Gateshead Grump

Tne second lunchtime concert at the Shipley was provided by students from Gateshead College who played some jazz and blues songs. Not my favourite type of music, but it was well done.

A Christmas Ceilidh with a Pie & Pea Supper. Good fun. Of course we didn’t dance - we just enjoyed the music and the atmosphere. We did join in “Passing the Parcel” - my better half won - and she also won a prize on the raffle. Her lucky night.

The first of this year’s lunchtime recitals at the Shipley Art Gallery and the first we’ve ever attended. We heard two girls playing violins - marvellous.

We went to the Shipley Art Gallery to hear Paul Martin speaking on “The Trees that Built Great Britain”. An excellent talk and nice to see someone in real life that we see so often on TV.

I just had to see the place before it closed on the 23rd for refurbishment. The Pilgrim Street premises will be shut for about 18 months and the cinema and coffee rooms are relocating to Gateshead Old Town Hall during that period.

My first Family History Fair, and excellent it was too. I met several folk I knew, including a lad I hadn’t seen since the 1950s when he lived at High Spen, and I learnt a lot about available family/local history products and resources. I was even able to resolve a long-standing problem with my Ancestry account thanks to one of the Ancestry team there. All that plus a nice cup of tea and a snack - an excellent outing. My only grumble is being seriously misled by the name of “Gateshead Stadium” Metro station. Naturally I assumed it was near the stadium from which it takes its name. It’s not, it’s quite a walk, and, even worse, the walk involves crossing a busy duel carriageway.

This much anticipated reunion proved to be as enjoyable as any I’d attended. Although some of us had not met for forty years, we got on as if those forty years hadn’t happened. There was universal approval for the notion of a similar, but much larger, event next year.