Poetry & Music Night 1 & 2

First Tuesday April meeting

The General Strike in the North East

Brantwood May Day trip

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Brantwood May Day Trip 2006

On May 1st 2006 almost 50 people went to the John Ruskin house at Coniston in the Lake District hearing lecturettes on the coach trip and by the curator of the collection at Brantwood. The Labourt history society committee welcomes suggerstions for next years trip. Contact nelh@blueonder.co.uk

The above are those who got back to the bus first!

1)At the Chillingham pub, with Keith Armstrong, Katrina Porteous, William Martin, Lucy Nicholson, Bernie Fairlamb, Charles Gordon and Kenny Hewitt.

It was a lovely evening and it would be invidious to highlight any single performer because everyone did really well and pleased the audience. The general view was that we should do it again and soon! Steps will be taken

2) Steps were taken! Gordon & Kenny, William & Keith and Lucy were joined by Jane Wade & Steve Hall on Friday 10 March at

First Tuesday April meeting

Pete Steffans, an American journalist and veteran of US radical politics gave a marvellous account of the Freedom Rides into the US South and Californian Free Speech Movement of 1964. Watch this spot for a recording of the talk which will be available soon.

First Tuesday on October 6th was a lovely meeting on the alleged Geordie Mackem conflict. John Painter gave an excellent historical and sociological introduction. There was only one football shirt in the room (heavy irony?) but the discussion was excellent with many useful point s raised. When the new discussion site goes up [very soon] this will be one of the first topics to be aired. One of the most interesting points to be raised was the view that the 'football dimension' was pretty recent. Some participants remebered the terraces at St James and Roker when the rivalry was tempered by humour, sharp antagonism (still verbal not physical) was reserved for the visits of the likes of Arsenal and Spurs from the (apparently) 'privileged' south.

Mrs Rene Chaplin presents the Sid Chaplin Memorial Trophy to Craig Armstrong (left) for his article 'War Time industrial action on the Tyne 1939-45. The presentation took place at the Society's meeting at the Newcastle Lit & Phil on Thursday 22nd September 2006. Chris Chaplin Rene and Sid's son is on the right of the picture.

Tuesday 7th June 7 p.m..
Old George, Cloth Market

Marie-Therese Russell: 'Pitmen Painters : The WEA and The Ashington Art Group
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Speaker: Don Watson

Politics and Humanitarian Aid: The Basque refugees in the north east and Cumbria during the Spanish Civil War

Wednesday 25th May

This meeting followed the Society's AGM.was a highly successful evening with 50 members attending.

Trip to New Lanark

May Bank Holiday(Monday) 2005

Fifty mmebers of the Society travelled by coach to New Lanark. On board they heard lectures on the background to Owenism, on Robert Owen and education and a note from Mitze Waltz an american descendant of one of the original migrants who left New Lanark in the 1820's to settle at the owenite community of New Harmony on the banks of the Wabash River in Indiana. At the site they were taken on an excellent guided tour of the site.

The Revolution in Ireland:1916-22

Speaker: Fergus Campbell

Newcastle Irish Centre, Wednesday 16th March 2005

This was a highly successful evening. Over 60 people heard a stimulating talk on Easter 1916 in Galway.

A Radical Walk

Sunday November 14th

A very successful event took place. Thirty five people turned up and heard talks on the Spanish Civil War, The Women's Suffrage Movement, The Age of Reform, Garibaldi in the North East, the Co-op Movement, the place of the Bigge Market in socialist politics, Thomas Spence and Chartism.

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European Social Forum October 2004 London

John Charlton writes. I attended the History Session at the Forum on Rosa Luxemburg and the Russian Revolution of 1905. The main speakers were Colin Barker from Manchester, a German Historian and Richard Greenham from the USA an internationally known expert on Victor Serge. Delegates were present from Germany, Ireland, France, Russia and Italy. A very liovely discussion and disputative discussion took place. The next ESF will be in Athens in October 2005. If anyone from the Society would be intersted in attending/taking part they should contact me as soon as possible. We may be able to influence the topic of discussion fro the history meeting. And Athens in October is said to be pretty damn nice!

DUBLIN: REBEL CITY Wednesday 20th October Newcastle

The meeting turned out to be very successful indeed. The Concert Room in the Irish Centre was pretty full with almost 100 folks turning up. John Newsinger spoke very well provoking a lively discussion. We heard a lovely piece of fiddle playing from Tony Corcoron to whom thanks are due for the use of the Centre. 12 new members joined the Society.

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The miners' strike 20 years on 26 April Newcastle

Remembering the Miners' Strike 20 years on

Despite appalling weather 40 people turned out for our meeting on the miners. They heard two excellent talks. Ian Lavery, currently President of the NUM spoke with passion about the experience of 1984-5 especially with regard to two issues the ruthless violence of the police and the wretched attitude of Neil Kinnock's Labour Party to the miners' cause. Professor Huw Beynon delivered a witty and highly concentrated account of the history of the Durham Miners' Association from its inception in the 1860's to the Great Strike of 1985. He emphasised the remarkable loyalty of miners to their union and the central nature of the communities which they built. He spoke very movingly about the miners' and their families' attitude and experience of death. Early next year the second volume of his study of the Durham Miners will be published which brings the story right up to date. We hope to have Huw back in Newcastle for a local launch of the book next Spring. Volume 1: Huw Beynon, Masters & Servants: Class and Patronage in the Making of a Labour Organisation, Rivers Oram Press, London, 1994.

