• Contact
  • About
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
North East Bylines
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • European News
    • Health
    • Politics
    • Science
    • UK News
    • World News
    RMT Union banner

    When do strikes work? History shows the conditions need to be right

    Cartoon of Liz Truss with shopping trolley

    Tory leadership election: policy shopping is no way to treat people

    Border control at Dover

    The moral argument for open borders

    the quilt

    Join Hands for Ukraine at the Royal Albert Hall

    Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, 08-06-2021 A man was shot to death in the streets of Juárez, the experts work at the crime scene.

    Mexico: new research shows the historic link between opening schools and falling murder rates

    Andy Preston, Middlesbrough Mayor

    Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston faces calls to resign over damning audit report

    The freight area at Teesside Airport

    The ostrich has landed: an update for visitors to Teesside Airport

    girl with violin in sunflower field

    Welcoming the Ukraine Freedom Orchestra: flags, a star and a gigantic quilt

    pills

    Active patients have better outcomes and may reduce the pressure on the NHS

    Trending Tags

    • Ukraine
  • Culture
    • All
    • Animation
    • Books
    • Illustrations & More
    • Music
    • Performance
    • Poetry
    • Social Media
    • Theatre
    • TV & Radio
    street in Naples

    Five books to read that bring Naples to life

    Derry Girls mural

    Derry Girls: from the beginning

    Live Theatre sign

    Your Voice Your Future: North East

    white stag

    White Stag

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    Master Chef of Great Britain

    Master Chef of Great Britain at Lumley

    Prezzo

    Discovering the new summer menu at Prezzo

    Chef and son

    MasterChef’s’ Posh Street Food chef’s own summer of entertainment

    Scottish highlands

    The beauty of the Scottish Highlands

    Kleo Tabuku

    Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

    Pop up park

    Pop up to the park in Sunderland

    The Blackbird Inn, Ponteland

    The Blackbird Inn flies high with its new summer menu

    gymnast

    Culture of fear in British gymnastics uncovered by the Whyte Review

    Kennedy and Rhind

    Kennedy and Rhind: more time to enjoy a North East favourite

    Trending Tags

    • Business
      • All
      • Economy
      • Rural
      • Technology
      • Trade
      • Voluntary Sector
      Scottish highlands

      The beauty of the Scottish Highlands

      loo

      A room with a loo

      Newcastle quayside

      Newcastle named as one of the best cities for graduates

      Brexit economics

      New research shows the economic effect of Brexit

      Wetherspoons pub

      Wetherspoons sparkle: has it gone flat?

      Leon Fussell rehearsing

      Unsung Heroes at Queen’s Hall, Hexham

      Houchen and spade

      Vampire daylight: a week in the life of Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor

      Keir Starmer

      Open letter to Sir Keir Starmer

      London Bridge tube station

      A chance meeting with Mary: homeless and begging in a train station

      Trending Tags

      • Region
        • All
        • Co. Durham
        • North East
        • Northumberland
        • Teesside
        • Tyneside
        • Wearside
        DCFO Peter Heath

        Fire chiefs urge public to behave responsibly amid hot weather warnings

        Pride flag

        Northern Pride: Newcastle proves it’s loud, proud and still fighting

        Litterpick with Chi Onwurah

        Chi Onwurah publishes action plan for rubbish and calls on constituents to help improve it!

        the quilt

        Join Hands for Ukraine at the Royal Albert Hall

        Andy Preston, Middlesbrough Mayor

        Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston faces calls to resign over damning audit report

        The Wind in the Willows

        The Wind in the Willows and more at Queen’s Hall, Hexham

        The freight area at Teesside Airport

        The ostrich has landed: an update for visitors to Teesside Airport

        loo

        A room with a loo

        Kleo Tabuku

        Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

        Trending Tags

        • Opinion
          Titanic coming out of Southampton

          The 110th anniversary of the Titanic’s departure

          There is an England

          There is an England

          Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union"

          The parody of disinformation: Boris Johnson on Ukraine and Brexit

          Boris Johnson’s comments on Ukraine and Brexit are an insult

          TV Agency staff jumping in the air

          The TV Agency celebrates 10th anniversary with global success

          North East of County Dublin

          North East of England and North East of County Dublin: Compare and contrast

          North Sea oil rig

          Copping out of COP: Ukraine, fossil fuels and nuclear fusion

          Placard with Boris Johnson as a clown

          Dictators, media and mobility: erosion of identity, sustenance and safety

          close up on a child's eye

          Racism and misogyny where there should have been safeguarding and security

        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Brexit
          • Education
          • Environment
          • European News
          • Health
          • Politics
          • Science
          • UK News
          • World News
          RMT Union banner

          When do strikes work? History shows the conditions need to be right

          Cartoon of Liz Truss with shopping trolley

          Tory leadership election: policy shopping is no way to treat people

          Border control at Dover

          The moral argument for open borders

          the quilt

          Join Hands for Ukraine at the Royal Albert Hall

          Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, 08-06-2021 A man was shot to death in the streets of Juárez, the experts work at the crime scene.

