SOUTH SHIELDS

STORIES OF WAR – with award-winning author & freelance journalist Terry Wilkinson

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“I’ve always been fascinated with everything World War Two related and RAF in particular. My grandfather was in the Royal Flying Corps, and both my father and my son were in the RAF” explained Terry.

“I was in the Air Training Corps in South Shields but then a medic came to school to test us all for colour-blindness. I failed the test miserably and was told I would never be accepted by the RAF. I was gutted, as you can imagine”.

Terry lives in Marske on Teesside, but was born in South Shields at midnight 21st– 22nd December 1948…“My mum asked the midwife which day was my birthday. She was told it was the 21st as my head came out on that day. That crosses the Winter Solstice, so my top half is Sagittarius and my bottom half Capricorn. I think this explains why I’ve done so many different jobs in my life” joked Terry.

Throughout his school years his parents moved around the country…

”We lived above a wallpaper shop in Stockton on Tees, then moved to Billingham and later down south to Reading and Mitcham”.

Finally, the Wilkinson family moved back to South Shields where Terry was a pupil at South Shields Grammar Technical School for Boys.

“After leaving school, I worked for the Crown Agents for Overseas Governments in London, then Wise Speke stockbrokers in Newcastle where I became a Member of the London Stock Exchange”.

“From 2000 I ran a successful Theatre in Education company touring schools for 15 years. It won a Best New Business Award but I gave it up in 2015 in order to write”. 

When researching his family tree and local history Terry has always been fascinated by one event.

“At midnight on 3 May 1941, the factory and Head Office of Wilkinson’s Mineral Water Manufacturers in North Shields was hit by a single German bomb. It went through the roof, descending through all three floors, taking all the heavy bottling machinery and chemicals down to the basement – which was in use as a public air raid shelter. 107 died, 43 of which were children. Whole families were wiped out.”

Details of the tragedy can be found in the book North Shields 173: The Wilkinson’s Lemonade Factory Air Raid Disaster (173 was the telephone number of the factory.)

“It is written by my good friend, Peter Bolger, who also manages a comprehensive website on the incident” > www.northshields173.org

“Because of censorship and the government’s desire not to damage public morale, little is known beyond Tyneside. It was, however, one of the largest loss of life incidents from a single bomb during the provincial Blitz”.

“Nothing is known of the identity of the plane which dropped the bomb – type, squadron, mission etc – as German records were mostly destroyed in the closing stages of the war”.

“I wanted to write a story that answered all these questions and create a fictional alternative. Having said that, nobody could say with any conviction this is not what happened”.

Terry started on a series of five espionage novels. ‘Handler’ is set in 1941, ‘Sleeper’ in 1942 and is currently working on the third ‘Chancer’ which covers 1943. 

“They’re a mix of fact and fiction and trace through the war years of an English-born German spy, Howard Wesley, and his nemesis, MI5 agent Albert Stokes”.

“Wesley is a figment of my imagination. Stokes is based on a real character. And this is the pattern for the other books in the series. I also like to plunder WW2 history for little-known incidents and people who feature against the broader background of what was taking place in the war”. 

‘Handler’ won a ‘Chill With A Book’ Premier Readers’ Award just a few months after publication. This spurred Terry on to get others in the series out there as quickly as possible.

“A few of those who have given good feedback have made the point that it would make a good series. I am convinced that it would. I certainly write with a film or TV series in mind”.

“In the shorter term I am hoping to record the whole series as audible books. I recorded an extract from the book that author John Orton is currently writing (link to interview below) and he was happy with it”.

“I’ve spoken to my publisher – UK Book Publishing – and offered them my services as a narrator for others. I’m also an actor, card-holding Equity member and very good at accents and dialects”.

For further information contact Terry on his official website> www.terrywilkinson.co.uk

Social media>

Facebook – Terry Wilkinson, or Twitter – @terrydwilk

Link to John Orton May 2023 interview >

THE STORY SO FAR with author John Orton | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

Alikivi   August 2024

FLYING HIGH – Manhattan, Helicopters & Council Estates

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The site has been live since 2017 and now in 2024 is on course to hit 400,000 views so it’s a big thanks to readers from all over the world.

As the years fly by I find myself looking back and remembering film projects I’ve worked on. Memories may be a bit fuzzy but the good stuff comes to the front.  

