Jock O'Hazeldean

 Some will know I have given much time to locating the works of W.H. Auden in the North Pennines. The process of uncovering cultural links so easily forgotten is far from just about Auden. A notable example is Jock O' Hazeldean. Is it simply a Scottish song? No it is a Border song about an English lady eloping across the Border. Irthington and Langleydale are not too difficult to place. It becomes clearer in

"Though Scottish, written by Walter Scott, this song is set in Northumberland where a lady, betrothed to a local Lord, is in love with another with whom she elopes over the border into Scotland. Brian Watson found the small farmhouse of Hazeldean on the Ordnance Survey map situated just north of Hexham, my home town." Those are not my words but come from https://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/johnofhazelgreen.html (!!) and refer to Carolyn Robson. This link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqi4ROJckzE&list=RDSqi4ROJckzE&start_radio=1 is the Tommy Makem version with film. But where has the film come from? I feel I should recognise many of the locations.

Our candidate called

Last night about 7.30pm, a knock on the door. It was our candidate Guy Opperman with one of Prudhoe's newly elected councillors Gordon Stewart working their way around the street. In seven years as our MP Guy has worked incredibly hard and when it comes to his willingness to meet anyone and pound the tarmac, he is faultless. He has willingly worked on railway matters with myself and colleagues. There are many reasons why he should have my vote but I will be struggling. Very little said about Brexit in this election so far but north of the Border, if the SNP receive a strong show of support, our UNION is in great difficulty over it. I think the concept of Brexit is questionable at the least. And I think the way we have set it about so far, referendum and all, is totally ridiculous. I could live outside the EU but not outside the Common Market or Custom's Union. Nuances millions would have to take time to dissect. Further, in this campaign, the Social Care issue has boiled up. Here we positively benefit from the utterly different ways Scots do things. Guy asked me how will you pay for it? My reply: not with a lottery. Pretty poor show if as a society we are not willing to share the costs and the benefits to everyone. A modern carehome boarded up a mile away is the local index to the issue.  It lies at the heart of Tory philosopy that people can work hard, improve themselves from the lottery of birth and pass that wealth to their children. A highly unpredictable death tax utterly undercuts that and in our community with its house prices will be deleterious. During the day I also met Wesley Foot who is representing the Greens. I think he is one to watch. A smart local, a businessman himself. So that leaves Labour and the LibDems. Will their candidates knock on the door? For me, the likely final point of decision will be the Prudhoe hustings 5th June 1930 in the Anglican church.

Northumberland Local Election Result 2017

So what explains the Northumberland result? A nest of things, some external, some self induced created the perfect storm for Labour. I am sure the larger Brexit factor and the Corbyn leadership played a role. But they far from account for this. It must be said the Conservatives worked very hard. In Prudhoe their two candidates had been making a difference for months. In Tynedale in general the notices in the Courant affair will undoubtedly had an impact. Substantially the Valley has felt whether it comes to Roads, Planning, Schools, utterly neglected. Don't forget the Post 16 School Travel Row and that impacts beyond Tynedale. The Tories say they will re-instate the payments. A major matter through the county has been the County Hall removal. How could this make friends? Removed to a town without even a railway station or early prospect of one. Again the Tories promise to reverse this. At the end of the day the Tories cannot simply produce a majority administration and going forward it will be fascinating to see who they team with and then whether their programme retains their commitments and how they get paid for. But fair doos, I congratulate Northumberland's Tories on a great result and I look forward to hearing what Mr Corbyn has done by end of day.

Eve of Article 50?

