Anne Bronte was youngest of the renowned Bronte writing dynasty of West Yorkshire. She was born in the village of Thornton, near Bradford, on the 17th January 1820, daughter of Patrick Bronte, a Church of England clergyman and Maria Branwell.

Whilst it is sometimes said that Anne’s sisters, Emily & Charlotte, achieved a much [...]]]>

Anne Bronte was youngest of the renowned Bronte writing dynasty of West Yorkshire. She was born in the village of Thornton, near Bradford, on the 17th January 1820, daughter of Patrick Bronte, a Church of England clergyman and Maria Branwell.

Whilst it is sometimes said that Anne’s sisters, Emily & Charlotte, achieved a much greater level of fame, she was an accomplished poet and novelist in her own right. Her two novels were titles; Agnes Grey & The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The latter of the two was published in June 1848 was an overnight hit and the entire print run was sold within six weeks.

However, as the year progressed, the winter of 1848 turned out to be particularly ferocious. All members of the family had suffered various coughs and spluttering fits, but it was Anne’s older sister Emily who fell victim to the germs of the day. Despite the state of her health, Emily, ever the stubborn Yorkshire-woman, fiercely independent, refused medical attention on several occasions. This led to a rapid decline over a couple of months and Emily finally succumbed on 19 December.

Emily’s death left Anne grief-stricken, almost losing the will to live herself during the Christmas period. However, being both emotionally and physically fragile at this time, Anne contracted Flu, the dreaded influenza. A serious condition without the modern medicines of today.

In February 1849 however, Anne felt stronger and decided to go to Scarborough in North Yorkshire. Scarborough was the first seaside resort in the United Kingdom and people regularly visited for the fresh coastal air, though Anne, remaining frail, was now being pushed in a wheelchair by her sister Charlotte. However, recovery was elude Anne and she died in the coastal town, 70 miles from her home in Haworth.

Charlotte made the decision to bury Anne in Scarborough, in St Mary’s Churchyard. A difficult decision, since holding the funeral only three days after her death did not allow time for her heartbroken father to make the journey to be present to lay his youngest daughter to rest.

Following Anne’s death, publishers reprinted several editions of her work, however sister Charlotte blocked the re-publishing of  The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Anne had chosen this novel to present a more realistic depiction of life, drunkenness & debauchery, challenging many of the social norms of the day and producing a writing style in stark contrast to that of her more talked about sisters.

The grave today has suffered at the hands of the coastal weather, however it is still clear to see that Anne died on the 26th May 1849 and remains in the consecrated grounds of St Mary’s Church, within site of Scarborough Castle and overlooking south bay.

Personally, I first came across the name in the lyrics of a song by Mark Knopfler, featuring vocals by him and James Taylor, Sailing To Philadelphia.

I’m Jeremiah Dixon, I am a Geordie boy.
A glass of wine with [...]]]> Jeremiah Dixon. It’s a name you may be familiar with, but not 100% sure why.

Image via Wikipedia

Personally, I first came across the name in the lyrics of a song by Mark Knopfler, featuring vocals by him and James Taylor, Sailing To Philadelphia.

I’m Jeremiah Dixon, I am a Geordie boy.
A glass of wine with you sir and the ladies I’ll enjoy.

The line following that segment gives away the occupation of Dixon, “All Durham and Northumberland, was measured up by own hand”.

He was born in the village of Cockfield, near Bishop Auckland in south western County Durham in July 1733, and after attending school in Barnard Castle Dixon he became a surveyor.  Despite his father being a coal mine owner, Dixon set out to pursue his love of mathematics which led to him developing a technique of measuring long distances accurately.

This ability to measure long distances accurately may have been the primary reason why Frederick Calvert, then Baron Baltimore, and Thomas Penn, son of the hereditory proprietor of Pennsylvannia, to work with Charles Mason, to settle a boundary dipute between the two men and hence, states.

Establishing the 230 mile boundary between the two areas took Mason & Dixon four years to complete. The boundary, 39°43′20″ N in latitude to this day, is still referred to as the Mason-Dixon Line and is commonly regarded as being the boundary between the north and south United States of America.

On completion of the Mason-Dixon line, he returned to his roots to share his brother George’s house in Cockfield, though his travels were far from over as he pursued his interest in astronomy, attempting to calculate the distance of the sun from the earth.

Dixon died, unmarried and as he was a Quaker, he was buried in an unmarked grave as was the tradition, in the Quaker burial ground in Staindrop, not far from Raby Castle.

Who would have a thought, a humble son of County Durham would be known across the world and immortalised in a song written over two hundred years after his death.

In the 1700’s, Yorkshire, and in particular the Calder Valley saw a group of weavers turn to counterfeiting.

They became known as [...]]]> In every age, there is a group of people who will go that little bit too far in order to make ends meet.

In the 1700’s, Yorkshire, and in particular the Calder Valley saw a group of weavers turn to counterfeiting.

They became known as the Cragg Vale Coiners, led by a character called David Hartley, King David.