          Mexico: new research shows the historic link between opening schools and falling murder rates

          Andy Preston, Middlesbrough Mayor

          Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston faces calls to resign over damning audit report

          The freight area at Teesside Airport

          The ostrich has landed: an update for visitors to Teesside Airport

          girl with violin in sunflower field

          Welcoming the Ukraine Freedom Orchestra: flags, a star and a gigantic quilt

          pills

          Active patients have better outcomes and may reduce the pressure on the NHS

          Trending Tags

          • Ukraine
        • Culture
          • All
          • Animation
          • Books
          • Illustrations & More
          • Music
          • Performance
          • Poetry
          • Social Media
          • Theatre
          • TV & Radio
          street in Naples

          Five books to read that bring Naples to life

          Derry Girls mural

          Derry Girls: from the beginning

          Live Theatre sign

          Your Voice Your Future: North East

          white stag

          White Stag

        • Lifestyle
          • All
          • Fashion
          • Food & Drink
          • Health & Fitness
          Master Chef of Great Britain

          Master Chef of Great Britain at Lumley

          Prezzo

          Discovering the new summer menu at Prezzo

          Chef and son

          MasterChef’s’ Posh Street Food chef’s own summer of entertainment

          Scottish highlands

          The beauty of the Scottish Highlands

          Kleo Tabuku

          Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

          Pop up park

          Pop up to the park in Sunderland

          The Blackbird Inn, Ponteland

          The Blackbird Inn flies high with its new summer menu

          gymnast

          Culture of fear in British gymnastics uncovered by the Whyte Review

          Kennedy and Rhind

          Kennedy and Rhind: more time to enjoy a North East favourite

          Trending Tags

          • Business
            • All
            • Economy
            • Rural
            • Technology
            • Trade
            • Voluntary Sector
            Scottish highlands

            The beauty of the Scottish Highlands

            loo

            A room with a loo

            Newcastle quayside

            Newcastle named as one of the best cities for graduates

            Brexit economics

            New research shows the economic effect of Brexit

            Wetherspoons pub

            Wetherspoons sparkle: has it gone flat?

            Leon Fussell rehearsing

            Unsung Heroes at Queen’s Hall, Hexham

            Houchen and spade

            Vampire daylight: a week in the life of Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor

            Keir Starmer

            Open letter to Sir Keir Starmer

            London Bridge tube station

            A chance meeting with Mary: homeless and begging in a train station

            Trending Tags

            • Region
              • All
              • Co. Durham
              • North East
              • Northumberland
              • Teesside
              • Tyneside
              • Wearside
              DCFO Peter Heath

              Fire chiefs urge public to behave responsibly amid hot weather warnings

              Pride flag

              Northern Pride: Newcastle proves it’s loud, proud and still fighting

              Litterpick with Chi Onwurah

              Chi Onwurah publishes action plan for rubbish and calls on constituents to help improve it!

              the quilt

              Join Hands for Ukraine at the Royal Albert Hall

              Andy Preston, Middlesbrough Mayor

              Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston faces calls to resign over damning audit report

              The Wind in the Willows

              The Wind in the Willows and more at Queen’s Hall, Hexham

              The freight area at Teesside Airport

              The ostrich has landed: an update for visitors to Teesside Airport

              loo

              A room with a loo

              Kleo Tabuku

              Top chef to open Newcastle restaurant, Lovage

              Trending Tags

              • Opinion
                Titanic coming out of Southampton

                The 110th anniversary of the Titanic’s departure

                There is an England

                There is an England

                Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union"

                The parody of disinformation: Boris Johnson on Ukraine and Brexit

                Boris Johnson’s comments on Ukraine and Brexit are an insult

                TV Agency staff jumping in the air

                The TV Agency celebrates 10th anniversary with global success

                North East of County Dublin

                North East of England and North East of County Dublin: Compare and contrast

                North Sea oil rig

                Copping out of COP: Ukraine, fossil fuels and nuclear fusion

                Placard with Boris Johnson as a clown

                Dictators, media and mobility: erosion of identity, sustenance and safety

                close up on a child's eye

                Racism and misogyny where there should have been safeguarding and security

              No Result
              View All Result
              North East Bylines
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home News Health

              I’m a smoker

              Peter Lathan reflects on the process or starting to smoke, giving up smoking, but not really being an ex-smoker.

