Happy New Year and welcome to our first issue of 2012; let’s hope it’s a good year for all of us. Returning briefly to 2011, I’m glad to report that Whitley Bay Pantomime Society were delighted to be able to donate £200 to each of seven local charities at a presentation on the 3rd December, the result of their successful pantomime ‘Cinderella’ performed at the Playhouse in Whitley Bay last January. This year’s pantomime is ‘Dick Whittington’, again at the Playhouse, and takes place from the 10th to the 15th January (see here for more information). The Society always put on an excellent performance, so if you don’t have a ticket yet, why not shake off the winter blues and go along to enjoy the show?
This month’s local history article from Charlie Steel (see here) remembers the terrible Hartley Pit disaster which happened exactly 150 years ago this month, and almost wiped out the small mining community of New Hartley. On a much more light-hearted note, walking guru Geoff Holland considers how to select suitable outdoor gear if you are planning to head for the hills (see here), whilst North Sea Pilot Terry Took tells the tale of a highly secret mission he undertook some years ago in his latest adventure (see here). For those of you who have a computer, Katherine Wildman is urging us to start ‘tweeting’ (see here, something I have started in the last few months and have found to be both fun and really useful!
We always welcome feedback on the articles we publish, or indeed on any aspect of the magazine, so if you have any comments then do please get in touch – call us on 0191 253 7608 or email info@roundaboutpublications.co.uk.
by Carol Robinson
