Redesdale from moorland west of Rattenraw. A Curtis (2018).

“He’ll sing Reedwater’s muirlands wild,
Where whirring heath-cocks flee,
Where limpid wells and heather bells
Delight the sportsman’s e’e.”

I work in conjunction with the two local Universities and several care homes seeking ways to assist those living with dementia. Part of my work entails using drama and the written word to address thoughts and feelings as expressed by those with whom I work.

Over the past month I've completed a poem which records the emotions of Avril on the day her weeping father dressed her ahead of the official closing of North Wallbottle Colliery. It was of course the day he lost his job. It had never crossed my mind that such an event could continue to impact so heavily across the generations but Avril opened my eyes to the reality with her thoughtful words.

She made me recognise that for some, as the poem concludes, "there will be no closure".

Photo courtesy of Glyn Lloyd (2016).

I'm trying to establish the origins of a photo I came across which shows young men in army battledress uniform & berets practicing marching during some down time. They are all next to a wall mounted sign of Heddon on the Wall.

The College Burn. Photo by A Curtis (2014).

'... a lofty cliff near the western summit of Cheviot, so called from its impending position over a huge rocky chasm or recess, in the bosom of the mountain, known by the name of Hell's Hole. Out of this grim recess flows the pretty Northumbrian stream of College Water, which is here divided by only a narrow neck of ground from the sources of the river Beaumont. The Hanging Stone is surmounted by an ancient cairn; and, either from the shadowy remains of olden legends, or from the savage aspect of the scenery around it, is still regarded by the neighbouring peasantry with a certain degree of superstitious dread'.

The Hanging Stone below Cairn Hill, Cheviot. Photo A Curtis (2012).

The Hornpipe Paganini of Bottle Bank

Memorial sculpture for James Hill, Bottle Bank, Gateshead. Photo Andrew Curtis (2011).

James Hill is considered to be one of the most talented fiddler players and tune writers of the 19th Century. He is believed to have been born in Scotland in 1811 and to have died from consumption in Westmoreland Lane, off Westgate, Newcastle in 1853 making him 42 years old. He lived on Bottle Bank in Gateshead near the "Hawk Pub" with his wife Sarah, who was born in County Durham, for most of his life where he composed fiddle tunes from the 1830s onward.

Sculpture for James Hill, Bottle Bank. Photo Andrew Curtis (2011).

Sculpture (detail) for James Hill, Bottle Bank. Photo Andrew Curtis (2011).

Wylam road sign. Photo by A Curtis (2009).

Now there's Jackson, his owld mate, was another up te date,
And for that man , aa'll try te fix a line,
Well aall admit he's clever, made a clock te gan for ever,
Built in a wall at Wylam, Canny Wylam on the Tyne.

'Welcome Home Puffing Billy'
by Anthony Todd

Wylam on a sunny Saturday
People came from near and far
To experience culture and have fun
William Hedley's descendant Mark Beattie
Opened Puffing Billy day
With a friendly welcome for all
Local songs colour the air
Hexham Lasses and The Blaydon Races
Soaring away on the wings of The Red Kite
As the Stocksfield Stompers play
Their talent shining through
On this sunny day people are having fun
Coal and spoon races
Time trials by Wylam Brownies
Puffing Billy themed shopping trollies on the waggonway
The Elaine Milbourne Dancers
A juxtaposition of the contemporary with the age of steam
Strutting their stuff
Making dexterous moves
To songs from the musicals
And modern dance
Choo Choo Ch'Boogie and The Trolley Song
Everybody doing the locomotion
On this day to remember William Hedley
And Puffing Billy, displayed near the old railway
The star of the show
Puffing Billy as black as coal
Coal that put fire in metallic veins
That powered cogs, wheels and cranks
Steam moving through them
Bringing the locomotive to life
Expelling smoke like a dark, demonic fire-breathing dragon
Hadrian Cloggers dancing merrily
Accompanied by the accordion
Wooden clogs beating in time with the music
Keeping to the rhythm
Like the cadence of wheels on rails
When Billy worked on local waggonways
Hauling coal from Wylam to the Tyne
In chaldron waggons, chuffing puffing along
A marvel of engineering in its own time

Puffing Billy Festival, Wylam. Photo A Curtis (2013).

Puffing Billy Festival, Wylam. Photo A Curtis (2013).

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