Talk of the Town April 2014

EDITION 154

CIRCULATION 4,800

APRIL 2014

SALTBURN’S FREE MONTHLY MAGAZINE www.tottsaltburn.co.uk 1

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SALTBURN’S TOWN TALK Letter from the Editor Welcome to what must be Talk of the Town’s best ever if they wanted to go colour but hopefully soon I will have done edition, with sixteen colour pages! At 64 pages it’s not quite so. The colour pages should become a regular feature and I am the record but the colour makes it special. I had first planned delighted with the improved quality and appearance of the eight colour pages but they filled up so quickly during the magazine. Maybe it’s time to increase circulation. Love, Ian preparation of the magazine that I decided to double it! In one Send letters, adverts and contributions for the next issue (by month I haven’t been able to contact all the advertisers to see Friday, 18th April 2014) to: The Editor, Talk of the Town Good Friday Service: Saltburn’s vicar the Rev Adam Reed c/o Jackie’s Saverstore, 8 Station Buildings, Saltburn, will speak at the annual inter-church outdoor service on Good Cleveland, TS12 1AQ. Telephone: 01287 623903 or email: Friday, April 18th, which usually attracts a good turnout of talkofthetown@tyasi.freeserve.co.uk. Talk of the Town has churchgoers and shoppers. It will include songs and readings a website: www.tottsaltburn.co.uk and the Friends of Talk in the station precinct area from 11-11.30. A hot-cross bun of the Town can be found on Facebook. and drink will be available afterwards in the Methodist hall, Malcolm Douglas would like to thank all who sent their Good Milton Street, alongside the precinct. All welcome.

Wishes to him whilst in Hospital. He says “I would also like to Antique and Vintage Fayre: Saturday, 12th April at the thank you all for your amazing support for my wife Sue and all Community Centre. Refreshments available. Free admission. the cards and gifts etc! It really has been quite overwhelming.

Slow and Steady Music Session: The next slow and steady Thank you.” Mal traditional tune session will be on Wednesday 9 April from WI Report: Ladies of Saltburn WI met on 13th March when 7.30pm at Saltburn House, Marine Parade. Musicians the speaker for the evening, Rebecca McKeown, Supporter welcome. Come and join us. For further details please Relations Officer, told us about the work of the Dogs Trust in contact Angie on 01287 205153.

Darlington. The Dogs Trust was set up in 1891 and originally The Guisborough and District Branch of the was known as the Canine Defence League. The organisation is Embroiderers’ Guild are holding their monthly meeting in the largest dog welfare authority in the UK. There are 18 Sunnyfield House, Westgate, Guisborough, TS14 6BA on rehoming centres across the UK and one in Dublin, Saturday, 5th April, 2014 at 1.45 for 2pm. Our guest speaker Ireland. Over 17000 dogs were cared for in 2013. No healthy is Joanna O’Neill and her subject is ‘Conditional Discharge’. dog is ever destroyed. Darlington opened in 1994 with 65 In May, on Saturday 3rd, our guest speaker is Katie kennels able to accommodate 120-145 dogs. Overall costs for Chaplin and her subject is ‘Japan Crafts’. Visitors are each dog are £800. Dogs are seen by a vet on arrival, welcome whether non-stitchers, beginners or more vaccinated and treated for any medical problems they may experienced stitchers; we will be very pleased to see you. have, neutered and microchipped. The centre has 30 staff, 20 The Belmont House car park (behind the council canine carers and many enthusiastic volunteers. The centre offices) is free on Saturdays. costs over £1 million per annum to run. The majority of dogs Saltburn Farmers’ Market: March 8th saw a fantastic start are strays. The average stay in the kennels for each dog is 4-6 to Saltburn Farmers Market with the opening of the new weeks.

In 2013 over 1000 dogs were rehomed in ‘Secret Square’. The Secret Square is home to some of the Darlington. All types of owners are assisted with the care of North East’s best producers and is becoming a haven for their dogs from the homeless, the sick, elderly and infirmed, to Street Food! We have Thai, African, British, Italian, those who find themselves with a landlord who is not pet Vegetarian and coming soon Spanish so if you missed the last friendly. The Trust also find foster homes for dogs. This make sure you make the next - Saturday, April 12th 9am till charity relies solely on donations and fund raising efforts and 2pm. And a big thank you to all the Saltburn in Bloom individuals can sponsor a dog if they wish. The Trust is the volunteers - who I believe were responsible for a massive tidy organisation who came up with the slogan “A dog is for life, up of our town centre flower beds - the town looked loved! not just for Christmas”.

Emmanuel Church Hall Table Top and Collectors’ Sale: Members have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of Our next dates are Saturdays, 5th and 19th April and 3rd, 17th different activities from craft and cookery classes, flower and 31st May. We had a fantastic sale in March. FREE arranging, and a walking group. Monthly outings are planned ENTRANCE and a warm welcome to everyone. With over 26 with ladies visiting Boundary Mill for a little retail therapy on stall holders, selling lots of bric-a-brac, books, toys, baby 17th March. We have a full programme of events for the next goods, and all sorts of collectables, and some crafts, there is year. The speaker for next month, on 10th April, is Helen something for everyone. Home made refreshments and light Jones whose subject is intriguingly entitled Blue Poppies and lunches are on sale all day. Our all day breakfast and lunches Red Tea. New Members are always welcome. Meetings are and popular home baked stall are always available. Our held on the 2nd Thursday of each month except August, in the kitchen is very busy and popular. Thank you everyone for Methodist Church Hall, Milton Street, Saltburn. your support. Contact Denise Marshall on 07929 589538.

Barbara Spanner Cover Illustration: Spring Tulips in Saltburn’s Fossil Garden by Claire Wakeling Disclaimer: Talk of the Town tries to make sure the articles and announcements made on its pages are accurate, but views expressed in letters and articles printed in Talk of the Town are not necessarily those of the editor. Any offers in adverts included in Talk of the Town are made by the advertisers; details should be confirmed with them. Always confirm event details with the organisers, in case of alteration or error. Talk of the Town is printed by DC (Yorkshire) Print, Unit 34a, Lidgate Crescent, Langthwaite Business Park, South Kirkby, West Yorkshire, WF9 3NR. Website: www.dcprintyorkshire.co.uk Tel: 01977 642331. Proprietor/Editor of Talk of the Town: Ian Tyas c/o Jackie’s Saverstore, 8 Station Buildings, Saltburn, TS12 1AQ. (Ian Tyas tel: 01287 623903.)

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Saltburn-by-the-Stormy-Seas The recent stormy weather and remarks like “we have never seen anything like this before� prompted us to look back in our archives for previous examples of stormy weather and its effects on our environment. It is best illustrated photographically.

Above and below: Damage caused by North Sea surge February

1953 the pier entrance buildings were severely damaged.

Above and below: Heavy seas in February 1998 caused damage to the pier many boards were dislodged. A policeman went on the pier and asked the fishermen to come ashore, they refused until boards started flying through the air as waves crashed underneath the pier, they then ran for their lives. Cars parked on the car park for their owners to have a front seat of the stormy sea had their windscreens smashed with flying stones and of course the car would not start after they had been swamped by the waves.

Below: Date unknown of the Saltburn Gill Beck flood.

Below left and below: The Lower promenade construction photograph circa 1870 and the JCB 2014 shows how handling the heavy stone sleepers has changed over the years.

Cath and Tony Lynn 4

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Saltburn Councillors’ Surgeries Every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month 11.00am – 12 noon, Saltburn Library Councillors Joan Guy, Stuart Smith, Philip Thomson Every 3rd Saturday of the month, Councillor Stuart Smith will be available in the Station Square area 11-12, weather permitting, if not, in the Methodist Hall.

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Friends of Talk of the Town Hello from Friends of Talk of the Town.

I trust you are enjoying Talk of the Town in all its glossy glory! Our new look has been very well received and presents a lot of interesting opportunities to bring you colourful pictures, if not words. These radical changes have been made possible by your continued support and one hell of a lot of hard work on Ian’s part to continue to bring you the finest community magazine in the land!

I’ve said on many occasions that Saltburn folks are amongst the friendliest I’ve ever met and I do believe that quite recently I’ve had even further proof of just that. You’ll recall that my son Andrew and I began helping out those awfully nice Friends of the Valley some time ago. Well, not only have the many, many bulbs we planted finally shown their colours but they’ve invited (well press ganged really) me to join their ranks on an ‘official basis’ and being a friendly type myself, I accepted.

Now, if you’re thinking ‘good lad, that’ll get him off our backs.’ then think again as I’ll continue to plague you to continue to support Friends of Talk of the Town and furthermore I just might set those Valley Bandits onto you!

Seriously though, they are doing a fantastic job down there and as I am sure Lorna will be reminding you elsewhere in this issue, they have a rather nice fully equipped woodland centre that you can hire for children’s parties, meetings or just quite simply get-togethers in glorious surroundings.

They have a programme of events for the coming months which I know you will enjoy attending; check out their website for further information. You can visit their website by following the links on our website.

Talk of the Town has always supported community

interests and ventures; we would love to hear from you if yours is not in the magazine: getting in touch has never been so easy.

Next month we are introducing a new contributor to the magazine I am sure you will enjoy. Dee Wold is an émigré to our beautiful area: hailing from Jarrow, Dee was in raptures about our area and Saltburn in particular when I met her at the premises of Palace FM recently. You’ll probably be well aware of Palace FM, our local community radio station, through the dulcet tones of our ‘very own’ Harry Simpson of Blues Club fame. Whilst Palace FM is currently available online only, there are many ways in which you can enjoy their programming. These days of smart phones, tablets and the likes makes accessing the station really easy. If you’re apprehensive about trying, just ask your teenage sons or daughters to sort it for you. Trust me; your street cred will go off the scale!

