As I begin to write this I’m on an East Coast train with the Tyne Bridge to disappearing to my left. When heading back down south there’s always a sense that I’m leaving behind a special place. I guess many people feel a close connection with where they were born, but above and beyond that the reason I bang on (and on and on) about Northumberland to people from further afield is that I really think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the country.
So if you’ve never been, I thought I’d try and lure you with five possible reasons why Northumberland might one day win you over, with the aid of the interweb:
PUFFINS, on the Farne Islands – who could resist? Northumberland is also one of the last remaining places in the country where you can see red Squirrels.
If you spend a lot of time in the cities, you might want to experience the empty open spaces of the Cheviot Hills or the North Pennines
After you’ve had a Stottie, a regular sandwich will never seem quite as filling (and you can pick up a Greggs Steak Bake for 80p!)
And finally, who can forget Hadrian’s Wall? I don’t think it’s possible to truly understand the history of the United Kingdom without standing on one of the high vantage points and taking in the scale of the construction. On that note, on 13 March the good people of The North will be illuminating Hadrian’s Wall – definitely a spectacle worth seeing.
If I can be cheeky and squeeze in a sixth, and one you can’t easily prove online, I’d say one of the defining characteristics of Northumberland and the North East is that though life is still hard for a good many people (and there are parts of the area where you can see poverty deeply etched on the faces of the residents) you’re never too far from a smile from a stranger. We were brought up proper, we were.
This year’s Association for Cultural Enterprises annual convention included a number of workshop strands with the strap ’10 things you need to know but never dared ask’ – my thanks to the delegates who chose to attend my session on the digital world. 45 minutes isn’t long to squeeze in ten things, but we made it!
The story which broke on Thursday was still rolling two days later, as I woke to a debate on my local radio station asking “should MPs travel first class?” It won’t surprise you that when asked the question in the context of Winterton’s outburst, most callers were of the opinion that MPs should be made to travel standard class. In fact, sod standard class, they should be dragged on a rope attached to the back of the train while working people queue up to use the toilet (between stations, naturally).
Yet, as someone who commutes five days per week in standard class, I find Winterton’s point uncontroversial when examined dispassionately.
A private environment
First – it is in the nature of many people (myself included) to look over the shoulder of people who are reading / using a computer, in any environment. We are natural nosey parkers. This is something I lamented last month while checking my inbox on the gay social networking site Thingbox, whilst on a train. (Those of a sensitive disposition should note that the screenshot contains some rather close to the bone humour, and, ahem, strident language. I have concealed the identities of the guilty.)
In first class, most train companies put three seats in to a space which would take five seats in standard class. Many customers will have their own table. Just as a point of logistics it is harder to rubber-neck the papers / screens of your fellow travellers. It could also be argued that there is a culture of discretion. As MPs often help those who are in the most dire of straits, we should consider whether casework correspondence in particular could be read in standard class.
I’ll be speaking at the annual convention of the Association for Cultural Enterprises next week – if you work in that sector and fancy a session which will involve PowerPoint but also the collective creation of a small piece of social marketing collateral (despite warnings not to rely on an internet connection!), then do come along.
I had a great night on Monday at the launch of the Francesco Mazzei menu at Pizza Express, courtesy of Mark Pack, and the lovely ladies of 1000heads. Lisa, one of the said lovely ladies, handled my tipping half a flute of Champagne over her with admirable grace and professionalism.
Each of the Franceso Mazzei menu additions were a delight in their own way, though the Calabrese should come with a health warning. HOT. I was stunned in to silence for upwards of a minute, and that is quite something.
I believe the menu is being rolled out nationwide from today – try the Rustichella. To die for. In time it may even tempt me from My Usual.
But then again, perhaps not… why break a habit developed over 10 years?
