We’ve been to Harrogate and York recently, but we haven’t been to rural Yorkshire for ages. It’s easy to see why Alf Wight fell in love with the place and settled in Thirsk to become James […]

We’ve been to Harrogate and York recently, but we haven’t been to rural Yorkshire for ages. It’s easy to see why Alf Wight fell in love with the place and settled in Thirsk to become James […]
On Sunday night Heather and I had a walk around the ponds at Blaydon, you’ll know where I mean, the back of where the old swimming pool used to be. I’ve never been down there before, but it […]
Heather and I went to see an ingenious piece of theatre last night at the Live Theatre. 11 Plus is a short performance based on interviews with a group of young people aged 11 years […]
I rang my friend Irene on Friday afternoon. “You know that cycle shop in Newburn, KB Cycles or something?” (KB Cycles Newburn) “Yes.” “Well is that the shop you use? It’s just we’ve been in and […]
I haven’t been on my blog because we’ve been to Liverpool for a few days, and what a fantastic place it is. We wanted a city break and we chose Liverpool, simply because neither of […]
Thorp Academy had better watch out, because the KS2 Drama Club, at St. Agnes Catholic Primary School in Crawcrook, are snapping at their heels. When it comes to end of term celebrations, St. Agnes know how to do […]
The bands performing at the Corbridge Festival in July, may not have been my genré exactly, but I had a fantastic time in the midst of a great atmosphere and lovely company. I took a […]
I suppose that at any given moment, in any school or college in the country, you will find a young person who is going to be the next Gary Barlow, Katherine Jenkins, Fred Astaire, Dame Maggie […]
I was kindly allowed to sit in on a rehearsal of Broadway last night, the new show being staged by students of dramatic art at the Thorp Academy. As they rehearsed ‘The Rhythm of Life’ […]
I had half an hour to kill the other day, and, happily for me, that half hour was in Hexham. I also had thirty quid of left over birthday money. Waterstone’s I thought blissfully. I […]
I’m in a lot of trouble over the Blaydon Race. I strive to support Heather throughout her every sporting endeavour. I spur her on, sitting for hours in the car slurping Costa while she completes […]
Heather has suffered an ongoing trauma of cataclysmic proportions this week. Has she broken something? An elbow or a toe maybe? Has anyone died? No much worse than any of that – her Jawbone won’t […]
Whenever we go for a walk, Heather moans about having to keep stopping for me to take photographs. She’s a fine one to talk. Every motley old horse we pass (and where we live there […]
This site has a lot of readers, for which I’m flattered and grateful, but it’s still just a hobby. I’m not a celebrated newspaper hack who can bestow widespread publicity upon all who speak to […]
I wouldn’t want to live in London, but I love to visit, so I was delighted when Heather got us tickets to see North Shields v Glossop North End in the final of the FA Vase on Saturday […]
My experience in the perusal of a dancing career was not a happy one. When I was seven or eight, I was taken to a ballet lesson in a hall below Ryton Methodist Church. You […]
I’ve heard from a lady called Alison Stancliffe. Alison is a choral singer, and she has kindly emailed to tell me about the Ryton Choral Society. Did you know that there was such a thing? […]
This isn’t a review site, but I like to tell you what I’ve been doing and I mention the Live Theatre on here quite a lot. On Friday evening Heather and I went to see […]
There’s a line in the 1976 film version of the popular TV series Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, where Terry makes reference to Omar Sharif. He says; “If Omar Sharif was born in Gateshead, […]
I was back at the Festival last night, along in Emma Hall, to see and hear Class 16 LIEDER Voice and Pianoforte sessions, Class 18 OPERATIC ARIA Male Voice Open, and Class 23, ARIA FROM […]
I haven’t checked for statistics, but I’ll venture to suggest that a vast proportion of our popular actors and musicians will have made their debut performance in a college or school production. I’ve never bothered with […]
On Friday evening we went to see “Mortdecai” at the Odeon Cinema in the Metrocentre. It stars Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow. My advice to you if you’re thinking of going to see it is […]
“Never grow old Tam,” was my Dad’s advice two or three years before he died and while he was still fit enough to go for a walk with me. We were walking on Ryton Willows, Dad […]
I ‘ve always maintained that if you’re lucky enough to live in the North East then you have no excuse for ever saying you’re bored. There’s always something to do or somewhere to visit, and […]