#County Durham

[richs-pics]

Mossy rocks

[vox-anglosphere]

One of the oldest Saxon churches in England - Escomb, Co. Durham

[emilytakesphoto]

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fog

[venetianwindow]

20240325. 【🚞】

Easter, prelude: A sunny day out in County Durham.

I took a weekend off for a bit of much-needed leisure before launching into work again. The sun has at last graced England with its presence and I had to make the most of it.

Auckland Castle was beautiful, and wonderfully restored. Greatly interesting to learn about its history as well as that of its many bishops.

☞ studygram

[henk-heijmans]

Early morning, West Hartlepool, County Durham, England, 1963 - by Don McCullin (1935), English

[beebees-photography]

Visit to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. For their opening Christmas Weekend a few weeks ago. This place never gets old. It's amazing. I highly recommend it to everyone. (3 of 3)

[colonellickburger]

Graham Smith. ‘Pregnant, watching over her children on a good day – a day when the prevailing west wind was blowing north’ Blackhill, Consett, County Durham, England 1977

[georgefairbrother]

This is another in our occasional series featuring luminaries of stage and screen with a strong personal and/or professional connection with Northeast England, inspired with thanks by @robbielewis. The most recent previous instalment was on brother and sister acting duo Malcolm and Catherine Terris. This time, James Garbutt.

As with some of our previous subjects, there is an unsatisfying lack of biographical information available; James Garbutt seems to have built a solid career over decades without a high public or media profile.

He was born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, in 1925. In World War Two he was an RAF pilot serving in Africa, subsequently worked as an art teacher and became a leading member of the socialist theatre company, Newcastle People’s Theatre, throughout the 1950s and 60s.

He was active in British television between 1969 and 2002, with his breakthrough role in the 1970s BBC blockbuster, The Onedin Line, replacing Brian Rawlinson for season three (only) as Robert Onedin. (It appears that Rawlinson did not want to continue in the role, but for whatever reason returned for season four and remained until they eventually killed off the character).

James Garbutt is perhaps best remembered for his intense performance as Bill Seaton, the prickly patriarch of the Seaton family and veteran pitman who is paralysed in an underground accident, in 39 episodes of the Tyneside social realism drama, When the Boat Comes In (1976-77).

Amongst over 60 recorded screen credits, his other television appearances include three episodes of Doctor Who (Genesis of the Daleks, 1975), Z Cars, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Middlemarch, The Bill, the political drama Bill Brand, and three separate characters over eight episodes of Coronation Street between 1970 and 1997. He also appeared in the Superman: The Movie (1978), starring Christopher Reeve.

About to bite the dust courtesy of the Daleks in Doctor Who

In addition to his work for the Newcastle People’s Theatre, his stage appearances include several productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including the stage version of Our Friends in the North which preceded the hit televisions series, for the Leeds Theatre Trust, Alexandra Theatre (Birmingham) and Tyneside Theatre Company.

He passed away in 2020, aged 94.

[lavendersafe]

the north east is beautiful enough for me to return regularly to show the wife around despite all the bad memories resurfacing because LOOK

[glorianas]

durham, county durham, england, july 25th, 2023

[richs-pics]

Periwinkle

[gregor-samsung]

The Old Oak (Ken Loach, 2023)

[now-winter-comes-slowly]

Living history museums are very close to my heart. It's a sector my late father worked in, and Beamish, in Co. Durham, was a big inspiration for what's been achieved where I live.

Beamish is such a large open air museum that they've got a whole town set up with different neighbourhoods representing, in the finest detail, everyday life in different historical periods. Christmas time is no different, from the 1950s shop with atomic era toy trends (and Santa riding on a rocket!) to the "make do and mend" wartime Christmas on the 1940s farm. North East Nostlalgic offers a walk-around for anyone who can't get there in person...

[mortal-perspective]

all I do is try to take photos of reflections in water

[henk-heijmans]

Consett, County Durham, England, 1970s - by Don McCullin (1935), English

[beebees-photography]

Visit to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North. For their opening Christmas Weekend, a few weeks ago. This place never gets old. It's amazing. I highly recommend it to everyone. (1 of 3)