As a committed ‘foodie’ in a family of food lovers, I’m looking forward to the first Tynemouth Food Festival which takes place on the weekend of 12th and 13th May. It promises to be a great event, with lots to see and do, and you can find out more about it in Katherine Wildman’s article here.

Turning now to music, my husband Mark and I really enjoyed an excellent recent performance by Tynemouth Choral Society, so I can heartily recommend their Diamond Jubilee Concert which is taking place on the 19th May at King’s school in Tynemouth (see the What’s On entry on our community page here). (And on the subject of the Jubilee, amongst all the changes during my lifetime there’s one thing that has remained constant – we still have our Queen!).

As ever, we do like to hear from you, 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

This year, we are serving coffee and scones, combined with various stalls and raffles, on Saturday 5th May in Broadway Methodist Church Hall from 10 am until 12 noon. Entrance is just £1.50 to include coffee, tea or juice with a delicious scone, made by members.

The charity we have voted to support this year is The Percy Hedley Foundation – a practical local charity supporting disabled children, young people and adults, offering them a wide range of high quality services. These include a nursery, Percy Hedley School and Northern Counties School, Northern Counties College, Percy Hedley Sports Academy, an employability service and a range of innovative day and residential services for adults.

The purpose of Percy Hedley Foundation is to promote the rights, needs and aspirations of disabled people. The charity is recognised nationally and internationally as leading the way in the provision of specialist, quality services for disabled people with cerebral palsy, sensory impairments, communication impairments and complex learning and therapeutic needs.

The positive philosophy “Just think what’s possible” underpins how they work and reflects their values of respect for individual aspirations, equality of opportunities for all people and commitments to excellence and improvement.

Your support really does make a difference. It makes it possible for many disabled children and adults to reach their potential and lead full and active lives – so please come along for a coffee with friends and have an enjoyable morning at the same time as giving your support to such a worthwhile cause. We really need the support of generous local people to achieve our goals.

by Hazel Skipsey

PHP is a free service for young people registered with a visual impairment living in North Tyneside. PHP aims to provide a supportive and safe environment for visually impaired young people aged 14-24 to flourish, thrive and grow in confidence through the medium of dramatic and performance art.

The youth theatre will run every week on a Wednesday evening between 6pm and 8pm at the society’s picturesque Pearey House in Preston Park, North Shields.

Working as a group, youth theatre members will work towards creating new pieces of drama incorporating speech, movement and music. PHP also provides an opportunity to learn new skills and a chance to socialise and have fun with other visually impaired young people outside of school hours.

The project would not have been possible without the success of the funding application and the society would like to thank North Tyneside Council for giving them the opportunity to provide this much needed service.

A quote from a mother living in North Tyneside: “Our son is blind and also has learning difficulties but he has a fantastic memory and a great sense of humour.”

“We have not been able to find any suitable drama or theatre group to attend in our area and so he is very disappointed. If we could choose one activity which we feel would benefit him the most – this is it!”

For more information, or to book a place for the youth theatre, please call Steven Milne on 0191 257 43 88 or email peareyhouse2@hotmail.co.uk.

The Rev. Paul Newman is to play Sergeant Merrill, one of the lead roles in the Tynemouth Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of “Yeomen of the Guard” for four nights from Wednesday 23rd May.

Paul arrived in Whitley Bay sixteen years ago with his wife, Gill, son David and daughter Beth. Prior to this he had served at churches in Manchester, York, Wakefield and Darlington.

Until recently Paul’s rich baritone voice has been heard only in the singing of hymns, despite his love of the Victorian musicals.

“I was at school when I first heard the music of Gilbert and Sullivan,” he said. “I don’t know what attracted me to it – possibly its brightness and rhythms.”

After indulging in it at college and while teaching maths for four years, Paul left to train for the ministry, putting his musical hobby behind him.

That was until one of his congregation at Whitley Bay, 67-year-old John Kitson, an active member of the Tynemouth society, persuaded him to take up singing again. John said: “I soon realised he had a splendid voice and asked him to join us.”

The minister, who is 58, said: “I felt I was in need of an outlet, a hobby, and John got to me at the right time. I must say when I joined I was really amazed at the high standard of singing in the society, which makes rehearsals even more enjoyable.”

