THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2007
HOW THE PROGRAMME ‘WORKS’
I went to see Iolanthe at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle last night. On the way out, I was accosted (in the friendliest possible way) by a listener called Frank who asked if I would be going straight to the studio to broadcast the programme. Er.......
Frank was mortified (his word) to discover that the programmes are only ‘live’ between 0600 and 0630, Mondays to Fridays. At all other times, they are prerecorded. So, in the interests of BBC honesty, this is how I do it.
When I finish my ‘live’ slot each morning at 0630, I prerecord the next day’s programme. All the music you hear (except for the nightly ‘special track) is already in the BBC’s computer so I record the ‘links’ (the sections of spoken word) between them. This means that the programme is not recorded in ‘real-time’, as they say these days. I record my voice and slot it in between tracks of music, trails and jingles.
When I’ve finished doing that, the prerecorded programme is put onto an automatic timer which ‘fires’ when the programme is due to start.
When I arrive in the studio at 0530 each morning (Mondays to Fridays), I take over the airwaves at about 0559 and shut down the automatic timer. And then, of course, the whole process begins again.
On two days a week I have to prerecord two programmes to make sure there is a Nightshift on Saturdays and Sundays.
If it all sounds too easy - believe me, it isn’t. Things can - and do - go wrong all the time. But that’s another story.
Iolanthe, by the way, was quite good. I’ve been a Gilbert and Sullivan fan all my adult life but, looking round the audience at the theatre, I did start to wonder whether their relevance to the 21st century was questionable. I saw perhaps 20 or so people under 40; the vast majority of the audience was much older than that. Perhaps G&S has become too much of an acquired taste.
KNOW YOUR NORTH EAST
The two preserved hermit’s cells are at Warkworth (upstream from the castle) and at Chester-le-Street, where the Anker’s House Museum is part of St Mary’s church.
NIGHTSHIFT CLASSIC
......was the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata. If there’s a piece of classical music you would like me to play in the small hours, get in touch.
THIS BLOG
I am on leave tomorrow (Friday) and next Monday and Tuesday. The next blog posting will be next Wednesday, 14 November.
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
WEDNESDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2007
THIS BLOG
Thanks for all the advice - here and at the BBC - about how to access this blog. I think we’ve got the hang of it now. Even Gilly in Meadowfield seems to have mastered it!
BBC ENGLISH
The BBC has long been held up as a bastion (what exactly IS a ‘bastion’?) of good-quality English; good grammar, faultless pronunciation and - of course - the right word in the right place. So it comes as quite a shock to learn that there are folk who think it’s no such thing. And it’s even more shocking to have to agree with them - at least partly.
Many people assume that I’m the sort of finicky pedant who gets upset at any new word, or old word ‘misused’. But I don’t. Well, not really. The meanings of words have been changing ceaselessly and steadily for centuries. Silly once meant ‘blessed by God’, nice used to mean ‘dainty’, meat was anything you ate (not just meat) and a deer could be any animal at all. So it ill behoves us (if that’s the right way to put it) to complain about the same process happening now. Who cares if replica means - strictly speaking - an exact copy rather than just a model or reproduction?
Needless to say, I do have bees in my bonnet about some usages. For some reason, I get narked whenever I hear decimate used to mean ‘almost wipe out’. It means ‘reduce by 10%’. And the BBC is almost solely responsible for the total misuse of literally to mean its exact opposite. Sports commentators are always saying stuff like ‘the players have literally built a wall around the penalty area’ when this is precisely what they have not done.
Anyway, let’s face it. Some new words are delightful. Prequel and prevenge encapsulate complex ideas in single words and I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t manage without cool and OK. OK? Cool.
Everyone gets ‘airiated’ (as my nana used to say) about certain words. Claire texted the programme to say she explodes in fury whenever she hears lend and borrow confused. Is this confusion a local thing?
It would be good to hear about your least favourite language innovation or mistake. And are the BBC’s standards really falling?
