If you rely on friends and family to look after your children whilst you are at work, you are stuck. If, however, you can afford to pay for a nanny or registered childminder, they may continue looking after your children like they did before.
Now, perhaps, there are just two classes – the public school, wealthy, grouse shooting, hunting, power-hungry class and their wannabes – and the rest of us, the shopkeepers and civil servants, barristers and baristas, blue-collar workers and teachers, doctors and lawyers et al.
“I come from quite a musical family, I started learning piano aged four and have sung for as long as I can remember. My parents were into a mixed bag of music, so I grew up listening to everything from the Beatles to Grieg. I started off studying classical music, both for piano and voice and then moved towards folk and jazz. I was gigging from the age of 15 and have worked as a professional musician since then. Music has always been an integral part of my life.”
The leader of Newcastle City Council, Nick Forbes said: “The evidence we’ve found from local testing is that it’s spreading in three main areas: in pubs, in people’s homes and in grassroots sports…[council leaders] have put together a series of requests to government for additional restrictions around these areas for a fixed period of time to try to prevent a damaging full lockdown.”
South Tyneside is the local authority in the North East with the highest number of Coronavirus infection cases (per 100,000 population) according to the latest PHE weekly report issued on 11th September
As we pick up the pieces in the wake of coronavirus, it is imperative that we begin a serious conversation about devolving real power and resources to the English regions.
What would be the criteria for awarding state aid to a tech firm or a project? Would there be viable tests and assessments? Could more government money be thrown away and wasted? Will we see a mushrooming of dodgy algorithms and apps which do not function properly. Will they invest in the wrong companies again and waste yet more of government funds? Will the state aid land once more in the hands of companies and individuals who are associates of government staff, advisors and donors?
Those were the days when the only heating in the house was the fire – and someone had to clean out the previous day’s ashes before laying and lighting it. And if the only hot water in the house came from the boiler behind the fire, then some poor soul – usually the mother – had to get up before everyone else to get that fire started.
This is the Haymarket, Newcastle. Nowadays it is a metro station at the end of a busy shopping street. As the name suggests this area was for many years the scene of a market selling hay and straw, a reminder of our agricultural past. Long ago but still remembered and timely to do so in […]
If you live in America, to turn the lights on you flick the light-switch up; if you live in England, you push it down. One of the first principles of ergonomics is that is you design things so that they work in the way you expect them to. This is a basic psychological, or cognitive, principle but to achieve it you first have to know what is expected. Detractors say that ergonomics is just applied common sense, and while that is a good description, it also belittles a practice that aims to provide people with what they want, need, and expect.
The great British teenager swap has started: lots of excited young people moving to start their adult lives at university. How do they fit in with the local community?
It was always intended that the community orchard should become an educational resource, both for adults to learn the skills of fruit cultivation, and for school children to experience nature and growth, and for it to be a community resource, for people to share the produce, to enjoy the environment and to have a space for local events
“You are not alone” How do you feel about going back to school? That’s a question mainly for children but also for parents, teachers, carers. It’s been around five months since many of us were at school. You may feel excited, nervous, anxious and a whole range of emotions. Last week the Customs House set […]
In the last week coronavius cases have risen in parts of the North East, putting them into the government’s ‘red zone’ and causing fears over possible new local lockdowns.
“How do you deal with writer’s block?” This question is often asked of authors, screenwriters and playwrights but what exactly is writer’s block? According to Wikipedia. writer’s block is: “a condition… in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown.” I am an author of a published novel, […]
One thing that I’ve found is that the wildlife, birdwatching, and photography communities are all incredibly friendly, willing to talk about what they’ve seen and to give tips; or to leave you be, if you just want some peace and quiet. The North-East really is a spectacular region, and I’m so happy to have made it my home after years down south.
There is that excited buzz that you always get in a theatre before a show. La vie en Rose plays on the sound system which seems strangely appropriate and people settle into their seats to enjoy the show. The difference tonight is that the seating is very spread out: one or two people and then […]
Everything about us is being stored as data and used in so many ways. This can be good for the services we receive as long as the government takes the right steps to protect us from misuse of our data.
Cycling is a way of being considerate to your community, as it reduces pollution. And this is linked to another current issue: there are times when pedestrians and road users would be well advised to wear facial shields such as masks.
The culture and hospitality sector is in danger. Many theatres have a limited number of months, or weeks before they completely run out of funding. Pubs that employ musicians to draw in punters are struggling badly and some are closing for good. People who work in the arts sector are finding themselves with little or […]
At the beginning of March this year I met up with some friends in Sheffield. We had all been involved in a project on poverty some years ago; as often happens, we had become friends and had kept in touch over the years. We are all women aged over 60, from different places, different work […]
I used to work with a guy who was a fanatical NUFC supporter. So fanatical was he that he claimed to get more pleasure out of Sunderland losing a match than Newcastle winning one. Now we’re not just talking Newcastle v Sunderland games – haven’t had many of those in recent years! – but any […]
Today it was announced that A-level and GCSE students in England would be guaranteed to achieve a grade which was no lower than their ‘mock’ grade. This begs a number of questions. Firstly, how accurate is a mock grade? Many of us have heard countless times the expression “it’s only the mocks”. As one Newcastle […]
History is like the tide coming in; sometimes you see it, sometimes it floods you without warning. The 21st Century started like the tide you can see; a cleaning torrent of optimism that swept doubt aside, giving us what now seems like blissful prosperity, culture and awareness. We even had decent football with Sir Bobby […]
If you enjoy The Crown, a show with an impressive scope, spanning decades and revealing insights to recent British history, then this is an alternative for you during lockdown. Our Friends in the North may not have had the same budget and gloss, but it is a powerful creation that focuses on ordinary people. A 1996 miniseries, […]
Local theatre director and writer reflects on the process of becoming a writer.
This is a fantastic site with plenty of potential. We’ve waited 20 years for this development. We believe in a better Gateshead Quays, let’s make sure it’s worth the wait.
In the UK, we had the added concern that the government didn’t appear to be in control. They were late in acting and contradictory in their advice.
Pandemic Python have been a great success and in the words of one Jesmond resident: “Niceness breeds niceness”
Working in the Performing Arts is not a career but a way of life. It’s not what you do, but what you are.