Tickets for “Yeomen of the Guard” can be obtained from the Playhouse Box Office at £12 for all performances  (concessions £9 on Wednesday only).

by Jim Harland

In the run up to the festival weekend local high schools will be taking part in a Junior MasterChef style competition organized by The Grand Hotel, while the primary and junior schools will be trying their hands at icing and sprinkles in a cake decorating competition. The colourful – and possibly sticky – results will be displayed in shops around the village over the weekend, while the winning Junior MasterChef team will be demonstrating their dish at a state-of-the-art mobile demonstration kitchen at The King’s School.

A full line up of celebrity chefs from across the region will be sharing their skills in the demonstration kitchen over the weekend, with names like Graeme Cuthell from Irvin’s Brasserie and Adam Hegarty from Six at Baltic taking to the stage.

Former North East Chef of the Year, David Kennedy, is opening a three night pop-up Restaurant at Café K at The King’s School on 9,10 and 11 May, featuring Northumbrian tapas, a Spring Menu and a 5-course Tasting Menu.

If talk of all this food is making you thirsty The Cumberland Arms on Front Street will be holding a week long Real Ale Festival with a wide selection of seasonal and artisan beers on offer, some of which have never been seen before in the North East.

The Festival, which has been organized by the Tynemouth Business Forum, hopes to build on the success of last year’s VW Classic Volkswagen Rally and attract lots of people to the area.

Forty stallholders selling food and drink from across the region and beyond will fill the Queen Victoria park across the road from Front Street. Confirmed stall include Kitty’s Homemade Ginger Wine, The NZ Gourmet Pie Company, Doddington Dairy and Safari Event Catering – crocodile sosatie anyone?

Restaurants and cafes in the village will be hosting Food Festival themed events including wine and cheese tasting at The Deli Around the Corner, a celebration of British cakes at the Priory Café, beer and food tasting sessions at the Priory Pub, a cocktail master class at Lola Jeans, fajitas at Luis, a chocolate master class by Gareth James at the King’s School and special discount offers at many more places.

Tickets for David Kennedy’s pop-up restaurant are now on sale at The Cumberland Arms, Children of the Revolution and The Deli Around The Corner.

For more information, updates and news please look on the Festival website www.tynemouthfoodfestival.co.uk, Facebook page www.facebook.com/tynemouthfoodfestival and on Twitter @tynemthfoodfest.

Programmes will be available during the weekend with full event listings so you don’t miss out!

(Katherine is one of the Tynemouth Business Forum members helping to arrange the event.)

by Katherine Wildman © 2012

Katherine Wildman is a copywriter who helps UK companies to get their message across in writing. From websites to sales letters, brochures to leaflets – if you want copy that makes your customers want to use you then get in touch with Katherine today at words@copywriternewcastle.co.uk, on Twitter @copywriterne or call her on 07816 763 393.

We were bound for Denmark and Norway: Esbjerg, Horton (in the Oslo fjord) and Trondheim, with a cargo of steel from Japan. I liked these trips; they made a nice change from trundling through the Dover Strait to northern Europe.

When dinner time came, I realised the food was going to reflect the state of the vessel when a bowl of egg and tomato soup was presented to me.

The first two ports were trouble free but Trondheim gave the Chief Engineer and his men a headache.

The quay was fairly short for the vessel and ended at the huge, concrete covered, ex-submarine pens left over from the German occupation in the Second World War. With the aid of four small tugs the vessel made the approach under the control of the local pilot. Going a little too fast, the stern tugs were told to act as brakes and pull strongly on their lines. With the assistance of the engines going full astern the vessel slowed visibly but one of the tug’s lines parted, the broken end being picked up by the rapidly turning propeller which swiftly turned the polypropylene rope into an entangled ‘cat’s cradle’ around the blades.

The ship stopped with its bow only a few metres from the solid concrete of the submarine pens and she was gently nudged back to her proper position by the tugs.

