A three-day event will highlight the lives and achievements of almost 90 women, many of whom have been forgotten or little recorded by history.

An exhibition titled Celebrating Women’s Lives Through the Years will be staged from today (October 30) to Sunday at Redhills Miners’ Hall in Durham.

It is part of a three-day programme of events called Resist and Resolve, staged by the National Women’s Action for Positive Change, which emerged from activities in Durham two years ago to mark the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike.

The project originated in plans to mark the 100th anniversary of the miners’ lockout. After the end of the 1926 General Strike, many miners stayed locked out from work for months in their bitter dispute with coal owners who wanted to cut wages and increase working hours.

Heather Wood, author of a book on growing up in the pit community of Easington and who is one of the Positive Change group, said an aim was to highlight the often overlooked women who supported mining families and communities during that struggle.

“With so little written about these women, we have been researching their stories and hope to bring their contribution to wider public attention,” she said.

“The event has now grown into a celebration of women across the generations, recognising those who fought for change in the past and those continuing that work today.

“They didn’t all think the same way, and they didn’t all live the same kind of lives. But there is a thread running through their stories. They got involved.

“They organised. They resisted. They stood their ground. They helped others. They spoke up and, in their own different ways, they changed things. That is where the name Resist and Resolve comes from.

“It is about the courage to resist what is wrong, but also the resolve to keep going – sometimes when change takes years, sometimes when you don’t even live to see the difference you’ve made. This exhibition is about remembering those women.

“But it isn’t only about looking backwards. We want to inform and educate, but most of all we want to inspire.

“We particularly hope younger women will read these stories and realise that you don’t have to be famous or powerful to make a difference.

“We know there are many more stories out there. Some will be in archives and old newspapers, but many will be in people’s homes – in photographs tucked away in drawers, in letters, family stories and memories that have been passed down. We want to find those women too.

“So we will keep looking and keep adding to what we have started. Whatever comes out of Resist and Resolve will not simply be put away when this weekend is over. We want it to grow, and we want the stories we discover now and in the future to become part of it.”

The weekend’s programme is a women only one, with a mixture of events celebrating achievements and offering opportunities to come together.

The exhibition will be launched from 7pm tonight (Friday) with an evening of music and food.

On Saturday, events will run from 10am to 3pm, with stalls, speakers, music, comedy and poetry. Performers include Lizzie Lovejoy, Jen Strike and Marie Little. There will also be a screening of the film Heard Not Hushed.

Sunday’s programme will offer an opportunity to rest and relax with guided sessions featuring breathing, sound and laughing yoga.

Free weekend tickets for women are available through the Redhills website, or they can simply turn up on the day.

Among the women featured in the exhibition is Lisbeth Simm, born in Cramlington in 1870, who toured mining towns and collieries to persuade working-class women that politics also belonged to them.

The daughter of a miner, her father-in-law had been involved in the 1865 miners’ lockout and was evicted from his colliery house.

Lisbeth qualified as a teacher through the pupil-teacher system and became one of the North East’s most determined organisers following the founding of the Women’s Labour League in 1906.

She travelled from place to place holding meetings, speaking to women and setting up branches. Her work reached directly into the Durham coalfield. By the end of 1908, Lisbeth had established eight branches.

She also campaigned for the vote for women and became involved with the North East Society for Women’s Suffrage.

Heather said: “She wrote for women. She organised them. She spoke for votes for women, but also about wages, housing, hungry children and the work women did every single day and she challenged the idea that the men should do the politics while the women made the tea.”

In 1919, she was chosen as one of two women sent to Australia by the government’s Oversea Settlement Committee to investigate opportunities for British women who might emigrate.

In 1946, when she was in her seventies, she left Britain for America. She settled in Los Angeles, where she died in 1952, aged 82.

Also featured in the exhibition is Isabel Brown, born in South Shields in 1894. Her father was a manual worker. A scholarship gave her the chance to train at Sunderland Teacher Training College.

She joined the Labour Party in 1918 and, in 1920, the newly formed Communist Party of Great Britain. She was among the small number of women involved at its foundation and went on to become one of the party’s most formidable organisers and public speakers.

She travelled to Moscow to study at the International Lenin School and returned to Britain shortly before the General Strike of 1926. She was subsequently arrested for sedition and imprisoned for three months after a speech attacking the government’s treatment of workers.

By the early 1930s, she led the British Committee for the Relief of Victims of Fascism.

When the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, Brown travelled to Spain and was at the centre of the British response. Within weeks, a British medical unit left for Spain with doctors, nurses, medical supplies and equipment for a field hospital.

She later became National Women’s Organiser of the Communist Party. In 1940, she was seriously injured in an air raid and spent months in hospital, with her injuries affecting her health for the rest of her life.

Two years of tenacious fundraising have paid off with the announcement that the purchase of a historic Northumberland estate has been achieved for nature and the nation.

The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust have confirmed the acquisition of the entire 9,500-acre Rothbury Estate following their biggest-ever fundraising campaign.

The £30m appeal attracted the backing of Sir David Attenborough, more than 25,000 supporters, charitable foundations and the Government.

To secure the purchase, the charities have taken out a low-interest loan to bridge the short-term gap between pledged money still to be received and the fundraising target.

Sir David, president emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, welcomed the success of the appeal.

He said: “The Wildlife Trusts called for your support and you answered in your thousands. The appeal to secure the future of the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland has been successful and now the opportunity to bring the vision of a landscape where nature and people thrive side by side can become a reality.

“This will be a place where nature, community, farming and heritage can combine to create something very special for generations to come.”

The campaign, which began in 2024, attracted support from across the UK and more than 50 countries worldwide, including Finland, Barbados, Kenya and New Zealand.

Public donations raised more than £17m, with Sir David’s backing generating more than £1m in just one week.

Transformational grants and donations also came from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Monday Charitable Trust, Samworth Foundation, Ringtons and anonymous philanthropists.

A £5m grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund in March marked a major milestone, while a £1.94m Government pledge from Defra this month provided a further boost.

Locally, groups including Rothbury Women’s Institute, the Cycling Cranks cycling club and Curvy Sounds guitar shop in Newcastle helped raise funds.

Jess Mills, co-owner of Curvy Sounds, said: “The Rothbury Estate is a special place to my husband Andrew and me, and to so many people across the North East.

“Curvy Sounds is all about supporting the music community so we were delighted so many of our friends from the music community were able to unite with us and grasp the chance to preserve this incredible area for both wildlife and people.”

The estate, which includes the Simonside Hills, encompasses moorland, woodland, rivers and farmland, along with a rich cultural heritage including prehistoric rock art.

It lies at the heart of plans for a 40-mile nature recovery corridor stretching from the North East coast to Kielder.

The UK Government also highlighted the estate at COP17, the global biodiversity summit, recognising its potential contribution to the international 30by30 target to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

As the entire estate moves into the care of The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust, the aim is to create a landscape where nature-friendly farming and wildlife thrive together, habitats are restored at scale, and more people can enjoy the area and its heritage.

Mike Pratt, chief executive of Northumberland Wildlife Trust, described the success of the appeal as “a remarkable achievement”.

He said: “The completion of The Rothbury Estate purchase is a defining moment for Northumberland and the North East.

“Opportunities of this scale and significance are incredibly rare. By securing this extraordinary landscape, we’ve the potential to create a flagship for nature recovery supported by sustainable farming, whilst delivering lasting benefits for wildlife, local people and the rural economy for generations to come.”

On sections of the estate purchased by The Wildlife Trusts in October 2024, projects have already been undertaken to build an understanding of its wildlife, landscapes and history.

Surveys, research and the efforts of local volunteers and community groups, including archaeologists, birders, academics, the Scouts and the WI, have all played a part.

New citizen-science initiatives planned for next month include reptile surveys, soil health testing and an autumn acoustic monitoring survey, helping to inform the future management of the landscape.

Local people are encouraged to get involved through Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s website. To keep up to date with projects and plans for the Rothbury Estate, visit the Wildlife Trusts website

While the stars of British music were taking centre stage at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena for last week’s Mercury Prize ceremony, students from Newcastle College were busy making their own contributions behind the scenes.

From creating bespoke gifts for shortlisted artists and VIPs to preparing food for the awards dinner and welcoming guests, students from across the college put their skills to work at the high-profile event.

The Mandela Collective, Newcastle College’s in-house agency for Art, Design and Digital Art degree students, worked with Creative Heritage Studios CIC to produce commemorative pin badges for the occasion.

Commissioned by Creative Central NCL, Newcastle College and Newcastle City Council, the project saw students collaborate on designs which were unveiled at the launch of the Mercury Prize Fringe and presented to artists and VIPs at the ceremony.

Corinne Lewis-Ward, director of Creative Heritage Studios CIC, said: “It was fantastic to work with the students from Newcastle College’s Mandela Collective to co-create something so special for the 2026 Mercury Prize.

“The project gave them the opportunity to bring their creativity and ideas to a brilliant event, while experiencing what it’s like to collaborate on a live design brief.”

Meanwhile, students from the college’s Chef’s Academy spent the week preparing food for crews working at the arena.

The college’s Canteen Club chefs also created the starter for the awards dinner and helped prepare the main courses and desserts.

Travel and Tourism students were on hand to welcome guests and assist with meet-and-greets, while Chef’s Academy students supported front-of-house operations.

Jon Ridley, principal of Newcastle College, said: “The Mercury Prize is a massive event in British music, and Newcastle College ​students delivered it.

"The College’s Mandela Collective created bespoke gifts for nominees and VIPs; our trainee chefs prepared food for the evening, and everyone was welcomed by our events students. Each student shone and showed their talent and expertise on the national stage.”

Caroline James, general manager at Utilita Arena Newcastle, said: “For us it was more than simply playing host to the major event, it was about creating opportunities for the next generation and celebrating the people who make our city so special.”

