Grim Up North

The CLR James book that we refer to is called Beyond A Boundary - recently reprinted by Vintage. We watched a great documentary called Race and Pace covering some of the issues we talk about - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vmAhKkfhNs&t=315s We want to record massive thanks to club chairman Andy Pettinger and to captain and wicketkeeper Michael Bradley of Nelson Cricket Club. They were very generous with their time and knowledge. We sent a very pleasant afternoon in the sun watching the cricket, we are just sorry that Nelson did not win that day. Any comments or feedback gratefully received at grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com 

With thanks toJoanna Walpole of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena – ASSAP and Dr Sam George Associate Professor in Research at the University of Hertfordshire and convenor of the Open Graves, Open Minds research project for their generosity of spirit and their time. The read quote is from Bram Stoker's Dracula with thanks to Tom Scott for reading it. 

We have now established the tradition of beginning each series with a walking episode. The first was around the city of Sheffield and our second is around Grasmere in the Lake District. Made famous by the Lakeland poets and especially William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy who lived in Dove Cottage, Grasmere town sits next to the lake of the same name. We began at the cottage and the wonderful museum dedicated to the Wordsworths and then walked right around the lake. We encountered other walkers and then finished off in the Churchyard where the Wordsworth's are buried. We stayed the night in the wonderful Traveler's Rest on the edge of the town. The next morning we headed up towards Easdale and the path up to the Tarn looking over Sour Milk Gill. Thanks to all the people we encountered on the walk for their time and obvious love of the Lakes. We would recommend Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere Journal, any version of the Prelude by William Wordsworth and Jonathan Bates excellent biography Radical Wordsworth. For Coleridge's Frost At Midnight click https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43986/frost-at-midnight 

With huge thanks to Mike Jones - former songwriter with the 80s band Latin Quarter. Programme director of an MA in Music Industry Studies. He also contributes to the MA in the Beatles: Music Industry and Heritage. In 2017 wrote, directed and produced the concert 'George Harrison and Indian Music' which was performed at Liverpool Philharmonic. The poem Four Northern Boys Coming At You that Adrian reads will be part of his next collection - working title Grim Up North?! This is the last episode of series two - we will back in the autumn. Please send us any comments on this or the last series and please send ideas for series three to grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com We are really happy to hear your ideas and want to do some more jaunts across the North. 

The BFI film - The Dale that Died mentioned in this episode can be found at https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-dale-that-died-1975-online With thanks to Matt Gibson (Joe Gibson's Grandson) for a great impromptu interview on his farm in Grisdale. Thanks also Paul Renison from Renwick for a great interview and a nice cup of tea in his Farmhouse kitchen.  The final song is by Show of Hands and is called Country Life from the album of the same name. https://open.spotify.com/album/5KbyPGFAqyZC2gqJaSmj4I The cover image for this episode is Joe Gibson, from the film, riding bareback on his horse and rounding up his sheep with his dogs. 

We are especially grateful to Peter Flannery - the writer of Our Friends in the North for this extensive interview. As fans of the series we felt it deserved a whole episode in this our second series of Grim Up North?. If you haven't seen it then there will be plot spoilers! It would be worth watching the series first, before you listen - it is a brilliant piece to TV - you wont be disappointed. This series defined an era and also has rather chilling echoes in our own time. 

With many thanks to Dr Robert McKenzie from Northumbria University for giving his time and expertise. The book he mentioned is Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes: Mapping Linguistic Prejudice and Attitude Change in England, McKenzie, R., McNeill, A. 2023 If you want to share your experiences of accent prejudice or anything in reaction to this episode send your thoughts to grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com. The poem used at the beginning and end of the podcast by Tony Harrison can be heard at Them & (Uz) - Tony Harrison  

We wish to thank Carly Lee and all at Maggie May's Cafe on Bold Street in Liverpool for their time and hospitality and of course the Scouse! We also want to extend our gratitude to Thom Hetherington for his time and extensive knowledge of the Northern food scene and his love of Manchester. Thanks to Eva Scott and Izzy Coward who voiced the piece from the T. Thompson story called ‘The Epicures'. 

With thanks as ever to the KLF for the opening credits music. This podcast was recorded on Thursday 30th November on a very bight and cold day in Sheffield. With thanks to all those we spoke to, especially the staff at the Grind Cafe and Linley & Simpson estate Agents. Thanks to the South Street Kitchen for a lovely lunch. The songs you hear snippets of are Standing at the Sky's Edge by Richard Hawley, Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite by the Beatles and Common People by Pulp.   

After a break for various projects including Matt's trip to South America and Adrian's to the Midwest of the USA and various publishing work we return with a new series of Grim Up North. Focussing on the issue of immigration to the North and the welcome (or not) we have extended to those who arrive here from other shores. Our interview was with Zaiba Malik about her book 'We Are Muslim Please'. For more about Zaiba click here Thanks to Lemn Sissay for such a brilliant poem and to Fahaan for his love letter to Bradford. See episodes 33 and 34 of this podcast Working Class History for more of Tariq Mehmood and the Asian Youth Movements in Bradford. Finally thanks as ever to Ken Loach for his wonderful latest film The Old Oak. Some of the voices in the opening sequence are from this powerful movie. For More on this Film. 