Sadly, March brought profound sadness in the loss of my best friend Alan Newsome. Alan was a great guy, a devoted husband to Judy, father to Tanya and an inspiration to her partner Jonathan who underwent major surgery himself last year. Alan and I shared a passion for music, photography, computers and the like. Saltburn always held a special place in his heart. He was always first to support me in my fundraising efforts for Talk of the Town and often advised us of how to tackle some of the gardening we’ve undertaken around town.

I just cannot express in words just how much I will miss him.

Richard Dales-Coupland Secretary, Friends of Talk of the Town

V for Victory campaign helps young people stay smoke free National No Smoking Day on 12th March saw Saltburn’s Huntcliff School welcome the Targeted Youth Service, who led an inspirational whole school assembly about what the day aims to achieve. National No Smoking Day raises awareness of the health dangers associated with cigarette smoking and gives smokers advice and support in helping them to give up the habit.

It is also an opportunity to educate students about the significant health risks, to break down the cool or glamorous image of smoking, enlighten them as to the financial and anti social implications and to encourage them to resist peer pressure to start smoking at a young age. This links into Huntcliff’s ‘Healthy School’ programme, which works to develop students’ awareness, give healthy lifestyle guidance as well as policies for the benefit of all students and staff.

Andy Hutchinson from the Targeted Youth Service focussed on the day and the support it can give to those young people who want to quit smoking. He illustrated the presentation with pictures of the damage smoking can cause to the body and video clips showing how people succeeded in stopping smoking as well as exposing some of the myths promoted by the tobacco industry.

Andy was assisted by Huntcliff’s Science department skeleton - Indiana Bones - who modelled the No Smoking 6

Andy Hutchinson from the Targeted Youth Service promotes National No Smoking Day at Huntcliff students with help from Indiana Bones

Day T shirt and showed the ‘health benefits’ smoking certainly doesn’t ultimately offer!

Heather Ollerenshaw Community & Marketing Coordinator Huntcliff School, Saltburn, 01287 621010 hollerenshaw@slc.rac.sch.uk

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Please Note: we will be closed on Sunday, 6th April in order to celebrate Betty’s 90th Birthday.

Winter Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 8.30am to 6.00pm, Saturday: 8.30am to 5.00pm, Sunday 10.00am to 2.00pm.

For more details contact: REAL MEALS, 25 MILTON STREET, SALTBURN, Tel: 01287 622266.

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Councillors’ Column The dreaded Council Tax bills have already arrived. Although the increase is ‘only’ 1.994%, this is an additional financial burden for all. If one is paying by Direct Debit, payments are normally deducted over 10 months. Anyone wishing to extend this over twelve monthly payments to help their domestic cash flow can do so simply by asking at any time. There is a dedicated telephone line for all Council Tax enquiries, 01642 444000.

With the Tax Bill came an extensive leaflet detailing Council achievements. There was no reference anywhere to Conservation Areas and the importance they have in safeguarding the historic importance of this town. The Saltburn Conservation Area consultation process is apparently due to start soon. This ‘soon’ could be anytime in the unforeseeable future.

Spring has brought with it an increase in garden crime. Sheds, garages and outhouse buildings have become targets as the nights have become lighter and the weather more favourable. As 1 in 3 burglaries are not forced entries, it is recommended that sheds and garages are kept locked at all times, even when we are at home. The Neighbourhood Police Team, who can be contacted on 01642 302929, have issued some useful tips on Garden Crime Prevention in an advice leaflet. Anyone wishing to find out more about how they can help with Neighbourhood Watch and safety in the community could contact Jill Stephenson on 01642 302629.

Repair work continues on the sea wall rebuild, the foreshore railings and the Cliff Lift, all targeted for completion in time for Easter. The traditional shelter on the

lower promenade, which collapsed in December as a result of storm damage and a lack of regular maintenance, may yet be reinstated. An earlier decision not to do so appears to have been reversed after considerable public disapproval.

Other works include the footpaths which provide access on the Valley Gardens bottom. These are to be made more people friendly and not all pathways of endurance for soft shoed walkers who inevitably veer on to the grassed areas for sanctuary. This work will be completed from the ‘normal’ maintenance budget. Additional investment from the Coastal Communities Lottery Award will provide improved picnic facilities and a grander entrance to this Jewel in the Crown.

Also of note is the pathway connecting The Crescent and Pig Lane. Resulting from considerable public consternation and concern about the removal of this time worn access, a newly tarmacked and bollarded route delights the eye and the pedestrian. Research is now on going to have this route clearly registered as a public access so that future generations do not have to revisit the legal jungle.

Saltburn old Junior School is back on the market and tenders are invited from interested parties. A further opportunity for any community use by organisations or individuals to consider, continuing the fine tradition of service to Saltburn started in 1910 when the building first opened.

Councillors await the visits of residents every 2nd and 4th Saturday in the Library.

Philip Thomson 7

Talk of the Town’s monthly

Pride of Saltburn Award

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Easter Sunday: 20th April 2014

The winner of this month’s Pride of Saltburn is Lynn Thompson, proprietor of Carousel Hairdressers. Lynn was nominated by Saltburn’s Town Crier, Sharon Wilson. About Lynn, Sharon says, “I would like to nominate Lynn Thompson to receive the Pride of Saltburn Award. She and her staff have provided a friendly service to many ladies in the town. (I believe that she has been in business for over thirty years.) It is always a pleasure to go for a haircut. The conversation is always interesting and Lynn’s sense of humour always makes me laugh. She is retiring on 28th March and on behalf of all her customers I would like to wish her a happy and healthy retirement. Also, Lynn has always supported events in the town and is very community spirited. Thank you, Lynn, for everything and enjoy spending time doing whatever you chose!” Thank you, Lynn, for being you, the Pride of Saltburn.

Every month, a £25 bunch of flowers, kindly donated by Eveline Brentano’s Florists, is awarded to someone in Saltburn who has earned admiration, gratitude and love for whatever reason. Talk of the Town invites nominations from you, the readers, to chose whom you would like to receive recognition and a bunch of flowers. Send your nominations to Talk of the Town’s postbag at Jackie’s Saverstore, 8 Station Buildings, Saltburn, Cleveland, TS12 1AQ. (Please include your name, phone number and the reason you are nominating the person of your choice.) Please also confirm with the nominee that they are willing to receive the award (many people feel shy about it). All the nominations will be read and kept for future use, so even if your choice doesn’t win this month, they might do so next time.

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Saltburn Miniature Railway Saltburn Miniature Railway Association is pleased to announce that the railway has finally overcome most of the problems associated with the flood of last September; actually work on Prince Charles has just been completed as the two roller bearings in the dynamo have been replaced due to being full of silt from the beck water which entered the engine shed. We will be open for running commencing Good Friday 18th April and the Easter weekend (13.00 hrs– 17.00 hrs) then as usual each weekend (13.00 hrs-17.00 hrs).

Bob Proctor on behalf of The Volunteers

You are invited to attend Our Fundraising evening

Acoustic Night On Friday 11th April 2014 Starting at 7pm At Saltburn Community Centre.

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Saltburn in Bloom This year is the Golden Anniversary of Britain in Bloom and I thought you might be interested to know more about it. The competition was devised by Roy Hay, a horticultural journalist, who persuaded the Tourist Board to organise it, the purpose being to bring cheer to the country with ‘community’ gardening. Through the competition many different people and organisations could co-operate to create plant displays that either complemented or camouflaged the permanent structures in their cities, towns and villages. Based on the popular French competition “Fleurissement de France”, initiated

by President De Gaulle to brighten up the country, Britain in Bloom was born. Northumbria in Bloom was one of the seven founder regions in 1964.

The competition now supports 17 regions, covering all the UK. We are part of the Northumbria in Bloom region, which stretches from Berwick in the north to Cleveland in the south and Greenhead in the west.

Saltburn first became involved in 1988 through Jackie Taylor MBE, who was the catalyst to many of the projects in Saltburn.

By making people more aware of their surroundings, the competition has led to environmental improvements and developments which might otherwise have languished for want of support. The power of volunteers is amazing, people who are totally committed to their community, giving their time generously and selflessly and perhaps bringing about a life changing and far-reaching transformation of their local area. We in Saltburn are very lucky, having some strong individuals and community groups who are passionate about our town.

For this summer all RHS Britain in Bloom and In your Neighbourhood groups are being encouraged to sow golden flowers for pollinators and we would like to invite you to do so too, in whatever space you have available – pots, window boxes, hanging baskets, yards, back gardens, etc. You could grow sunflowers, marigolds, dahlia (Moonfire), rudbeckia, nasturtiums, but for more information about seeds or plants visit rhs.org.uk/ britaininbloomlaunch. It would be great to see splashes of gold flowers, all pollinator-friendly, around the town.

If you produce a lovely display, no matter what size, contact us as we’d love to see it and take some photos to display in the Library.

Our gardening group will be planting sunflowers and other golden flowers so keep your eyes peeled. If you would like to join our friendly gardeners please contact me on 209518 or email lynda_parkes@hotmail.com. If you are new to Saltburn, feeling lonely or missing gardening we would love to see you on Wednesdays.

Come and spend a couple of hours out in the fresh air.

Young people with time on their hands are welcome too!

Lynda Parkes 10

Retired men pick Three Chairmen

Ernie Crust holds up the chairman’s badge of office to fellow temporary chairmen Ken Bladen and Stuart Wright before Saltburn and District Retired Men’s Forum meets at Saltburn Methodist Hall.

Three members have stepped forward to chair spring meetings of Saltburn and District Retired Men’s Forum, from March to May. They are veteran member Ernie Crust, newcomer Stuart Wright and Ken Bladen, who provides technical help with laptops and projectors.

Rex Scales, who has been chairman for over a year, remains officially in the post until the annual meeting in September, but he has said he wishes to stand down. (See Rex’s Profile on page 53.)

The three volunteers each chair meetings for a month. It is hoped that someone will take over, either longterm or short-term, after they complete their stints.