Eventually, divers went into the freezing fjord water with an underwater camera to assess the situation round the propeller. They cut away the offending rope from the blades but found that the rope had got into the guard which was supposed to protect the shaft from this happening. It was fascinating watching the operation on a TV screen from the safety of the quayside.

The guard had to be partly cut away to remove the rope where it had melted round the shaft.

A week later, cargo all safely discharged, we sailed, bound for Immingham in the River Humber.

On the long, clear stretch of water, between the Norwegian coast and the coast of England, I was sleeping. Suddenly, I awoke to a silence that can only be felt on a ship when the engines have stopped.

Upon arriving on the bridge with the ship wallowing gently to the swell, with Flamborough Head a smudge on the horizon, I was told that the crew had been dumping old wires from the ship into the sea and one of them had fouled the propeller.

A very irate Chief Engineer said he had been Chief for twenty years and had never had a fouled propeller. “Now,” he said, “there have been two in one voyage!”

by Terry Took © 2012

Terry Took was born in Yorkshire but has lived in Tynemouth for 49 years. He spent 45 years in the Merchant Navy which included 27 years as North Sea Pilot. He then spent five years as a lecturer at the Marine Department of South Tyneside College.

He is now an Elder Brother in Trinity House and Marine Director.

If you have any comments or would like to contact Terry then please e-mail him at pilotone@pilotone.plus.com.

The weather was unseasonably warm and, as I climbed towards the highest point in Northumberland, the first signs of exertion were beginning to trickle down my face. When I finally stepped on to the vast summit plateau I could see the huge triangulation pillar ahead of me marooned on a tiny green island in an ocean of weather-worn peat. Fortunately, for the fine weather 21st century walker, there is an almost uninterrupted paved pathway across the mighty Cheviot, making a summit crossing now little more than a proverbial ‘walk in the park’. However, it is a totally different proposition in the depths of winter when the path is obliterated by a blanket of snow and the wind is relentlessly sweeping in from the north. I enjoyed the rare moment of calm.

I had barely started my walk so, with an air of purpose in my stride, I continued on to join the Pennine Way close to the highest point on the English-Scottish border. I was now within touching distance of the Hanging Stone, possibly one of the loneliest places in the Cheviot Hills and one of my personal favourites. It stands little more than 200 metres to the east of the Pennine Way across a deep and trackless sea of heather. I stepped forth with extreme caution as I was eager to avoid the half-hidden rocks and trouser-soaking peat holes which I knew lay mischievously in wait. Experience is such a wonderful thing!

The Hanging Stone is not, as the name might suggest, a single isolated stone. It is a rocky outcrop consisting of a series of large grey boulders tumbling down the south-western slopes of Cairn Hill. It occupies an isolated location with unimpeded views to the south, east and west. The vast swathe of conifers which surrounds the upper reaches of the Usway Burn sweeps eastwards from the immediate tops of Score Head and King’s Seat whilst wave after wave of hills roll away on both sides of the border. It has atmosphere in abundance and is a place to linger.

Eventually, I returned to the Pennine Way and continued downhill to desolate Score Head where I bumped into the only two walkers I would meet all day. After a few minutes of polite conversation they melted into the distance as I clambered over the border fence and headed west through knee-high heather towards Mallie Side. Marked by a tiny pile of stones, the 452 metre high grass-covered top occupies a prime position high above the valley of the Cheviot Burn. Dominated by an array of finely-shaped hills, including the rocky top of West Hill and the steep-sided Auchope Rig, the valley is one of the most beautiful in the Cheviot Hills. I had it all to myself.

However, the hours were slipping away and with more than eight miles still to walk, I needed to press on. The long strenuous climb back over The Cheviot was beginning to occupy my mind.

by Geoff Holland © 2012

Geoff Holland is the author of four books of self-guided walks,  ‘The Cheviot Hills’, ‘Walks from Wooler’, ‘The Hills of Upper Coquetdale’ and  ‘Walks on the Wild Side The Cheviot Hills’ ,   is a  regular contributor to ‘TGO (The Great Outdoors)’, ‘Country Walking’ and ‘The Northumbrian’ magazines and is the operator of the highly acclaimed website www.cheviotwalks.co.uk. His books are available online from www.trailguides.co.uk or from all good bookshops and he can be heard reading a selection of his poems on www.listenupnorth.com. He has lived in Monkseaton for almost 40 years.

