Lights on in Whickham

 

Christmas tree lights in Whickham were switched on this afternoon. It was quite a fun event with the cast of Peter Pan (Little Theatre in Gateshead) leading the ceremonies. Well done to everyone who took part. I was cornered before I left after the event - I was asked to be on the Light Up Whickham committee. I used to be on it some years ago. So I'm now back.

Delivering in Birtley

 

It was Birtley's turn to host an action day on Sunday 24th November. So I headed down there in the morning and picked up 2 patches, one with 200 houses, the other with 250. I delivered the smaller patch and will go back soon to deliver the 2nd patch. Fortunately the snow has gone from the ground by the time I arrived in Birtley on Sunday.

Farewell Norman

On Wednesday we said farewell to my friend Professor Norman McCord. He had passed away in October and his funeral was the occasion for some of the lecturers from my day as an undergraduate and postgraduate at Newcastle University to meet up. It was good to see them again. Norman had been one of my lecturers but also my mentor when I was working on my PhD thesis back in the late 80s and early 90s. Much to my surprise, I was given a mention in the eulogy as a former student who kept in touch with Norman.

Norman discovered the Roman fort at Washingwell, Whickham in 1970. All that is left are the crop marks but the site at least could be viewed from my bedroom window of my childhood home. I had been working on a piece of research about the fort which I planned to complete this year. Alas, 4 election campaigns kept me occupied with the result the completion of the work will now be next year, meaning Norman cannot get to see it. At least I was able to meet up with him at his house in Cullercoats in 2022 to discuss the project.

So thank you Norman for all the help and advice over the years. Farewell my friend.

No show at the fair

I was due to take some of our goats to the Whickham Library Christmas fair this morning. They would have been cunningly disguised as reindeer. Sadly, the weather has put an end to that plan. We are under about 10cm of snow that started falling about 6am. Goats and snow don't mix!

This is the 2nd cancellation for the goats at a local fair. The Sunniside Community Hub are switching on their Christmas lights on Saturday 30th November but my diary has been double booked. We've agreed to take the goats to the Easter fair next year instead.

Photos from Whickham Remembrance Parade

 

After a short delay, here are the photos of the Whickham Remembrance Day parade. Cllr Peter Maughan (to my right in the photo above), myself and Cllr Susan Craig laid the wreaths on behalf of residents across the three Whickham wards. In total, 52 wreaths were laid at the Whickham war memorial. You can view the full set of photos of the parade and service on this link.

Saltwell action day

 

Gateshead Lib Dems held an action day in Saltwell ward yesterday. It was a "mopping up operation" to deliver the remaining bundles of Focuses. Most of the ward had already been delivered earlier this month but by the end of the action day, I'm pleased to say that no bundles were left. Job done.

North East Lib Dem regional conference

 

North East Lib Dem regional conference was held at Spenneymoor Town Hall in Co Durham today. There was a good turnout from Gateshead (see the photos in this post). It was a good conference. The training session on dealing with small parties such as the Greens and Reform was particularly useful. I was able to talk about the Green's campaign in the Bridges ward by-election in Gateshead in which the Greens' vote halved and they fell into 3rd place. It was the Greens' only target in Gateshead. Not any more!

Sunniside switch on

I attended the meeting of the Sunniside Hub Group last night. On the agenda was the Christmas lights switch-on. This will be taking place at 5pm on 30th November. Sadly I will not be able to make it as I have another event in my diary at the same time. It means there will be no goats cunningly disguised as reindeer at the event. The Christmas tree meanwhile will be erected in the garden of Sunniside chapel. Hopefully it will be a successful event.

Whickham lights switch on

 

Gateshead Food Partnership Meeting

 

I was pleased to be able to attend the first meeting of the Gateshead Food partnership last Friday. I wasn't sure whether I was there as councillor, farmer, voluntary sector or all 3. I had raised the idea of Gateshead having a conference to bring together food producers, suppliers and voluntary organisations involved with distributing food with the Council Leader Martin Gannon before the pandemic. Better late than never! Speeches in the morning focused mainly on food poverty. In the afternoon it was more about the practicalities. Hopefully, the meeting will bear fruit (sorry about the pun) by leading to action to address food poverty and food waste while boosting health.

Monumental look at History Society

We had a very interesting meeting of Sunniside History Society last night. We played a video, produced by the North East Remembrance Monuments Project, about their work to record all war memorials in the region. We also had a presentation about the crash in February 1942 of a Canadian military aircraft near Marley Hill.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 4th December. There will be a Christmas buffet and a 1960s quiz (which I am yet to write!)

Newcastle Labour meltdown as comrades go independent

Newcastle Labour group have not been having a good time of it recently. Having seen the resignation of their leader a few weeks ago, the authority has now experienced the resignation of 6 Labour councillors who will now sit as independents. To add to the confusion, there is already an independent group on the council called the Newcastle Independents. If you think that is confusing, there are 5 other independents. Whatever the varieties of independent, the bloody nose for Labour comes with the loss of their majority on the council. Labour now have 39 councillors with 39 on the opposition benches (including 22 Lib Dems). While a change in political control is not expected (in the short run), this is all dreadfully embarrassing for Labour in the regional capital. Alas, across the River Tyne here in Gateshead, we have, so far, only experienced one defection from Labour to the independents since the general election. Only 5 more to go for Gateshead to catch up.

RIP Norman McCord

 

I am saddened to report the death of Professor Norman McCord. Norman was one of the North East's foremost historians and 40 years ago he was one of my lecturers when I studied history at Newcastle University. He was also something of a mentor to me when I was carrying out the research for my PhD. After I graduated, we kept in touch and for many years. Norman, myself and other historians would meet up once a month to have a meal. It was known as eat-the-world as we attempted to eat food from every nationality that had restaurants in Tyneside and in Sunderland. We stopped doing this about 15 years ago as some members of our group were getting more and more infirm, Norman being one of them.

Norman was one of the leading people carrying out ariel photography in the North East. He discovered the Washingwell Roman fort near Whickham in 1970 while flying from Sunderland airport to Corbridge to photograph the area where the A69 was due to be built. Norman spotted the crop marks left behind by the fort at Washingwell and immediately realised they were caused by a Roman fortress which must have predated Hadrian's Wall by decades.

In 2022 I did some filming on the site of the fort to work out lines-of-sight with Gateshead and realised that Washingwell must have been part of a chain of frontier forts. I took my videos to Norman's house in Cullercoats in November 2022 and that was the last time I saw him in person. I spoke to him by phone in June last year to invite him to my wedding but sadly he was too infirm and house bound to be able to attend.

I ultimately have Norman to thank for my choice of subject for my PhD. He told me that the University had all the papers of Walter Runciman, a cabinet minister in 1908-16 and in the 1930s. They were waiting for someone to research them and produce a biography. That task fell to me!

I wish I had been able to see Norman again to talk about some historical theories I have, but it was not to be. 

RIP Professor Norman McCord