Mr Crust used to work at ICI Wilton, Mr Wright with Gallagher’s the tobacco firm, and Mr Bladen for battery manufacturers and to teach.

The Rev Keith Martin, retired minister at Saltburn Methodist Church, spoke about the North York Moors Railways at the 3rd March meeting when the new set-up started.

He gave an interesting account of its history - starting as a horse-drawn carriage service in about 1830 from Whitby - to the main line, via Goathland, Grosmont and Pickering. Today it attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. He said a new platform was planned for this summer at Whitby to accommodate passengers.

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Saltburn and District Group for Visually Impaired People (VIP) Hello everyone. Our group met on 12th March and our speaker was Sue Watson. Sue lives near Hartlepool and volunteered to help with the Tall Ships when they came to town. This led to Sue spending a lot of time (and money!) being a volunteer for other sporting events.

In 2012 she was a Gamesmaker for the Olympics in London. As Sue is a rower herself, she was delighted to be ‘posted’ to Eton lake where all the rowing took place. To say the atmosphere was electric seems an understatement! We all heard of The Roar. Sue heard and felt it first hand.

Sue is currently in training to be a volunteer for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She has interviewed many people herself to ensure the right people are there so the games will run smoothly for our enjoyment. Sue will be one of 25,000 ‘Clydesdalers’ who will put in many hours so the event can be enjoyed by millions of us, personally and through the media. Not content with that though, Sue is waiting to hear if she has been accepted to help with the Tour de France as it comes to Yorkshire!

No, she assures us that she has no plans to go to Rio! Next month’s meeting will be 9th April at 2pm, in the Coffee Room, Community Centre, Albion Terrace, Saltburn. Please join us if you can.

Chris Ferguson 01287 204170

Saltburn 500 Club Welcome to spring; it would appear that there is life after all the rain! I hope that your poppy seeds have been scattered and you are sitting back waiting for them to grow. If that is the case, I am sure that one of the many organisations in Saltburn would welcome some of your time. There are funds to be raised and flower beds to be weeded.

The committee looking at refurbishing the War Memorial are working hard to raise sufficient funding to meet the cost. Applications are being made for grants but I am sure that they would welcome your support. There are also various efforts being made to commemorate the First World War and your contribution would be welcomed.

One of the rules within the constitution of the Saltburn 500 Club is that the minutes of the committee meetings will be held in Saltburn library. This has been followed every month until the last few months.

Somebody has taken the folder from the library and I would, very much, like it to be returned.

You may have read the article, in last month’s Talk of the Town, about me. Unfortunately the date given for the AGM was the incorrect date, the correct date is Wednesday, 4th June and the meeting will be held in Saltburn library.

Trevor Welburn Secretary, Saltburn 500 Club/Friends of Saltburn 11

Saltburn, Marske & New Marske Parish Council Following the resignation of two Councillors in Marske, two new Members, Marilyn Marshall and Margaret Goodwill, have been co-opted to the Parish Council’s St Germain’s Ward.

Thanks are extended to all those who expressed an interest in serving on the Parish Council. There will be an opportunity for any other interested residents to join the Parish Council when the local elections take place in May 2015. Further details will be given next year.

As reported last month, a letter was sent to the Borough Council expressing concern that the shelters on the bottom prom would not be replaced. A response has now been received advising that they are hoping to replace one shelter. They are looking at designs and if possible the shelter will be constructed with more durable materials but still in keeping with the Victorian architecture.

The Government have now launched its long awaited public consultation on motorsport events on closed roads. This has particular relevance in Saltburn with regard to the annual Historical Hill Climb Event hosted by Middlesbrough and District Motor Club. Further details of the consultation can be found at: https://gov.uk/ government/consultations/proposal-to-authorise-motorsport-events-on-public-roads and anyone can respond to the questions set out on page 23 of the consultation

document. The closing date for responses is 10th April 2014.

A reminder that residents of the Parish are invited to the Annual Parish Assembly which will be held on Wednesday, 16th April 2014 at 7pm in the Methodist Church Hall on Milton Street. There will be a presentation

by Tracee Hall Young, the recently appointed Community Development Officer for the area.

The next meeting of the Parish Council Donations Committee will take place on Tuesday, 22nd April. Any community group wishing to apply for a grant must send the completed paperwork to the office by Friday, 11th April 2014.

The Parish Council’s new website should be constructed by the time this edition goes to print. This can be accessed at www.smnmpc.co.uk. There will be a facility to download forms to apply for a grant and also forms to go on the waiting list for an allotment. If you have any articles you would like us to display or any events you would like publicised please contact the office.

Tracy Meadows, Clerk and RFO Saltburn, Marske & New Marske Parish Council ℅ Saltburn Leisure Centre, Marske Mill Lane, Saltburn, TS12 1HJ Tel: 01287 623477 email: office@smnmpc.co.uk

Volunteers needed by the Borough Council Volunteers will be sought for more of the work carried out

by Redcar and Cleveland Council in Saltburn and other parts of the borough.

The plan, which was dubbed “DiY” by one of the dozen people present, was made clear to a public meeting held at Saltburn library by the Saltburn Neighbourhood Action Partnership (SNAP), a community/ council group, on 13th March.

Gary Flynn, assistant operations director in the regeneration department, did not give details nor could he say how many volunteers would be recruited. But he said Tracee Hall-Young, who has been Saltburn’s neighbourhood officer for the past two years, would be in charge of recruiting citizens who would be willing to help.

At present a dozen volunteer gardeners spend two hours every Wednesday morning weeding and planting in public gardens all over the town centre and promenade.

Also up to 44 litter-pickers clear the beach under Beachwatch about every two to three months.

“Self-service and using modern forms of communication (mostly the Internet)” would be the new policy, which was being forced on the council because of Government grant cuts, said Mr Flynn. “With the help of local people we aim to maintain the borough to a high standard,” he said. “There will be no reductions for ‘Streetscene’ work where we are creating an additional 15 posts to improve the environmental maintenance work.”

Mr Flynn, who has spent the past 18 months devising the new set-up for chief executive Amanda Skelton said councillors would have an important leadership role. Tracee 12

Council manager Gary Flynn announces the new plans to SNAP attendees at the library.

Hall-Young would cover both Marske and Saltburn. And Julian Feakes would be community development manager.

Councillor Philip Thomson, SNAP chairman, said 150 job would be lost with 20 being enforced redundancies and the rest by early retirements and voluntary redundancy.

Some of the dozen people at the meeting complained of having to use the Internet so much to contact the council, but Mr Flynn promised the manned contact centre would be kept on. Jim Wingham deplored the lack of the parish council's involvement .

SNAP is to hold further meetings.

Contacts: The council’s call-centre number is 01642774774. Tracee Hall-Young’s mobile is 07909 906425.

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8th March 2014: The weather forecast said temperatures would be warmer than the Algarve. Well, all I can say is that I felt very sorry for the people in the Algarve as it was only 5 degrees C in Saltburn with a perishing wind! This did not, however, put off 44 intrepid volunteers (including 11 under 18s) from clearing the beach of 34 bags of litter weighing 158kg and consisting of 3594 items in 2 hours.

This equates to 8.99 items per square metre of beach surveyed (400m X100m from the pier to the ship Inn).

A final year BSc student from York university filmed some of the event as part of a documentary about pollution on the North Sea coast which hopefully will be noted by industry and taken up by the media.

It was very encouraging to see so many young people and school children with their families prepared to commit 2 hours of Saturday morning to assist with the litterpick and survey. We need young environmentally aware young people to carry on the fight for clean seas and beaches in the future.

Unfortunately due to the recent winter storms the beach from the Beck to the Ship Inn was still heavily polluted with detritus even after all our efforts so if you would like to assist as a volunteer at the next litterpick and survey please continue to see notices in Talk of the Town or contact myself at roye.smith47@yahoo.co.uk or Tel 01287 204204.

Roy Smith

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Talking Points There are many wonders of the world. I often wonder how Katie Price ever became an author (words and everything) and whether Louis Walsh can speak in anything other than clichés (rumour has it he was born to be a reality TV judge).

But in truth these wonders are all inconsequential - unless you’re a Channel 5 producer scouting around for the next series of Celebrity Big Brother.

It’s the raw beauty of nature that produces true wonders of the world and they don’t come much better than the Northern Lights. Otherwise known as the aurora borealis (try saying that when you’ve had a few), they’re widely regarded as one of Earth’s most captivating spectacles. Caused by the collision of charged particles with atoms in the atmosphere, it’s a phenomenon that is balletic; nature’s very own firework show for our own amusement.

For many, experiencing this rave in the sky is a little like trying to discover the Loch Ness monster. Both can prove elusive and many spend a lifetime seeking them out without so much as a glimpse. Indeed the lights are rarely to be seen outside of the Arctic Circle and yet recently they have cast aside their mysterious veil to stage a dazzling display that would rival any West End show. They danced upon some of the UK’s most iconic landmarks and cast their net far and wide with a green shimmer in the skies above Saltburn like a figment of Walt Disney’s imagination.

If you were there, count yourself lucky. Tell your friends, your neighbours, proudly display your pictures

rather than squirrel them away in a drawer for a rainy day.

But more than anything, take it as a sign. I’m not talking in biblical terms here like some kind of mystical star you must follow. Nor am I expecting it to be some form of epiphany in which you give up alcohol, buy The Guardian and head to Papua New Guinea to find your true self while living among albino monkeys.

Perhaps it’s more of a chance to think further afield and realise there’s so much more out there. The Northern Lights are merely a drop in the ocean. You might be sick of the daily grind or feel you need more than a week in the sun to feed your appetite for travel. You might be between jobs or feel you need to be reminded that there’s more to life than your local pub - however good it may be.