Shaving off the edges of coins, they managed to smelt the metal down again, to produce their own copies of coins, whilst passing off the only slightly smaller original coins to their original face value.

Hartley, who lived in Bell House in the isolated Cragg Vale, co-ordinated & led the gang of the area who would acquire coins from publicans, often of foreign origin, and would use the metal they had smelted to punch a new pattern and create their own brand of coin.

Back in the 1700’s Cragg Vale was an isolated place. This made the passing off of the fake coins easier, as people were generally unaware of what was happening.

However, in 1769, rumours of the counterfeiting reached the authorities within His Majesty’s Excise. They despatched an officer, William Dighton, to investigate the rumours and try to track down members of the gang. After loose talk in a public house, James Broadbent was arrested and taken into custody. In an attempt to save his own skin, he turned King’s Evidence, betraying the other members of the gang. The arrest of “King” David Hartley followed shortly afterwards.

Furious at the arrest of his brother, Isaac Hartley offered the enormous sum of £100 to anyone who would kill Dighton. The Dusty Miller pub in Mytholmroyd was set as the ambush location by plotters as the site to carry out the deed, however they were beaten to the prize by Robert Thomas and Matthew Normanton who ambushed Dighton and fellow Excise men at Bull Close Lane, not far from Halifax in West Yorkshire. Dighton was shot in the head, a wound impossible from which to recover.

On 28 April 1770, King David Hartley was hanged at Tyburn, near York. His body was buried in the graveyard at Heptonstall, on the hill above Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

His brother, who financed the murder of Dighton, escaped justice due to a lack of evidence and died an old man in 1815, aged 78 at Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire.

I had heard about the Oxford Bar years ago. It was one of those places that kept cropping up as the favourite haunt of Detective Inspector John Rebus, in the books by Ian Rankin.

Tucked [...]]]>

I had heard about the Oxford Bar years ago. It was one of those places that kept cropping up as the favourite haunt of Detective Inspector John Rebus, in the books by Ian Rankin.

Tucked away on the quiet back road of Young Street, the bar is a haven for those seeking great company, great beer and Rebus fans alike. If you’re looking for the plastic, high volume music of anonymous chain pubs, look elsewhere. The Oxford Bar personifies how pubs should be. Places of conversation, amongst regulars and visitors alike, without the need to raise voices.

When we visited one Saturday afternoon, the bar was reasonably full, though not over-crowded. Plenty of seating available in comfortable surroundings.

Glancing around the walls were adorned with atmospheric prints of local photographs produced by Broad Daylight. My personal favourite was one titled Old College. A misty archway over a figure.

Then it dawned on me. I had seen most of these pictures before. A small poster on the wall confirmed my suspicions as Broad Daylight has produced the cover photography for the Rebus novels for years.

Now the one thing I really like about the bar is the Ian Rankin connection. They’ve managed to include things like the prints in a subtle way. The connection isn’t overblown and the subtly of it ensures an undefined familiarity, allowing even the first time visitor to sit, relax and feel at home. If you’re not a Rebus fan, the warm welcome from the staff you receive as you walk through the door fills any void.

The contradiction then hits you. Why isn’t this bar so much more famous than it is? It can’t be, because if it was heaving with queues out the door, the very character that makes this place so special would be destroyed.

So if you find yourself in Edinburgh and fancy a quick pint, or even an all day session, check out the Oxford Bar. My personal recommendation, the Belhaven Best. Lovely session ale, kept and served in tip top condition, by experts in their field.

The childhood of a lighthouse keeper’s daughter was a tough introduction into the harsh realities of life and [...]]]> Grace Horsley Darling was born in her grandfather’s cottage in Bamburgh on November 24^th 1815. Whilst others were fighting the battle of Waterloo, the Darling family dedicated their lives to the safety of seafarers as lighthouse keepers.

Bamburgh Castle

The childhood of a lighthouse keeper’s daughter was a tough introduction into the harsh realities of life and forced children of both genders to become very resilient and self-reliant from a very early age.

Aged only threes weeks, Grace was moved from the cottage to Brownsman Island where she took up home in the small lighthouse keeper’s cottage, being raised and educated by her parents Thomasin and William. William, was an expert in maritime safety and knew the position of his current lighthouse on Brownsman Island was far from ideal. The family trait of determination really shone through him and after several years of campaigning he dream of a taller, more prominent lighthouse on Longstone Island became a reality and the family moved there.

In Grace Darling’s day, the North Sea was the motorway of its time, and traffic levels were substantially greater than those of today and ships passing the islands off the Northumbrian coast used a channel called the Fairway, between Inner Farne and the British mainland. Advances in ship design however, required masters to take their vessels further out to sea, though many came to ground on the rocks of the islands by not going out far enough. This was to be the fate of the SS Forfarshire, a luxurious 132 ft steamer owned by the Dundee and Hull Steam Packet Company.

