WordsFest Weekend
The popular festival returns to celebrate all manner of words and the people writing them. Tony Henderson reports
Rural Northumberland rolls into rural County Durham to lead the Weardale WordFest, now in its seventh year.
Leading the charge at the festival from October 25-27 at St. Thomas’ Church Hall in Stanhope, is author-farmer Sally Urwin, who gave up a high pressure job for wellies when she married farmer Steve.
They own High House Farm near Matfen, in Northumberland, which they share with two kids, Mavis the sheepdog, one very fat pony, and many, many sheep, where Sally writes her accounts of farming life.
She describes herself as probably the shortest farmer in England, hence her book Diary of a Pint-Sized Farmer which reveals the highs, lows and hard work involved in making a living from the land.
What the Flock is another book rom Sally’s stable.
She tells how she used to work in the ”most depressing job in the world” – as a marketing manager for a bankruptcy practitioner – but made a bid for freedom.
She quit her tiny city flat in the city and returned to the hills of Northumberland which she loved as a child.
Elsewhere on the WordFest programme, Northumberland-based writer, Sue Reed opens Saturday talking about her time travelling debut novel for young adults, titled The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn.
Set in spring 2020, the story finds 15-year-old Molly McFlynn uprooted from her town life to live with her bohemian grandparents in the wilds of Northumberland.
Life takes a new direction when she meets a girl in the woods who is homeless and is on the run from the witchfinder and the 1649 Newcastle Witch Trails.
To conclude events on Saturday, Margaret Manchester launches her latest book, The Dress in the Window, set in Tow Law in County Durham.
Margaret writes historical novels set in the 18th and 19th centuries. Her stories bring to life the landscapes and characters of County Durham and Northumberland.
Her passion for history led her to teach archaeology, local history, and genealogy, providing her insights into the past.
In a new venture for WordFest, the weekend begins with a Poetry for Performance workshop led by Newcastle-based poet Aaron Wright on Friday afternoon followed by an Open Mic Showcase in the evening.
The festival also includes Tyneside-based Steve Chambers, an award winning dramatist, who includes Casualty and Byker Grove among his screenwriting credits in addition to his second novel The Dark Months.
Read more: Signed Beatles LP set to see for thousands at Newcastle auction
On Sunday, Andrew Marshall’s book Through the eyes of a School - A history of Wolsingham National School takes centre stage.
Other highlights include North Pennines-based Liz Haynes with her first poetry collection, A Pease Myers Pastoral and Mike Thornton who returns to WordFest with his talk Mr. Cornish and Mr. Lowry, created to coincide with a major exhibition about the artists at the Bowes Museum.
Rounding off the weekend, North Pennines Playwrights, supported by Drama in the Dale present a dramatised reading of Lead and Silver, a community play about the Allenheads lead miners’ strike of 1849.
Entry to events is free but must book for workshops. Go to weardalewordfest.com for more information and bookings
Thrilled to be coming back to Weardale again!