Don’t rely on Mystic Meg telling you, in echoes of British PM Harold Macmillan, that the ‘winds of change’ will blow those cobwebs away. Write yourself a to-do list. Form a plan. Buy one of those cheesy ‘101 places to visit before you pop your clogs’ books. Oscar Wilde famously said that those who live within their means lack imagination and sometimes I can’t help thinking how right he was.

At the end of last year a colleague of mine suddenly passed away after a sudden brain haemorrhage. He was in his mid-40s and had recently applied for a passport having never left the country. He never did live to see the Northern Lights.

He’ll never see the wonders of the world either.

Jonathan Whiley

Saltburnbythesea.org We are still looking for help with a puzzle. Do you remember these people? Maybe they were related to you and you have seen them, or people who look very like them, in old family albums.

A photograph is about capturing a moment in time, the things we accomplish, the places we go, the things we see. Many of us now carry a camera in our pockets. No longer do you we say, “I wish someone had a camera.” Now we ask, “Who has their phone?”

A century ago photography was in its infancy and the mobile phone was a multi-function device no one would have dreamed of. There were only 70 landlines in Saltburn in 1904.

A picture tells only part of the story. It says where you were and maybe whom you were with, but the story behind that moment in time is not always clear. Only those who know that story can tell family, friends and the rest of us who the people are and why the picture was taken.

Jackie Bashford brought in to us a locket with these two pictures in it; can you help trace who is in the pictures so that it can be returned to its rightful owner? Who is this gentleman, away with the army? Who is this lady left at home? A keepsake, probably much loved at one time, so special now, is separated from its owner. Can you help reunite this keepsake with the family it used to belong to?

We are working with other groups to organise a community day on Sunday, 29th June 2014 to help raise funds in connection with ‘The Friends of Saltburn’ project

to carry out remedial work to Saltburn War Memorial and surrounding area, thus securing its long term future.

We have spoken to several groups and we want to make sure we have caught up with all who would like to be involved in the day. If we haven’t already spoken to you, please contact us at together@saltburnbythesea.org or leave a message for Fiona and Maria at the library.

Saltburn Library has been amazing in its support for the Pocket Watch history project and is also providing a lot of support for the WWI Community Day. We really appreciate their help. Thank you.

We are working through the amazing interviews and information we have from you all and once we have caught up we will again be back in the library meeting up with you all.

Fiona, a part of the Pocket Watch Team.

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Saltburn inspires new novel In February 2012 I published my first novel, Penny, on the Amazon Kindle. Central to the novel is the story of James Clarence, a man who initially has a very contented life. His small plumbing business is doing well, his garden is looking just the way he wants it and, most of all, he has two happy children and a loving wife. Then James’s life is turned upside down. His little blonde-haired girl is killed in an accident. James’s wife, partially blaming him, leaves him and takes their young son with her. James’s life begins to slip out of his control. Meanwhile, in a distant land, a little girl with blonde hair is being taught how to play rounders by a young woman. A woman whose own life on Earth ended 57 years earlier.

The story moves between Liverpool, New York and Boston, and spans two centuries. At no time in the novel do I mention Saltburn by name. However, my idea of a place where spirits first arrive in Heaven is modelled on Saltburn beach. The story begins with a party inside what is actually the pier amusement arcade but in my novel is a small nightclub. The revellers then run down the beach and along the pier and engage in a water fight in the shallows. A little later, when the group are relaxing around a campfire on the beach, under the stars, a very special reunion takes place.

A plateau of lush green above Commondale inspired the setting for a picnic and game of rounders in Heaven.

And how do spirits travel between there and the beach?

Why, by catching the steam train that runs between Commondale and Cat Nab stations of course.

One day, perhaps, my book will be made into a film.

Even if it’s a straight to youtube affair with a volunteer cast and crew participating for credits only, that would be simply wonderful.

Penny is found on Amazon.co.uk by the search term: Daniel Quill Penny.

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Just ask.....Healthwatch Local volunteers hit the streets to raise awareness of new Healthwatch service A team of local people who are volunteers with Healthwatch will be hitting the streets during March to spread the word about a new health and social care information and signposting service. Healthwatch Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland have come together to launch a new campaign called “Just ask …

Healthwatch” to let local people know about the service.

Local people can get in touch with Healthwatch to ask questions about their health or social care services, such as:  How can I find a new GP or dentist?  How do I choose a hospital for my operation?  How do I get help for an elderly relative?  What do I do if I am unhappy with my care or treatment?

Healthwatch volunteers will be visiting GP practices, dentists, pharmacists, opticians, libraries, hospitals and many other community venues with posters, leaflets and other campaign materials that will help you to find out more.

Veronica Harnett, executive board member for Healthwatch Redcar and Cleveland, said: “If you don’t know who to contact or where to go to find health or social care services in your local area, Healthwatch can help. We can provide information or signpost you to relevant services and support you to make informed choices when choosing the best services to meet your needs. Healthwatch can also help people who wish to make a comment or complaint about a service.” If you live in the Redcar and Cleveland area you can get in touch with Healthwatch by calling free on 0808 1729559.

As well as providing information to people about services in the area, Healthwatch is also the ‘voice’ of patients and the public. By representing the views and experience of people who use health and social care services, Healthwatch can find out where improvements can be made and ensure services best meet patients’ needs. Veronica Harnett added: “Healthwatch is the new consumer champion for everyone who uses health and social care services. We will ensure that everybody has a voice in the way our health and social care services are planned and delivered, such as hospitals, doctors, dentists or residential care homes.

“By working with communities and listening to people, we can identify which services are working well and which

Healthwatch information and signposting officer Linda Sergeant spreads the word about Healthwatch services at ASDA on Roseberry Road, Redcar.

services could be improved. We will listen to people’s views about local services and identify trends in what people tell us so we can raise concerns with service providers.” For more information on your local Healthwatch please follow us on twitter, Facebook or visit our website at: http://www.healthwatchredcarandcleveland.co.uk.

Help! Your local Playgroup needs you!

Little Nippers is in desperate need of willing volunteers to help out on Monday and Wednesday mornings, either in the kitchen or in the group. We need people to help set up and put away. If you can help, even if it is only for a few hours each month, we would love to hear from you. So, if you love spending time with young children, painting, glueing, singing, making music or reading stories, or even simply making drinks, then please contact Little Nippers Playgroup on

01287 624575 We have spaces in April for babies and newcomers to the town 18

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Citizen’s Advice Bureau Consumers’ mobile phone misery revealed Redcar and Cleveland CAB has revealed the extent of the problems people have with their mobile phones. The Citizens Advice consumer service helped with 1,157 issues in the north east in 2013. Redcar and Cleveland CAB is calling for action from mobile phone providers to stop people in the region being tipped into the red by unexpectedly high bills.

Nationally 102,000 people sought help online from the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk.

Making calls abroad, using the internet, scams and stolen phones has led to some customers being hit with a shockingly high phone bill. Shock bills, phantom charges and billing errors that are driving people into debt are just some of the problems reported nationally to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland in the last six months.

Many people find themselves at loggerheads with phone shops or mobile providers because they don’t stick by the rules. Making claims about the product or service that aren’t true or not upholding people’s right to cancel are just a few of the problems consumers come up against. People can make a stand by making a complaint and Citizens Advice is on hand to provide advice and information on how to complain.

In 2013 the mobile phone issues most commonly reported to Citizens Advice were:  11,615 problems with defective goods  8,756 problems with substandard services  2,731 problems with misleading claims or omissions  1,621 problems with business practices

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REDCAR LIBRARY Tuesday & Thursday Redcar &Cleveland House 10.00am – 1.00pm GUISBOROUGH Monday & Wednesday Belmont House 9.30am – 12.30pm SOUTH BANK LIBRARY Friday Normanby Road 9.30am – 12.30pm LOFTUS LIBRARY 1.30pm–3.30pm

Thursday – every 2nd & 4th week

SKELTON LIBRARY Monday – every 1st & 3rd week 1.30pm – 3.30pm TELEPHONE ADVICE Friday 10.00am – 12.00 noon 01642 469880.

Saltburn Craft and Produce Show Saltburn by the Sea Women’s Institute and Saltburn Allotment Association are proud to announce the eighth modern Craft and Produce Show. It will take place on Saturday, 12th July 2014 at ECHO, Emmanuel Church Hall.

People wanting to enter any of the sections, should bring their exhibits along between 9.00am and 10.00am. The show will be open to the public from 1.00pm and there will be refreshments available.

Lucky winners will have their trophies presented to them at 2.30pm and entrants must collect any award certificates they’ve won between 2.30pm and 3.00pm.

There will be a sale of produce at the end of the show, from 3.15pm to raise funds for next year. Anyone who doesn’t want to have their exhibits sold, will need to collect them between 3.00pm and 3.15pm.

As ever, there is a wide variety of sections to suit most interests, as follows: Produce, Soft Fruit, Cut Flowers and Floral Arrangements, Children’s Produce, Home Baking, Preserves, Children’s Sections, Photography, Group Entry Display (a summer picnic), Handicrafts, and Special Section (for men and boys to enter a home made cake).

If you are interested in taking part, or coming along, or both, you will need to see further details that can be found in the Show Schedule. Copies will be available soon in Saltburn Library and other local venues.

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Saltburn Photographic Society Wednesday, April 2nd Annual General Meeting. Wednesday, April 9th Annual Dinner and presentation of trophies.

Outdoor meetings have been organised throughout the Summer for details contact as below.

Meetings are held in the upstairs hall, Saltburn Milton

Street Methodist Church TS 12 1EB at 7.30 pm. Visitors are welcome to any of our meetings; there will be a small charge. For more information visit our web site www.saltburnphotographicsociety.co.uk or contact Tony Lynn 01287 622519.

Tony’s Health Advice

Achoo. April Allergy Awareness People can suffer from allergies to a wide variety of substances. The most common culprits are pollen, dust mites and pet fur/hair.

Symptoms include sneezing, a blocked or runny nose, runny or itchy eyes, a sore throat or a rash. They can range from slightly annoying to debilitating in their severity.