During a recent sort out at home I came across a work diary from 20 years ago. A quick flick through revealed a busy summer starting with dates for a short film I was commissioned to make about public art in the North East.

When discussing the project I was asked how would the film be made? Looking at the map of the art trail there’s quite a few sites located over a large area.

Off the cuff I remember replying ‘Well you can get great angles from above…so why not use a helicopter’. To my surprise my suggestion was met with enthusiasm and I was given the green light. Now I’d never been in a helicopter before and I’m not too clever with heights, when leaving the meeting I asked myself why did I even suggest it?  

Back to my office and a quick look through Yellow Pages, yes it was that long ago, I came across Eagle Helicopters based in Newcastle, so put a phone call into them and booked a flight.

One sequence was shooting at Roker Marina in Sunderland, then the Conversation Piece on South Shields seafront and another circling the Angel of the North in Gateshead. To be honest it’s hard to believe it was 20 years ago, but the exhilarating feeling of filming in a helicopter hundreds of feet in the air will always remain.

A couple of weeks after that I flew out to America and enrolled on a film making course at New York Film Academy. Within days of landing at JFK airport and booking into a hotel in East Village, I was shooting a music video on the streets of Manhattan! I picked up some great tips from the Academy’s instructors for future projects.

A month later I returned to South Shields and was approached by South Tyneside Council about making an in-depth documentary recording a regeneration project in the town. Basically, the council tenants were looking to spruce it up. The brief was to document the progress working with the residents. Sounded like a good opportunity to use the techniques I learned in New York. And it was.

I remember first day of filming and a resident asking ‘What do you want to see’? my reply was ‘Show me the worst on the estate and we’ll work up from there’. ‘You’ll do for me’ he said.

He showed me the back of a vacant house where there was a make shift wooden shelter with a sleeping bag and quilt. Obviously, somebody’s bed, somebody’s home.

Years later when reading through those pages it made me realise the highs and lows of documentary film making in one summer. From capturing the celebration of public art from the sky, then brought down to earth by filming real life desperation.

Alikivi   July 2024

STATS FANTASTIC – seven years & counting

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After 500 posts and over 370,000 views, WordPress (who run this blog) have sent their congratulations to the North East culture site after completing its seventh year, aye seven years, can’t believe how quickly time has gone.

From the first post in February 2017, the free site – without any ads, pop ups or clickbait – has gone from strength to strength picking up views not only here in the UK but worldwide, including USA, Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, Australia and European countries Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

First up were metal bands Fist, Mythra, Raven, Satan, Venom and Tygers of Pan Tang followed by music memories from bands including Beckett, Angelic Upstarts, White Heat, Lindisfarne, Lorraine Crosby, Wildhearts, Dance Class, Kane Gang and Southbound.

Searching the site, you’ll find interviews with authors and photographers, there’s also stories from recording studios Guardian and Impulse.

As well as theatre producer Leah Bell and TV actress Lesley Saint-John, by far the most popular post at 15,000, there are stories from roadies, radio presenters and TV production teams.

During the 2020 covid lockdowns people looked for something new to read so their views added to the regular readers, resulting in monthly numbers of 7,000 with a high of 9,700.

Now the site gets a steady monthly count of 4-5,000, I must say a big thanks to everyone who reads the posts – much appreciated.

How long will it last? Well, the phone’s still ringing and stories keep dropping in my inbox, so I’ll keep gaan until the juice runs out.

Alikivi   February 2024

HIDE – new album release from Amateur Ornithologist

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North East prog popsters Amateur Ornithologist release new album Hide on 19th January 2024, with the single Time To Talk out on Friday 12th Jan.

Amateur Ornithologist are a weird pop group. Starting as Daniel Clifford’s solo project, AO has grown to perform as anything from a five-piece to an octet. Due to their adventurous approach to densely-layered, harmony-filled pop the band have earned comparisons to Talking Heads, The Beach Boys and local heroes Field Music

Fusing pop, orchestral, jazz and rock influences to create a grand melodic sound, the band have found a home for their unique musical expressions.

The band have featured on the cover of NARC Magazine, sold-out live shows, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio, Radio Wigwam and a host of radio stations.

Hide reveals ten adventurous songs they’ve crafted creating an album that’s “widescreen” and “richly melodic” (NARC Magazine) with “lush and varied instrumentation” (Dirge).