SCOTLAND V ENGLAND
The on-air comparison I made between our two nations after 8 years of the Scottish Parliament generated a fiery response, ranging from ‘let’s all move to Scotland NOW’ to ‘the Scots can only afford to do all this because the English subsidise them’. Is that true?
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
Thanks for all the information you’ve sent me about the world’s first ever dog-show, held in Newcastle in 1859.
Today’s question is about the location of the two preserved hermit’s cells in the north-east. Do you know where they are?
NIGHTSHIFT SHOWSTOPPER
Windmills Of Your Mind was written and performed by Noel Harrison as the theme song of The Thomas Crown Affair, although there’s no obvious link between song and film that I can see. Lovely song, though. And it's kept Noel in royalty-fed comfort ever since.
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
THIS BLOG
Thanks for all the advice - here and at the BBC - about how to access this blog. I think we’ve got the hang of it now. Even Gilly in Meadowfield seems to have mastered it!
BBC ENGLISH
The BBC has long been held up as a bastion (what exactly IS a ‘bastion’?) of good-quality English; good grammar, faultless pronunciation and - of course - the right word in the right place. So it comes as quite a shock to learn that there are folk who think it’s no such thing. And it’s even more shocking to have to agree with them - at least partly.
Many people assume that I’m the sort of finicky pedant who gets upset at any new word, or old word ‘misused’. But I don’t. Well, not really. The meanings of words have been changing ceaselessly and steadily for centuries. Silly once meant ‘blessed by God’, nice used to mean ‘dainty’, meat was anything you ate (not just meat) and a deer could be any animal at all. So it ill behoves us (if that’s the right way to put it) to complain about the same process happening now. Who cares if replica means - strictly speaking - an exact copy rather than just a model or reproduction?
Needless to say, I do have bees in my bonnet about some usages. For some reason, I get narked whenever I hear decimate used to mean ‘almost wipe out’. It means ‘reduce by 10%’. And the BBC is almost solely responsible for the total misuse of literally to mean its exact opposite. Sports commentators are always saying stuff like ‘the players have literally built a wall around the penalty area’ when this is precisely what they have not done.
Anyway, let’s face it. Some new words are delightful. Prequel and prevenge encapsulate complex ideas in single words and I’m ashamed to say that I couldn’t manage without cool and OK. OK? Cool.
Everyone gets ‘airiated’ (as my nana used to say) about certain words. Claire texted the programme to say she explodes in fury whenever she hears lend and borrow confused. Is this confusion a local thing?
It would be good to hear about your least favourite language innovation or mistake. And are the BBC’s standards really falling?
SCOTLAND V ENGLAND
The on-air comparison I made between our two nations after 8 years of the Scottish Parliament generated a fiery response, ranging from ‘let’s all move to Scotland NOW’ to ‘the Scots can only afford to do all this because the English subsidise them’. Is that true?
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
Thanks for all the information you’ve sent me about the world’s first ever dog-show, held in Newcastle in 1859.
Today’s question is about the location of the two preserved hermit’s cells in the north-east. Do you know where they are?
NIGHTSHIFT SHOWSTOPPER
Windmills Of Your Mind was written and performed by Noel Harrison as the theme song of The Thomas Crown Affair, although there’s no obvious link between song and film that I can see. Lovely song, though. And it's kept Noel in royalty-fed comfort ever since.
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2007
THIS BLOG....
Quite a few listeners have had problems accessing (awful word) this blog. The problem appears to be that simply using a Search Engine like Google or Dogpile doesn’t work with blogs. Instead, you have to use a special Blogsearch Engine; Google is equipped with one. I didn’t know any of this when I started this thing. I guess you learn from experience. I’m just a bit worried about what else I don’t know. Anyway, if you can , please pass the message on to anyone you might know who has trouble accessing (yuk) this - or any other - blog. Thankyou.