Symptoms can be treated with a wide range of antihistamine tablets, nasal sprays and eye drops.

However, prevention is a better way to deal with allergies, if possible. Tips that can help reduce the exposure to an allergen (the item that a person is allergic to) include:  Wearing sunglasses to reduce the amount of pollen that enters the eyes.  Using Vaseline or Haymax under the nose to capture pollen before it enters.  Closing windows in an evening, this is the time when

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pollen falls back down to the ground.

Regular vacuuming and damp dusting can help by removing the problem from the environment.

Using anti-allergen bedding can help reduce the impact of dust mite allergy.

Wash bedding and pillow cases at least weekly, in hot water (more than 50°C). This will kill dust mites and wash away the allergen they produce.

Avoid activities known to cause exposure to pollen, such as mowing grass.

Shower soon after activities where there is high exposure to pollen.

Use re-circulated air in the car when pollen levels are high (many cars are fitted with pollen filters).

Tony O’Neill, Pharmacist, Boots Pharmacy

SAS story enthralls retired men Author Mike Morgan enthralled over 30 members of Saltburn and District Retired Men’s Forum in February with a session on the SAS (Special Air Service), which specialised in penetrating behind enemy lines in war conflicts.

He told how his father Corporal Jack Morgan was a member of the group and served during the 1939-45 war in intelligence to prepare for the D-Day landings.

After the session Mike, who is the Evening Gazette’s East Cleveland reporter, signed copies of his book, which he sold at the reduced price of £6. Mike, who lives at Whitby, was thanked by Harry Richardson.

Author Mike Morgan shows a dagger issued to SAS men during conflicts. A beret and Mike’s book can be seen along with a photo of Mike’s father Jack, who was a wartime SAS man.

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Catholics seek justice & peace A group to promote ‘justice and peace’ has been set up in four Catholic parishes in the Redcar area.

It aims to raise awareness about local, national and international social justice issues under the Middlesbrough diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, but is locally run.

Emma Thompson, of St Augustine’s parish, Redcar, was elected secretary, and will take the chair until a chairman is appointed.

Stuart Myers, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s welfare reform policy specialist, said his department had been preparing for 18 months to help local people understand the Government’s new welfare reforms.

He said a fund to give out crisis loans and grants had been set up and many of those applying were in work, but only for a few hours a week. He said local foodbanks had given out 2,500 parcels in the past year.

Representatives of the four parishes, St Augustine’s and the Sacred Heart, both Redcar, St Bede’s, Marske, and Our Lady of Lourdes, Saltburn, reported on activities they ran connected with justice and peace issues.

These included collecting food for foodbanks, raising money for Cafod and Christian Aid and knitting woolly hats for Tees seamen.

The newly-formed Justice and Peace group for four Catholic parishes meets at St Augustine’s presbytery, Redcar. From left Joan Gillis, Ian Hoy, Terry Doyle, Stuart Myers, Emma Thompson, Freda Duncan and the Rev Deacon Len Collings.

The group’s next meeting will be at St Augustine’s presbytery, Warwick Road, Redcar, on Wednesday, March 19th at 7pm.

Saltburn Athletic (Junior) FC - The Seagulls Under 12s The Under 12s continue to enjoy their football and develop as a team. All players have improved but the team has struggled to produce consistent performances. There's still a third of the season to go and it is hoped that the obvious commitment and enthusiasm of all will result in a strong finish. The players enjoy their training on a Thursday evening and this will continue outdoors throughout the spring and summer months.

Chris Watson, Manager, Tel : 07818 513774 Under 11s The U11s have had a good start to 2014 with the following results :

Home defeat v New Marske 1-2 Home win v South Park Rangers 4-1 Home win v Dormanstown 2-1 Home win v Middlebeck Juniors 2-1 Away draw with Seaton Carew 4-4 Our last game on Sunday, 9th of March was a great home display against Newton Aycliffe (we expected a tough game following a 3-0 away defeat in November). After conceding in the first minute our boys fought tirelessly and were rewarded with 6 goals - a hat trick from Flynn Elliott, 2 goals from Samuel Tierney and a goal from Daniel Carey. The game finished 6-1 and Man of the Match was Flynn Elliott.

Cathal Carey, Manager

The Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum Easter Events 9th April Wednesday Victorian inspired Easter Crafts.

1-3pm. FREE; just drop in. Donations welcomed.

10th April Thursday Traditional games on the patio. 113pm FREE; just drop in. Donations welcomed.

16th April Wednesday Signs of Spring with Charles Darwin. 1-3pm FREE; starts at 1pm. Donations welcomed (come prepared to explore outdoors; indoor alternative).

17th April Thursday Victorian inspired Easter Crafts.

1-3pm FREE; just drop in. Donations welcomed.

18th April Friday Traditional games on the patio. 113pm FREE; just drop in. Donations welcomed.

26th April Saturday Spring Lecture Programme: The Social Development of an Ironstone Village by Colin Hart.

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Keen local family historian, Colin Hart, will talk on how Skinningrove, an isolated fishing village, changed into a Model Village with the facilities of a small town. All this due to the discovery of Ironstone, mining and the development of the Iron Works. 2.00pm. Donations welcomed.

Tours available from April 1st Monday to Friday 10am-3.30pm and Saturday 1pm-3.30pm: admission charge.

Contact: Jean on 01287 642877 jean@ironstonemuseum.co.uk ; Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, Skinningrove, TS13 4AP Skinningrove Educational Heritage Project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Registered Charity No.1080246.

News and Views from the Valley A week of cloudless skies and such a difference it makes.

What next week will bring is anyone’s guess but it has been a great reminder that we can do glorious weather.

The toilet was well and truly launched / christened by Lady Marge at the “Royal Flush” event.

Lady Marge (and her carer) emerging from the new toilet.

Just to clarify any misunderstanding: the toilet is not a public one. It is for the use of volunteers at the centre and people coming to events and workshops or groups hiring the centre.

Other news: after many hours of listening to an awful rendition of a Beethoven symphony and very many calls to India we now have a repaired phone line, our old number

replaced and an answer phone. Interestingly even the phone engineers had to call via India as they are a ‘contracted out’ company – it certainly extended the repair operation by several hours. Anyway you can now call 01287 622408 for information on events and leave messages for us.

As mentioned last month we will soon have an illustrated map/leaflet showing pathways and woodland features from the centre up to the viaduct and on Sunday, April 6th there will be a guided walk from 1 – 3pm led by Christine Corbett, former ranger at the centre.

The other April event will be a workshop on April 26th and is called ‘Out of the Ground’. This shadow puppetry based workshop will be delivered by Lit Up and is aimed at 9 – 13 year olds. Lit Up are delivering a whole series of workshops for us and the images, drawings and writings produced will make up our calendar 2015. There will be a small charge for these workshops – probably £1.00 per person. Details on the web site. Please note the change in domain name. Friends of the Valley and Saltburn Woodland Centre have amalgamated sites to become www.saltburnfriendsofthevalleyltd.co.uk The task group has been planting flowers in the area by the centre. We are very keen to get bee friendly flowers so if anyone has surplus or is dividing up large clumps or taking cuttings do let us know.

Lorna Moone

Veterinary Matters When I receive an e-mail suggesting that either the person writing it or their cat may end up on Prozac, I read on with interest. Cat behaviour, as well as most anything else to do with my vocation, interests me.

Cats are kept in large numbers in the UK, and are often as multiples in our homes. Whilst the commonest cat is the British Domestic Short-hair, there are a large number of other breeds as well. Problems with behaviour can arise when either there are too many cats of one type in a house, or where there are different breeds together. In natural situations, cats will live in colonies of a single type, rather than mixed. After all, do we see or hear of tigers and lions living together? So, this is often a cause for grief for the owner when they add a happy little Oriental cat to the house where there are two settled moggies. Then there are some breeds, or individuals of that breed which have natural behavioural issues. One friend of mine bought a Bengal kitten, and for the next few months posted the kitten’s antics on facebook on a daily basis. “Better than the TV” was her opinion. Don’t forget that the Bengal cats we have in our home is only two generations apart from the wild Asian Leopard cat!

The cat in this e-mail was a Burmese. They are lovely creatures, as are ALL cats (and dogs, and .....) but they do have behavioural issues. They talk, loudly. They scratch everything in the house. They will flood and midden (technical words for certain forms of misbehaviour). They will catch every moving bird or mouse in the whole neighbourhood (according to their owner) for enjoyment. But, they are very friendly and loving pets. It is getting used to them and them to you that takes it out of us humans. They are

a breed that will happily live in groups, but expect a fight to break out at any time, day or night. The problem might not arise with the same frequency with other breeds of cats; this is where “cat watching” as a pastime becomes fun.

As with last month, I was shown an article in a respected daily paper and asked for my comments. This article was regarding the washing up on beaches all around the UK of large lumps of solidified palm oil. Dogs, being dogs will eat anything they find, and a lump of palm oil is no exception. Anything eaten in moderation can be okay, but, anything eaten to excess can be fatal. Whilst I personally have not had any cases in this part of the country, I have had many cases of dogs drinking seawater or eating items on the beach and becoming ill. Fortunately these cases are few and far between, but they do highlight the need to be vigilant on the beach, or out on any walk for that matter, and do not let your pet pick up any unusual things.

With the Easter holidays, this brings us into the start of the holiday season for this year. When you make your holiday booking make sure you check your pet’s arrangements as well. This includes the vaccines being up to date, the necessary travel requirements for going abroad, sorting the boarding kennels or cattery, your professional pet sitter, or just your neighbour calling to feed the fish.

If you want to ask me a question or raise a topic for this article, contact me by e-mail on j.haddow@live.co.uk or call where I work at Jacqui Paterson vets on 01642 604555.

James Haddow, Veterinary Eye Consultant, GP and Saltburn resident.