First single, If It Looks Like Magic, is a slice of gothic post-punk about the Cottingley Fairies and received airplay from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio. Follow-up The Word is Love deals with deceivingly simple matters of the heart to an acoustic Latin backdrop. Third single Time To Talk (12th Jan) charts the difficulties of modern communication, reflected in sharp key and time changes, jerky rhythms and squealing sax.

Hide also features collaborations with musicians from across the North East scene. A Hidden Path, Hide and When They Fall feature cello by Marianne Kell (Belle Skies) and violins by Patrick Lawrence (Detroit Tourist Board). Drums were recorded by youngster Harrison Mitchell (The Strands), with rhythm guitar, percussion and backing vocals by regular collaborator Georgia Foster Adams.

AO’s successful crowdfunding campaign saw the band offer handmade crochet birds and avian Lino-prints in return for the money needed to make and release Hide.

In his South Shields studio, Harbourmaster co-produced the album with lead songwriter Daniel Clifford during summer 2023. Gravel footsteps, handclaps and percussion were recorded for a number of tracks by Crowdfunder supporters, who were treated to cups of tea and biscuits with the band as they worked.

Amateur Ornithologist release Hide on 19th January across all major digital platforms, and on limited edition cassette and CD from the AO Bandcamp. They play a sold out show at The Globe, Newcastle, on the same day with Marc Bird and This Little Bird.

AO line up > Daniel Clifford – vocals, Liam Slack – keys & vocals, Maddie Smyth – viola & vocals, Chris Perriman – bass, Louis Young – guitar, Rob Bailey – saxophones, Theo Nolan – drums, Giovanni Onofri – guitar.

Link to interview in May 2021 with songwriter Daniel Clifford talking about the release of the debut album by Amateur Ornithologist >

BIRDWATCHING with singer & songwriter Amateur Ornithologist | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi   January 2024.

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND

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The site has over 350,000 hits on a blog which when it first went live in 2017 I thought would be read by half a dozen people a day. To mark the occasion here’s snippets from the first few posts which gave the site a solid start and built to around 1,000 reads per week.

If you’ve read the blog a big thanks for your support – much appreciated. If you haven’t, why not give it a go there’s hundreds of great interviews featured, you might be surprised.

“The kids were hungry for this noise, anger, excitement and a do it yourself attitude. It was definitely getting to me, getting in my blood, this raw and visceral sound was becoming addictive. The term New Wave of British Heavy Metal had been coined by then, and yeah it really was a new wave and you’ve gotta go with it… and we did” Brian Ross.

“We jumped on a ferry to do some gigs in Holland. We took this thing around Europe and by then the whole British Heavy Metal scene was red hot so it was one mad scene of gig here, gig there, some stories you can’t tell. When you’ve played the Royal Standard in Walthamstow in front of fifty people and they aren’t interested, then you get out here where they are running after your car, sign my booby and all that, that’s gonna turn anybodys head…and it did” Lou Taylor.

“I remember Joe Strummer saying we’re coming to your gig tonight do you mind if I bring Iggy Pop? We said ‘aye go on then’. The gig was in New York we walked on stage, the lights blazed on and Mensi screamed “We’re the Angelic Upstarts, We’re from England, 1,2,3,4” as I strummed my guitar there was an almighty bang, it all went dark then nothing. There was a huge power cut. They couldn’t get it sorted out so we jumped off stage and went to the bar at the back where The Clash were standing and I ordered a Jack and Coke and said to Iggy Pop “It’ll be sorted in a minute, this sort of thing happens to us all the time” Mond Cowie.

“Creative process for me is always different, some are instant, some are like pulling teeth and it goes on for years, literally. You never can tell. Just have to have a good memory really. Lately I’ve been able to do a single album, a double album and now a triple album. Mind you I’m not planning to buy a yacht or anything on the proceeds!” Bernie Torme

“I remember Bordello doing a showcase for CBS. We really went for it, putting our heart and soul into it you know. A guy called Dave Novek came along to have a look at us, we really laid it on in a good studio. But we found out that we ‘weren’t quite what they were looking for’. A couple of weeks later he signed Sigue Sigue Sputnik!’ Go figure!” Steve Dawson

“I remember getting a call around 1981 from NEAT records owner Dave Woods he asked me if NEAT could include our song ‘Flying High’ on a compilation they were producing called ‘Lead Weight’. Well of course I said yes when he listed the other bands who were going to be on – Fist, Venom, Raven just those three names were enough, they were THE Heavy Metal bands from the North East and to be in their company was fantastic for Warrior. Yes really proud of that”  Dave Dawson.