This a sweet telling of the Cinderella fairytale – or a version of it – which is beautifully danced and very pretty to look at (and listen to, since musicians are back in the pit after a much-publicised dispute).

Sweet and comical, since Cinders’ two stepsisters (Ugly Sisters, as panto would have them) are danced by men in drag – or en travesti which the programme tells me is proper ballet lingo.

Not that they’re the prettiest spectacle in this pretty production.

It can’t be easy for a professional dancer to dance badly on purpose yet Yu Wakizuka (Lucretia) and Andrew Tomlinson (Prunella) pulled it off perfectly on Wednesday night, their deliberately gauche and gawky movements executed to excruciating perfection.

They’ll be back on stage on Friday with the roles taken by another Northern Ballet pair for the rest of the short run, rotation being the way of the Leeds-based company.

This is the UK premiere of Michael Pink’s production which was created for his Milwaukee Ballet in 2009. He was associate artistic director of Northern Ballet in the 1990s, working alongside the inspirational Michael Gable.

And while it’s sweet – I think I’ve said that – and very family-friendly, there’s no great sense of jeopardy, which might be a plus, of course. It’s really down to taste.

Cinders, delicately embodied on Wednesday by Japanese principal dancer Saeka Shirai, never seems truly alone, as in her versus a cruel and vindictive world.

The bullying of her stepsisters is tempered by their self-defeating idiocy and not only is her wimpish father still on the scene but so is the spirit of her late mother, watching over her in the manner of the Fairy Godmother and sending messages by falling rose petal or the spectral equivalent of telepathy.

Then there’s the houseboy Jack (Harris Beattie on Wednesday), attentive and brotherly.

The moments of highest drama also seem a little down played, the transformation of the put-upon cleaning girl into belle of the ball somewhat matter-of-fact (I always want ponies) and the climactic fitting on of the lost shoe similarly somewhat casual.

The latter, of course, in any Cinderella production, asks us to believe that a prince (Jonathan Hanks on Wednesday) won’t recognise the girl he danced with all night until he’s checked her shoe size. Maybe that’s how it works in royal circles. It might explain a lot.

Still, plenty to enjoy. I liked the humour of the chancers putting their best foot forward in a vain attempt to bag the prince, each being whisked in – some held aloft – before registering disappointment, frustration or petulant rage.

And I enjoyed Alessia Petrosino as Stepmother (not ‘wicked’ stepmother) wagging her finger and putting her foot down most firmly. There are ways to wag a finger and put a foot down. Having been on the receiving end, I would judge this to be among the most acceptable. It’s certainly the most balletic.

At the final curtain call associate conductor Daniel Parkinson came onto a stage littered with glittering stars to take a bow alongside the dancers and pointedly gestured at the musicians below.

We’re back, he seemed to be saying, and ballet is the better for it. I wouldn’t dispute that. Musicians over ponies any day. Prokofiev’s score is in good hands.

Northern Ballet’s Cinderella is here until Saturday, October 31. Tickets from the Theatre Royal box office.

They’ve barely finished sweeping up the confetti from last week’s Mercury Prize ceremony, but Newcastle already has another major music event to look forward to.

BBC Radio 6 Music has announced that its flagship festival will return to the city next spring, 12 years after Newcastle and Gateshead hosted a memorable weekend of live performances, conversation and musical discoveries.

The 6 Music Festival will take place from Monday, March 15 to Friday, March 19, 2027, with five days of gigs and DJ sets across Newcastle’s independent and grassroots venues.

The festival, which has spent the past three years in Greater Manchester, will feature established acts alongside emerging artists, with a dedicated night in collaboration with BBC Introducing.

The full line-up and participating venues will be revealed in 2027.

Samantha Moy, head of BBC Radio 6 Music, said: “The city and the region have such a rich musical legacy and a thriving creative community, which will make for another wonderful setting. We look forward to sharing more details in the months ahead.”

Sunderland’s 6 Music presenter Lauren Laverne, who hosted the Mercury Prize on Tyneside for the second time last week, sounded buzzing to have a working reason to return to the region in 2027.

She said: “Fresh from the Mercury Prize taking place in Newcastle for the second year, I’m thrilled that the 6 Music Festival will be heading back to the city in March. Having grown up in the North East, I know just how much music means to people here and the important role it plays in local culture and communities.

“It’s fantastic to see the festival return to the North East, and I can’t wait to join listeners, artists and presenters for what promises to be a brilliant celebration of live music.”

Jim Mawdsley, principal advisor for events and culture at Newcastle City Council, said the festival would provide an opportunity to showcase the city’s grassroots music scene.

“The 6 Music Festival will shine a light on the amazing grass roots venues and promoters we have in the city that are a vital and essential part of both the eco and artist support systems,” he said.

Launched in 2014, the festival has visited cities including Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Cardiff and London, with previous performers ranging from Depeche Mode, Pixies and Johnny Marr to Little Simz, Self Esteem, Wet Leg and Young Fathers.

The 2015 event on Tyneside saw performances from the likes of Royal Blood, Hot Chip, Slaves, Sleaford Mods, Wolf Alice and Fat White Family, with events taking over venues including the O2 Academy, (the then)Sage Gateshead, The Cluny, The Cumberland Arms, Star and Shadow and Boiler Shop.

There was plenty beyond the gigs, too, with Lauren Laverne interviewing Bryan Ferry, John Cooper Clarke delivering some punk poetry and a gathering of North East musicians including members of Maxïmo Park, The Futureheads and Field Music discussing the region’s music scene.

Highlights from the 2027 Newcastle festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds, with performances also available through BBC Music’s YouTube channel.

Hello and welcome to the last Curated Culture of October.

Halloween is almost upon us… but if you want something truly frightening, you should see the state of our diaries between now and Christmas.

It seems only fair that we make yours a bit busier via another batch of cultural recommendations for the coming fortnight, more options in STILL SHOWING and plenty to plan ahead for in our NOW BOOKING and FESTIVE FORECAST signposts.

This week’s prize draw should raise a few laughs, too. We’ve got a pair of tickets to see Dylan Moran, who brings his new stand-up show, Looking for Trouble, to Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre and Opera House on November 4.

You’ll find the entry details at the bottom of the newsletter.

Thanks for reading and hope your weekend is exactly as scary as you want it to be.

Sam (Wonfor) and Dave (Whetstone)
Professionally preoccupied with North East culture

THEATRE: Billy Elliot the Musical
Where: Sunderland Empire
When: November 4-28
Bookings and info: atgtickets.com

Billy Elliot is on its way home. A North East story, which has been seen by more than 12 million theatregoers worldwide, returns to the region as a new tour of the award-winning musical opens at Sunderland Empire.

Based on the hit film starring Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, the show follows a County Durham boy who discovers a passion for ballet against the backdrop of the 1984–85 miners’ strike.

With music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Newcastle-born Lee Hall, the production stars Lesley Joseph, Annette McLaughlin and Deka Walmsley, alongside three young performers from Sunderland and Durham who share the role of Billy’s friend Debbie.

The musical last visited Sunderland in 2016, when it sold out.

DANCE: Cinderella
Where: Newcastle Theatre Royal
When: Wed, October 28 to Sat, Oct 31
Bookings and info: theatreroyal.co.uk

Northern Ballet are back with a slightly out-of-season seasonal favourite – and danced, you will notice from the Theatre Royal website, to “Prokofiev’s classic music played live”.

Cost-cutting measures a few years ago saw the Leeds-based company doing a Matthew Bourne (not that it does him any harm) and performing to recorded music.

Leaflets from the Musicians’ Union were distributed outside the theatre, arguing against the decision on behalf of members and supported, it must be said, by many ballet lovers.

Agreement has now been reached and the musicians will be back in the pit for the Newcastle run.

It was originally choreographed back in 2009 for the Milwaukee Ballet by its artist director Michael Pink, who worked for Northern Ballet as associate artistic director alongside the late Michael Gable in the 1990s.

An appreciative recent review of this production, which gets six performances here including Thursday and Saturday matinees, called it very traditional, family-friendly and perfect escapism.

Matthew Bourne’s version, incidentally, set during the wartime London Blitz, will be with us in the spring (April 20 to May 1).

DANCE: Hansel & Gretel and the Witch
Where: Northern Stage, Newcastle
When: Thurs, Oct 29 to Sun, Nov 1
Bookings and info: northernstage.co.uk

After delighting audiences over several years with a successful fairytale trilogy, Newcastle-based balletLORENT is back with a follow-up to Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White.

Liv Lorent’s company has fashioned a niche for itself with its distinctive, flamboyant approach to dance and storytelling.

This is described as a fresh take – it’s always a fresh take with balletLORENT - on a classic fairytale, a “dark and sweet” telling that “celebrates courage, imagination and the enduring magic of storytelling”.

Not too dark, though, presumably, since it has young participants and is deemed suitable for theatre-goers aged five plus.

Benefiting from the same gilt-edged creative team reunited, it has words by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, recorded narration by Gina McKee, new score by Murray Gold, lights by Malcolm Rippeth, costumes by Nazir Mazhar, set by Mayou Trikerioti… and choreography and direction, of course, by Liv Lorent.

Nine professional dancers will be on stage for the five performances (matinees on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) alongside a young community cast.

THEATRE: The Highwayman
Where: Queen’s Hall, Hexham
When: Wed, Oct 28 (7.30pm); Thurs, Oct 29 (2pm)
Bookings and info: queenshall.co.uk

The John Godber Company rides into town this week, maybe tethering Black Bess outside a local hostelry before liberating some locals from their treasured possessions.

More likely, though, it’ll be on stage relating a tale born of archival material and John Godber’s fertile imagination.

He is the man best known for Bouncers and for a 1993 survey which revealed his plays were the most frequently performed after Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn.

He set up his eponymous company in 2011, along with his wife Jane Thornton, so they could create new works for theatre whose destiny they could control. This is the latest.