R4 in the last 40 minutes: state of the Roads, Social Care crisis (not enough workers who can't be paid for anyway) and the fearsome process of Brexit. Surprise news to the fanatics you cannot simply "leave the EU". It is will be an intricate and very time consuming process. Not on R4 but our secondary school has written to us soliciting voluntary contributions to running costs (not some nice appeal for a new rowing boat or the like), part of the debate about how many schools are losing out in funding. Meanwhile there is a local scandal for one secondary which had until days ago a boarding wing. This has abruptly closed and some pupils who already lived 35 miles away have had it suggested by the County that they might consider Peterlee!!!! Crass, crass. As for the roads, my trip to Shildon has enough to say about that, especially the road to Scales Cross from Branch End. So what is this ramble about? Yes, I think signing Article 50 ought to be delayed. Perhaps we do need another election, although I can see many challenges in that. But the big truth, one May's predecessors have been trying to set out: Brexit now would be a folly. I have no doubts it imperils the British union (and those who say Brexit would be worth that are fools: better if they campaigned for England to leave the UK). But what we really need now as a nation is politicians of most colours willing to face down the idiots, fess up to the terrible process Brexit has been, and say that was a big mistake. Let us not dig the hole any deeper. Steady the ship and deal with real challenges rather than largely imagined ones. I am sure the shock of Brexit is such that some effective renewal of EU membership on terms that do accommodate real and valid concerns would be possible and in EVERYONE's interest here and on the Continent. Representatives of democracy do YOUR JOB and do not let popularism rule for that is not British Democracy.

The election is a looming and I would like to know what Labour offers Prudhoe

An open letter sent directly to my county councillor

Dear Eileen

You are my county councillor. About 70 days hence is the election. I googled “Councillor Eileen Burt” and this is the result. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22Councillor+Eileen+Burt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=oerqVPuCIpf3aoP_gbAJ#q=%22Councillor+Eileen+Burt%22 . Going forward the Labour party has the opportunity to persuade folk to vote. I am interested in knowing your vision of what Prudhoe might expect to gain from a Labour party win and if this was repeated, what policies there are say over a 12 year period to change the town. Specifically will the Labour party be supporting the creation of a Neighbourhood Plan as other communities in Tynedale now have? What is the Labour party policy towards the electrification of the Tyne Valley Railway line and will this be the means to remove the Pacer trains?  As a local councillor what further improvements are visualised at our railway station and with our road network? I believe the expansion of Prudhoe calls for a new B road from Ebchester in the Derwent Valley to the Horsley interchange on the A69 with a new bridge crossing of the Tyne starting from the east end of Princess Way. This will not happen quickly but unless it features in policy it will never happen. The railway station this year missed out on better waiting shelter replacements (instead like for like). Just as the Northern refranchise cannot be another stand still franchise, it would have been far more effective if the Labour party had campaigned for the real improvements needed locally. In the event it was left to people like Peter Nevin and myself and Network Rail have run rings around us. The lack of a Town Council Transport Working Group shows this up (and quite humanly there are real limits to what I can do voluntarily).  Many more issues are down there, the expansion of car parking (although I believe this is in hand from the county?). The better shelters for an expanding town are a necessity, so is a new footbridge. Proper integration with bus services and fares is another.

I would welcome both a new town centre and the redevelopment of Prudhoe hospital. But in each instance I want to know how electing a Labour government will ensure these become “excellent” projects, not will do. By this I mean for instance the thought that is given into community structures and employment opportunities at the hospital site and how some of the buildings there can be reused. To simply flatten and build nigh on 500 homes with no new transport infrastructure and employment provision to me stacks up problems. At the Town Centre I have long argued that the site demands the best solution, a Hanging Gardens of Prudhoe development with car parking hidden in the hillside. A result that meant the site’s many neighbours were wowed and not antagonised. Much of this is about planning. I am aware of many pressures in regard to the Green Belt. Prudhoe is within the Land of Oak and Iron heritage landscape project. The reason people will want to live in Prudhoe in part is because of its high quality landscape surround. How will electing a Labour government ensure that Prudhoe’s woodlands remain a gem? And how will Prudhoe benefit from the Land of Oak and Iron?

Over a whole range of issues, to my experience including transport spend, arts spend, heritage lottery spend the comparison per head between the North East Region and London is grossly disproportionate. If the Labour party form the next government I want to form an idea as to how a change in that policy will change Prudhoe for the better.

