My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

The smelling-ghosts of Sunderland are less scorpion-y than Amos Tutuola's Nigerian ones... all the same sound like this.

Hannah and Eleanor

A short visit to the Watch House Museum, which closed slightly earlier than usual today as Billy, who looks after the Museum and gives guided tours, has not been well. We hope he's home soon, with plenty of visitors to show around.

Here is the figurehead of the Hannah and Eleanor - it's a portrait of the proud owner of the ship, and those are the deeds in his hand. The crew of the Hannah and Eleanor were all saved by the Life Brigade, and the cargo of coal is said to have warmed homes in Tynemouth for some weeks after the wreck of the ship.

http://www.tvlb.org/

The First of May

(First of May, from the Tynemouth Watch House Museum's collection of figureheads salvaged from wrecked ships)

day's eye,

three weeks of spring

and all the stars and petals scattered

in a night of wind:

mist around the mountain

pool among the rocks

song in the mouth of the river

quiet heart of the woods

Remains of a Mummified Cat Found at 'Pendle Witch' Cottage

Investigations continue at the site of the 17th c 'Witch's Cottage' unearthed at Barley, Near Pendle Hill, Lancashire. The discovery of the remains of a mummified cat, bricked into the wall of a sealed room, along with the age and location of the building have led to speculation that the cottage could be the 'Malkin Tower' referred to during the notorious Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612, at which the testimony of nine-year-old Jennet Device was used to condemn to death ten people, including her own family.

The nearby village of Newchurch, among others, also lays claim to Malkin Tower, believed to have been located close to the site of Malkin Tower Farm and destroyed soon after the witch trials. Some believe the Good Friday Meeting never took place at all. 400 years after the Witch Trials, it seems to be the presence of the little cat, mysteriously buried in the buried walls, that 'set tongues clacking' again - what's a witch without a cat, but aren't they buried there to ward off witches...

Charm, familiar or beloved pet, sift here to see the enigmatic Malkin cat (re-interred in Tupperware.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-16066680

(Clip from Simon Armitage's 'The Pendle Witch Child': Jennet Device gives evidence against her mother)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14490790

(P.S. My cat has continually sate upon my dongle the while this is writ as may be diferned)

Please email Air France to Stop Forced Removal of Bernard Batey & Lydia Besong...

Telephone Number: 08455 19 15 23                                     Email: mail.internet.afc@airfrance.fr

Mr Henri Hourcade

UK & Ireland General Manager

Air France

Warwick Street

London, W1B 5LZ                                                                                              19th  January 2012

Dear Mr Hourcade

RE: Forced removal of Bernard Batey and Lydia Besong on AF1481, 21/01/2012

I write in protest against Air France’s involvement of the UKBA’s forced removal from the UK of the human rights campaigners Bernard Batey and his wife Lydia Besong who are booked on Air France flight AF1481 at 08.20 hrs on Saturday 21st January 2012 from LHR via Paris to Yaoundé, Republic of Cameroon.

Whatever the decision of the court and UKBA,  Lydia and Bernard cannot go back because groups loyal to the government are monitoring the situation and the flight details are in the public domain. They know that the couple have continued to raise awareness about the situation in their country, with Lydia's new play about President Paul Biya, 'Down with the Dictator', currently in production. You would be placing these two courageous people in serious danger.

There is a big national campaign to halt this deportation, so unless the booking is cancelled Air France is likely to attract a great deal of negative attention, including at local branches. Celebrity support for Lydia and  Bernard includes many A-list writers, playwrights, journalists, MPs and church leaders. they include Michael Morpurgo, Helena Kennedy QC, Monica Ali, Hanif Kureishi, Nick Hornby and Alan Ayckbourn and the Bishop of Manchester.

Please see this article in Tuesday's Guardian

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/17/authors-activists-deport-cameroonian-playwright?newsfeed=true

I strenuously urge Air France NOT to facilitate the UK’s enforcement policies of forced removals; a barbaric practice which has been highly criticised by the UK national media, many UK MP’s, human rights organisations, including Amnesty International as well as a growing number of members of the UK general public.

Thanks in advance for showing compassion and solidarity.

Yours Sincerely,

Name:

Address:

Email:  

Tel:

Call Him Ishmael...

Call him Ishmael, or Neptune - found hidden under a table near the figureheads at the Lifeboat Museum, no-one to tell me how long his blues had leaked into the sea before they brought him here.

(Wood carving, Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Museum)

Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House Museum

Here is our lovely Watch House Museum, overlooking the mouth of the Tyne at the Spanish Battery, just around the corner from our new home. Built in 1887 it is maintained as a museum housing an extensive collection of artefacts relating to the history of the Life Brigade and its links with the local area. The Watch House was constructed in wood as the original intention had been to relocate the entire building when the nearby fort closed. However within seven years the two towers had been added and there it stands on the headland to this day, the towers giving fine views along the river and out to sea.

The Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade was formed in 1864 to assist HM Coastguard following the wreck of the Glasgow to London passenger steamer, Stanley, and the schooner, Friendship, during a terrible storm on the night of 24th November 1864. The four coastguards managed to save over thirty people during the course of the night but Tynemouth residents watched helplessly as 24 lives were lost within sight of land, including the 6 crew members of the Friendship, which was smashed to pieces on the Black Middens rocks.

The ship's bell and other items retrieved from the wreck of the Stanley are on display, as well as a wonderful collection of figureheads from ships wrecked in the Tynemouth area. Most of these have been restored to their original bright colours, the most striking and affecting though may be the plain figurehead of the Whitstable brigantine, Rupert, all 7 crew members of which were lost on Christmas Eve, 1895. Only 3 bodies were found and returned to be buried at Preston. No silk dress or jewels for this lady, who is dressed in a brown jacket with fringed sleeves, adorned with leaves, a strange flower or large ear of wheat in her hand. If the old sailors' superstition is correct, although she has not brought the crew to a safe harbour she has saved their souls from being lost forever in the storm at sea. (This figure can be found as you go up to the first floor before ascending to the tower where the signalling projector can be seen.)

A link here to the Tynelives.org chart showing the figureheads and their stories: http://www.tynelives.org.uk/lifebrgd/watch.htm

The TVLB website: www.TVLB.org