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Rotary Club News The Rotary Club of Saltburn meet every Wednesday at 6 pm in Saltburn Golf Club for dinner and then a meeting. We were very pleased to have Wendy Shepherd of Barnardo’s as our last after dinner speaker.

The club were able to donate £1000 to Barnardo’s from our 2013 Grand Ol’ Oprey music festival. Wendy came along to tell us how the money was spent and what work her organisation do helping and protecting sexually exploited children. Inspirational and passionate are the words that spring to mind when looking back on her amazing talk.

Our members were visibly moved by what she told us and one senior member commented that it was the best £1000 we had ever donated. If you have access to a computer, please do look up Bardardo’s web site http:// www.barnardos.org.uk/ and learn more about the vital work that Wendy and her organisation do.

April will see The Grand Ol’ Oprey return to Saltburn Theatre for five nights during the Easter week 20th - 24th April. This year’s festival promises to be the best yet, with some big acts coming in for the first time and some of our old favourites coming back. You will find our full colour advertisement on page 33, which will contain all of the information required. Tickets remain excellent value at £8, group ticket sales are discounted if you contact the writer. You may purchase Tickets in the Saltburn Heath Food Shop.

You may also buy tickets for the shows and our £100 cash (plus lots more) draw tickets from Rotarians who will brave the weather, set up a pitch in Station square and talk to the public on several Saturdays leading up to the festival. Do not delay, the tickets are already selling fast.

We are having a “Ceilidh” at the Spa Hotel,

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Saltburn Bank, Saltburn on Friday, 4th April 2014 from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. Live music will be provided by The “Applejacks” Ceilidh Band.

All are welcome, come and have fun whilst helping others. Tickets are £10 and include Pie & Pea Suppers, available from Rotary members or from The Spa Hotel. Tel: 01287 622544. At the time of publication only a few days are left so act now to avoid disappointment. Any profits will go to our charities.

The club were pleased to donate £250 to Doorways during March. As most people will know, Doorways have not received their usual funding and are having to move from their home in the Station Building. Fortunately they have found a new home above Destinations to continue their most important work with young people.

Unfortunately as time progresses, our club numbers diminish, we are now down to sixteen members. To continue the work that we do, we need new people to take up our challenge and motto ‘Service above Self’. Rotary is a worldwide organisation open to all people regardless of gender, religion, politics, or nationality. Within our clubs we believe in good fellowship and harmony. We enjoy outings, special events and social gatherings. It is not all about fundraising, although we do get satisfaction from helping others less fortunate. Internationally we are there at every disaster ensuring aid is getting to the right people.

One of our many projects is to eradicate Polio from existence on Earth and we are winning that fight. If you want to join us or even just want to be friends of our club or want to know more, please contact the writer as below.

Contact us too if you wish to buy tickets for the Grand Ol’ Oprey or Ceilidh.

Mike Sellars, Rotarian, E-mail: mike.sellars@ntlworld.com Mobile 07796 990526

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Eveline Brentano’s Colouring Competition For Easter, Eveline is running a children’s colouring competition. She has printed some two different pictures to collect from the florist’s shop in the Station Buildings.

There are two age groups in the competition: 3 - 5 years and 6 - 10 years. Each age group has a different picture to colour in.

Entries close on Wednesday, 16th April and the winners will be notified by phone on Thursday, 17th April, in time for their prizes to be collected for Easter. The shop will be closed on Good Friday, so collection would be Thursday or Saturday. Free entry. The prizes will be a small

collection of Easter decorations, a small amount of chocolate eggs (mini eggs or similar) and a small bunch of spring flowers for Mum such as tulips. The prizes and colouring prints are shown here held

by Eveline and Laura.

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Ron Chapman Ron Chapman has died, on 15th February 2014, after a long struggle with cancer. Ron was affectionately known as Chappie, and he was well known in Saltburn for his stunning, life-like portraits of local characters and famous musicians.

Ron was born in Stockton on 10th June, 1946 to Ron and Doris Chapman, but grew up in Skelton with his two sisters, Anita and Ivy. At school Ron was drawn towards creative subjects and enjoyed playing football. He was a fan of George Best, Bobby Charlton and his favourite, Dennis Law. He switched his allegiance from Manchester United to City, depending on which team Dennis Law was playing for and he drew portraits of these players. He even got the players to sign the portraits, which made him very happy.

He worked as a plasterer on building sites and described himself as the fastest paving slab layer in the North East. He was also interested in history and enjoyed working on sites in York alongside archaeologists who explained to him the significance of anything that was found.

He had two daughters, Deborah and Andrea, with his first wife, Wendy, but after they had gone their separate ways he met Mary in 1989. They were married in 1990 and Ron became a father figure to Mary’s son Martin. Ron was an early riser and Martin once returned home from a night club to find Ron was already up and varnishing the floors.

He liked to listen to Elvis, The Beatles and Cliff Richard while working.

Ron was modest about his art but everyone told him how talented he was. As well as his portraits he produced wildlife drawings, watercolours, abstract paintings and ceramics. He was a lifetime member of the Lune Street Club where portraits of almost all the members adorn the walls.

He was too modest to draw himself except once when he had to as part of a course at Cleveland College of Art. That self portrait will now also be displayed at Lune Street.

After Ron retired he supported Mary who continued to work, by becoming an excellent house husband. Every night he treated her to his experimental cooking!

Ron was never without a family dog and every day Ron would walk them, Judy, Flossie and Misty, which he spoiled rotten. Their lives revolved the dogs and even their holidays were arranged with the dogs in mind.

Sadly, two years ago Ron was diagnosed with cancer which he fought every step of the way. He changed his diet and lifestyle and endured all the conventional treatments and

alternative therapies. If determination alone was sufficient to beat cancer, Ron would still be with us today, but he continued to lead a normal and active life for as long as possible and died peacefully at home surrounded by those he loved and who loved him.

On 21st February Ron was cremated at the new crematorium in Yearby (Kirkleatham Memorial Park) where a huge crowd turned out to say goodbye and had to stand outside. Donations were collected in aid of Cancer Research and everyone gathered in Saltburn House afterwards. Ron will always be remembered for the generous, kind, genuine, talented, modest and sociable human being he was. He was a true gentleman and one of Saltburn’s greats.

Based on Karen’s Humanist Eulogy

Charity Crafters The next drop in for Charity Crafters will be on Wednesday, 2nd April between 2pm and 4pm at The Workhouse, Dundas Street West (next to Ripping Yarns). Many, many thanks to our knitters and to everyone who has donated some wool. Just look at the photograph to see how busy our fingers have been. Come and join us. For further details please contact Angie on 01287 205153.

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Steve’s Handyman services Joinery plumbing plastering paint and decorating from full property renovations to all small jobs in and around the home free estimates/good rates by approved tradesman fully insured

Tel: 01287 284115 or 07966 152553

Rotary District Governor Yarnbombed Dave Sadler, Saltburn based District Governor for Rotary in the North East, would like to thank the anonymous originator of the strikingly lifelike tribute (pictured). He said, “Of all the fantastic experiences I have had during my year of office, this has to top them all. My grandchildren recognised Granddad immediately, although I can’t see the grey hair myself! Both Daves now travel together to Rotary Clubs throughout the North East, continuing to spread the word about the wonderful folk of Saltburn.

Samantha’s Film Project Dear readers of Talk of the Town, My name is Samantha Dixon and I am a 3rd year Ba Hons Dance student currently studying at Teesside University. For my ‘Final Year Creative Project’ I will be creating a short dance film, depicting the lifespan of a female living in Saltburn, focusing on how both she and the landscape and town change over time.

In order to portray this idea accurately, I kindly ask if anyone would be willing to speak to me regarding their personal experiences of living in Saltburn for a period of time? I have begun filming already; however, any information would be greatly appreciated. I can be contacted on 07956 204276 or via email – samanthajasminedixon@hotmail.com .

The film will be shown at the Hazel Pearson Theatre at Middlesbrough College, on the 27th May 2014 (time to be arranged) and all members of the public are welcome.

Kind regards, Samantha Dixon.

Unleavened bread at Saltburn's ‘world’ service

Marjorie Wieland offers Jewish-style unleavened bread to Kath Ward, Ruth Steere and Steph Hanczik at Emmanuel church, Saltburn, where the annual Women’s World Day of Prayer service was held.

A basket of unleavened bread - of the type baked at the Passover meal in Christ’s time - was taken up to the altar at Saltburn’s Emmanuel Church during the annual Women’s World Day of Prayer service on Friday, March 7th.

The bread was among items used for the Egyptian theme. Others included Egyptian flowers, a flag and modern -day laptops and mobile phones.

The interchurch service, which involved a dozen local women, featured four participants pouring water from jugs to indicate the title of the service: Streams in the Desert.

Guisborough’s Methodist minister the Rev Isabel Stuart gave the address. Some 40 women and two men attended, about the same number as in recent years.

Refreshments served in the church hall after the service included Egyptian almond biscuits, unleavened bread and hummus with savoury dips.

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Spa Hotel Presents A Grand Charity Night Organised by Stephen J Dowd 11th May 2014.

Doors open at 7.00 pm.

Entertainment:The Persuaders (Fantastic 60s Music) Steve D Josh Newell Brown Custard Pie Grand Auction & Raffle Auction Includes round of golf for four and breakfast before donated by Saltburn Golf Club & Executive Catering.

Tickets ÂŁ10.00

includes pie and peas supper. (vegetarians please state on purchase of tickets) Tickets available from:-

Saltburn Health Foods The Spa Hotel Cheavux Hairdressing If unable to attend and want to make a donation please do so at ticket venues.

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MUSIC QUIZ @ WINDSORS

Windsors Music Quiz started on March 25th but continues every

Tuesday Evening throughout April 32

8.00pm Start. £1 per

Person

I don’t know how they manage to win every week!

Win Cash Prizes and the Chance to Win the Top Ten CD Albums!

