Forged in the North

Story-teller, author and playwright Richard O’Neill, and historian, author ( The Northumbrians ) and trustee of Beamish, Dan Jackson, talk about the rich history of story-telling and ‘having a crack’ in the North East. Both Dan’s family who were miners and Richard’s Romani Gypsy family, told stories to entertain each other and as a way of teaching and passing on knowledge of your family’s culture....

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and Brendan Foster are both residents of the North East and former athletes now taking on the huge challenge of trying to reverse the steep decline of physical activity levels of the British public.  Foster talks about the enduring success of the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon. The first one held just weeks after the first London Marathon in 1981 (b...

Musician and activist Sting and Yale historian Paul Kennedy grew up streets away from each other in 1950s Wallsend, a place entirely dominated and proudly defined by the shipbuilding industry. Both passed the 11+ exam and attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle, which ‘educated them out’ of their working-class background. Both now live in the US but discuss the strong sense of identity...

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and business owner Sara Davies MBE are two women whose leadership and vision are changing the societal and economic landscape in the region. Growing up in working-class communities they both recall first seeing leadership in action in community and family settings by the women in their families. Davies has built a multi-million-pound business proudly located in the...

Lee Hall and Peter Straughan are acclaimed award-winning writers for stage and screen. Both were born in the 1960’s, on opposite sides of the River Tyne in the North East, into working-class families, and both cut their teeth in the thriving publicly-funded theatre scene in Newcastle. They discuss writing 'in Geordie', the region's music tradition and long history of working-class people having a...