JONATHAN MILES
You will probably have heard the trails we are broadcasting for Jonathan Miles, the new presenter of the mid-morning programme currently presented by Gilly Hope. Jonathan is new to the north-east and is still - quite literally - finding his way around. When he takes over the slot next Monday please give him a big warm welcome and tell everyone to listen in. Call him, even if it’s only to say ‘Hello and welcome to the north-east’!
MUSIC
Thanks for the deluge of requests for the ‘special’ music slot I introduced the other week. I’m glad you (generally) like what you hear and that you’re keen to hear more. The rough schedule of ‘types’ is....
- Mondays: local or world music, like the Maori and Geordie songs we’ve already heard.
- Tuesdays: Listen To The Banned - tracks which, for one reason or another (usually just the one reason!), have been banned by Uncle BBC.
- Wednesdays: Showstoppers, such as the Deborah Kerr and Ethel Merman songs I’ve played.
- Thursdays: Nightshift Classics - so far, Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky but keep listening!
- Fridays: Theme of the Week - evocative or nostalgic theme tunes from tv, radio or film.
Please feel free (as you obviously do) to send in any requests or suggestions for music or even for new ‘types’. I like to ring the changes once in a while.
Speaking of music....
LISTEN TO THE BANNED
Today’s track was A Man What Takes His Time, recorded in 1933 by the astonishing Mae West - and promptly banned by the BBC. What a woman! I guess to modern eyes and ears, she seems almost incredibly camp and ludicrously suggestive. Nevertheless, I suspect that one or two of the people who heard the track would have been surprised at what she got away with. To some people, she’s shocking even now!
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
West Cornforth and North Ormesby both share the doubtful honour of being nicknamed Doggie. Kev has supplied a couple of possible explanations which I will mention during the ‘live’ part of tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) programme. Briefly, though....
- the dogger was the top seam of ironstone worked by the company that owned the ironworks;
- the company made fire-dogs;
- it also made the spikes that held railway chairs down onto the sleepers - dogs;
- the railway route had a dogleg in it;
- there were lots of dogs in West Cornforth (and also, presumably, in North Ormesby).
You pays your money and you takes your choice.
CHILDREN IN NEED (CIN)
CIN isn’t far away now and I don’t want this to be the first year I don’t do anything in support of it. Any suggestions would be gratefully received - especially if they involve YOU too!
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
THIS BLOG....
Quite a few listeners have had problems accessing (awful word) this blog. The problem appears to be that simply using a Search Engine like Google or Dogpile doesn’t work with blogs. Instead, you have to use a special Blogsearch Engine; Google is equipped with one. I didn’t know any of this when I started this thing. I guess you learn from experience. I’m just a bit worried about what else I don’t know. Anyway, if you can , please pass the message on to anyone you might know who has trouble accessing (yuk) this - or any other - blog. Thankyou.
JONATHAN MILES
You will probably have heard the trails we are broadcasting for Jonathan Miles, the new presenter of the mid-morning programme currently presented by Gilly Hope. Jonathan is new to the north-east and is still - quite literally - finding his way around. When he takes over the slot next Monday please give him a big warm welcome and tell everyone to listen in. Call him, even if it’s only to say ‘Hello and welcome to the north-east’!
MUSIC
Thanks for the deluge of requests for the ‘special’ music slot I introduced the other week. I’m glad you (generally) like what you hear and that you’re keen to hear more. The rough schedule of ‘types’ is....
- Mondays: local or world music, like the Maori and Geordie songs we’ve already heard.
- Tuesdays: Listen To The Banned - tracks which, for one reason or another (usually just the one reason!), have been banned by Uncle BBC.
- Wednesdays: Showstoppers, such as the Deborah Kerr and Ethel Merman songs I’ve played.
- Thursdays: Nightshift Classics - so far, Saint-Saens and Tchaikovsky but keep listening!
- Fridays: Theme of the Week - evocative or nostalgic theme tunes from tv, radio or film.