The Highwayman is set in 1769 when, we’re told, “everyone is flocking north, every ale house is packed with the great and the bad”.

Money being a powerful motivating factor, the temptation is great.

A cast of three is headed by Hull actor Emilio Encinoso-Gil as John Swift in what’s billed as “a new thrilling theatrical romantic adventure from the writer of Bouncers and Do I Love You?”

The latter was Godber’s hit Northern Soul comedy of 2023.

TALK: Finding Audrey Amiss
Where: Culture House Sunderland
When: Thursday, November 12, 6pm
Bookings and info: culturehousesunderland.co.uk

Work by the late Audrey Amiss forms the inaugural exhibition at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA) in its new home.

Audrey was born in Sunderland although she spent most of her life in London where she worked as a civil servant.

Recognised when growing up as an artist full of promise, her mental health problems meant she abandoned her studies at the Royal Academy School of Art.

Art, though, remained her private passion and when she died the fruits of all her labours were found at her home.

Her paintings and copious scrapbooks are now looked after at the Wellcome Collection in London where Elena Carter is a collections development lead.

She spent over a year cataloguing Audrey’s work alongside other archivists and was a consultant on Typist Artist Pirate King, the film drama about her life.

In her talk Elena will share insights into the process of cataloguing and caring for Audrey’s work and explain what it tells us about her life.

Audrey Amiss: Kitchen Sink Realism runs at the NGCA until January 17, 2027.

MUSIC: Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening
Where: The Fire Station, Sunderland
When: November 4
Bookings and info: thefirestation.org.uk

Kathryn Tickell was there when The Fire Station opened its doors in 2021, headlining the Sunderland venue’s inaugural concert. Five years on, she’s back with The Darkening.

Inspired by the history and landscapes surrounding Hadrian’s Wall, the five-piece takes its name from an old Northumbrian word for twilight and draws on nearly 2,000 years of musical connections.

Tickell’s Northumbrian pipes and fiddle are joined by accordion, guitar, drums, ancient lyres and vocals, with Amy Thatcher, Heather Cartwright, Joe Truswell and Stef Conner completing the line-up.

Support comes from Holly Clarke

MUSIC: The Shires
Where: Sage One, The Glasshouse
When: November 5
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org

There’s added significance to The Shires’ forthcoming Gateshead gig following the country duo’s announcement that they’ll be taking an indefinite break after their current tour.

Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes have spent 13 years together, releasing six albums and helping establish British country music as a serious chart contender.

They became the first British country act to score a UK Top Ten album with 2015’s Brave, going on to win a Country Music Association award.

The tour setlist combines songs from across their career with material from Bonfire, their latest album, released in July.

THEATRE: Close Enough to Touch
Where: Arts Centre Washington
When: Thursday, Oct 29 (7.30pm)
Bookings and info: sunderlandculture.org.uk

On tour from theatre companies Red Ladder (Leeds) and Silent Uproar (Hull) is this one-man show giving voice to thoughts usually kept hidden.

“What happens when our deepest urges are shrouded in shame? What happens when we can’t articulate our desires, even to ourselves?”

So goes the billing for Henry Roberts’s play which has proven to be a 70-minute tour-de-force for actor Stefan Race who plays the character known as M.

We meet him sitting in a bus shelter, head in hands.

He has a girlfriend… and a secret.

We are told: “In this gripping, intimate drama, audiences are taken into the world of cruising – anonymous sex in public places.

“As our nameless character’s secret builds, so does his shame. The play swings between passion and pathos as we watch a young man struggle to find pleasure, acceptance and, crucially, the language to express himself.”

In 2023 Roberts’s script was longlisted for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 37 Plays project marking 400 years since the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

With a warning about “sexual description and strong language”, it’s aimed at ages 16 plus.

ART/POP: Pop Goes the Prism
Where: The Light, Aykley Heads, Durham
When: Friday, November 6, 7-10pm
Bookings and info: thelightdurham.org.uk/afterdark

Spice, The Spice Girls’ debut album, came out 30 years ago, selling many millions of copies.

There was (and is) no greater fan, it seems, than artist Liz West whose Our Spectral Vision features in the inaugural exhibition at The Light, Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light.

She owns a collection of Spice Girls memorabilia acknowledged by Guinness World Records and some items from it will be displayed beneath her artwork as part of the second in the venue’s After Dark series.

Liz will speak about the group’s impact on contemporary culture and the links between her art and her collection.

“I’m excited to be curating After Dark at The Light, bringing together two things that have always inspired me: the transformative power of light and colour and the joy, energy and unapologetic pop culture of the 1990s,” she says.

Items on display will include trainers worn by Mel B (Scary Spice), a rainbow striped outfit worn by Geri Halliwell (Ginger) and a blue and pink sequinned dress worn by Emma Bunton (Baby)

A 1990s pop set from DJ Annie FM and themed food and drinks are also promised.

EXHIBITION: By One’s Light
Where: VANE, Gateshead
When: Nov 11 to 14 (preview: Nov 10, 5-10pm)
Bookings and info: vane.org.uk

This short but intriguing exhibition has been organised and curated by fine art students and recent graduates of Newcastle University and the Slade School of Fine Art in London.

It comes to Gateshead after a first showing at London’s hARTslane Gallery (October 29-31) and is supported by Newcastle University’s Make it Happen Fund and the Bartlett Fund.

It features a range of work including prints, paintings, sculptures and audio-visual work by Newcastle University student Megan Nicholson.

Also representing Newcastle University are Callum Ashcroft, Milly Hawitt, Katarina Jimack and Eliza O’Boyle.

Representing the Slade are Ru Cave, Will Metcalfe, Anna-May Slowie and Emma Steensma.

The exhibition’s title apparently echoes a 16^th Century metaphor for a person’s agency, instinct and moral code. In an artistic context it relates to one’s originality.

The exhibitors say all these values reflect their aims of encouraging artistic instinct and integrity in the current political and social climate.

VANE is located in the Orbis Community building which is 65 High Street, Gateshead (NE8 2AP) but better described as near the Gateshead end of the Tyne Bridge.

STILL SHOWING

Music: Paul Heaton, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Oct 29
Comedy: Crease, Live Theatre, Newcastle, Oct 29-31
Talk: Trevor Horn – Adventures in Modern Recording, Barnard Castle; Durham, Oct 30 and 31
Family: Heritage and Halloween at Beamish, Beamish Museum, County Durham, Oct 28, 30 and 31
Screen: Halloween All Nighters, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, Oct 31
Exhibition: Comic Worlds, The Auxillary, Middlesbrough, until Oct 31
Theatre/Music: House of Fun, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Oct 30
Screen: The Northumbria Mysteries, BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Fridays at 2pm until Dec 18
Exhibition: Pre-Raphaelites: Art and Poetry, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until Feb 13
Event/Screen/Radio: Mercury Prize 2026, Utilita Arena Newcastle, BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer
Exhibition: Under Development, Newcastle Contemporary Art, High Bridge Works, until Nov 29
Theatre: It’s a Wonderful Us, Queen’s Hall, Hexham (Nov 12); and Washington Arts Centre (Nov 19)
Exhibition: Impressions of Light, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Mar 14, 2027 Read more
Comedy: Susan Calman - Tall Tales, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Nov 6
Exhibition: Keiken: Seeds, Stones and Future Bones, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, until Jan 17
Exhibition: Turner Prize 2026, MIMA, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, until Mar 29, 2027. Read our report from the opening
Exhibition: Baltic Open Submission, Baltic, Gateshead, until Apr 4, 2027
Screen: Forever Home, Channel 5
Exhibition: Kitchen Sink Realism, NGCA, Culture House Sunderland, until Jan 17
Audio: Music Lives Here podcast, Your ears, via wherever you get your podcasts
Screen: Poised, STV player
Exhibition: Victory Over the Sun: Adventures with Light, The Light, Aykley Heads, Durham, until Jan 17, 2027
Exhibition: Things That Go!, Discovery Museum, Newcastle, until Feb 29, 2027
Exhibition: MOXIE: Generation Alpha Curates the Middlesbrough Collection, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until Mar 28, 2027. Read more
Screen: Ashington AFC: Saving Our Club, available to stream on BBC iPlayer
Exhibition: Norman Cornish – A Life in Sketchbooks, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Jan 3. Read our full report
Exhibition: Mourning Tea Tyne & Lost Frequencies, Globe Gallery, North Shields, ongoing
Screen: The Fortune, Channel 5
Screen: Smoggie Queens, BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, available now
Screen: This Is Not A Murder Mystery, UTV and streaming on Channel Four, available now.
Radio: Si King on Desert Island Discs, BBC Sounds/iPlayer
Exhibition: Picture This: Someone Like Me, Great North Museum: Hancock, until Jan 2027
Exhibition: Enigmas, RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth, ongoing
Radio: Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, BBC Sounds
Exhibition: Out of the Darkness, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until December

NOW BOOKING

Theatre: The Hollow, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Nov 10-14
Screen: Amazing Grace + Q&A, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, Nov 22
Comedy: Flo and Joan - With Feeling, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle, Nov 27
Music: Hector Gannet, Sage Two, The Glasshouse, Nov 27
Comedy/Music: Bill Bailey - Vaudevillean, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Dec 5
Comedy: Mark Thomas - 40 In Stand Up Years, The Stand Newcastle, Dec 13

2027

Music: Poppy Ackroyd, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Feb 26
Music: Rick Wakeman - The Wizard of Prog, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Feb 26
Theatre: The Labyrinth, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Mar 17
Theatre: The Mousetrap, Sunderland Empire, Mar 22-27
Music: James Blunt, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Mar 28
Comedy: Harriet Dyer- Easily Distra…, The Stand Newcastle, May 29
Theatre: Titanique, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Sept 15-27

🎄 FESTIVE FORECAST 🎄

Market: Sister Shack’s Yuletide Market, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Dec 11
Theatre: Christmas Gothic, Northern Stage, Dec 15
Screen: It’s A Wonderful Life + Festive Afternoon Tea, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, Dec 12-24
Market: Forage Christmas Market, Rigg and Furrow, Acklington, Northumberland, Dec 5-6
Family: Operation Christmas Eve, Life Science Centre, Newcastle, Nov 21-Dec 23
Market: Alnwick Castle Christmas Fair, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, Nov 24-25
Family: Sing With Santa, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Dec 13
Music: Covers Club: Open Mic Night (Christmas Nearly Special), Barbour Room, The Glasshouse, Dec 5
Comedy: The Stand Christmas Special, The Stand Newcastle, Dec 17-19
Screen: The Holiday - 20th Anniversary, Jam Jar Cinema, Whitley Bay, Dec 12, 13, 20, 21 and 23

COMPETITION TIME

Welcome to our latest newsletter prize draw - offering our subscribers an exclusive chance to win tickets to see or do something great.