Grace Darling Memorial at St Aidan's

However, the Forfarshire’s boiler started leaking on 6^th September 1838 which resulted in her engines failing, leaving the steamer drifting at the mercy of the prevailing tides. Realising the peril the ship and all aboard were facing, the Captain, John Humble, ordered the sails to be set in an attempt to get the ship to Inner Farne’s more sheltered waters. However, it is believed a simple navigation error meant Longstone Lighthouse was thought to be the Inner Farne Lighthouse. The fate of the vessel was sealed, when it ran aground on Big Harcar rock.

Grace was on duty at Longstone Lighthouse and believing the storm was too severe to allow the North Sunderland lifeboat to launch, decided to set out in the coble with her father to attempt a rescue of the survivors. Rowing for nearly a mile in very rough waters, Grace and her father found nine survivors when they arrived at the rock. However, to take all of the survivors in one trip would overload and endanger the coble. So Grace and her father took five of the survivors back on the first trip, before her father returned a second time to pickup the rest.

Grace Horsley Darling Tombstone

Reluctant to step into the limelight, Grace found herself a celebrity of the day, receiving an award of £50 from Queen Victoria herself, as well as a Gold Medal from the Royal Humane Society.

The RNLI Grace Darling Museum can be found on Radcliffe Road in the Bamburgh, Northumberland. Just over the road from the monument erected in her name in the graveyard of St Aidan’s Church.

They have been involved in every major conflict the UK has fought since their formation during world war two when Winston Churchill wanted an elite force to raid enemy occupied coastal positions.

As a result of being [...]]]> They’re not soldiers, They’re not sailors. They’re not airmen. They are the Commandos.

They have been involved in every major conflict the UK has fought since their formation during world war two when Winston Churchill wanted an elite force to raid enemy occupied coastal positions.

As a result of being on the front lines of action after action they have won a huge number of medals and paid a higher price than many other units.

North of Spean Bridge, just off the A82 is where you will find the Commando Memorial.

It is a fitting place to remember the fallen. The views from the memorial where the figures stare out are the types of terrain where Commando’s train and feel most at home.

Away from the statue, a garden of remembrance has been established where people can honour the memory of loved ones lost. It’s an emotional place, even just to walk round. Photographs, pictures, plaques and notes line the circular route around the garden.

It is easy to think of this as a place where old men from “the war” fade away, however, it is a sad fact that this garden of remembrance is very much an evolving place, with new names appearing.

It was saddening to see new names being added, with birthdates from the 1980′s being added to the list of those fallen.

They may be gone, but they will never be forgotten. The best of the best. The men entitled to call themselves a Commando.

The former Kings Head where Charles Dickens stayed whilst researching information for his novel Nickolas Nickleby in February 1838.

Musician, Songwriter, Actor, raconteur, it’s hard to know how to describe Billy, or Mitch as he is known.

Billy’s career started way back in the early 1960′s and saw him in the line-ups of The Callies, Jack The Lad as well as Lindisfarne. Throughout this time he maintained a successful solo [...]]]>

Musician, Songwriter, Actor, raconteur, it’s hard to know how to describe Billy, or Mitch as he is known.

Billy’s career started way back in the early 1960′s and saw him in the line-ups of The Callies, Jack The Lad as well as Lindisfarne. Throughout this time he maintained a successful solo career as well as forming comedy partnerships with Brendan Healy and being one half of Maxie and Mitch.

His website is available here.

Jack Crawford was born in Sunderland on 22nd March 1775 and worked as a keelman transfering cargo from the banks of the river to waiting cargo ships.

By the age of 11 he had set his sights beyond the river and joined the crew of the [...]]]>

Jack Crawford was born in Sunderland on 22nd March 1775 and worked as a keelman transfering cargo from the banks of the river to waiting cargo ships.

By the age of 11 he had set his sights beyond the river and joined the crew of the Peggy at South Sheilds and served initially as an apprentice.

In 1796 he fell victim to the vicious press gangs who roamed the streets kidnapping people to serve in His Majesty’s Royal Navy. Anyone who accepted the King’s shilling ended up serving in the Royal Navy, often until the end of their days.

Crawford served on HMS Venerable under the command Admiral Duncan and in 1797 he took part in the battle of Camperdown. During naval battles of the day, there were no advanced radio communications or encrypted signaling. All communications for the battle group were through the use of flags on the admiral’s ship, hence the term flagship. A signal for the battle group to retreat and disengage the enemy was the lowering of the national flag, the Union Flag. Sneaky Captains would deliberately aim for the main mast where the Union Flag was attached because if the other ships in the group saw the flag fall, they would retreat. This prevented a full battle and saved lives and ships. During the engagement at Camperdown, HMS Venerable’s Union Flag was shot down no less than six times and Jack Crawford grabbed the flag each time. Scaled back up the mast and reattached the flag by hammering in nails with his pistol butt, preventing allied ships retreating. The British eventually won day andJack was proclaimed a hero receiving a £30 per year pension from the king himself.

When did you last visit a beauty salon that offered you a free beer?

Here in the North East of England we have some of the finest musicians you will see on stage.