Please feel free (as you obviously do) to send in any requests or suggestions for music or even for new ‘types’. I like to ring the changes once in a while.
Speaking of music....
LISTEN TO THE BANNED
Today’s track was A Man What Takes His Time, recorded in 1933 by the astonishing Mae West - and promptly banned by the BBC. What a woman! I guess to modern eyes and ears, she seems almost incredibly camp and ludicrously suggestive. Nevertheless, I suspect that one or two of the people who heard the track would have been surprised at what she got away with. To some people, she’s shocking even now!
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
West Cornforth and North Ormesby both share the doubtful honour of being nicknamed Doggie. Kev has supplied a couple of possible explanations which I will mention during the ‘live’ part of tomorrow’s (Wednesday’s) programme. Briefly, though....
- the dogger was the top seam of ironstone worked by the company that owned the ironworks;
- the company made fire-dogs;
- it also made the spikes that held railway chairs down onto the sleepers - dogs;
- the railway route had a dogleg in it;
- there were lots of dogs in West Cornforth (and also, presumably, in North Ormesby).
You pays your money and you takes your choice.
CHILDREN IN NEED (CIN)
CIN isn’t far away now and I don’t want this to be the first year I don’t do anything in support of it. Any suggestions would be gratefully received - especially if they involve YOU too!
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
MONDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2007
Bonfire Night
TRUCKSHUNTERS....
...thanks for your comments so far; they’re very encouraging. Please keep them coming and PLEASE encourage as many people as possible to view the blog and comment on it - even critically and even if they can’t (or won’t) listen to The Nightshift. That’s just in case I’m called upon to justify the time I spend doing it!
BOWES STEAM RAILWAY
For those of you with the good sense to visit the Bowes Railway on its Santa Special Days, the relevant dates are the weekends of 1/2 and 8/9 December. You can get more information from (0191) 416 1847. Enjoy!
EUPHEMISMS
No, Kev - posting a blog isn’t a euphemism for anything - although it’s fairly typical of the way we use our language that it could easily be taken for one. Hence, I suppose, the success down the years of the sainted Kenneth Williams and his ilk. Thanks to Victorian prudery - they apparently really DID cover up the legs of pianos - almost anything can sound like a suggestive euphemism; indeed, reprobates like the Tipsy Duchess - whom it is far too late for God to preserve - thrived on that very fact. How well I remember her arriving by boat in the Tyne one Saturday ‘surrounded by seamen and holding fast to their bollards, the Reverend Unseemly Dogposture waving something unmistakable on the quayside’. We got away with a surprising amount of smut in them days.
Many of the actions, things or feelings that the Victorians were over-sensitive of were not even ‘suggestive’; dying and death, for example, have bequeathed us (if you pardon the pun) passing over/away, being taken, funeral director, casket, pushing up the daisies, promoted to glory, six feet under, being with the Lord or in a better place, shuffling off this mortal coil.......and any others you may care to think of. Modern (digital) versions include 'exported to a flat file' and 'sent to the archive'.
But it’s the toilet - and what we all do there - that has produced by far the largest number of euphemisms. Someone once reckoned there were over 170 of them. Where do you start? The littlest room, the boys’/men’s room, spend a penny, pay a visit, see a man about a dog, point percy at the snake pit, splash your boots......I’d be interested to hear how many more you can come up with. Let’s try and get as close to 170 as we can.
While we’re on the subject of euphemisms (and not smut)....I took a strange call from a listener called Edith this morning. In order to listen, she told me she had to set her alarm early and turn the volume on her radio way down so as not to wake anyone else in the house. Now that’s devotion! She called to add netty to the list of euphemisms for ‘toilet’ - itself, of course, a euphemism. But where does this peculiar - and very local - word originate. I know of at least two theories. Any ideas?
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
The oldest railway in the world in continuous use is the Tanfield Railway, not far from Stanley in County Durham. It’s been working away uncomplainingly since 1725 - 100 years before the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened. Its course includes the amazing Causey Arch - de facto, the world’s oldest railway bridge. If you haven’t been to the railway or the bridge (- it’s a very pleasant walk -) shame on you!