“1983 saw Cloven Hoof touring throughout the length and breadth of the UK, earning ourselves a sizable underground cult following. In the summer of that year the band recorded a four-track session for the Tommy Vance Friday Rock Show on Radio One and on the strength of the bands popularity Tyneside based NEAT Records signed us to record our first album. Things were starting to happen for the band, we were really in the mix” Lee Payne.

Check the About page above for a full list of features and interviews.

Alikivi  October 2023

THE CRACK – with writer Rob Meddes

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The Crack is a free culture magazine and website providing a valuable service to the North East. Reviews of books, film, stage and music are packed into each monthly edition.

To find out more about the people behind the magazine I got in touch with one of the writers, Rob Meddes.

‘Reading takes up a lot of my spare time now. I review between two and three new novels each month for The Crack. I also love old films, particularly black and white film noirs made between the 1940s and mid-1950s – The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity’.

‘I never set out to be a writer, but stumbled into it through luck more than anything else. I was born in Newcastle and lived here all my life. I’m now 57. I didn’t go to university but on leaving school I did a Youth Training Scheme on computer programming’.

‘I got a job as a programmer but the company I worked for went bust – hopefully not because of my efforts. Then got a job as a civil servant, working at the big site at Longbenton for around four years. I became frustrated at having to do the same thing every day so thought I’d leave and go back to college. The aim? To become an artist’.

‘I did ‘A’ level art and then the Art Foundation course. I was accepted on the Fine Art course at Northumbria University but figured I didn’t want to do another three or more years of that because I really needed a job’.

‘I wrote to loads of different companies to ask if they would take me on, maybe in an admin capacity. The one company that got back to me was The Crack. I did a bit of everything at first – including selling adverts – before moving more onto the writing side of things. That was in 1994 and I’ve been here ever since’.

What changes have you seen since you started at The Crack?

‘What has actually changed most for me is how the magazine is put together. When I started there was no internet, certainly not in our office. Every image in the magazine had to be physically scanned in. Now they’re all digital’.

Have you seem many cultural changes in Newcastle since joining the team?

It’s Gateshead not Newcastle that has seen some of the most compelling big ticket items – Baltic, Sage Gateshead, Angel of the North, The Millennium Bridge. But Tyneside as a whole seems to have become more of a destination for people outside the area who want to sample cultural life in the region’.

What can you see for the cultural future of Tyneside?

‘After 13 years of Tory backed austerity, particularly for the arts, many of our cultural icons are struggling. We’ve already seen The Side Gallery close and The Tyneside Cinema has started to crowdfund. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg’.

‘But often in straightened times, art – in its myriad forms – manages to find a way to bubble to the fore. What hasn’t changed is people’s capacity to get out of the house and go and see stuff, whatever that stuff might be’.

For further info contact the official website:

Art – What’s On | The Crack Magazine

Alikivi    September 2023

RESISTANCE 22 – new album from Tyneside punks, The Fauves

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The Fauves are fronted by vocalist Mick Smith, Allen Hughes on guitar, drummer Bob Rowland & bassist Bri Smith.

Their new album is not exactly a snoozefest. Throughout are overtones of French alt. rock band Trust and twisty riffs alike to New York’s King of the punks, Ramones –  make no mistake The Fauves are on the hunt.

We’re quite busy at the moment. This is our fourth album really, but we count it as our third because most of the songs on the second album Back Off World were redone with Micks vocals, he gave the songs a bit more aggression than the original version explained bassist Bri Smith.

Universal themes of money, war, drugs and love are delivered with seething anger and frustration.

Resistance 22 is obviously a pro-Ukrainian song, No Escape describes the first stages of war in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, while Sanctuary is about wanting to retreat to a quieter world explained frontman Mick Smith.

Who else is in the firing line?

We have a track about the so called social warriors, the compassionate narcissistic types in Shower of Fanatics – while the track Tax me when I’m Dead is about the lazy work shy being financed at the expense of the workers.