This week, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see Dylan Moran who is bringing his new show, Looking for Trouble to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House* on November 4.

Having never seemed particularly impressed by modern life, the blurb for Moran’s latest stand-up show suggests little has changed.

In it, the Irish comedian, perhaps most widely known for playing the spectacularly bad-tempered Bernard Black in Black Books, considers the daily grind, our attachment to consumer comforts and whether life might have turned out differently.

Apparently, alternative paths could involve becoming a kickboxing champion, mastering chess or joining the ranks of trillionaire poet-pastry chefs.

Quite where all this leads is anyone’s guess, but we’re confident his brand of world-weary bewilderment will bring the funny in buckets.

Looking for Trouble will be at Middlesbrough Town Hall on November 5.

HOW TO ENTER:

To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: ‘Looking for tickets’ by 5pm on Friday, October 30.

The winner, who will be selected at random, will be notified within 24 hours of the entry deadline.

Terms and conditions: Only subscribers to the Cultured. North East newsletter are eligible to enter the Newsletter Prize Draw competition. Prizes are as stated - subject to availability - and non-transferable. No cash alternatives will be offered. You must be over 18 years of age to enter. The Editor’s decision is final.

One of the largest grants has been received during the two-year fundraising appeal to buy a Northumberland estate for nature.

A £1.94 million pledge from the Government has provided a welcome boost to the bid by The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust to purchase The Rothbury Estate in its entirety for £30 million.

The Rothbury Estate is one of Northumberland’s most remarkable landscapes.

Covering more than 3,800 hectares, it is home to a range of wildlife, cultural heritage and communities who have cared for the land for generations.

The bid partners say that it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the estate’s future and keep it intact for nature, people and future generations.

The Government grant adds to a £5 million award from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as well as several other donations from funders, philanthropists and the public.

At almost 9,500 acres, the Rothbury Estate offers an extraordinary opportunity to restore nature at scale, strengthen nature-friendly farming and improve public access.

The Wildlife Trusts remain committed to fundraising and are also exploring how low-interest loans could help the appeal meet its target by the end of the month.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “We’re thrilled to have the Government’s support and recognition of the scale of our ambitions at the Rothbury Estate, and this grant will take us another step closer to realising our vision for one of the largest nature recovery projects England has ever seen.

“Together with the millions generously donated by philanthropists, charitable funds and thousands of members of the public, this rubber stamp of approval from the Government makes the Rothbury Estate a nationally significant landscape.”

The Rothbury Estate includes moorland, woodland, rivers and farmland in the heart of Northumberland – equivalent to the size of central London – and includes the Simonside Hills.

The estate lies at the heart of a potential 40-mile nature recovery corridor stretching from the coast to Kielder.

More than £28 million has been raised towards its £30 million target thanks to support from thousands of people across the North East, the UK and around the world.

The appeal received a further boost following the success of September’s match-funding campaign, which raised more than £1.6 million. Inspired by that achievement, three additional donors have pledged support for a new £150,000 match fund.

Until the end of October, every £1 donated will be matched, doubling its impact.

Catherine Kirkham, head of fundraising at Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received.”

Anyone wishing to support the appeal can do so via the website.

An auction house is celebrating the work of almost 30 artists who painted the North.

Newcastle’s Anderson & Garland will hold its first dedicated Northern Art Auction tomorrow (October 28), showcasing the landscape, industry and urban life of the region.

The event will also reflect the various pathways taken by the painters on their way to becoming full-time artists.

Auctioneer and specialist Harry Pickup said: “We have curated this sale with real care, bringing together artists who captured the industrial North with honesty and warmth.

“There is a growing appetite for northern art, and we have seen increased interest from both private collectors and local dealers who want to represent these artists. It feels like exactly the right moment to give this work a dedicated sale on its home turf.”

Mining scenes figure prominently in the works on show, including those by Norman Cornish, Tom McGuinness from Bishop Auckland, who worked as a miner until he was made redundant in 1983, and William Hindmarsh, who served an electrical apprenticeship at Linton Colliery near Ashington.

Other artists whose work will go under the hammer include:

• Hexham’s Birtley Aris, who was head of art at Tyne Valley High School;

• Byron Dawson, who painted large artworks for the Laing Art Gallery and the now Centurion bar in Newcastle Central Station and for years was an illustrator for The Journal newspaper;

• Alan Reed Cooke, who taught at Ralph Gardner School in North Shields and North Tyneside College of Further Education and captured the launch of the giant Esso Northumbria tanker by Swan Hunter in 1969;

• George McLean from Ashington, who later ran the Bondgate Gallery in Alnwick for almost 30 years;

• Whitley Bay artist Robert Jobling, who portrayed fishing life at locations like Cullercoats, originally worked as a ship painter at the Tyne General Ferry Company;

• Robert Lambert Moore who was a staff artist at a Newcastle department store for 22 years before running his own gallery in Tynemouth;

• Charlie Rogers who specialised in images of Newcastle streets and buildings and areas of Gateshead just before they were demolished, after working for years for Durham County Council helping to maintain playing fields;

• Richard Hobson from Newcastle who worked as a furniture and interiors designer and paintings conservation expert at the Bowes Museum. Later, as a painter, he drew inspiration from the Tyne’s shipyards and Fish Quay;

• Walter Holmes from Wallsend who was a geology graduate from King’s College in Newcastle and also held a diploma in geophysics from Imperial College.

“They’re two of a kind, like peas in a pod…”

The 1961 hit for Johnny Mercer and Bobby Darin opens a show which harks back to the glory days of the comedy double act.

Think Morecambe and Wise, Cannon and Ball; maybe even Laurel and Hardy.

Not that Mercer and Darin ever justified that billing, having been brought together for a one-off studio album, Two of a Kind… and it’s debatable how close Darren and Ginger really are as their story unfolds.

They were once a tight team, we deduce, but Ginger (played by Andrew Robson) wandered off.

Where to?

He seems reluctant to spill the beans to erstwhile comedy partner Darren (Andrew McLeod), having made his equally bamboozling reappearance.

The question now is whether the pair can settle artistic differences and get the show back in front of an audience.

But there’s more to this than showbiz nostalgia as you’d expect from Steve Gilroy, writer and director, whose fondness for “investigative theatre” has seen him delving into the likes of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (In the Middle of the West) and the feelings of people affected by war in Afghanistan and Iraq (Motherland – predating by several years the unrelated BBC sitcom).

As we smile at the pair with the funny hats and touching faith in age-old gags, we are also invited to dwell on the challenges faced by people who don’t fit the educational mould, and also their parents and carers.

They’ll be well known to all at The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company, run by and for people with learning difficulties, which is celebrating – as we should too – its 40^th anniversary.

The Lawnmowers co-present this show with Steve’s Murmur Theatre and the two Andrews are seasoned members of its ensemble, as you can tell by their impeccable comic timing.

But in particular this is the story of Andrew McLeod and the extraordinary efforts his late parents went to in order to have his educational needs properly attended to and secure his future.

Several years in the making, it was to have been about the three of them but the death of the parents in quick succession prompted a rethink and gave rise to the charmingly bitter-sweet play now set before us.

The tough stuff, about how Darren (for which read Andrew) was bullied at school, deemed “naughty” and sent to a place for bad lads where he suffered even more, emerges in his moments of recollection.

So does his parents’ determined battle with authority, notably their ambush (no other word aptly describes it) of a director of education whose refusal to meet them resulted in a long and dispiriting wait.

These memories are stirred as the reunited comedy pair mull over the recordings made by Darren’s fictional late dad, the man who provided the material for and masterminded the old double act.

The result, charming at times, bracing at others, gets to the heart of what The Lawnmowers have been about these past four decades.

It’s a 75-minute showcase for the talents of the two ensemble members, and also Jake Jarratt who not only plays Scott, brought into the routine as ‘special guest’ to perform his brilliant Tommy Cooper skit, but fleshes out some of Darren’s tough childhood memories.

These sudden flashes contrast vividly with the genial bickering of a pair of old troupers as they prepare once more to venture under the spotlight.

And as for the title, it’s perfect, evoking the message of seasonal cinematic favourite It’s a Wonderful Life, that every life has value and that every remark, action or gesture can have unforeseen consequences.

You can catch It’s a Wonderful Us at Queen’s Hall, Hexham, on Thursday, November 12, or Arts Centre Washington on Thursday, November 19 – and further dates are being lined up for 2027.

Welcome to another Cultured. On Sunday, where we’ve gathered a fresh selection of North East stories to keep you company over a cuppa (or two).

This week, we’ve been catching up with the women of Your Aunt Fanny, the sketch comedy troupe returning to Live Theatre, where it all began as they prepare to unleash their latest show, Crease.