Today’s question is......there are very few places indeed that have ‘informal’ nicknames used by local people. West Cornforth in County Durham is one of them. What do local people call the village? Interestingly, North Ormesby (near Middlesbrough) has the same nickname.
If, by the way, you happen to know why this particular nickname has attached itself to these two places, TELL ME. Nobody seems to know.
GOING LOCAL
Today’s track was The Ballad of George Washington. I’ve liked it for many years and I hope you liked it too. Usually, opera singers sound awful singing ‘ordinary’ songs like this but, in this case, I reckon Graeme Danby makes a superb job of it. Even the backing of the Northern Sinfonia and Chorus adds to its charm.
If there’s a local track you would like to hear, get in touch in any of the usual ways.
TODAY.....
You probably know that I’m an Easington lad. In those parts, the only team to support is Sunderland. My brother has been subjecting himself to the emotional turmoil of Roker Park and the Stadium of Light for over 50 years and both he and his family are still gluttons for the same punishment. It was, therefore, with a certain undisguised satisfaction that I was able to mention - in the Today.... part of the programme - that it was on 5 November 1908 that Sunderland defeated Newcastle 1-9. This is still the biggest away victory of all time in the English First Division/Premiership.
Incidentally, comedian and tv presenter Russell Brand recently refused to call Sunerland ‘The Black Cats’ on the basis that the nickname is a pure invention and is in no way ‘traditional’. Is he right?
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
Bonfire Night
TRUCKSHUNTERS....
...thanks for your comments so far; they’re very encouraging. Please keep them coming and PLEASE encourage as many people as possible to view the blog and comment on it - even critically and even if they can’t (or won’t) listen to The Nightshift. That’s just in case I’m called upon to justify the time I spend doing it!
BOWES STEAM RAILWAY
For those of you with the good sense to visit the Bowes Railway on its Santa Special Days, the relevant dates are the weekends of 1/2 and 8/9 December. You can get more information from (0191) 416 1847. Enjoy!
EUPHEMISMS
No, Kev - posting a blog isn’t a euphemism for anything - although it’s fairly typical of the way we use our language that it could easily be taken for one. Hence, I suppose, the success down the years of the sainted Kenneth Williams and his ilk. Thanks to Victorian prudery - they apparently really DID cover up the legs of pianos - almost anything can sound like a suggestive euphemism; indeed, reprobates like the Tipsy Duchess - whom it is far too late for God to preserve - thrived on that very fact. How well I remember her arriving by boat in the Tyne one Saturday ‘surrounded by seamen and holding fast to their bollards, the Reverend Unseemly Dogposture waving something unmistakable on the quayside’. We got away with a surprising amount of smut in them days.
Many of the actions, things or feelings that the Victorians were over-sensitive of were not even ‘suggestive’; dying and death, for example, have bequeathed us (if you pardon the pun) passing over/away, being taken, funeral director, casket, pushing up the daisies, promoted to glory, six feet under, being with the Lord or in a better place, shuffling off this mortal coil.......and any others you may care to think of. Modern (digital) versions include 'exported to a flat file' and 'sent to the archive'.
But it’s the toilet - and what we all do there - that has produced by far the largest number of euphemisms. Someone once reckoned there were over 170 of them. Where do you start? The littlest room, the boys’/men’s room, spend a penny, pay a visit, see a man about a dog, point percy at the snake pit, splash your boots......I’d be interested to hear how many more you can come up with. Let’s try and get as close to 170 as we can.
While we’re on the subject of euphemisms (and not smut)....I took a strange call from a listener called Edith this morning. In order to listen, she told me she had to set her alarm early and turn the volume on her radio way down so as not to wake anyone else in the house. Now that’s devotion! She called to add netty to the list of euphemisms for ‘toilet’ - itself, of course, a euphemism. But where does this peculiar - and very local - word originate. I know of at least two theories. Any ideas?