Mental health and the darker side of life is examined on Looking in the Mirror and Inject the Poison… That’s about someone overcoming drug addiction while Chemical Curfew is about the overuse of medication and alcohol to keep us in line.

Poverty of Thought is a song about judging and being judged and Sleeping Rough is someone who seeks love on the street because there’s no love at home.

‘You cannot sleep tonight, there’s a face right up close, try to close your eyes again, want to shake off this old ghost’

Among the chaos and debris of life The Fauves retain a sense of humour in the track Where’s Bob.

That’s about a man who will go to any lengths to get the right sound for his band – even killing several soundmen!

For Resistance 22 the band entered Garage Studios in South Shields and again employed the services of Kyle Martin.

Kyle is great, he engineered the album, we’ve recorded all our albums there and it’s also a great place to rehearse. Kyle knows our style of music and knows what sound we like.

He also throws a few ideas in as well. It’s a great little studio, ideal for us and it’s got all the facilities we need added Bri Smith.

We also did a gig at the Bunker in Sunderland in March where it was recorded live. The recording was that good we decided to release it as a live album which will be released soon. It also has a bonus track on, a new version of Slightest Push an old song from years back.

This summer The Fauves are looking to get back on the road to promote their new album.

We are going to break the new songs in gently, maybe introduce three or four songs at a time, we’ve already played a few of them live explained Bri.

We have a few gigs lined up over the coming months, The Black Bull punk festival 30th June, The Underground in Bradford 8th July, Angels Place Sunderland 22nd July, Trillians Newcastle 23rd July then we’ve got the big one on August 6th at The Rebellion four day festival in Blackpool. Really looking forward to that one.

The Winter Gardens stage Rebellion from 3-6 August, bands include The Damned, New Model Army, Big Country, UK Subs, Exploited, The Only Ones and many more. The literary stage features an interview with South Shields born Wildheart, Danny McCormack.

That’s followed by The Punk and Ska Festival in Redcar 7th September, other gigs are being lined up for later in the year at Manchester and other Northern areas.

Check out a promo of the album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO3PVGN4zxw

The new album on CD released on 1st July 2023 costs £10.00 + £2.00 postage in UK and a free exclusive badge until stocks last.

The CD will be available at all gigs from 30th June.

For details including merchandise, contact Phil on thunderbirdsport885@hotmail.co.uk or

Phil Rowland on Facebook Messenger.

From July 1st 2023 the album will be available on all usual online platforms including BandCamp, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Deezer and many others.

Alikivi    June 2023

Check out Ground Zero for more about The Fauves via South Shields punks Angelic Upstarts.

GROUND ZERO – in conversation with Bri Smith & Bob Rowland from Tyneside punks THE FAUVES | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

THE STORY SO FAR with author John Orton

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It’s been nearly ten years since John Orton wrote ‘The Five Stone Steps, A Tale of a policeman’s life in 1920s South Shields. (Link below to interview with John in 2018).

I caught up with him recently and asked about his development as a writer over the last decade.

As a young boy I loved hearing my Nan’s tales of Auld Sheelz – you couldn’t shut Gertie up once she got started. When I was given a dog eared copy of Sergeant Tom Gordon’s Memories, which told as much about the folk of Shields in the 20s and 30s as about the job of the polis, it just inspired me to write.

The Five Stone Steps was well received, particularly in Shields with tales of the polis on night-watch having their little pot of whisky tied to the back door of pubs, back street bookies, and the unlucky prisoners turning up in court with black eyes and broken ribs – ‘an unfortunate accident when he accidentally fell down the five stone steps which led into the cells.’

I started writing a sequel and needed a last chapter set during the Second World War and the blitz on South Shields. First I discovered Amy Flagg’s photographs of the ruins after the raids which are held in South Tyneside Libraries photographic archive https://southtynesidehistory.co.uk/

1930s Holborn, South Shields. pic courtesy of South Tyneside Libraries.

Then I read about the Police Auxiliary Messengers (PAMS) – when phone lines were down during an air raid, lads of 16 and over would be sent out on bikes to deliver urgent messages with bombs flying round their ears.