We’re also turning our attention to the small screen, as The Northumbria Mysteries – a new BBC crime drama filmed in Northumberland – makes its debut. Commissioner Helen Munson talks about the production, the North East’s growing TV industry and the opportunities for local talent.

Tony Henderson has the story of a project to protect plants that have survived in the North East since the last Ice Age, with a little help from a 100-year-old botanist who has spent much of her life championing them.

Elsewhere, there’s news of a new Bishop Auckland restaurant from a former MasterChef contestant, while this week’s Get Stuck In offers an opportunity to finally pick up that paintbrush and give painting a go.

Happy Sunday.

A taste of something new for Bishop Auckland

A former MasterChef contestant has opened a new restaurant in Bishop Auckland, offering a seven-course tasting menu for £69 per person.

Jörd, which opened on Newgate Street on Saturday (October 24), is the latest venture from chef Mike Bartley, who appeared on the BBC cooking competition in 2021 before embarking on a professional culinary career.

After initially working as a private chef for clients across the UK, Mike went on to establish The Cornerstone in Crook. Jörd is his second restaurant.

The new venture focuses on seasonal, locally sourced and foraged ingredients, with a sample menu featuring tuna tartlet with avocado, kimchi and togarashi; butternut squash raviolo with sage, brown butter and nduja; Thai green sea bass; and beef fillet with potato, shallot and lovage.

Desserts include blackberry and apple crumble and chocolate mousse with miso caramel and hazelnut. Vegetarian alternatives are also available.

“It’s something that’s brand new to Bishop Auckland, and our mantra is a tasting menu that you don’t need to break the bank for,” said Mike.

The restaurant occupies a town centre property that had stood empty for two years. Its refurbishment was supported by a £150,000 grant from Bishop Auckland’s Property Reuse Fund.

“Jörd was always going to be in Bishop Auckland. I’m really excited to represent the town and help bring people in to visit.”

For more information and to book a table, visit jordbishopauckland.com

Culture isn’t just something to watch from the sidelines. Get Stuck In is our new way of highlighting opportunities to get involved – from workshops and courses to clubs, classes and one-off events where you can learn something, make something or simply have a go.

This week: Painting for Beginners at Newcastle Arts Centre

Always fancied having a go at painting but not sure where to start?

Artist Jason Skill is offering a helping hand with this one-day workshop for complete beginners. You’ll learn about different types of paint, colour mixing, brush techniques and the basics of colour theory, before putting your new skills to work on a picture of your own.

All materials are provided, and Jason will also offer advice on putting together an affordable painting kit if you fancy carrying on at home.

The one-day course (10am to 4pm) is priced at £60 and takes place on October 31 at the Arts Centre on Westgate Road, Newcastle.

It’s one of a regular programme of creative courses at the venue, so there’s plenty more to explore if this gets you hooked. Check the website for details.

A project has been launched to safeguard Ice Age plants in a North East botanical “hotspot”.

A £64,739 award will back a three-year operation to save a community of plants which have survived continuously since shortly after the last glaciation, 10,000–12,000 years ago.

The move has been welcomed by 100-year-old botanist and Durham University graduate Dr Margaret Bradshaw, who has made it a lifelong mission to study and protect the plants.

Teesdale Special Flora Research and Conservation Trust has been awarded funding from the North Pennines National Landscape through Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme for the rare Arctic-alpine species recovery project.

Upper Teesdale is rated as one of the top five botanical hotspots in Britain and Ireland due to its unusually large number of rare plant species.

They comprise over 100 plant species of conservation interest, including the Teesdale Assemblage, a unique community of 20 rare and endangered Arctic-alpine plants.

The assemblage includes spring gentian, bird’s-eye primrose, spring sandwort, Teesdale violet, mountain everlasting, sea thrift, mountain avens, false sedge, Teesdale hoary rock-rose, alpine bartsia, alpine bistort and sea plantain.

The project will involve collecting seed from plants in locations where populations are large enough. These have been identified from the records of surveys undertaken by the Teesdale Special Flora Trust over a number of years.

There will be further mapping of the rare species across the Upper Teesdale Assemblage, and plug plants will be planted out into management trial plots on the fell.

Volunteers will be provided with training in plant identification, seed collection and propagation, and sowing at the end of the season.

At 93, Margaret Bradshaw founded the Teesdale Special Flora Trust. At 95, she embarked on a 55-mile trek on horseback which raised almost £10,000 for the trust, and at 98, she walked 55 miles to raise more money for conservation.

She said: “The Trust was established to promote research into, and conservation of, the special flora of Upper Teesdale and to raise awareness of the fragility of the special flora and the importance of protecting it. This project is crucial to support the ongoing research and conservation of these rare species.”

Patsy Bigley, botanical assistant for the Trust, said: “Plants have always been my passion, and I’ve trained and worked in horticulture for years before moving into conservation. I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with Upper Teesdale and working with the Trust to help safeguard this rare flora for the future.”

The funding is conditional upon the Trust providing £15,000 in supporting funds over three years. Donations to support the work of the Trust in researching and conserving the special flora of Upper Teesdale can be made via its JustGiving page.

Sarah Tooze, programme manager for natural heritage at the North Pennines National Landscape, said: “The Upper Teesdale arctic-alpine assemblage is one of the country’s most important groupings of rare wild plants, including over 170 species of plants which are of conservation concern, such as bird’s eye primrose, spring gentian and yellow marsh saxifrage.

“These plants are identified as champion species of the North Pennines National Landscape in the forthcoming management plan and we have a responsibility to look after them.

“We are looking forward to working with local farmers on ways to support these fragile species. Staff from our team will also support by helping to train volunteers on seed collection.”

A pair of obnoxious Geordie mums are volunteering at a parkrun. A scout leader is sharing rather too much about his collapsing marriage. And somewhere, a taxi driver called Alan is talking absolute rubbish.

Welcome back to the world of Your Aunt Fanny.

The North East sketch comedy troupe are returning to Live Theatre, Newcastle, with Crease, their first new hour-long sketch show in several years.

While some familiar faces will be making an appearance, there’s also a whole new collection of outrageous characters, unlikely scenarios and gloriously inappropriate behaviour to look forward to.

The return to Live Theatre brings things full circle for Your Aunt Fanny. It's where the seven members first came together as teenagers, when Live Youth Theatre's Paul James spotted the potential for a sketch comedy troupe among the young performers.

The group eventually went their separate ways but remained close friends, reuniting in 2018 to write and perform their own material as an independent company.

Nearly a decade later, all seven original members – Brogan Gilbert, Emma Crowley-Bennett, Izzy Sorby, Jackie Edwards, Katie Powell, Lydia Kavanagh and Matilda Neill – are still involved, despite the competing demands of jobs, mortgages and families.

“It’s almost like working with siblings sometimes,” says Katie, explaining that everyone is comfortable being brutally honest about an idea that isn’t working.

Izzy agrees. Nobody gets to write a sketch, declare it finished and expect the others to perform it without question.

“Everyone has to look at it. Everyone has to sign off on it,” she says.

That collective approach has produced two touring sketch shows – Minge Unhinged, a title the troupe loved but which proved tricky to mention on the radio, and Muff Said, which went on to play London’s Soho Theatre.

There have also been Christmas specials, a podcast, a first-look deal with television production company Hat Trick and development work with the BBC and Channel 4.

They also appeared at this year’s Sunday for Sammy concerts, taking their comedy to an arena audience rather different from their usual crowd.

Not that Your Aunt Fanny’s audience is quite as exclusively female as the name might suggest. Alongside their loyal following of women are men, grandparents and younger comedy fans.

“Our shows poke fun at everyone,” says Izzy. “We’re not just laughing at men. We’re not just laughing at women. We’re not just laughing at young people. We’re not just laughing at old people. We’re laughing at everyone.”

Much of Crease has been developed through the group’s Time of the Month residency at The Stand comedy club on Newcastle’s High Bridge.

Established in 2024, the nights provide a friendly testing ground for new sketches, alongside opportunities for other female comedians to try out material.

Rather than writing an entire show against a looming deadline, the Fannies have been able to select and refine material that has already been performed in front of audiences.

It’s meant fewer last-minute panics, although assembling an hour of comedy still involves plenty of discussions about running orders, costume changes and whether somebody has spent too much of the evening playing a man.

There are returning favourites, including the aforementioned Alan the taxi driver, played by Izzy, and a teenage troublemaker whose long-suffering teacher has undergone a rather topical transformation since her previous appearance.

The two unpleasant Geordie mums who once begrudgingly distributed food-bank supplies are now bringing their unique approach to volunteering at a parkrun.

Among the newer creations is Phil, a scout leader whose enthusiasm for fire safety is matched only by his willingness to unload his personal problems onto the children in his care.

There’s also a sketch inspired by a real-life incident at a yoga class, where Katie witnessed a couple kissing goodbye simply because their instructor had asked them to stand a little further apart.

The resulting scene involves a lengthy, cinematic farewell.

Katie says some sketches begin with nothing more complicated than a desire to be silly. Others emerge from the group discovering that something has made them collectively furious.

“It’s like seven women having the same experience and talking about it together and making something out of it,” says Katie.

Katie is convinced there’s value in what they do, whether it’s making people laugh or giving voice to something that has made them angry. What frustrates her is how difficult it is to persuade arts funders of that.

“Nobody wants to give us any money ever,” she says, arguing that sketch comedy rarely ticks the boxes funders are looking for.

“You should be funding daft,” she declares. It’s hard to argue.

In the meantime, there are bills to pay. Katie works in arts fundraising at The Glasshouse, while Izzy, formerly manager of The Stand, now works in software support.

But despite the challenges of making comedy alongside their day jobs, neither can imagine life without Your Aunt Fanny.

For Izzy, there’s nothing better than getting everyone together and performing a full-length show.

Katie, meanwhile, believes their theatrical roots make Live Theatre the natural place to do it.