See Staff for Details!

An incredible leap of faith to raise money for incredible care

Stephen by the Transporter Bridge

A fear of heights will hopefully be conquered when Stephen Scott, 30, of Brotton takes a dive off the Transporter Bridge at Middlesbrough this month. Stephen, who disclosed to his wife Jo that he had a lifelong fear of heights, has been treated to a Bungee jump for his 30th birthday and hopes that this will end his fear. The jump has been booked for Sunday, 6th April 2014 at 11.30am.

Stephen is taking on the challenge for Sue Ryder, the charity where his mother works as the Manager at the Saltburn shop. Stephen has helped with fundraising events before but suggested that this event is a little bit different to the normal sponsored walks and music nights which have successfully raised money for the charity in the past.

All the money raised by Stephen will go to Sue Ryder, a charity which helps provide incredible hospice and neurological care to people across the UK. Last year the organisation helped 16,400 patients and their families with specialist medical and emotional support. Because of people like Stephen taking on amazing challenges they will be able to continue and grow their vital work.

Friends of Stephens and friends of the Saltburn shop can support this event by either calling in at the shop to fill in a spons or f or m or visit ing: htt p:// uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Stescottfundraiser.

Saltburn in Bloom Booklet Saltburn in Bloom had various plaques put up around Saltburn last year. There’s now a booklet too which gives more explanation of places of interest and suggests a town trail. There’s to be a launch of the booklet in Saltburn Library in May, after which the booklet will be available for a recommended donation of £1.50.

Try something different at Grasers

Onions Nearly every month Grasers has over ten different members of the onion family for sale. Pictured here are large Banana Shallots from France, White Onions from Holland and giant Spanish onions. Elsewhere in the shop can be found cocktail onions (also from Holland) red onions, brown onions, spring onions for salads, leeks and of course garlic of which Grasers often have three different varieties on sale, including large garlic and smoked garlic. It has been traditionally said that a meal without onions is no meal at all. Onions are extremely nutritious and have even been called ‘poor man’s meat’.

Although it is well known how they can irritate the eyes when chopped, they nevertheless have anti-cancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and contribute excellent flavour to any meal. All these varieties are well worth trying.

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SALTBURN BLUES CLUB You’ve got to be prepared for anything when you’re a music promoter but I wasn’t expecting both bands I had booked for our Mardi Gras Party on Valentine’s Night to be affected by the imminent arrival of band members’ babies. Dale Storrs New Orleans Band had to perform without him but, like a true professional, Dale organised a stand-in and he was….outstanding! Dom Pipkin from Dom & The Ikos stepped in and he was fantastic. You must be good when Jamie Cullum says, “I can’t hold a candle to this guy.” The whole band was superb, a total blast. Colourful decorations, masks, fancy dress, full dance floor – we had ourselves a party. The Devil’s Jukebox brought their own, highly individual act to kickstart our do. They were quirky – yes, but undeniably talented.

David Migden and The Dirty Words are performing for us on April 26th. They are a first-rate band that delivers a blend of rock, blues and their own take on American roots music.

Migden’s voice is rich, smooth, deep, dark, moody, soulful, wonderful. He was born in Arkansas and the American roots influence is clear. But he covers a whole range of styles and the band is collecting lots of awards including Best Band and Best Newcomer in the Blues Matters Writers’ Poll 2013. After winning the New Brunswick Battle of The Blues 2013, they are representing the UK in The European Blues Challenge 2014 in Latvia, just before coming to Saltburn. One not to be missed, this one.

Don’t forget my radio show on local radio station Palacefm: STILL GOT THE BLUES – Tuesdays 8-10pm for all that’s best in Blues old and new.

Keep Saltburn Blues alive, folks. Harry 35

Seaview topped the poll Seaview fish and chip restaurant, opposite Saltburn’s pier, topped the poll when Evening Gazette readers were asked to name their favourite chippy.

“It’s very rewarding for everyone at the restaurant,” said owner Glenn Pearson, who opened the venue in 2010.

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Half Board accommodation £35 per person Bed & Breakfast £25 per person Full Disability access and facilities available

Bar Meals served daily along with a Sunday lunch menu at competitive prices Fosters, John Smiths, Symonds Cider, Real Ale, all £2.20 a pint Magnet £1.80 a pint Kronenbourg £2.60 a pint Busy Social programme with the best local bands Friday Night Karaoke

SKY SPORTS & FREE WIFI For further details call Maxine or Joanna on

01287 622008

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Sea Studios

Sea

1 - 3 Bath Street, Saltburn by the Sea, TS12 1BJ

CHE COUNSELLING SERVICE Est 2004

Bringing life back to a neglected corner of Saltburn Town Centre The Saltburn Clinic, Bath Street, originally designed, built and operated as a community health services clinic closed in 2006.

A victim of obsolescence through design, the building could no longer cope with the technology and demands of a modern NHS. It lay empty and unloved until 2012 when it was leased by ‘Saltburn Eclectic Arts’ to house creative and applied arts studios. Over the past 18 months the building and its facilities have evolved and Sea Studios is now the home for a range of local businesses. The studios seems to have welcomed back individuals with caring and restorative skills who have established their businesses here.

To experience the range of services offered at the studios we would like to extend a warm invitation to our open day.

Sea Studios open day Saturday 12th April 10.00am - 4.00pm IPL HAIR REMOVAL LASER TATTOO REMOVAL

To book your consultation or find out more information Call: 07988 647300

visit: www.vlaze.me Facebook: Vlaze Laser Tattoo & Hair Removal.

Studio 1, SEA STUDIOS 1-3 Bath St, Saltburn.

TS12 1BJ

CHE COUNSELLING SERVICE ( Est 2004 ) Confidential Counselling for all ages.

Experienced Counsellor who has worked with a number of schools and colleges.

Individuals and couples welcome.

NO CHARGE made for children, students and those with cancer/breast cancer.

PLEASE TELEPHONE RUTH GOODWIN ON 07964 984978 IN CONFIDENCE TO DISCUSS YOUR NEEDS 38

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WHY I AM A CHRISTIAN (in 300 words)

by Mark Gladders I was brought up as a Christian, and it is my experience that God has always been there throughout my life. I cannot imagine life without my faith in God. For some years now I have been suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. I was properly diagnosed about three years ago, when I went to see the doctor. People ask me things like, 'Are you cross about suffering from MS?' or, 'How can you still have faith and believe in God?' I reply that I am not cross, and that it is not God's fault. I know it would be much worse without my faith. My faith helps me in my current situation. In my suffering it is a comfort to know that Jesus suffered.

His suffering on the cross was more acute, mine is more chronic. For this, and other reasons, Christianity makes more sense to me than other religious beliefs. My Christian faith gives me hope that I will have a new body in heaven which does not include MS.

EASTER 2014 I am convinced that we are loved by God. If I begin to doubt that this is so, I only need to look at Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross. His death and His rising to new life give to me a hope beyond all hope. I cannot put it any better than St Ambrose: “In Christ we have everything…If you want to heal your wound, he is the doctor. If you are in need of help, he is strength. If you are in dread of death, he is life. If you are fleeing the darkness, he is light. If you are hungry, he is food.”

May you know the blessing and love of God this Easter.

Rev’d Adam Reed (Vicar of Saltburn)

EMMANUEL Holy Week & Easter Services Palm Sunday 13th April 10.00am Holy Communion

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Maundy Thursday 7.30pm Holy Communion

Good Friday 18th April 10.00am All Age Service 11.00am Act of Witness at the Station Portico 2.30pm Devotion

Easter Sunday 20th April 10.00am Holy Communion Sundays at Emmanuel Church: 9.00am & 10.45am services with refreshments served from 10.10am Tuesdays at Emmanuel Church: 9.30am service with refreshments served from 10.15am Emmanuel Church: Tel: 01287 622251 / Email: emmanuelsaltburn@hotmail.co.uk / www.saltburnparishchurch.co.uk

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Churches Together in Saltburn invite you to join them in their

Easter worship Palm Sunday: 13th April 2014 10.00 am Holy Communion, Palm Procession followed by Simple Soup Lunch 10.30 am Holy Mass 10.45 am Morning Worship 6.00 pm Evening Worship with Communion

Parish Church Catholic Church Methodist Church Methodist Church

Holy Monday: 14th April 2014 9.15 am Morning Prayer 9.30 am Holy Mass 7.30 pm Holy Communion

Catholic Church Catholic Church Parish Church

Holy Tuesday: 15th April 2014 9.15 am Morning Prayer 9.30 am Holy Mass 7.30 pm Holy Communion

Catholic Church Catholic Church Parish Church

Holy Wednesday: 16th April 2014 9.15 am Morning Prayer 9.30 am Holy Mass 7.30 pm Holy Communion & Anointing with Holy Oil for Healing Maundy Thursday: 17th April 2014 7.30 pm Holy Communion with the Watch of the Passion 7.30 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper Good Friday: 18th April 2014 10.00 am Good Friday Service 10.00 am All Age Worship 10.00 am Children’s Stations of the Cross 11.00 am Town Centre Act of Witness 2.30 pm Good Friday Devotion 3.00 pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion Holy Saturday: 19th April 2014 9.00 am Morning Prayer at the Tomb 7.00 pm Easter Vigil and Holy Mass 9.00 pm Easter Vigil & First Communion of Easter followed by Cava & Easter Eggs Easter Sunday: 20th April 2014 8.00 am Holy Communion 10.00 am Holy Communion followed by Sherry, Easter Eggs, Tea & Coffee 10.30 am Easter Day Mass 10.45 am Service with Communion 6.00 pm Evening Service

Church Locations and Contacts Parish Church Windsor Road of Emmanuel Parish Church Office Macnay Street Methodist Church Milton Street Our Lady of Lourdes Milton Street Roman Catholic Church

Catholic Church Catholic Church Parish Church

Parish Church Catholic Church Methodist Church Parish Church Catholic Church Station Portico Parish Church Catholic Church Parish Church Catholic Church Parish Church

Methodist Church Parish Church Catholic Church Methodist Church Methodist Church

01287 622007 01287 622251 01287 623245 01287 623619

Easter Message If I say “Easter” what word comes to mind? For many people the answer is “Egg”. And quite right too! When I was a young boy we always had fun painting half a dozen hard boiled eggs. We would have a day out in the country, find a steep hill and compete to see whose egg rolled the furthest.