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
The oldest railway in the world in continuous use is the Tanfield Railway, not far from Stanley in County Durham. It’s been working away uncomplainingly since 1725 - 100 years before the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened. Its course includes the amazing Causey Arch - de facto, the world’s oldest railway bridge. If you haven’t been to the railway or the bridge (- it’s a very pleasant walk -) shame on you!
Today’s question is......there are very few places indeed that have ‘informal’ nicknames used by local people. West Cornforth in County Durham is one of them. What do local people call the village? Interestingly, North Ormesby (near Middlesbrough) has the same nickname.
If, by the way, you happen to know why this particular nickname has attached itself to these two places, TELL ME. Nobody seems to know.
GOING LOCAL
Today’s track was The Ballad of George Washington. I’ve liked it for many years and I hope you liked it too. Usually, opera singers sound awful singing ‘ordinary’ songs like this but, in this case, I reckon Graeme Danby makes a superb job of it. Even the backing of the Northern Sinfonia and Chorus adds to its charm.
If there’s a local track you would like to hear, get in touch in any of the usual ways.
TODAY.....
You probably know that I’m an Easington lad. In those parts, the only team to support is Sunderland. My brother has been subjecting himself to the emotional turmoil of Roker Park and the Stadium of Light for over 50 years and both he and his family are still gluttons for the same punishment. It was, therefore, with a certain undisguised satisfaction that I was able to mention - in the Today.... part of the programme - that it was on 5 November 1908 that Sunderland defeated Newcastle 1-9. This is still the biggest away victory of all time in the English First Division/Premiership.
Incidentally, comedian and tv presenter Russell Brand recently refused to call Sunerland ‘The Black Cats’ on the basis that the nickname is a pure invention and is in no way ‘traditional’. Is he right?
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
FRIDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2007
INVENTIONS
Just for the record, this is the list of things invented in New Zealand, or by New Zealanders....the self-sealing lid, the wide-toothed shearing comb, the luggage carousel, Pavlova, the stamp-vending machine, the bobby pin, the electric fence, the jet-powered boat and Velcro.
Betty (in Chester-le-Street) called to say she remembered being told that the inventor of Velcro was inspired by the interlocking of the seeds on a dandelion ‘clock’.
And Les called to remind me that the yellow QuayLink electric buses on Tyneside were designed and made in New Zealand and shipped over - at some considerable expense. Amazingly, their engines can be started from a laptop in New Zealand. Isn’t nature wonderful?
And what’s a bobby-pin?
MORE INVENTIONS
The north-east is perhaps best-known for being the birthplace of railways and (thanks to Lord Armstrong) hydraulics. The other day we celebrated the birthday of Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, the Gateshead engineer who invented the world’s first usable electric lamp (- eat your heart out, Edison). And Jonathan Ive, designer of Apple's ubiquitous iPod (as well as their iMac computers) received his design training at Newcastle Polytechnic - as it then was.
But other, less ‘hefty’, innovations started life here. Andrews Liver Salts were invented by a man called Leach in the 1850s in Newcastle - they are named after St Andrew’s church where the original factory was. The hand-grenade known as a ‘Mills bomb’ was invented by a Sunderland golf-club designer called Sir William Mills in 1915. The pies you eat at 'the match' are the way they are thanks to the Gaudy family of Jarrow, who invented an industrial pie-lidding machine. Crisps were first flavoured at Hoggett’s factory in Gateshead in the 1920s. Mustard as we know it was first produced by Mrs Clements of Durham City in the 1780s. And - a good old stalwart, this one - the humble (but indispensable) windscreen wiper was invented by a Whitley Bay man called Gladstone Adams in 1905. New Zealand? Pah!