Mossy Hamed tells the story of the ‘Blitz PAMS’. He’s a lad of mixed race – Arab Da’ and South Shields Ma’ – who rides his grocery delivery bike with his six marras as they live through the first years of the blitz.

Mossy falls for one of the other lads, Jackie – but this is not a modern day story!  Jackie is really a girl who was turned away by the Polis for being a lass so dressed as a lad and got the job.

I really enjoyed writing Blitz PAMs and got straight into my next book ‘A Chill Wind off the Tyne’ whichis about life on the riverside pubs and streets of Holborn, a neighbourhood of South Shields next to the shipyards.

The book highlights the struggle for work of Yemeni and British seamen, the miners strike in ‘26, the burning down of the Casino on the sea front, and the police raid on the pitch and toss schools at Trow Rocks.

After a good break from writing, having the odd bottle of Newcastle Brown and watching the grass grow, I happened upon a press report of Scottish prisoners captured at the battle of Dunbar in 1650.

The survivors of the brutal death march from Dunbar to Durham were sold off as indentured servants, mainly to the colonies, but I was startled to read that forty were sent to work in the salt pans of Shields.

This set me off again and ‘He Wears a Blue Bonnet’ tells of the experiences of six highland Scots who discover life in Shields under Cromwell’s Commonwealth.

It’s been described as ‘a rattling yarn that takes on the life of poor Tyneside fishers, fish wives, keel-men and panners. A salty tale – love in the sand dunes, sweat in the salt houses and dodging the press gang.’

To check out books by John Orton they are available from The Word, South Shields. They can also be bought on Amazon as paperback or Kindle.

Check previous interviews with the author:

DEATH MARCH of the BLUE BONNETS – in conversation with author John Orton | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

BOBBIES, BOOKIES & BEER – author John Orton talks about the stories of police in 1920’s South Shields | ALIKIVI : NORTH EAST UK (garyalikivi.com)

Alikivi   May 2023

RADICAL ROOTS in conversation with Local Historian and Teacher, Peter Sagar

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Peter is employed by Gateshead Council teaching one to one lessons with pupils who don’t go to school. 

He also goes into primary schools to teach aspects of local and regional history.

It’s a great feeling when a kid you have helped returns to school. One of the mothers got in touch saying two years after I stopped teaching her daughter to say that she had gone on to do A levels at Gateshead College.

From his North East history research, Peter has collected many stories and compiled them together for a new book – Radical Roots – the Human Rights History in the North East.

There are many interesting, positive stories of how people struggled for their own rights and fought for the rights of others too.

On the front cover is a picture of the Earl Grey monument in Newcastle city centre….

The writing on it is not about tea! It signifies people getting more rights to vote and the abolition of slavery because North East people have always campaigned for their own rights and worked for people across the world to get their human rights.

The fight against slavery was strong, for example in 1792 down at Newcastle Guildhall there was a petition of 3,000 signatures against slavery, which was quite a large percentage of the people living in Newcastle at the time.

We can protest about what is happening thousands of miles away or about our neighbours having to use a food bank. I don’t see a division there, it’s about human dignity and decency, where ever the person lives and whoever they are.

We can’t just fight for the rights of one group and not the other, it’s about everybody having the same rights.

My mum brought me up right, she taught me about Human Rights and in Newcastle there is an Amnesty book shop that I helped set up on Westgate Road in 2002.

We talk about women’s rights but how many Northumberland kids are taken to see the suffragette Emily Davison’s grave in Morpeth? I think it should be mandatory to learn about our history.

Kids are taught art and music from around the world which is great don’t get me wrong, but if they don’t know culture and history from their own area first, how can they relate art and music from around the world to everyday life?

In Radical Roots there are stories I think we should all know, and I’m still learning about our North East history.

We teach pupils about the Holocaust, Anne Frank and what she wrote in her diaries. But we don’t teach about the connection to the Durham Light Infantry and their role in the Relief of the Belsen camp.

I went to Hartlepool and interviewed the son of a DLI soldier whose father was there at the time of the relief and just after Anne Frank’s passing.

During the First World War, footballer and munitions factory worker Bella Reay played for Blyth Spartans, her story also features in the book.

(Bella Reay features in a play by South Shields playwright Ed Waugh, post 3rd December 2021).

