Celebrating the great heroes of the North

Date : 17/07/1999 Publication : THE JOURNAL

The Northumbrian Association which aims to celebrate and promote the region's culture was launched with a prize-giving ceremony last night. Chief Feature Writer Dick Godfrey was there.

THE Northumbrian Association has its roots in the campaign to get the Lindisfarne Gospels - England's greatest native work of art and a product of the golden age of Northumbria - returned permanently to this region.

That campaign remains one of the new association's main objectives. But it also wishes to spread an appreciation, both within the region and outside, of the enormous contributions the North-East has made to Britain, Europe and the world over the past fifteen hundred years.

"All too often, the North-East's image is of decline and deprivation," says the Northumbrian Association's first chairman Richard Berg-Rust. "Even some people living here have come to see it that way.

"But from the great days of the Angle Kingdom of Northumbria which gave us great men like Cuthbert to the industrial entrepreneurs of the 19th Century, the North-East has always given far more than it has taken. This is what we wish to promote."

Since the fledgling association appeared towards the end of last year, it has already attracted significant support. The Duke of Northumberland and the Bishop of Durham have agreed to become patrons. Houghton and Washington MP Fraser Kemp has formed an all-party Northumbrian Association Group in the House of Commons.

Mr Kemp was at the formal launch of the Northumbrian Association at Washington Old Hall last night and presented prizes in a schools essay writing competition which marks the NA's first organised activity.

Primary school children across the region were asked to write on the theme of "What I have learned from a famous

Northumbrian personality of the past that is useful to me and others today."

It attracted more than 450 entries. "We have been delighted by the range and high quality of the pupils' essays," says Northumbrian Association committee member and Ofsted school inspector Mick Tickell who co-ordinated the British Telecom-sponsored competition.

"All the pupils involved have been winners. They have learned so much and of such value." Subjects have ranged from Bede to Basil Hume and landscape gardener "Capability" Brown to engineer Charles Parsons.

Pupils' work from the following schools was highly recommended: Mortimer primary, South Tyneside; Lindisfarne Middle, Alnwick; St Joseph's RC Middle, Hexham; Colegate primary, Gateshead; Goathland Primary, North Tyneside and St Oswald's RC Primary, Newcastle.

Entries were not dominated by politicians, clergy, soldiers and industrialists. Jackie Milburn, for example, was selected by Davey Charlton of Goathland Primary for his highly commended essay.

He also inspired Christopher Dunn, of Mortimer Primary, who wrote, "Even though I'm a Sunderland supporter, I still admire his skill and passion for the beautiful game.

"He was the best footballer in England alongside George Best and he didn't get the recognition like Sir Stanley Matthews. I learnt that you can do anything if you try."

But the most popular subjects for essays were railway engineer George Stephenson and sea rescue heroine Grace Darling.

Many teachers, however, commented on the difficulty of getting detailed information on most heroes of the North, with a particular shortage of in-formation on women.

BT's Sheila Chapman, who was one of the essay judges, said she was impressed with the pupils' ability to communicate their ideas and also use modern technology to access information.

She had particularly looked for the voice of the individual child coming through. This was evident in the work of Ruth Davidson of Lindisfarne Middle School, Alnwick.

Ruth broke all the competition rules but won a special prize for her piece, written about her mother, nurse Doreen Davison.

"Ruth made us reflect on the essay title," said Sheila Chapman. "Perhaps as well as the heroes of the past, we should also include those important living personalities we can also learn from."

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