THE SIMONSIDE BRAG
Thanks for all your emails, calls and texts (especially those from Fred and Mietek) about this spooky local folktale which I told last night. It’s been scaring me witless since I was a bairn and I’m glad it seems to have had the same effect on you. Incidentally, some local people know the story as The Duergar.
Both Fred and Mietek asked if The Nighshift was available online as ‘listen again’. It isn’t. Nor is it downloadable as a podcast. Sorry.
MUSICAL MAYHEM
The Theme of the Week was Chi Mai, written by Ennio Morricone and used by the BBC as the theme to The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.
If there’s some theme music you would like to hear, get in touch.
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
The novel which rocked the literary world in the 50s and which was written largely in the library at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea was Room at the Top, by John Braine.
Today’s question is....the world’s oldest railway in continuous use is in the north-east. Where?
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
INVENTIONS
Just for the record, this is the list of things invented in New Zealand, or by New Zealanders....the self-sealing lid, the wide-toothed shearing comb, the luggage carousel, Pavlova, the stamp-vending machine, the bobby pin, the electric fence, the jet-powered boat and Velcro.
Betty (in Chester-le-Street) called to say she remembered being told that the inventor of Velcro was inspired by the interlocking of the seeds on a dandelion ‘clock’.
And Les called to remind me that the yellow QuayLink electric buses on Tyneside were designed and made in New Zealand and shipped over - at some considerable expense. Amazingly, their engines can be started from a laptop in New Zealand. Isn’t nature wonderful?
And what’s a bobby-pin?
MORE INVENTIONS
The north-east is perhaps best-known for being the birthplace of railways and (thanks to Lord Armstrong) hydraulics. The other day we celebrated the birthday of Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, the Gateshead engineer who invented the world’s first usable electric lamp (- eat your heart out, Edison). And Jonathan Ive, designer of Apple's ubiquitous iPod (as well as their iMac computers) received his design training at Newcastle Polytechnic - as it then was.
But other, less ‘hefty’, innovations started life here. Andrews Liver Salts were invented by a man called Leach in the 1850s in Newcastle - they are named after St Andrew’s church where the original factory was. The hand-grenade known as a ‘Mills bomb’ was invented by a Sunderland golf-club designer called Sir William Mills in 1915. The pies you eat at 'the match' are the way they are thanks to the Gaudy family of Jarrow, who invented an industrial pie-lidding machine. Crisps were first flavoured at Hoggett’s factory in Gateshead in the 1920s. Mustard as we know it was first produced by Mrs Clements of Durham City in the 1780s. And - a good old stalwart, this one - the humble (but indispensable) windscreen wiper was invented by a Whitley Bay man called Gladstone Adams in 1905. New Zealand? Pah!
THE SIMONSIDE BRAG
Thanks for all your emails, calls and texts (especially those from Fred and Mietek) about this spooky local folktale which I told last night. It’s been scaring me witless since I was a bairn and I’m glad it seems to have had the same effect on you. Incidentally, some local people know the story as The Duergar.
Both Fred and Mietek asked if The Nighshift was available online as ‘listen again’. It isn’t. Nor is it downloadable as a podcast. Sorry.
MUSICAL MAYHEM
The Theme of the Week was Chi Mai, written by Ennio Morricone and used by the BBC as the theme to The Life and Times of David Lloyd George.
If there’s some theme music you would like to hear, get in touch.
KNOW YOUR NORTH-EAST
The novel which rocked the literary world in the 50s and which was written largely in the library at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea was Room at the Top, by John Braine.
Today’s question is....the world’s oldest railway in continuous use is in the north-east. Where?
CONTACT ME
Post comments on this blog or contact me in any one (or more) of these ways....
ian.robinson@bbc.co.uk
text 07786 200954 (while the programme is on-air)
call (between about 0545 and 0630 Monday to Friday) 0191 232 6565
Ian Robinson, The Nightshift, BBC Radio Newcastle, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE99 1RN
NOTE
Please bear in mind that the views expressed in this blog are my own and NOT the views of the BBC.
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