passionate and dedicated to the properties they write about in the books and on the website. They are not simply a money making machine. Their ethos and ideals are well placed just outside a city where issues of saving the planet are really adhered to and believed in.

I had my property on with alistair sawday .They charge a hefty £400 plus for a stint to publicise a…read moreproperty on their website. I must have been deluded when i thought Alistair sawday to be somwhat up market amd somhow customer friendly. i got very few booking with them ,certainly nothing like you may expect from a brand name apparently so established in tourism.My experience is that the brand is full of hot air and dosnt deliver anything near what you .would expext.it highly overated . The core business seems to be publishing books and it appears they are not really interested in the holiday cottage side of the business and certainly not in customer care. i had the most awful experiense with a manager who shall remain nameless but with an attitude as bad as hers she will know who she is ! i think the company may see itself as somthing superior as they all tend to come across in that way .problem is they just dont deliver and i have spoken to many people who feel the same. i removed my property off the market which incidently is 90% booked throghout the year ,as it was almost a liability being associated with them. i definately would not recommend them interms of advertising a holiday property on their site ...if you do you may be extremely dissappointed! even more dissapointed if you dare call them up with any issues !

The Bristol Nine is a great little community magazine especially for the BS9 area…read more I am currently reading the March addition, their 48th issue and it contains all sorts of information about businesses and events in the area. The mag reaches over 10,000 homes and businesses each month so if you are looking for an advertising option and have something to offer in the BS9 area then this could be what you're looking for! There's a nice mix of local independent businesses and bigger, verging on corporate ones.

Don't be misled by the title of this magazine! Thankfully, it isn't exactly what it says on the…read moretin! What it is, is an amazing free monthly music publication that predominantly caters for the electronic music scene. Crack magazine, however, is much more than a music magazine; It is about modern music, modern youth culture and art. I've been reading Crack for quite some time and they have some of they pull articles and features from some of the biggest electronic music artist in the world - Nina Kravitz, Maya Jane Coles, Todd Terje and Flying Lotus to name just a few! I don't think I've ever had an edition that I've read for less than a a few hours, or picked up less than a dozen times. Half the fun of Crack is finding one. You wont find one in WH Smiths, but you will find a pile of them in the doorway of some cool bars, cafes and pubs around Bristol. Crack also set up brilliant parties in some of Bristol mist unused and unground venues. I've been to a couple and loved them. The guys that run the magazine are also heavily involved in The Christmas Steps pub, which was formerly the 3 sugar loaves. Keep your eye out for Crack!

This magazine is great. There have only been 4 issues so far, but having picked up the last one in…read morethe Flyer on Gloucester road, I began thumbing through it - and very much liked what I saw. It really stands out from the other free publications in the area. Firstly it looks like a newspaper rather than a glossy mag, which gives the impression that you're going to be reading something substantial - which you are. Secondly, there are loads of interesting and in-depth features and articles inside focusing heavily on the music, art and fashion scenes in Bristol. You'll find interviews with local bands and international artists alike, as well as a centre fold poster and even a crossword section at the back. Oh and also, did I mention... it's called Crack. Excellent.