The Picture and Photos we mentioned can all be viewed on Adrian's Website at Seeing The North This is the final Episode of Series One. We have had a blast doing these Podcasts and we hope you have enjoyed them as much as we have. Special thanks go to the Woodhorn Colliery Museum for allowing us to record in their fantastic space, and very special thanks to Vicky Jones one of the staff who was a modern version of the Pitmen Painters as she was studying for a history degree and shared her ambition to write about her home town and Ashington and the history of the North East. Her Grandad was an Ashington Miner and she gave us such a great tour! You can view the the Theodore Major interview here.  The Robson Green ITV documentary is very good about the Pitmen Painters you can see that here  We are taking a break to pursue other projects until May but there will be all sorts of extra and bonus material posted here in the mean time and please share the episodes you like with your friends. Remember it might seem Grim Up North but it is really Rich Up North! Matt and Adrian 

The opening jingle in order contains Coronation Street - Life on Mars - Dinner Ladies - Auf Wiedersehen, Pet - The Royal Family - The Last of the Summer Wine - Shameless - Peter Kay's Car Share and Kes. With thanks to Steve Waters https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/steve-waters for all his time and insights.  Thanks too to Eva Scott.  This is a link to her next production. https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/betty-a-sort-of-musical.   

With many thanks to Julie Milne, Chief Curator of the  Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne for her time and most enjoyable tour of the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition. You can see them until 3rd December at https://laingartgallery.org.uk/whats-on/lindisfarne-gospels   Also thanks to all the unsuspecting souls we shoved a microphone visiting the Angel of the North. 

With thanks to the makers of Get Carter. Matt and Adrian would also like to say a huge thank you to A. A. Dhand and Lesley McEvoy, both great crime writers for a fantastic conversation about Northern Noir. You can find their books on all good online booksellers and in all good bookshops. Credit also to the Red Riding Trilogy and to the wonderful Happy Valley that is about to go into a third season. You can comment and enter the conversation with Matt and Adrian at grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com or on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1630818283956087  

Many thanks to Chris Peace and Kate Flannery - in the interview Kate's is the first voice you hear, followed by Chris. They are from the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign https://otjc.org.uk We wish them well in all their work. Thanks also to Lesley Boulton for taking us back to Orgreave and telling us the story of that day. We also want to acknowledge John Harris who took the photo we discussed. Here is a link to a photographic essay about the strike and the day. The Miners Strike - A Photo Essay Gratitude to Harry Paterson for his interview with us. His book Look Back in Anger is widely available. His website is worth a good look. https://harrypaterson.com  Thanks as always to the KLF for Grim Up North, and to Billy Bragg for such a great rendition of Joe Hill's There is Power in a Union.  You can comment, give us feedback, share your own stories with us at grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com or visit us on our facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1630818283956087 Matt's blog can be read at https://mattcarr.substack.com Adrian's Website is www.adriangrscott.com       

To contact Matt and Adrian with thoughts comments and your own 'not so grim up north' moments write to grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com The books mentioned are Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood, English Journey by J B Priestley, and The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell.  Special thanks to Richard Blair, George Orwell's son for giving us an interview and being so kind with his time. Thanks also to Benedict Cooper from the Orwell Society for helping us to set up the interview. https://orwellsociety.com Here are some links to the clips we used  Walter Greenwood https://waltergreenwoodnotjustloveonthedole.com/walter-greenwood-the-kersal-flats-co-uk-interview-1973/?fbclid=IwAR0gYa0vtR-lmX7P-qHW5RwYWQSB0JZFOdcu5OjFNGbkLRFZYSXbRn4-BhQ J B Priestly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkloVLeAtiY The Film of Love on the Dole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBHHOm8CbYg Here is a link tot he Bill Brandt photograph Coal Searcher Going Home to Jarrow 1937 https://www.moma.org/collection/works/53508 With thanks again to the KLF for the theme music. https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dYrdRlNZSKaVxYg5IrvCH/discography/all?pageUri=spotify:album:1kJY7mRPwF5eJOf8DMZdwa

If you want to join our conversation about the North you can email us at grimupnorththepodcast@gmail.com Brian Groom's book- Northerners: A History, from the Ice Age to the Present Day is published by Harper North. With many thanks to the band The KLF for allowing us to use their track It's Grim Up North as our opening jingle and in the podcast. Also thanks to all the people we spoke to on the streets of Sheffield for their kind participation. Matt Carr writes a great blog called Matt Carr's Infernal Machine at https://mattcarr.substack.com Adrian Scott has his own podcast and that and his other works can be found at www.adriangrscott.com