The group won’t have long to recover after Crease, either. Their Christmas production, You’re Not Me Ma, a soap-opera spoof set in Newcastle’s Grainger Market, is heading to Northern Stage in December.

For now, though, the priority is getting the sketches in the right order, the characters in the right costumes and the audience laughing their socks off.

Crease is at Live Theatre, Newcastle, from Thursday, October 29 to Saturday, October 31, at 7.30pm.

Meet the Fannies… and their favourite characters

Brogan Gilbert – the little radgie lads

“My favourite character to play is one of the soppy little lads. I love how daft they are, and embodying a dorky little radgie is so much fun.”

Emma Crowley-Bennett – the little radgie lads

“I love playing the little radgie lads with Brogan because they’re really canny and cute and I get to say ‘desk nonce’.”

Izzy Sorby – Alan the taxi driver

“My favourite to play is Alan the taxi driver, he is so outrageous and ridiculous, and always gets well received by an audience. Muff Said made me fall in love with him.”

Jackie Edwards – Phil the scout leader

“The character I love playing the most is Phil the scout leader. I love how he’s both menacing and incredibly earnest. I really enjoy leaving the audience hanging between words when he gives one of his intense pauses.”

Katie Powell – the little radgie lass

“I love playing the little radgie lass in her detention because she’s the opposite of the swot I was at school. Some of her lines are verbatim from a horrible temp job I had in a school pastoral office this year.”

Lydia Kavanagh – Billy Elliott’s dad

“My fave character to play is Billy Elliott’s Dad. I get to shout a quote from the film in a Scottish accent. It’s also just pure pure daft to get to say one of your characters is Billy Elliott’s Dad.”

Matilda Neill is on maternity leave and won’t perform in these shows… but will be back!

When Helen Munson was growing up in Wardley, Gateshead, she was the sort of child who would pore over the Radio Times at Christmas, highlighter in hand, planning everything she wanted to watch.

She loved television. She knew she wanted to work in it. But she wasn’t particularly interested in making programmes herself. It was the audience that fascinated her – who was watching what, and why.

What she couldn’t work out was how to turn that interest into a career from the North East.

There was Byker Grove, of course, but precious little else in the way of television production. So, after studying history at Liverpool University, she headed to London and took whatever job she could get at the BBC.

Her first involved stuffing envelopes with artists’ contracts at the corporation’s North Acton offices. From there, she moved into media planning, working on promotional trailers and announcements between programmes, before progressing into scheduling.

Over the next 15 years or so, she worked across channels including UKTV Gold, BBC Two and BBC One, becoming an expert in classic British comedy along the way and eventually helping decide what millions would see on the BBC’s flagship channel.

There were last-minute decisions about Wimbledon matches overrunning into the Six O’Clock News, breaking news demanding extended coverage and, during the pandemic, government announcements cutting into the evening’s viewing.

Working closely with those deciding which programmes should be made, gradually drew her towards commissioning and taking on those responsibilities herself.

When an opportunity arose in 2021 for a commissioner to be based outside London, Helen had a particular destination in mind.

Almost three decades after leaving the North East, she is now a BBC commissioner for daytime and early peak, responsible for programmes including Strictly: It Takes Two, Father Brown and Shakespeare and Hathaway.

More importantly for the North East, she’s doing that job from home.

Her return coincided with the BBC’s decision to earmark the region for investment and production. For Helen, it was an opportunity to address the lack of opportunities that had prompted her own departure.

“I moved down to London. I had the emotional and probably financial backing of my parents if it all went wrong. But not everybody has that,” she says.

Helen wanted to help talented people build careers without having to move away. Five years on, there’s growing evidence that things are changing.

Perhaps the most visible example arrives on BBC One this afternoon (October 23), when The Northumbria Mysteries makes its debut.

The eight-part crime drama stars Robson Green and Liz White, was filmed in Northumberland and comes from Lonesome Pine, the North East production company headed by Lesley Douglas - another returning North Easterner making things happen.

Helen and Lesley had been talking since their respective returns, sharing an ambition to build the region’s television industry. Lonesome Pine’s track record of delivering Channel 5 dramas, including The Feud and The Fortune, with predominantly local crews gave Helen the confidence that the next BBC daytime staple could come from a North East stable.

The result is a network drama employing regional talent, showcasing Northumberland and potentially establishing a returning production providing work for years.

Whether The Northumbria Mysteries gets another series will depend on its reception. But the hope is very much that it will return.

“If you can make something, and it’s a returner, and then you can employ those people every year for X amount of months, and also see their progression across those series,” says Helen. “That’s the idea.”

It’s an approach with a track record.

Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes, a co-production between Rivers Meet and Signpost, has completed four series, providing employment and opportunities to progress from researcher to assistant producer and beyond.

Signpost has since won a competitive tender to produce the BBC’s long-running See Hear, while another Robson Green series, Growing Home, is in production.

For Helen, building a television industry means helping companies develop the experience, reputation and regular work to grow, rather than celebrating individual commissions.

And having a commissioner based in the North East makes a difference.

While Helen’s role is national - she works with companies across the UK, travels regularly to London and oversees programmes in several genres - being based here means she can meet local producers, discuss ideas, explain what the BBC wants and introduce them to commissioners they might otherwise struggle to reach.

“I think it just really helps having a commissioner in the region to champion companies,” she says simply.

Many conversations happen over coffee, helping businesses understand how to develop ideas and where to direct them. Money matters, certainly… but so does knowing who to approach and how to turn an idea into something a broadcaster might commission.

“It’s about making sure that individuals and companies here have the ambition to think big and to be making network programmes,” she says.

That ambition is shared by the North East Screen Industries Partnership, delivered by North East Screen, which has spent several years developing the region’s production infrastructure, funding pot, skills and businesses.

Its partnership with the BBC has been central to that work. Having already met its original target of £25m in network television commissioning spend since 2021, the corporation has extended its agreement with the region until the end of 2027, committing a further £15m and taking its minimum investment to £40m.

One of Helen’s priorities has been helping smaller businesses take their first steps into national television.

Through an initiative involving Morning Live, three North East companies - Middlesbrough’s Wander, Sunderland’s Second Draft and Hartlepool’s Sea & Sky - were commissioned to produce short films, which provided an introduction to editorial briefs, deadlines, contracts and BBC requirements.

It also led to more work.

Wander and Sea & Sky subsequently secured commissions for The One Show, alongside North Star, which delivered its first film for the programme, showcasing the Turner Prize coming to Middlesbrough.

It’s gradual progress (sometimes frustratingly so for those involved, Helen acknowledges), but this is all about building something for the long term.

Having delivered short films, companies are better placed to compete for larger commissions and approach other broadcasters.

And Helen is perfectly happy when that happens.

“The brilliant thing is that they have now got the confidence and also the track record to be speaking to other broadcasters as well as the BBC, which is so important when it comes to sustaining a business.”

There’s a similar emphasis on collaboration - illustrated nicely with the BBC’s digital accelerator programme, which is helping four North East production businesses explore opportunities beyond traditional broadcasting.

“One of the things when I first came here five years ago was about making sure that companies collaborate, because that didn’t feel like it was happening,” Helen says.

She points to companies now recommending researchers, assistant producers and other crew members to each other, rather than guarding contacts.

“Of course there is competition in that you’re competing for business, but at some point you need to come together to create a critical mass.”

“It feels like we’re at the start of everything,” she continues. “We’ve got factual entertainment going on at volume. We’ve got drama happening and then we’ve also got the digital accelerator programme going on. It feels like we’re sort of covering all bases at the moment, which is exciting.”

Against a challenging backdrop across the television industry, the region’s progress feels promising.

Hopefully the next young TV obsessive in the North East (scrolling through streaming services rather than highlighting the Radio Times), won’t assume that a career in the industry has to begin with a train ticket to London.

• Series one of The Northumbria Mysteries started at 2pm yesterday (October 23), and the first four episodes are now available on BBC iPlayer.

Renaissance masterpiece finds a home in Bishop Auckland

A painting by one of the artists credited with introducing the Italian Renaissance to Spain has gone on display at The Auckland Project’s Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland.

The Marriage of the Virgin, by Paolo da San Leocadio (1447–c.1520), is a recently rediscovered panel from an altarpiece created in 1492 for the Church of Santa María de Castellón, near Valencia.

Its acquisition is particularly significant because Madrid’s Museo del Prado has recently acquired another painting from the same altarpiece, The Agony in the Garden.

Born in northern Italy, San Leocadio travelled to Valencia in 1472 under the patronage of Cardinal Alejandro Borja, who later became Pope Alexander VI. He went on to become an influential figure in Spanish art.

Morlin Ellis, research curator at the Spanish Gallery, said: “We are delighted that visitors to Bishop Auckland will now be able to discover this exceptional work and the beginnings of the Renaissance in Spain for themselves.”

Opened in 2021, the Spanish Gallery is the UK’s only museum devoted entirely to Spanish art, history and culture, with a collection featuring works by El Greco, Velázquez and Zurbarán.

Calling funny writers who can follow Bridget Jones

Could you be the next Bridget Jones – or at least come up with something (or someone) just as comical?

A new prize to find distinctive new comedy writing voices from the north of England has been announced to mark the 40^th anniversary of The Independent.

It is to be judged by Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding along with representatives from her agents, Aitken Alexander Associates, and Newcastle-based New Writing North which is managing the competition. Read more

On your marks, get set, HOWAY!

Northumberland Street will welcome competitive runners for the first time in more than 40 years when Newcastle’s HogmanHOWAY 5K returns on New Year’s Eve.

Organisers have unveiled a revised route for the event, which made its debut last December and is doubling its capacity to 3,000 participants.