I also took the presentation to a school in Cramlington. The teacher linked in the work by the Pitmen Painters, who aren’t in the National Curriculum, but linked them to the work by the artist L.S. Lowry – who is in the National Curriculum, which I thought was great that they saw the connection.

Also featured in the book is the Yemeni community in South Shields and the riot that happened in August 1930, and we discover why it happened. It also mentions over a number of years the eventual assimilation of the Yeminis into South Shields, some through inter-marriages.

I have worked with the Roma community on Tyneside. There are around 6,000 in Newcastle. If you’re a community coming into a place you have to have something to offer, rightly so, and it’s usually through their music or food.

Look at the Chinese or Indian. Bringing something goes down well because they don’t have the language.

The Irish came over to Tyneside as early as the 1850s after the famine. Jarrow has a big population of Irish. I think the Roma can look at what the Irish did with their music, while keeping their own identity.

Some of the Roma musicians that we have on Tyneside today are amazing. Perhaps one day there will be a Roma centre on Tyneside like the Irish Centre in Newcastle.

When I do a presentation about the Roma in schools, I finish with a power point picture of TV entertainers Ant and Dec. I ask people how many of you would describe them as Irish superstars? No hands. Then I ask how many would describe them as Geordie superstars? All hands go up!

But both their surnames and background are Irish and who is to say that kids from Newcastle in thirty to forty year time with a Roma background won’t be doing the same on TV?

Now I’m working in schools talking about the North East mining heritage which I think is important to remember. It is important to remember the community spirit and the great innovations, but we’ve got to keep fossil fuels in the ground now and work towards green energy and get the kids to understand that.

Hopefully we can get them to stand up in the future and shout for the North East to get more green investment, after all 20,000 County Durham miners lost their lives providing energy in the past.

It’s quite moving talking about the mining heritage, and in County Durham it’s all documented about 8 or 9 year old kids losing their life down the pit and that brings it home to kids of the same age.

I’ll also be at the Durham Miners Gala talking about this, that there was a lot to be proud of, but certainly not pointing the finger saying you caused all the problems of Climate Change.

Although we know now we need to develop green energy,  without coal in the past we might still be stuck with the same lifestyles as the 18th century.

To contact Peter and buy copies of Radical Roots – the Human Rights History in the North East

send email to: peter0462@gmail.com.

Alikivi    April 2023.

WHO WERE THE CRAMLINGTON TRAIN WRECKERS?

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South Shields-based playwright Ed Waugh is appealing for anyone to contact him if they have any information on the Cramlington Train Wreckers.

Ed, whose latest play was the hugely successful Wor Bella, said

“The story is one of high dramatic tension and has become an important part of British history, although largely forgotten”.

“The event happened on March 10, seven days into the 1926 General Strike when striking miners uncoupled a rail on the mainline Edinburgh to London railway” explained Ed.

“The intention was to derail a blackleg coal train they felt was undermining the strike. Unfortunately for the perpetrators, they derailed a passenger train.”

With 281passengers onboard, the volunteer driver had been warned of trouble and slowed down, meaning when the engine and five carriages were derailed, no-one was killed.

“The only injury was minor, most people were treated for shock and bruises” said Ed.

“Were the Cramlington Train Wreckers terrorists or workers trying to defend their livelihoods, family and community against an economic onslaught that took place after the General Strike ended?”

In the magistrate courts eight Cramlington miners were each sentenced for up to eight years, but were released early due to pressure from the trade union rank and file, politicians and the judiciary itself who saw the original sentences as too harsh.

Ed continued “The leader of the wreckers was Bill Muckle who was born in Westoe in December 1900. His father looked after the pit ponies. They lived here until 1902 when they moved to Cramlington. I’d be interested to know if older generation Muckles worked at Westoe”.

A crane lifting the Merry Hampton engine back on track. Photo courtesy of Brian Godfrey.

Such is the interest in the subject, Ed and historian Marie Dooley will address more than 120 people at a public meeting on March 30. Top North East actor/folk singer Jamie Brown will perform songs and recite from Ed’s new play.

The Cramlington Train Wreckers’ meet at The Hub, Manor Walks Shopping Centre, Cramlington, Thursday, March 30, at 2pm and 6.30pm. Info and tickets only £2 via Eventbrite.

For more information contact Ed at the official website: ww.wisecrackproductions.co.uk

Alikivi    March 2023.