The Ghostly Bridal

Posted by on January 2, 2008 7:05 PM

As midwinter closes in it seems right (dare I say 'appropriate') to have a ghost story; Northumberland's long and violent history has produced a fair crop; the Ghostly Bridal of Featherstone is something of a classic, worthy of Sheridan Le Fanu or perhaps M.R. James

The de Featherstone-Haughs appear in the thirteenth century, their hall-house stood on the present site; pretty woodland where the Hartley Burn flows into the North Tyne. As the Scottish wars drew long and savage a strong tower was added around 1330.

Featherstone sufficiently impressed Cadwallader Bates for him to enthuse it was the finest in the county and the family themselves were active in tumultous border affairs and affrays. In October 1530 Albany Featherstonehaugh, then County Sheriff, was murdered by the Ridleys. A later scion, Timothy, served his king with distinction, being knighted for his good service before he finally fell in the rout at Worcester.

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Journalists, bad habits and tiny tots

Posted by Graeme on January 3, 2008 2:17 PM

Journalists have many bad habits, but the one in particular that often makes me cringe is our use of an odd language that no-one else in the world can speak.

We mostly write in English, of course, but occassionally reporters lapse into a strange lingo that I can only call "journalese", a strange collection of words that only ever appear in newspapers.

Who, for example, ever uses the word "slam" to mean criticism, except for journalists? (As in "A council was slammed for xxxxxx" or "A distraught mother last night slammed social services for xxxxxx")

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Tour Preparation Continues

Posted by Malcolm Clarke on January 6, 2008 9:36 AM

Practising 9-Ball can be quite a boring exercise. I fall into the trap of setting rack after rack and trying to run out without any real thought about what I am doing. If I am running them out time after time, that in itself can become mundane. I have always found the traditional practise "drills" boring, like the old-school snooker training which is to place the blue ball on its spot in the centre of the table and using a straight shot into the middle pocket, do that 50 times with focus on your stroke and stance.

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Express delivery!

Posted by Graeme on January 7, 2008 9:56 AM

I tend to think that there are few things in life that are more annoying than the kid at the end of the Daily Express adverts who pops onto the screen and shouts "Express delivery".

But for local journalists, getting your stories nicked and then presented as exclusives by the nationals comes pretty close.

In yesterday's Sunday Express, there was a story about Fran Lyon, the Hexham woman who has fled to Europe to stop social services taking her baby, which contained the following line:

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Simple Tips to Improve Digital Photos

Posted by David Brennan on January 7, 2008 8:24 PM

Just look around and you will see how the popularity of digital photography is growing. I heard recently that there are over 12 million digital cameras in the UK!

It seems that everyone has some form of camera to hand, whether it’s a full blown SLR, a pocket size compact, or one on their mobile phone.

It is also no surprise to hear the cursing and complaints about them (usually coming from the camera’s operator).

How did I miss the shot? Why doesn’t my flash work? How can the batteries be flat?

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January seasonal food

Posted by Anna Heywood on January 8, 2008 8:47 AM

Locally-produced fresh fruit is difficult to find at this time of year.
There are still a few late pear varieties around and although not strictly a fruit, forced rhubarb is available in many outlets.

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A Very British Atrocity

Posted by on January 9, 2008 7:49 PM

I'm currently writing a book on the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. Yes, I know it's been done before, most notably by John Prebble in 1966 but a lot has happened in the intervening four decades which leads me to see the events of 13th February 1692 in a slightly different light.

The 1990's witnessed what we now term 'ethnic cleansing' - the ECHR defnes this, for judicial purposes, as something akin to but not necessarily the same as genocide. There are a series of defined actions which together constitute ethnic cleansing, a bit like a beginner's handbook:

The area to be 'cleansed' must be isolated and cleared of friendlies; the key figures in the victim group must be culled, social and political leaders are killed whilst those capable of bearing arms are segregated and then done away with, whilst non-combatants are expelled from the area - simple really.

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You too can speak journalese!

Posted by Graeme on January 16, 2008 11:22 AM

Thanks for the replies I've been getting about that special language spoken only by journalists.

As well as the replies to my initial posting, I've had a number of colleagues suggesting words that are only ever used in newspapers but never in real life.

These include:

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Clogs v trainers

Posted by Brenda Boyd on January 16, 2008 4:44 PM

As we may have mentioned before Tyne Bridge is a women’s North West Clog Morris team. This means that the dances we do originate from the mill towns of North West England. They developed in and around the mills during the industrial revolution when footwear of working people (if they had any) was clogs.

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For Liberty alone...