Starting at 7.30pm on December 31 at the junction of St Mary’s Place and College Street, the race will take runners through the city centre, including Northumberland Street and parts of Northumbria University, before finishing on Ceremonial Way outside the Civic Centre. Read more

Geordie Bond gives Newcastle writer licence to thrill

A Newcastle comedy writer has taken a step towards seeing her work performed in front of thousands after winning the Clement & La Frenais Award at this year’s Sketch for Sammy competition.

Holly Johnson took the honours with Geordie Bond, one of six shortlisted sketches performed in front of a packed audience at The Exchange 1856 in North Shields.

Her prize means the sketch will now be considered for inclusion in the 2028 Sunday for Sammy arena show, affectionately known as the Geordie Command Performance. Read more

North East stories wanted for new audio project

A North East production company is looking for people with stories to tell about the region’s past and present for a new digital audio project.

Newcastle-based Candle & Bell is working with a music venue on the production and is inviting people to share personal memories and experiences.

Among those being sought are former Swan Hunter shipyard workers, people who worked at Monkwearmouth Colliery or witnessed its transformation into Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, and regular Great North Run participants with memories of crossing the Tyne Bridge.

The company is also keen to hear from anyone who remembers US President Jimmy Carter’s visit to Newcastle in 1977, when he was awarded the Freedom of the City.

Other subjects include life on the Northumberland coast and the experiences of people who moved to Tyneside from elsewhere and chose to make the region their home.

Those selected will be paid for their time, with contributions recorded as audio only, meaning no appearances on camera.

Anyone interested should email a short paragraph outlining their story to hello@candleandbell.com, using ‘Audio project’ as the subject line.

Academy dancer to keep students and staff on their toes

They’re waiting for a new school campus at Berwick Academy but in the meantime students will be encouraged not to let the grass grow under their feet.

A new dance residency for the current academic year, starting after October half term, has been announced by The Maltings (Berwick) Trust.

It will be led by dance artist Pagan Hunt, originally from Shropshire but now based in Gateshead, who is also a choreographer and facilitator.

The residency is part of an ongoing partnership between the school and the arts body aimed at bringing professional artists into the school community

Pagan is co-director of Pelican Theatre (with fellow dancer Ellie Bates) and co-creator of music and movement project Flip the Switch. She has performed with companies nationally and internationally.

As part of the residency, she will work with students and staff, using dance and movement to encourage creativity, build confidence and explore new ways of expressing ideas. Read more

Northern writers win Channel 4 career boost

Four writers from across the North of England have been given a significant career boost after winning this year’s Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.

The winners were announced at Live Theatre in Newcastle on Thursday evening (October 22), with each receiving a £3,000 bursary, professional mentoring and a long-term placement with an established television production company.

Organised by New Writing North and funded through Channel 4’s 4Skills programme, the awards aim to help emerging writers develop their work and make connections in the television industry.

Among the winners is Geordie writer Lucie Brownlee, who is based in the Tees Valley and will join Merman, the production company behind Catastrophe, Motherland, Amandaland and Bad Sisters.

“As a Geordie writer, it means a huge amount to have this level of industry backing,” she said. Read more

A chance to take a pew

Bidders will have the chance to take home a piece of Durham Cathedral when 44 items of furniture and fittings go under the hammer next month.

Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland will offer the collection in its Homes and Interiors Auction on Tuesday, November 3.

The lots include 27 pine and oak pews, eight oak uplighter lamps, five early 20th-century oak display or archive cases, two Victorian clerks’ desks, a 19th-century lectern and a pair of Georgian-style dining chairs.

The display cases come from the cathedral’s former dormitory, which later became a library and archive and now forms part of its museum.

Estimates range from £50 to £800, with pine pews expected to fetch £100–£200 each and oak versions £200–£500.

Anderson & Garland is donating its services, meaning the full hammer price of every lot will go towards supporting Durham Cathedral’s work.

Artists set to light up North Shields

Nine artists have been commissioned to create temporary artworks for Lowe!, a celebration of light and creativity coming to North Shields in 2027.

The artists will explore the town’s communities, architecture and hidden spaces through installations inspired by the theme of light.

Those selected include North Shields projection artist Jay Halim, North East poet and visual artist Lizzie Lovejoy (Gobby Lass), and North Tyneside collaborators Nicola Lynch and Sally Southern.

Other commissions come from Sana S Burney, Zoe Clifford (Slowslowzo), Sana Obaid, Beccy Ware and Harald Smykla.

Residents will also be invited to help shape some of the artworks through workshops and other activities. More information on the North Shields Cultural Quarter website.

Young voices tell Seaham’s story

Youngsters have worked with artist Susan Warnock to create a booklet celebrating the history of a County Durham town as part of a regeneration project nearing completion.

The Our Town booklet by pupils from Trinity Primary School in Seaham showcases a blend of creative writing and illustrations, exploring topics such as Church Street, Seaham’s first school, the George Elmy lifeboat disaster, the wartime U-boat bombardment of the town and its artillery history, and Seaham’s prolific bottleworks. Read more

A fitting stop for Metro tribute

A plaque honouring the man who helped make the Tyne and Wear Metro a reality has been unveiled at Newcastle’s Central Metro station.

Professor Tony Ridley, who died in March aged 92, oversaw the system’s planning, funding and early construction as director general of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.

Nexus managing director Cathy Massarella said: “He paved the way for a system that revolutionised local public transport in the North East.” Family members attended the unveiling.

Mining memories under the hammer

A lifetime collection capturing the North East’s colliery heritage has sold for £25,000, including fees.

The late Bob Batey, from Dunston in Gateshead, built up an enormous collection of miners’ lamps and other pit items, which were sold by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland. Read more

Four writers from across the North of England have been given a significant career boost after winning this year’s Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards.

The winners were announced at Live Theatre in Newcastle on Thursday evening (October 22), with each receiving a £3,000 bursary, professional mentoring and a long-term placement with an established television production company.

Organised by New Writing North and funded through Channel 4’s 4Skills programme, the awards aim to help emerging writers develop their work and make connections in the television industry.

Among the winners is Geordie writer Lucie Brownlee, who is based in the Tees Valley and will join Merman, the production company behind Catastrophe, Motherland, Amandaland and Bad Sisters.

“As a Geordie writer, it means a huge amount to have this level of industry backing,” she said.

Faye Dorn, head of scripted, Merman, "We're thrilled to be involved with this award and to have the opportunity, alongside Channel 4 and New Writing North, to support the careers of North of England writers.

“We're delighted to be working with the talented Lucie Brownlee."

Manchester comedy writer and performer Soph Galustian, who is of Armenian heritage, has secured a placement with Hat Trick, whose credits include Derry Girls and North East comedy Smoggie Queens.

Liverpool writer and freelance story producer Joe Griffith will work with FilmNation TV UK, which has produced Small Town, Big Story and I Know This Much Is True.

Completing the quartet is Blackpool-born writer Lauren-Nicole Mayes, who will join Warp Films, the company behind Adolescence and This Is England ’90.

Alongside their placements and bursaries, the four writers will take part in peer networking sessions designed to help them establish lasting professional relationships.

The awards form part of wider efforts to develop television writing talent outside London and open doors to an industry in which making the right connections can be as important as having a good script.

A pair of giant chickens and a witch wearing a dress covered in crocheted cakes have been among the talking points for young audiences getting an early look at a new dance theatre production in Newcastle.

More than 200 children from schools across the city’s West End were invited into balletLORENT’s studios at the John Marley Centre in Scotswood for a preview of Hansel & Gretel and the Witch, which opens at Northern Stage next week.

But the pupils, aged between five and 15, weren’t simply there to watch.

After seeing scenes from the production, they were asked for their opinions on how the show was coming together – and what they would change.

The verdict was overwhelmingly positive, although there were a few suggestions for improvements.

“The main comments we heard were that they wanted to see even more of the witch, along with her unusual pets, a pair of giant chickens,” said balletLORENT education manager James MacGillivray.

“The older pupils were particularly interested in the costumes and set, especially the witch’s ‘cake dress’ which is embellished with hand-crocheted sweets, eclairs and doughnuts.”

The company’s artistic director, Liv Lorent MBE, is now considering how to incorporate the children’s ideas into the finished production.

Pupils from Bridgewater, Broadwood and St Bede’s Catholic primary schools, along with specialist school Thomas Bewick, took part in the visits, which included creative workshops supported by Newcastle Culture Investment Fund.

“It’s important that young people see that ambitious, creative work is being made right here in their community and across the North East, close to where they live,” said James.

“We want them to recognise the range of people and skills involved in bringing a production to life, and to see that careers in the arts and theatre are real possibilities for their own futures.”

The new production promises to reimagine the familiar Brothers Grimm fairytale through balletLORENT’s distinctive combination of dance, theatre and visual storytelling.

With words by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and narration by North East-born actor Gina McKee, it features nine professional dancers alongside members of the company’s Youth Academy, aged seven to 12.

Audiences can expect a tempting sugar-glass house in the woods, an all-you-can-eat merry-go-round and, of course, a witch whose unusual wardrobe has already made an impression.

Designed for audiences aged five and over, Hansel & Gretel and the Witch runs at Northern Stage, Newcastle, from October 29 to November 1.

Youngsters have worked with artist Susan Warnock to create a booklet celebrating the history of a County Durham town as part of a regeneration project nearing completion.

The Our Town booklet by pupils from Trinity Primary School in Seaham showcases a blend of creative writing and illustrations, exploring topics such as Church Street, Seaham’s first school, the George Elmy lifeboat disaster, the wartime U-boat bombardment of the town and its artillery history, and Seaham’s prolific bottleworks.

The Seaham Townscape Heritage Project has been delivered by Durham County Council after it was awarded £1.6m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the venture, which focused on Seaham’s “at risk” Conservation Area and main thoroughfares such as Church Street, with grants to property owners and occupiers for the restoration and reinstatement of heritage features.

A project spokesperson said: “Our Town is a celebration of Seaham’s heritage, seen through the eyes of its youngest residents. With support from the Townscape Heritage Project and guidance from Susan, the children brought local stories to life, reimagining them with curiosity, humour, and heart.