              Peter LathanbyPeter Lathan
              22-08-2021 01:19
              in Health, UK
              Photo by JESSICA TICOZZELLI from Pexels

              Photo by JESSICA TICOZZELLI from Pexels

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
              ADVERTISEMENT

              I started smoking when I was about 14 (1957 or thereabouts) and I smoked, more or less without interruption, until I was 71.

              I say “more or less” because I did try to give up on a number occasions – once I lasted four days and then my wife threatened that she would sit on my chest, force a lit cigarette into my mouth and bounce up and down to make me inhale it if I didn’t give up giving up. We were young and fit in those days so she could certainly have done it! It appears I had become a bit short-tempered in those four days.

              Me? Surely not?

              Smoking a pipe?

              Once, during the seventies, I thought I’d try smoking a pipe instead. Didn’t work – I’d smoke a pipeful of baccy and then want a cigarette! And, if I’m honest, I usually had one because I always had an emergency supply hidden away.

              The thing is, everybody smoked in the fifties (except my parents – and they didn’t drink either.  Methodists. Need I say more?).

              Smoking with the young doctor

              For reasons which aren’t relevant, our doctors’ surgery was on the other side of the town from where we lived so, when I was 18+ (might have been a bit younger) and wanted to see the doc, I’d be at the end of the queue, because in those days, of course, there were no appointments; you simply turned up and were seen in order of arrival. I always used to see Young Dr Burn.

              (I didn’t like Old Dr Burn, his father, because he made light of things. He once told me that the severe stomach pains I was experiencing were just “a little lost fart.” Score nil for bedside manner! Anyway, that’s not really relevant.)

              I’d go in to see Young Dr Burn and he’d say, “So you’re the last, are you?” I’d agree that I was and he’d say, “Right. Let’s have a fag then.” He’d give me a cigarette and push the ashtray into the middle of his desk so we could both share it and the consultation would begin.

              Giving up smoking

              It was rather different twenty-odd years later when I was with a different Practice and we had one doctor who, if you went to him with a broken leg, would purse his lips and, almost wagging his finger like an old-fashioned school ma’am, would say, “Oh dear! You’ll have to give up smoking, you know.”

              But I didn’t! In fact, I gave up giving up for many years, until 2014 to be precise. Then the issue forced itself upon me. It began with a friend, who had come to the theatre with me, saying, “The wheezing in your chest is almost as loud as the actors’ voices.”

              That was just the start. There was much worse to follow: doing some drama work with recovering addicts (drugs and alcohol, not cigarettes!) in Darlington and not being able to keep up with my colleague Jill while walking up the slight hill from the carpark, with her chatting away and me gasping like an old steam train; having to set out from home early because of the amount of time it was taking me to walk from the Prince Bishop carpark in Durham up the long hill to the rehearsal room on Palace Green; in a panto rehearsal demonstrating to the Comic how I wanted a particular scene to run and ending up lying against the proscenium arch gasping for breath.

              Time for action!

              Saw the doctor (another one) and was diagnosed with COPD – emphysema and chronic bronchitis, no less, to add to my hypertension – and so, at 3pm on 17th December, 2014, there I was, outside the vape shop in Park Lane, Sunderland – smoking a cigarette, of course. I finished it, walked into the shop and bought a vape and a couple of bottles of liquid. None of your poncy menthol or rhubarb and custard flavours for me. Nope! Nicotine – in the strongest concentration they offered.

              That cigarette was the last I ever smoked. Nearly seven years later I am still smoke-free. I am a non-smoker! In fact, I’ve even stopped vaping.

              Brilliant, eh? Not so much will power, I have to say, as fear power! But whatever works for you.

              Except…

              Not an ex-smoker

              Often after a meal I reach out to the place on the coffee table where, six years ago, the cigs and lighter sat permanently (unless they were in my pocket). Or I’ll feel in said pocket.

              And I still dream that I’m “having a tab” and feeling really good. I really did enjoy smoking…

              And I can smell cigarette smoke at 200 yards!

              “I think somebody had a tab here an hour ago!”

