 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Blogs
Blog of the Month
This month we welcome back Craig Marsden from Stockton on Tees who currently works as a Patch Manager at Tristar Homes, managing the rural areas of the Borough including Stillington, Wolviston and Thorpe Thewles.
Craig enjoys reading, writing, and music of all genres but his number one hobby is Middlesbrough FC, and as a season ticket holder he has travelled all over the UK and beyond to support them. He’s also had an article published in the last ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ at Ayresome Park and in the first edition at the Riverside Stadium.
This month Craig will be sampling a wide range of events in the region with wife Tricia and children Becky (14) and Alex (10).
25-06-2008 - The Civic is one of those theatres that is perfect for Murder mysteries. And this was no exception. While scanning the....
May 2008 Blog
This month’s blogger is 20 year old Martha Lane who is currently studying English Language at Newcastle University. She enjoys anything and everything from music to fine art and was interested in blogging as she has lived up here for 2 years and feels she hasn’t seen enough of what’s on offer.
She feels blogging for whatsonnortheast.com will also be a great opportunity to publicise events and venues that may have been overlooked otherwise.
20-05-2008 - Well it’s been a brilliant month for blogging and I really don’t want to give it up but here is my final effort.....
April 2008 Blog
Al is a 27 year old Publications Officer who lives in Heaton. When not at work he presents a radio show on NE1fm and enjoys live music, films, stand-up comedy and visiting museums.
This month he is looking forward to visiting new places and sharing his experiences with friends and family and everyone else via the blog.
- Having seen Low at Newcastle Students’ Union a couple of years ago (at least it only feels like a couple of years ago)....
March 2008 Blog
This month’s blogger is Jill, a recently qualified archaeologist. She is currently working at Bede’s World teaching children about life in 7th century Jarrow and the works of St. Bede. She also volunteers at the Young Archeaologists Club and when she’s not working she loves travelling to visit museums and archaeological sites both here in the UK and abroad. She’s looking forward to blogging for whatsonnortheast.com as she would like to try some new things that she wouldn’t normally do.
- I wasn’t sure what to expect from either the Centre for Life, or the free lecture in the conference centre which was....
February 2008 Blog
This month’s blogger is 25 year old Neuroscience PhD student Karen Fisher. When she isn’t busy studying she keeps herself active through sports like kickboxing and badminton.
She regularly attends live music and theatre events but tends to stick in her comfort zone. This month as our blogger she is looking forward to trying some new events and will be keeping you updated as to what she makes of them.
13-02-2008 - A classic story of good versus evil, Jekyll & Hyde has been adapted for stage and screen many times. This particular....
January 2008 Blog
This month our blogger is Gillian Lauder, she leads a very busy life working for Northumbria Police in the Training Department and bringing up her 3 sons Daniel, Kris and David.
She shares her many hobbies, which include photography, hill walking, theatre, eating out and gardening with her partner David. Although her favourite hobby is entering competitions which she has been very successful at over the years.
She is looking forward to attending as many varied events as possible and giving her honest opinion through blogging for whatsonnortheast.com.
- The Journal Tyne Theatre is a Grade 1 listed building and very beautiful. It has a capacity of around 1000 and is located....
October 2007
This month’s blogger is 25 year old Leanne who lives with her partner Chris in Gateshead. Leanne works in technical support and likes to spend her spare time exploring the North East and has a weakness for National Trust properties.
She also is an avid reader and film fan – devouring 2 to 3 books a week and at least 2 films. She’s looking forward to experiencing some of the other entertainment the North East has to offer with her family, friends and partner.
- We went to the Centre for Life on Sunday 28 October. We were a little annoyed on arrival as the opening time was listed as....
September 2007
Our blogger for September is 35 year old Simon Clarke, a service manager in Leeds who currently resides in Darlington with his wife Jan and three children.