“Their work reflects not only what they learned, but how they connected with the people and places that shaped their town. This booklet is a testament to the power of storytelling and creativity in building a sense of place and pride.

“It shows that heritage isn’t just about the past, it’s about how we understand it, share it, and carry it forward.”

Coun Karen Allison, Durham County Council Cabinet member for leisure, tourism, regeneration and high street, said: “Seaham has received significant investment in recent years, and the Townscape Heritage Project has played a vital role in helping to restore historic buildings, celebrate local heritage and strengthen the town centre.

“We are also delighted to officially launch the Our Town booklet, which provides a wonderful insight into Seaham’s history through the eyes of young people. The project demonstrates that heritage-led regeneration can not only improve buildings and spaces, but also strengthen community pride and help share local stories with future generations.”

A Newcastle comedy writer has taken a step towards seeing her work performed in front of thousands after winning the Clement & La Frenais Award at this year’s Sketch for Sammy competition.

Holly Johnson took the honours with Geordie Bond, one of six shortlisted sketches performed in front of a packed audience at The Exchange 1856 in North Shields.

Her prize means the sketch will now be considered for inclusion in the 2028 Sunday for Sammy arena show, affectionately known as the Geordie Command Performance.

The competition, organised by the Sunday for Sammy Trust, gives emerging comedy writers the chance to develop their work with professional mentoring before seeing it brought to life on stage.

A talented cast comprising Catherine Dryden, Kylie Ann Ford, Lucy Davis, Dean Bone, Bob Nicholson, Ben Gettings and Fin Healy did the honours - impressively so given they hadn’t seen the scripts until 9am on the day of performance.

Holly, who had previously described reaching the final as a dream come true, was understandably delighted to go one better.

“I still can’t quite believe it! Sunday for Sammy is such an incredible charity that does amazing work for our region and I’m so proud to have been a part of this,” she said.

“The actors and production team were first class and really brought the sketch to life, I was blown away watching it performed live.”

The other finalists were Sam Bell with Finding the New Wera, Jake Wilson Craw with Modern Monster Dating, Georgia Nicholson with Aaall Rise, Ian McCormick and Ian Greatbatch with Black Tongue Al, and Andy Mather with Hang Out Me Smalls.

The winner was selected by a judging panel comprising actor Charlie Hardwick, Tim Healy, entertainment industry agent Lou Coel and musician Billy Mitchell.

Named in honour of celebrated comedy writers Dick Clement and North East-born Ian La Frenais, the award recognises promising new talent in a region with a long tradition of producing comedy performers and writers.

Hosted by Cal Halbert and Kelly Rickard, the evening also featured performances from singer-songwriter Nev Clay, Charlie Hardwick’s band Kiss and comedy duo Jack and Sam.

Sketch for Sammy forms part of the wider work of the Sunday for Sammy Trust, established in memory of Newcastle actor Sammy Johnson.

The charity supports emerging talent across the North East entertainment industry, with its fundraising arena productions bringing together established performers and newcomers.

Eight hours at the Utilita Arena Newcastle, including two spent shoulder to shoulder with fellow content gatherers in a back room masquerading as a red carpet arrivals area, and I was still smiling on the journey home.

That should tell you something about the Mercury Prize 2026.

For the second consecutive year, the eyes of the music world were on Newcastle as the great, the good and the groovy gathered to celebrate 12 of the best albums released in Britain and Ireland over the past year.

It was quite the night.

Hundreds of guests had enjoyed their fancy three-coursers before the arena stands filled up and BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne - the first of two to take to the stage rocking a killer maroon suit – took charge of proceedings back on home turf.

The performances came thick and fast, with all but two of the nominees (Dave and Paul McCartney) belting out a track from their shortlisted long player.

But while the judges tipped in RAYE’s direction (once again going against the bookies’ predictions which had Olivia Dean and Nia Archives neck and neck at the top of the probability league), it would be remiss of us not to start by taking a look at those who were playing at home.

South Shields superstar JADE, nominated for her debut solo album That’s Showbiz Baby!, renewed her collaboration with musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia, which began with an incredible BBC Proms concert at The Glasshouse last year.

Their beautiful orchestral accompaniment provided the backdrop to a suitably big performance of Angel of My Dreams, a song enjoying another burst of attention after Kylie Jenner recently walked to it wearing the $50m Fantasy Bra at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Strange old world, isn’t it?

Thankfully, JADE’s soaring career doesn’t appear to have taken her feet too far off the ground.

On the red carpet, she talked about squeezing in mince and dumplings at her sister’s house, fish and chips from Colman’s and a walk along South Shields beach before Tuesday night’s big gig.

She also revealed that work has begun on her second album, with a trip to Los Angeles planned in the coming weeks to get back into the studio.

And while she would clearly have loved to take home the Mercury, there was no suggestion that a different result would spoil her evening.

In fact, she revealed plans to join forces with fellow North East nominees Knats for a post-ceremony party in Newcastle.

The jazz collective, meanwhile, were embracing every minute of their Mercury experience.

Comfortably the longest-serving residents of the red carpet, they were determined to make the most of the occasion - and its profile-raising legacy - whatever the result.

Their performance of Wor Jackie, featuring poet Cooper Robson sporting a replica Jackie Milburn Newcastle United shirt, was another proud moment for the home crowd.

Elsewhere, there was plenty to savour.

Florence + The Machine delivered One of the Greats (Florence was the second to go for a maroon three-piece) joined by IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen; Kojey ‘baggiest-trousers-in-the-arena’ Radical performed Conversation; and Suede, Mercury winners back in 1993, returned with The Europeans from Antidepressants.

Pulp, who were nominated in their own right last year, were back to represent War Child’s HELP(2) album with Begging for Change; Olivia Dean sang Let Alone the One You Love from The Art of Loving; Nia Archives performed Boys in Blue; and Dove Ellis gave us To The Sandals.

And then there was RAYE.

When her name was announced as the winner for This Music May Contain Hope, she looked genuinely overwhelmed before using her joyful speech to champion the artform of the album.

Having collected the prize, she returned to the stage to perform I Hate The Way I Look Today for a second time, acknowledging that its sentiment couldn’t have been further from how she was feeling. Quite right too.

Resplendent in an olive-coloured opera coat, complete with billowing sleeves, extravagant ostrich feathers and her trademark bouffant bob, RAYE was serving old-school Hollywood glamour with a theatrical twist. Classy lassy.

Of course, the Mercury Prize is about far more than who takes the winner’s trophy home. For the second year running, Newcastle proved itself a fitting host for one of the biggest nights in British music.

And after the MOBO Awards and the first Newcastle Mercury ceremony in 2025, the region has demonstrated that it can welcome major national music events and give them a character all of their own.

The benefits reach well beyond the arena too.

This year’s Mercury Prize Fringe - organised and delivered by Generator and Newcastle City Council - offered more than 30 events across the city during the week leading up to the ceremony.

From a premiere screening of Sam Fender’s London Stadium concert film at Tyneside Cinema (a nod to the North Shields star’s 2025 Mercury triumph) to an evening with Knats at the John Marley Centre, the programme also included gigs, workshops, talks and listening parties.

Crucially, it offered musicians and emerging talent from across the region opportunities to perform, learn from industry professionals, make connections and develop their careers – benefits that should last long after the last bit of canon confetti had been hoovered up.

Imagine what venues, promoters, musicians and cultural organisations could build around it if they knew the Mercury Prize was a Tyneside staple for the next five years or so? Just saying.

The cultural contingent was out in force on Thursday night, alongside familiar political faces including North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and MPs Chi Onwurah and Catherine McKinnell.

These are the people who spend much of their working lives championing the region’s cultural ambitions. Nights like this offer a chance to see those ambitions realised on a national stage.

Manchester hosted the BRIT Awards this year. Newcastle has now welcomed the Mercurys twice. Surely conversations are already happening about making it a hat trick in 2027?

Because while nights like this should feel special, they really shouldn’t feel unusual.

The North East has the venues, the talent, the audiences and the appetite. And after another joyful Mercury Prize, there’s every reason to keep making the case for more.

They’re waiting for a new school campus at Berwick Academy but in the meantime students will be encouraged not to let the grass grow under their feet.

A new dance residency for the current academic year, starting after October half term, has been announced by The Maltings (Berwick) Trust.

It will be led by dance artist Pagan Hunt, originally from Shropshire but now based in Gateshead, who is also a choreographer and facilitator.

The residency is part of an ongoing partnership between the school and the arts body aimed at bringing professional artists into the school community

Pagan is co-director of Pelican Theatre (with fellow dancer Ellie Bates) and co-creator of music and movement project Flip the Switch. She has performed with companies nationally and internationally.

As part of the residency, she will work with students and staff, using dance and movement to encourage creativity, build confidence and explore new ways of expressing ideas.

The partnership will provide opportunities for students to experience professional dance practice, develop their creative skills and be involved in creating new work.

Pagan said: “I’m really excited to be spending the next year within the school community at Berwick Academy.

“I’m looking forward to supporting students and staff to access their creativity and build confidence through movement.

“I hope we can co-create a meaningful dance programme together that has a lasting impact on the school and the wider community in Berwick.”

Berwick Academy deputy head Leanne Watson said: “Having a professional artist working alongside our staff and students throughout the year creates a fantastic opportunity for young people to experience dance in a different way, develop their confidence and discover what they can achieve through creativity and collaboration.”

Ros Lamont, CEO of The Maltings, expressed delight at being able to continue the residency partnership with the support of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.

“Bringing professional artists and young people together for sustained periods through the year, every year, is a crucial part of our role in Berwick,” she said.

She added that it would ensure young people got opportunities to explore their creativity and self-expression, building skills that would enrich every aspect of their lives for the long term.