BRANCH MEETING REPORTS - FEBRUARY 2017
ALNWICK
No meeting in February
BELMONT
The meeting was held on the 15th of February, 19 people attended of which 10 were NDFHS members. Win Colman gave an excellent talk about her grandfather Peter Lee- Methodist lay preacher who worked tirelessly to improve conditions of miners in the North-East and after whome the town of Peterlee is named.
BLYTH
At the meeting held on the 21st of February, Barry Mead gave an excellent talk about Monkey Business at a Medieval Abbey. There were 16 members present.
NEWCASTLE
The meeting was held on Wednesday the 1st of February and there were 15 present and three apologies.
The Branch AGM was held, there were no new volunteers and the existing officers agreed to continue. The speaker was Anthea Lang who gave a superb talk on Capability Brown: 300 years since his birth. There were some fantastic photos of gardens and houses that he had planned. A highly recommended talk.
NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND
The Branch welcomed back Linda Bankier from Berwick Record Office, who gave a talk on some of the well known characters in Berwick. The McLagan family, Ellen Ainslie, Robert Gladstone, Thomas Crowther a Greenlander, fishing families. The information arose from the Berwick 900 Festival and is linked in to the research carried out by volunteers in Berwick Record Office. Sixteen members were present and there were three apologies.
NORTH TYNESIDE - Group
The meeting was held on Tuesday 7th of February , 10 people were present and there were 5 apologies. The Speaker was John Heckles, who gave a very interesting talk entitled “Chirupula Stephenson, Tyneside’s African Adventurer”. John Edward Stephenson a telegrapher from North Shields and his adventures in the early exploration of Southern Africa where he became a legend amongst Europeans and a “god” known as Chirupula to the Africans.
SOUTH TYNESIDE
The Branch had six members in attendance at the meeting on Wednesday 15th of February, with 5 apologies. Unfortunately due to a ‘glitch’ with computer equipment, the speaker Andrew Clark felt he was unable to go ahead with his planned power-point presentation entitled @Pubs, Brewers & Beer’.
Instead the branch enjoyed a talk on ‘Life in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, a very interactive talk that brought back memories for the members. Some of the memories provided material to add to Andrew’s talks in the future. An excellent speaker.
TYNEDALE
The meeting was held on 9th February. David Waugh was the speaker , he returned after eight years to tell the attendees about more of his research into the history and businesses of Corbridge, The Angel Inn’s story was particularly interesting as new discoveries about the building and its owners take its history back from 1726 to the Middle Ages.
WANSBECK
The Speaker Andrew Clark addressed a well attended meeting about the 30s, 40s, & 50s. There was a focus on home life, toys, cinemas, shopping, Christmas and street games and there was a lot of audience participation in response to his talk. He brought with him a lot of artefacts which prompted memories and as well as entertaining, he collected information from the audience.
This is an excellent talk but beware, your sides will ache with laughing.