In his spare time Simon dabbles in the Radio industry and enjoys taking the kids to the cinema. This month Simon is opening his eyes to a variety of different things the North East has to offer…
- Whilst in the car on the way to the next attraction I was trying to remember when I last visited the place. I have always....
June 2007 Blog
Our blogger this month is 44 year old Craig Marsden, a PR Officer from Stockton on Tees. Craig is married with two children – Alex (9) and Rebecca (13). His hobbies are reading and writing, caravanning, Middlesbrough FC and Blackpool FC, who he recently followed down to Wembley. Craig is looking forward to seeing as many varied events and shows as he can possibly fit into one month during his time as blogger for whatsonnortheast.com!
- As we made our way to our seats in the impressive theatre, I overheard a young man chatting to his beau “I had to come....
May 2007 Blog
Our blogger for May is Dave Wallbanks, a history teacher from Durham.
- We had a great family day out at Beamish. My daughter’s loved it and my parents enjoyed being their living guide to....
April 2007 Blog
Alison Cowie dons our blogger of the month cap in order to sample the region’s cultural offerings in April.
Alison is a born and bred Novocastrian and currently resides in Gosforth with her boyfriend, Marc.
Arts editor for Accent Magazine, Alison enjoys film, travel, music, stand-up comedy and giggling along to the likes of The Mighty Boosh, Peep Show and The Office.
- My final venture as blogger of the month took me to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to see the excellent Photographic....
February 2007 Blog
Our February Blogger is Jane French from Hexham. Currently Jane is a ‘hausfrau’, looking after her toddler daughter at home, and she also has Ella, 7. She says she is looking forward to trying out some new venues and art forms this month, both with her family and with her partner.
- My final evening as Blogger of the Month took me to Hexham’s Queen’s Hall once again. It was a filthy evening....
January 2007 Blog
This month, we have a blogging duo on the case! Michelle Kirkby and Martin Sharman will be giving us a ‘His ‘n’ Hers’ perspective on their experiences throughout January.
Michelle is a Human Resources officer from Jesmond Park West. She enjoys golf, silversmithery, mountain biking and festivals and her New Years Resolution is to learn to cook Thai food from scratch.
Her partner Martin is an optometrist and musician whose interests include art, cooking and eating, as well as the odd bit of hula hooping!
They’re both looking forward to getting out and about, and hope that blogging for whatsonnortheast.com will brighten up the otherwise dull month of January.
- It was the Victorians who really exploited the entertainment value of the grotesque. In the 19th century this chiefly....
December 2006 Blog
Our blog for December comes from Vicky Osmond, a 23 year old Publications Officer from Heaton, Newcastle.
Vicky’s boyfriend Paul is the lucky ‘plus one’ who has agreed to accompany her on her excursions this month.
Vicky says she is looking forward to reviewing a variety of performances and exhibitions during her month with whatsonnortheast.com and hopes to perhaps gain some new interests as a result of her experiences.
Outside work, Vicky’s hobbies include going to the cinema, the gym and coming up with new ideas for spending her weekends.
Vicky is the self-appointed ‘events organiser’ for her group of friends, and past efforts have included a pub quiz style party and a night at the dogs.
- Away in NewcastleIn the church of Saint George,Was a choir and some music and some mince pies to gorge. The Candlelit Christmas,Is....
October 2006 Blog
This month our blogger is Chris Parkington. Chris is 58 and lives in Billingham with her husband, Wilf, and cat, Pebbles. Chris was a full time teacher until 1998, in both secondary and primary education, and has a recently married son, Daniel.
Chris has been totally blind for over seven years, and because of spinal problems she uses a wheelchair to get around when out of the house, meaning she has an acute awareness of the accessibility issues facing people with disabilities.
Professing an interest in “almost every type of music except modern pop”, Chris also enjoys theatre and the cinema, when audio description is available, and has learned Braille in order to keep up with her hobby of reading. Chris is an active member of her community, and an avid crafter, raising funds for Stockton Blind People’s Voice by making and selling greetings cards. She is also very involved in local groups, where she sets out to act as a voice for those who dare not speak up, or don’t know how to make their feelings and needs known.
