Captain’s Log 28/02/16 12:14
I’m in another taxi in Ponteland, on my way back to Darras Hall. Today is my last ever day knocking in the North East. Continue reading “Darras Hall- Part 2”
Category: news
Darras Hall- Part 1
Darras Hall. The last stop on my tour around the North East. Having been to Stockton, with its reputation for unemployment and crime, I thought it would be interesting to finish on the other side of the spectrum. A few miles west of Newcastle Airport, this is a suburb of extremely lavish houses in Ponteland. Continue reading “Darras Hall- Part 1”
Right Place, Wrong Time
Captain’s Log 13/02/17 15:55
I’m walking into the Tilery Estate. I’ve just finished filming with the Beeb, but it’s not time to go home yet. Today is also the day I’m dropping off the rest of my poems in Stockton. Continue reading “Right Place, Wrong Time”
BBC Breakfast
Captain’s Log 13/02/17 09:54
I get off the bus on Bensham Road. I cross at the traffic lights and walk over to a parked car. Dave Sillito and Phil Putnam Spencer from BBC Breakfast are stood next to it, unloading some camera equipment. Continue reading “BBC Breakfast”
Benefits Street- Part 2
Captain’s Log 24/01/17 12:36
I’m walking down Bowesfield Lane in Stockton, looking for a place to knock. Yesterday, I went to Kingston Road where Channel 4 shot Benefits Street; I found 2 people out of the 5 I was looking for, then walked around for 3 hours in the freezing cold. This has never happened to me before. Continue reading “Benefits Street- Part 2”
Benefits Street- Part 1
Kingston Road in Stockton-on-Tees. This was the location for the second series of Benefits Street, Channel 4’s controversial reality TV show about some of the poorest people in the country. Continue reading “Benefits Street- Part 1”
Confessions of a Door-to-Door Poet
Captains’ Log 07/01/16 13:16
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I’m outside Nitram’s house on Wingrove Gardens, dropping off the last of the Fenham poems. It’s my first day knocking since Christmas and I’ve got that weird ‘back to work’ feeling, when you ask yourself how to do the most basic things. Continue reading “Confessions of a Door-to-Door Poet”
The Mosque and the Barbers
Captain’s Log 07/12/16 18:38
I’m on my way to visit a mosque for the first time in my life. Continue reading “The Mosque and the Barbers”
Fenham
It was an obvious choice really. I want to write poems for as many different people as I can and, it’s fair to say, there’s a lot of different people in Fenham. Continue reading “Fenham”
Snakes and Boilers
When we last left our unlikely hero, he was stepping out of the pub with a spring in his step and a reporter from the BBC. He’d just read a poem to a man who calls himself The Captain, though he admits freely that he isn’t a real captain and that he just enjoys sailing boats and drinking heavily. Continue reading “Snakes and Boilers”
