H1 woke me up at 5am this morning as he plodded round the house... and I haven't been able to get back to sleep. Tick tock time passes so slowly in the middle of the night. (That reminds me- The Northern Goldsmith's put up two gold public clocks in Newcastle with naked ladies on top of the clock- she is crudely named locally as 'Fanny on the tick')!
So in the wee, small hours I have read some of my book 'The Tenderness of Wolves' by Stef Penney and been trying to register to recycle things for a charity- aaagh! this computer needs sorting out- it is so slow chuntering away endlessly.
Newcastle and Northumberland Society arranged a picnic at Featherstone Castle near Haltwhistle where elderly, eccentric? and delightful John Clark is struggling to keep Featherstone Castle alive and healthy against all the odds of finance,crumbling walls,listed building regulations etc.Mr Clark gave us Northumbian fare of fruit cake and cheese while taking the first half of our group round the farms/pele towers.
Our strawberries and wine celebration was nothing compared to the wedding which was to follow us; all had to come in bright colours- all with a dash of red- clothes, flowers, facepaints (the painter was busy doing Scottish red lions and Star Wars red & black faces!); the flowers had been driven in from Amsterdam , but then the 250 guests were from all over the world. Everyone had to bring an item of food- with 2 chefs among the guests. The bar and group equipment was being set up; I have never seen as many flowers and in every kind of container amid tealights and garlands. Jugglers, unicyclists, theatre groups and such a sense of gaiety; red splashed campers and dormitory dwellers spilled out to greet the sun and bride and groom.
Even more sobering and derelict buildings on the Haugh were those of Featherstone Prisoner of War camp. It shared a beautiful location with the Castle in the bend of the river Tyne and had been inhabited 1944-1948 by German officers- many of whom have been back to visit; I remember hearing a lecture on this and other POW camps at the Miners' Institute/Lit and Phil. It was well loved by its inhabitants who were very well treated by the locals ; the artist in residence had done sketches of German officers reading their English and German newspapers brought in specially for the 'campers'. Education and reconciliation had been pushed for by the camp translator, who had even brought in lecturers from Newcastle University so a number of men went back to Germany with degrees after the war finished!
Our City Guide the following day on 'Kings and Keelmen' was a mine of information. We walked from All Saints Church via the City Walls on City Road, the Keelmen's Hospital and back to The Soup kitchen for the poor/Joicey Musem (or prior to those it had seen an Augustinian 12th century friary which had been disbanded when Henry VIII had reformed in 1539? and taken the land as his -the King's manor- & which we in Newcastle now still call Manors).
The Keelmen were a special group of blue bonneted (hat)/jacketed men who rowed coal in small boats from the staithes down the undredged river to the colliers waiting off the Tyne's mouth ready to transport coal all over especially to London. They are the only group of poor folk who collected the money to set up their own hospital (almshouse). They lived in the Sandgate area of Newcastle; thus the Novocastrian folksong ' As I came to Sandgate' (Weel may yer keel row)
The City Guided Walks season ticket gifted to us by the offspring has been the best present! I love that almost as much as I love my bus pass! You can get a taste of some of the tours/buildings during Heritage Week in September when visits are free.
The Keelmens' Hospital is currently up for sale
ReplyDelete