- Alternative comedy is not the type of entertainment to offer your maiden Aunt, and I expected mainly students in last night's....
August 2006 Blog
This month's blogger, Steve Drayton is a rabid music fan based in Newcastle. Having once attempted to live without pop music for a month, he realised that he was unable to survive without a daily dose of pop nonsense and vowed never to spend a day without music. Sharing his life are his lovely wife Helen and lovely daughter Bella, three fish and a smart little rabbit named Chalkie. Settled firmly in the foothills of middle age, Steve enjoys a good night out but does think that films are all far too long these days and that most actors are show offs.
- The Ken Dodd Happiness Show at the Whitley Bay Playhouse. In September 1954, Ken Dodd, A.K.A. "Professor Yaffle....
November 2006 Blog
Throughout November, our blogger is Huw Golledge, a 34 year old research scientist from Spital Tongues in Newcastle. Born and raised on Teesside, Huw spent a period living in London before returning to the North East to study for his PhD, and has remained here ever since.
Huw describes his job as ‘trying to work out, largely unsuccessfully, how the brain works’. When not engaging in that great endeavour, he likes to spend his free time taking photographs and listening to live music. Musically he likes singer-songwriters and still has an enduring fondness for the indie music of his youth, although he does listen to classical music and would like to see more live orchestral events.
Huw admits to a certain amount of philistinism and he is hoping that his month of blogging for What’s On North East will expand his horizons into forms of culture that he hasn’t engaged with previously such as theatre and dance.
- I’m not a stranger to Benjamin Britten’s music. My dad introduced me to his “Young Persons’ Guide....
July 2006 Blog
Our blogger this month is Anita Chalmers, 41, a pharmacist who works for the NHS. Anita lives with her two sons Christopher and Alex in Sunderland.
- The Victorian picnic at Belsay Hall couldn't have had better weather. The dancer looked awfully hot in their full length....
June 2006 Blog
Our blogger this month is James Bell 36, a mature student and part time singer from Northumberland.
- Anything Goes is a Cole Porter musical on at the Theatre Royal all this week. The set is great, a large ship with a funnel....
July 2007
Our blogger for July is Colette Erskine from Chester le Street. Colette says she’s happiest surrounded by live music, inspiring exhibitions and creative people and she’s just returned from a muddy Glastonbury. She loves spending time with friends, scattered around the country and locally, in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle; especially The Cluny and The Biscuit Factory.
She loves reading, and watching independent films at The Side and Tyneside cinemas; especially novels and films with incredible character studies.
Colette coordinates a youth volunteering project in County Durham and is a Director of a national youth volunteering organisation. She says she’s constantly dazzled by the wealth of creative talent among young people and passion to make a difference.
Colette’s husband Gabriel will be her culture vulture partner and they say they’re looking forward to checking out new venues, events, sights and sounds throughout the region.
- At the Centre for Life, to kick off the weekend, we joined the audience for the recording of Radio 4's Home Planet, which....
March 2007 Blog
Katy Shaw hails from Newcastle Upon Tyne. Her passions include stand-up comedy and fringe theatre. These interests usefully combine at the Edinburgh Festival were she has worked as a comedy reviewer for several years. During the rest of the year Katy works as a lecturer in English Literature and is an internationally published author. She is currently completing a book length study of poetry from the 1984-5 miners’ strike before beginning a lectureship at Newcastle College in June. This month Katy is blogging events she wouldn’t normally attend in an attempt to broaden her cultural horizons and see what the North East has to offer the contemporary culture vulture…
- I arrived at the Bowes Museum with all the expectations that country homes tend to arouse - paintings, dramatic staircases....
Go back to school at Beamish
Ever wondered what school was like almost 100 years ago? Visit Beamish museum this summer and find out. On Tuesday 22 July, Wednesday 30 July and Friday 8 August visitors can pop in to the Board School...