              No, I am definitely not an ex-smoker. It would take only one moment of weakness and I’d be back on 40 a day as I was in 2014.

              I’m a smoker who is just not having cigarettes from moment to moment. From hour to hour. From day to day.

              Sometimes it feels like from lifetime to lifetime. Well, you get the picture. I’ll just keep on keeping on.

              Read more by Peter Lathan

              Tags: Culture
              ADVERTISEMENT
              Previous Post

              Women’s detention centre: monthly protests

              Next Post

              Hundreds flock to wool fair in Weardale

              Peter Lathan

              Peter Lathan

              Peter Lathan first appeared on stage in a school play at the age of 13 in 1956 when he played Marion in Sean O’Casey’s Cock-a-Doodle-Dandy. He first directed a play – Chekhov’s The Anniversary – in 1966. He has been involved in theatre ever since. He has taught Drama in schools, youth theatres and stage schools, whilst also running drama classes for recovering addicts and adults with severe learning disabilities. He has written more than 35 plays and directed over 70 from site-specific Shakespeare to touring pantos, from new writing to classic plays, from Theatre in Education to corporate productions. He is the author of It’s Behind You: The Story of Panto. He has been, variously, artistic director of theatre company KG Productions (2000 – 2016), chairman of the board of the Wearabout Theatre Company of Sunderland, and a Trustee of the Customs House in South Shields (9 years) and of No Limits Theatre Company, a professional company for adults with a learning disability In 2001 he founded the online British Theatre Guide which he edited for 11 years. He remains its North East editor.

              Related Posts

              pills
              Health

              Active patients have better outcomes and may reduce the pressure on the NHS

              byGiuseppe Bignardi
              July 30, 2022
              Covid memorial wall
              Health

              More than 200,000 Covid deaths recorded across the UK

              byCarol Westall
              July 15, 2022
              Hospital cleaner
              Health

              Domestic bliss: being a cleaner on the frontline

              byAnna Kerr
              July 13, 2022
              toddler with drinking cup
              Health

              North East child poverty now highest in the UK

              byNorth East Bylines
              July 12, 2022
              London Bridge tube station
              Health

              A chance meeting with Mary: homeless and begging in a train station

              byPeter Benson
              July 9, 2022
              Next Post
              Photo by Julie Ward

              Hundreds flock to wool fair in Weardale

              Want to support us?

              Can you help North East Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

              DONATE

              Sign up to our newsletter

              If you would like to receive the North East Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

              NEWSLETTER

              LATEST

              DCFO Peter Heath

              Fire chiefs urge public to behave responsibly amid hot weather warnings

              August 9, 2022
              Master Chef of Great Britain

              Master Chef of Great Britain at Lumley

              August 9, 2022
              RMT Union banner

              When do strikes work? History shows the conditions need to be right

              August 9, 2022
              Prezzo

              Discovering the new summer menu at Prezzo

              August 8, 2022
              street in Naples

              Five books to read that bring Naples to life

              August 7, 2022
              Derry Girls mural

              Derry Girls: from the beginning

              August 6, 2022

              MOST READ

              DCFO Peter Heath

              Fire chiefs urge public to behave responsibly amid hot weather warnings

              August 9, 2022
              Master Chef of Great Britain

              Master Chef of Great Britain at Lumley

              August 9, 2022
              RMT Union banner

              When do strikes work? History shows the conditions need to be right

              August 9, 2022
              Prezzo

              Discovering the new summer menu at Prezzo

              August 8, 2022

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Audio Beach Brexit Business castle leazes climate activism Co. Durham cost of living crisis Culture defra democracy ducklings Economy Education Environment fire and rescue firefighter Food & Drink food poverty Health Health & Care Home Affairs just stop oil Lifestyle Local Lockdown Northumberland Peace Performance Politics pride month refugee rescue Science Social Media Teesside TV & Radio Tynemouth Tyneside Ukraine volunteer Wearside

              We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in the North East and beyond.

              North East Bylines is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a sister organisation to Byline Times.

              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Contact
              • About
              • Letters
              • Donate
              • Privacy
              • Bylines network
              • Shop

              © 2022 North East Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Brexit
                • Education
                • Environment
                • UK News
                • Transport
                • World News
              • Politics
              • Opinion
              • Lifestyle
                • Culture
                • Music
                • Poetry
              • Business
                • Economy
                • Technology
                • Trade
              • Donate
              • Newsletter sign up
              • Boriiis Cartoons
              • Authors

              © 2022 North East Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In