When King Henry I granted lands to the Prior of Tynemouth circa 1106, the name was altered to ‘Seton Monachorum’. The prefix ‘Monk’ is often found in connection with places belonging to religious houses, and so in this case it became known as Monk Seaton, or Seaton of the Monks.

Despite the fact that over the past 80 years Monkseaton Village has been absorbed into the urban confines of the nearby town of Whitley Bay, its history pre-dates that town by many years, and to anyone who resides in Monkseaton, the place is still referred to as ‘The Village’.

From the year 1577 coal was worked, and in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries there were several farms along with the usual trades people including blacksmiths, shoemakers and shopkeepers. There was also a large brewery and several inns, so the small population was well catered for with ale!

Over the years, Monkseaton Village has gradually changed, and many of these changes have slipped by unnoticed. Many of the old farms and buildings that once stood here have disappeared and remain only as distant memories. The rest, sadly, have long since been forgotten.

These early beginnings are described in more detail in my new book, to be launched on Friday 1st June 2012, which is simply entitled ‘Monkseaton Village – Volume One’. Published by Summerhill Books at a cost of £9.99, the book presents a comprehensive and in-depth history of the village, outlining its early origins and taking us through to the present day. It contains over 200 photographs, maps and illustrations, some of which have never been published before.

The launch has been arranged at Whitley Bay Library on Friday 1st June at 10.30am, and light refreshments will be available

A further signing session will be incorporated in the Jubilee Celebrations to be held at Monkseaton Methodist Church, Front Street on Saturday 2nd June commencing at 3pm. Copies of the book will also be available to purchase there on the day .

The book will be complemented later this year with Volume Two on a date to be announced.

by Charlie Steel © 2012

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, local historian Charlie Steel has lived almost all of his life in Monkseaton. His books “Monkseaton and Hillheads” and “Inns and Taverns of North Shields” are published by Tempus and are available in all good book shops.

All Charlie’s articles which are featured in Roundabout Monkseaton can also be found on his website www.monkseaton.info. Charlie also writes articles for Roundabout Tynemouth.

If you have any old pictures or photographs of Monkseaton that you would like to share then please e-mail Charlie at charlie@monkseaton.info.

I’ve also managed to give the house a thorough spring clean so am feeling fairly virtuous, and I pay no heed to those family members who suspect me of using my labours to justify some intensive chocolate demolition come Easter!

Despite our hard work there are always jobs which we can’t tackle ourselves due to lack of time or the necessary experience, and if you find yourself in the same situation, have a glance through the pages of your magazine – it’s likely there will be an advertiser who can come to your aid. On that topic, if you need some gardening advice, Earsdon Plants are starting a free plant clinic from Saturday 14th April; please see their advert on the back cover for details.

I’m pleased to welcome a new young writer this month, Carole Saville, a student at one of our local schools, who has written about a concert she attended recently at the Sage (see here). We look forward to more contributions from Carole in the future.

We welcome feedback 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

Terry White is the Chairman of Cloudburst. “We put on our debut performance in December 2011 and it was very well received by everyone,” said Terry. “Now we are looking for new members, over 60 years of age, to join this community-based project. We would welcome members who are interested in all aspects of the theatre from writing and performing to backstage work, costumes and props – there’s a job for everyone.”

Cloudburst is looking forward to performing a number of plays and sketches in the coming months and hopes to welcome new members to help out in any capacity. Venues for future performances will include libraries, sheltered accommodation, community centres and church and village halls.

“Many people have hidden talents that have not necessarily been discovered or called upon to any degree during their working life,” explained Terry.  “Or, perhaps they have dabbled in theatre at some time but have never found the time or an outlet since. We hope to encourage such persons to join us. Ideas for scripts, sketches and plays come from all members and everyone is encouraged to participate in the programme planning for the group. Some of our newest members have surprised themselves as to how easily they have taken to performing in front of an audience and how much fun it is.”

For more information about Cloudburst call Terry White on 0191 258 6642 or email t.white706@btinternet.com.