For my interests, these are the sorts of matters that I think need debate and I will be very keen that you locally as a leading Labour politician set out the stall. In that spirit I regard this as an open letter and any reply should be in a similar vein.

Yours Sincerely

Robert Forsythe

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I am grateful for a reply to this letter received from Liam Carr, prospective Parliamentary Candidate of the Labour party in the Hexham Constituency.

Dear Robert,

Your raises a few issues, I will address each theme.

Rail Services.

Privatisation was a disaster for the railways. The whole franchising system has been a failure and passengers are paying more for a worse service, the Pacer trains are going but they will be replaced by cast off underground trains from London that may not be suited the Northumberland weather.

The next Labour government will allow the public sector to compete with private companies for rail franchises when they expire, this will result in public sector running sections of our rail network as soon as possible, in the same sort of way as East Coast did. 

We aren't saying we want to go back to some sort of 1980s British Rail, but we have to acknowledge that privatisation was a mistake and its one that we must rectify.

The next Labour Government will be different from the one elected in 1997, it is OK to say that some things like Health, Education and Transport, are too important to be left to market forces.

With profits coming back to the treasury, this will allow investment in the Tyne Valley line.

Roads and other infrastructure.

Labour will devolve power away from Whitehall, so instead of having to beg for real investment in the and ending up with a feasibility study, decisions will be made closer to home.

Labour has a strong track record of devolving power.  We passed the Scotland Act and the Government of Wales Act and we are now committed to an English Devolution Act, which will reverse the centralisation which has occurred under successive governments in the recent (and not so recent) past.

We will transfer £30 billion of funding over five years, passing on power and resource not only for transport, which you mention, but also skills, employment support, housing and business support.

What difference will a Labour Government make in Prudhoe?

I have listened to many residents in Prudhoe who have been hit by the bedroom tax, this is an unfair tax particularly so in Prudhoe, where there are very few one bedroom properties to move into. Labour will repeal the bedroom tax.

We will also reverse the privatisation of our NHS by repealing the Heath and Social care act, the effects of which are being felt locally services at Hexham hospital are under threat. I want to be your next MP so I can defend our NHS.

There is still some concern about Education in our High school, Much of the discussion we hear is about structures; politicians on all sides have been guilty of arguing about if schools should be free schools, high schools, supported by the LEA or be an academy. However, when listening to concerns from parents, I hear that they are less concerned about structures  - most simply want a great local school, staffed by committed, well-qualified teachers, which provides good outcomes for all young people. If elected I will refocus the debate away from structures and back on what matters most; the students.

In this election we have a choice to make, about the kind of society we want to live in. I believe in a fair  society with a recovery that benefits the working people and not just the very wealthy and an economy that works for all and not just a few at the top.

I hope this reply is helpful, if you have any other policy queries please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Liam Carr

Liam (like Guy Opperman) has a blog which is at http://liamrcarr.blogspot.co.uk/  

Landscape

Writing for Remembrance Sunday 2014

Still quiet subdued colours

Of a November Day.

How did humans choose to end

Their war in November,

My month?

My day is the first

Of this month,

All Saint’s Day

My birthday and Remembrance Sunday

Both remember the many

And not the select few.

My written view

Is that of the many

Moving off to War.

Below me is the railway

Along which many travelled

Never to return.

They made their unknowing

Last Journey.

Up the hill is the track

Of Hadrian’s Wall

Where violent civilised men

Defined a line between

Barbarians and Empire.

A border which my poetic hero

Of borders and living on the other side

W. H. Auden utterly understood,

He who did his best to circumvent

World War Two

But lived through

World War One

And went to the

Sino Japanese and

Spanish Civil Wars.

He who used the Pennine metaphor

To understand the Human Condition.

John Taverner’s “Fragments of a Prayer”

Plays from “Children of Men”

A future fantasy of triumph in defeat

Ever the Christian Story.

Our celebration this

Remembrance Sunday

Is unique.  Two of the church’s

Teenage children will be

Baptised this afternoon.

Jesus Christ will not be defeated.

One of those children is my daughter.

We stare death in the face and live.

That is our Gospel.