Ian Lavery NUM, Stuart Howard, Chair & Huw Beynon (Photo: Ray Smith)

The meeting was followed by a social at the Old George and a memorable performance by Johnny Handle mixing autobiographical monologue with songs about mining and the coal trade. Many of the songs are available on Johnny's engaging CD: The Collier Lad, available from 15/16 Wood Terrace, High Spen, Tyne & Wear NE39 2AQ

Johnny Handle

(Photo:Ray Smith)

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River Ramble 3 May Newcastle Quayside

RIVER RAMBLE

We pulled away from the Quayside with a full boat load of 125, on schedule with the Millenium and Swing Bridges open and proceeded to just beyond the Redheugh Bridge where we turned. We had to wait some time for the bridges to re-open so this gave an opportunity for the commentary to get into full swing. We made our way down river very briskly with a westerly at our backs. It was pretty sunny all the way and the water was calm enough at the mouth for us to go just beyond the piers before turning. The sun shone brilliantly on Tynemouth. There was a slight turn in the weather too and the trip back was cooler and windier. Everyone seemed genuinely satisfied and a number of people suggested that the river trip should become an annual May Day event.

Cruising Down the River

Taking a boat load of historians on a trip down the Tyne is like taking coals to Newcastle; the place is obviously packed with historians. Most of us had a lot to learn. Just how long the tradition of ship building has survived, while in many other great sea ports it has gone. What was obvious though, from the sight of the great grey naval supply ships being built or re-furbished, to the oil drilling rigs towering even higher, was that latter-day British imperialism was more than ever fixated on securing oil supplies. This could no longer be accomplished by the battle cruisers which the Tyne ship yards had once been famous or infamous for. The truth is that the Tyne built naval vessels were insufficient even to keep Britain’s once greatest threat, the German navy, from bombarding the neighbouring town of Hartlepool in the First World War. Nor were they much use in stopping the U-boat war in the Second World War.
Despite this, the long naval connection for Newcastle has still paid off, whereas Sunderland’s once superior tonnage record in merchant ships has vanished.
A few famous names like Swan Hunter are being kept alive by UK tax payers and the more affluent among them continue to live as comfortable Tynesiders. Because of them, our trip left an impression more of invasion by suburban property developers than by sea-born enemies. All along the banks, where once stood slipways and cranes, new flats and ideal home estates now flourish.
A historian likes to be asked if what he or she studies will help guide us in predicting the future. How long will our dependence upon oil, which initially caused Newcastle’s decline as coal merchant to Britain and the rest of the world, continue into the new century. Will the ancient forests of sailing ship masts, now seen only when the tall ships come to the Tyne, re-appear. Or as on the Thames, will the demand for more Tyne bridges to meet the greed of the private motorist for road space, close the river once and for all to wind powered ships. One thing is certain, the insatiable demand for oil powered propulsion will one day bring it to an end.
The North East Labour History Society’s day afloat confirmed one thing. Cruising down the river still has a lot going for it.

Nick Howard.
(Brought up an arrow's flight from the Thames!)

Many thanks for a splendid day out on the river and the most informative commentary. It was not just mining and shipbuilding but the myriad other small workings which developed along the banks which are so fascinating. We may not all belong on Tyneside but many of us had ancestors who lived and worked there; for example my grandfather from Wallsend who was employed after the Great War as a baker for a Belgian firm whose name was Duvells. I would have liked to have travelled further west to Newburn for I believe that stretch is a mine of fascinating industrial history but one shouldn't look gift horses... the journey under the bridges alone was wonderful; never before having the opportunity of seeing them from that central position. We have in a sense returned to a green and pleasant land and the industrial history of the N.E. is less immediate and the river banks are no exception as we see from their growing gentrification. It is important however for us to know what a significant contribution these areas made to this county's prosperity.

over to Sylvia - fabulous day, thank you. My friend Pat Wilcock who was with us remembers -"We visited S. Shields in 1946. I was given a farthing to spend. We could choose between a horse/cart ride or an oxo cube ( I presume, hot in a cup). I choose the ride." John & Sylvia.

It was an excellent trip.Things look different from the river. I hadn't appreciated all the changes on the riverside and didn't have much idea about the Gateshead side.

Bridges, [note the water nymph!] Walker Naval Yard, St Peters

Photos by Eileen MacKinnon

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North East Labour History Society

United Front! Popular Front!
Co-operation on the Left in the 1930’s North East

A very well attended meeting on 11th February heard an excellent talk from Lewis Mates followed by an animated discussion.
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* Kiddar’s Luck! *

Jack Common night at the Chillie, 11th December.

It turned out well! A 'full house' heard Jack’s son Peter speak about his father, Keith Armstrong (with a couple of his own) and Bill Dodds reading from Jack’s work. Music came from the excellent Kiddar’s Luck and the peerless Johnny Handle who gave us songs old and new. The mix of poetry, music, and history was a good cocktail. It shall be repeated…

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George Orwell and the Miners, Robert Colls, Thursday 25th March.

Rob Colls gave a sparkling and thought provoking talk on George Orwell's meeting with the miners of Wigan and Barnsley in 1936 explaining how this child of the Colonial service and Eton College shifted his allegiance from the ruling class to the workers.