Posted by on January 18, 2008 1:46 PM

A fellow was lecturing yesterday at the National Army Museum ("NAM") in Chelsea. Why does anyone live in London? Judging from a very brief peek into shops in Kensington, the cost of a medium sized handbag would buy you a decent flat up here. At the risk of trotting out another well, if not over-used, expression, the best view to be had of London is looking back as the train slides out of King's Cross - mind you they've made a pretty good job of St. Pancras, nifty landing at Heathrow yesterday too.

My subject was the Battle of Bannockburn 1314, that's the one battle in the 'The Three Hundred Years War' between us Northumbrians and the Scots that the Jocks can clain, pretty fairly, to have won. Obviously if Alex Salmond and the other Bravehearts achieve their desire then prseumably it will all kick off again, time to get the trusty broadsword out from the thatch.

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Ecoballs part two

Posted by Anna Heywood on January 20, 2008 11:17 AM

The results of my Ecoballs trial are in. So after 8 weeks of use do they work or not?

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Abdul Latif RIP

Posted by Graeme on January 21, 2008 1:59 PM

There is a genuine sadness in The Journal's offices today at the news that Abdul Latif - curry king and self-promoter par excellence - has died.

It has pretty much been the rite of passage of every young reporter in the North-East to write stories about Mr Latif, such was his genius for marketing himself and his restaurant.

His free offers - curry for life to Jonny Wilkinson, a free meal for every Newcastle United season ticket holder if they win the Premiership - were legend, gaining national fame when Viz started to feature Mr Latif in its pages.

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Specism and the Steel Bonnets

Posted by on January 23, 2008 12:44 PM

You will all be heartened to hear, as I was, that the PC lobby have invented another 'ism' - specism which may be defined as the act of placing higher moral or ethical value on one species over others suggesting, say, that Newcastle supporters were, in evolutionary terms, ahead of their Wearside rivals, perish the thought; besides 'we're in Heaven - we've got Kevin'.

This is condemned by the thought police as an extension of the logic of racism, the same sort of injustice that discriminates by gender and race. Typical PC tosh of course and as arid as any other of their mantras. What has this to do with local history, aside from giving me a welcome chance to mount another offensive against popular liberal culture. I suspect it has rather a lot to do with history, particularly with the evolution of the Border Reivers, the Steel Bonnets of legend.

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A double Rose&Crown

Posted by Brenda Boyd on January 26, 2008 12:50 PM

Tyne Bridge had an excellent practice on Thursday with 12 dancers turning up.

Little Miss Fiddle was welcomed back after quite a long break doing her Post Graduate Certificate of Teaching, part time whilst working as a peripatetic music teacher. As well as being an experienced dancer she plays the fiddle in the band between times. We have a few dancers who double up and there are times in bookings when there are more people playing than dancing.

Mrs Quilt is approaching a big birthday so we are beginning to think about what to perform at her Diamond Do. As there will, hopefully, be twelve dancers going she suggested doing either a big Grenoside, which can be done in multiples of three, or two sets* of a six person dance. As Grenoside is one of the Squire’s bêtes noire (see previous entry 'When the cat's away'), two sets of Rose&Crown was chosen.

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Five Days Until First Tournament

Posted by Malcolm Clarke on January 28, 2008 6:32 AM

The pressure is on, I will be practising more this week as it is now only five days until I go to Solihull for the first event of the tour season.

It will be the first full pro event since I played in Nuneaton in 2003.

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Pleasure in small things

Posted by Brenda Boyd on January 29, 2008 9:58 AM

Last summer the Squire was looking for a new home for a clamshell style paddling pool/sand pit that her children had grown out of.

Fester sometimes accidentally brings home living tadpoles or other mini-beasts in his water body surveys. The water butt was ok as a temporary home, but hardly ideal. We’d wanted to put some sort of garden pond in my garden so the Squire brought the paddling pool up to our house.

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Are celebs jumping on the green bandwagon?

Posted by Anna Heywood on January 29, 2008 10:07 PM

Absolutely, and most of us can see through it.

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Reiver's Day of Truce

Posted by on January 30, 2008 11:32 AM

'Alas that day I'll ne'er forget'. Thus the balladeer sings of the 'Raid of The Reidswire' - a celebrated fracas which erupted at a truce day on 7th July, 1575.

The complexities and deceits involved in border politics during the Elizabethan age were Byzantine in their entanglements and none more entangled that Sir John Forster, the English Middle March Warden.

By the third quarter of the sixteenth century Sir John was also in his seventies; a doughty fighter who'd borne arms against the Scots all of his adult life and who had been active in suppressing the rebellion of the Northern Earls in 1569 - 1570, he was corrupt to a degree most current politicians would easily recognise.

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