This I learn is an old tradition going back hundreds of years. It was the Saxons who had a Spring Goddess named “Eostre”. Her feast was held on the vernal equinox, around 21st March.

The feast was to celebrate the rebirth of the land, and the symbol of rebirth was the Egg. It was Pope Gregory who ordered his missionaries to use these old festivals and absorb them into the Christian calendar. What better symbol to use for the Resurrection of Christ than the symbol of rebirth, the egg. So the Pagan festival of “Eostre” became the Christian Festival of Easter.

I sometimes use a large Chocolate Egg with children to talk about the empty tomb. I find a box that advertises some special chocolates to be found inside the egg. The children break open the egg to find it …. empty! Their faces show real disappointment. And that’s the point. When the women came to the tomb on Easter morning, the tomb was empty. The stone had been rolled away (egg rolling again), and the body of Jesus had gone.

The women had witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross, on what we call Good Friday. They saw the body wrapped in a linen cloth and watched where it was laid in a rock cave tomb. A heavy stone was rolled across the entrance.

On Easter Sunday morning they came to the tomb wanting to anoint the body with spices.

But to their shock, the stone had been rolled away, and the tomb was empty. The linen cloth was lying there, but the body of Jesus had gone.

It was to Mary Magdalene, weeping in the garden near the tomb that the risen Jesus first appeared. He spoke her name “Mary”, and she recognised him. She was deep in grief over the death of her master Jesus. Now here he was, radiant with a new brightness. He was the same Jesus, but somehow transformed, glorious. What Joy! It is this risen Jesus who said to his disciples “I am with you always”. It is this risen Jesus who comes to us when we are in distress, helps to turn our grief into Joy. It is the risen Jesus who can reach us when we are in a pit of despair, turn our darkness into light, and bring us to a new place of hope. He gives us hope for a brighter future. What Joy! The word I want to give to you to go with “Easter” is “Joy”. Do come and celebrate with us in the churches on Easter Sunday. Come and share our Easter Joy. From Rev. Chris Eddy, Chair of Saltburn Churches Together 41

PGF Plumbing & Heating

Saltburn Bank Clean Up

Paul Briggs

Do you feel it’s time we clear up the rubbish on Saltburn bank?

Come and join the local Conservatives led by Will Goodhand, Parliamentary candidate, and the energetic volunteers of Conservative Future as we get the bank cleaned up!

     

Gas Safe registered All Plumbing Work undertaken Boiler Servicing and Boiler Upgrades Free Estimates Over 11 Years Experience 24 Hour Callout

Tel: 07981 026706 Saltburn-by-the-Sea

Date: Saturday 12th April Time: 2pm Where: Meeting at the Promenade car park For any queries or suggestions, please contact Will Goodhand on will4msec@gmail.com or call me on 07980 673 186.

Chakra Balancing Workshop SATURDAY 19TH APRIL 11-4 @ Toc H, Saltburn (entrance off Albion Terrace) A day of exploring each chakra, releasing the unwanted & focusing on creating the reality we want For more details & to book a place please contact Tatiana 07778 340823.

Advance bookings £5 on the door £7 Lunch: bring & share

PDM

Specialist in Interior and Exterior work All aspects of the trade Established 1983  HIGH QUALITY AT

QUALITY PAINTING AND DECORATING

AFFORDABLE PRICES

 FRIENDLY SERVICE WITH FREE ESTIMATES

 SUPPLY & FIT ALL COVING  GUTTER CLEANING SERVICE WITH CHERRY PICKER

TEL: 01287 280767 MOB: 01916 450203 Shop shuts, but van goes on M and M’s shop for recycled goods has shut in Milton Street after 10 years trading, but the van service run by M and M Transport is continuing.

Jane, owner of the business, said: “I’d like to send a big thank you to all our customers over the years.”

The shop, which was well-known in the years before the 1970s as men’s outfitters Rodgers, was formerly a do-it-yourself outlet before switching to selling recycled items.

It is understood the building housing the shop has been bought and it is not known what will happen to the ground floor premises.

See M&M’s advert on page 14.

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SALTBURN CRICKET CLUB Marske Mill Lane, Tel 01287-622761

Sat 4th April - Victorian Footballers CURRY & QUIZ NIGHT £3 Sat 12th April - LIVE & PICKING Live-music showcase – free entry!

Weds 2nd, 16th and 30th - BINGO Sat 19th April First cricket match of the season Sunday 20th April EASTER QUIZ Free entry, £50 prize Wed 23rd April U3A Quiz Saturday 26th April SALTBURN BLUES CLUB DAVID MIGDEN & THE TWISTED ROOTS WITH SUPPORT TOM ATTAH This is an all-ticket night with 10% DISCOUNT for Club members Club available for your functions – contact Club for available dates Members and non-members welcome.

Contact Club for details & tickets Facebook saltburncricketbowlsandtennis socialclub

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PARK NEWSAGENCY Home News Delivery Specialists       

Cards & Gifts Magazines & Books Blue Nose Friends Toys & Games Confectionery, Drinks, Ice Creams Stationery Lottery

Stockists of Talk of the Town 102-104 High Street, Marske. Tel: 01642 484371

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Voices – 1 by Richard Thomas I started to write an article entitled ‘Sound and Vision’ a few days ago only to receive a catalogue of entertainment items using that title. I would have used ‘The Voice’ but realised that a TV channel was running a competition to find such an objective. Hence Voices – 1.

Next to personal appearance the voice of someone is immediately recognisable. Words are important. A three-letter word ‘sir’ can be made to sound as a mark of respect, or contempt.

The difficulty with selection for an article of any kind is not what to put in but what to leave out. In the case of people’s voices there are so many, from the tones of parents and family friends and, in later years those of teachers, etc. However, the voice is the most immediate means of communication between people from strangeness at first to easy-going familiarity.

Probably my first recollection of a ‘voice’ was that of the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. My father owned a wind-up gramophone and collected recordings of the man and other singers as they became available. The tenor had caused a sensation in the early part of the 20th century by recording ten arias in Milan when the usual allocation was one per new singer. I have been fortunate to see and hear in performance some famous names both past and present.

A selection contains those of Beniamino Gigli, Richard Tauber, Tito Schipa, John McCormack, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, and a fleeting encounter with Fred Astaire.

Today, with the advent of CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray, and with TVs having High Definition, it is like sitting in the best seat in the theatre; a boon to me owing to my lack of mobility, Part of the reason for wanting to call my article ‘Sound and Vision’ was that the ‘talkies’ arrived in Britain in 1928. Until then the silent film held sway. To see one of them was difficult. People had to stand in a queue before gaining entrance to a smoke-laden atmosphere where it could become quite hard to see the screen. Added to which, the doorman could utter the dread words ‘Full Up’ which meant a dash through the town to see if entrance could be gained elsewhere.

I have written about the absurdity I found myself in after a few weeks in the RAF camp at West Kirby but it’s worth repeating for any new readers of Talk of the Town.

Taking the bus into Liverpool I walked around the centre of the city feeling lonely and depressed before deciding to return to camp, The following is taken from my WW2 novel ‘Towards the Sun’: “Passing the Empire Theatre I noticed that Richard Tauber was appearing in Franz Lehar’s ‘The Land of Smiles’. Buying an entrance ticket I found myself experiencing the absurdity of the moment’; an Austrian-born tenor taking the part of a Chinese mandarin in an operetta by Franz Lehar with a largely English audience in attendance. When Tauber came to sing ‘You are my heart’s delight’ he repeated it three times each rendering being quieter than the last yet he could be heard quite clearly despite the increasing concentration of the bombing outside. I returned to camp

a much happier young man.”

The time came (1935) when I could start collecting recordings of my own. I had bought a record-player which could be plugged into my father’s radio. I started with three 10inch wax recordings and three 12inch. I began with singers well known to me from radio broadcasts and opened up a whole new world of entertainment. It turned me into a collector and I have been an inveterate one ever since.

Many years later (early 1950s) I went through a period when I used thorn-fibre needles instead of steel.

The reason was two-fold; the grooves of wax recordings could be damaged by steel ones and, as I recall, the sound was more mellow. There was a downside to the use of such needles, they would only last long enough to play a 10inch record. To listen to a 12inch one meant a dash to remove the old needle from the sound box, replace with a newly-sharpened one and then the record would continue to its end.

Over a long lifetime I have seen and heard many wonderful voices. Other than those already mentioned I can pick out Galli-Curci, Rosa Ponselle, Jussi Bjorling, Pavarotti, Carreras, Anna Petrebko, Rolando Vilazon et al.

Outside the world of opera I can clearly remember the voice of Winston Churchill making his rallying calls to the nation to continue the fight against Hitler and his armies to the end. King George V1’s attempts to master the stammer which afflicted him, the young princess taking over from him and who is still carrying on with her daily duties as Queen with little sign of faltering, a phone call from a friend I had thought was lost forever, Shirley Bassey’s voice, and appearance, making it a pleasure to turn on the TV, film stars such as James Stewart whose long drawl was heard in many a fine film, Bette Davis’s ‘Fasten your seat belts it’s going to be a bumpy ride’ in the film ‘All about Eve’. This film is probably the best there is for containing the sound of good dialogue, well spoken by a wonderful cast. It was also remarkable for being the first sighting of Marilyn Monroe in a small part but from the moment she opened her mouth to speak it was evident that here was a star of the future. Others who played no small part were George Sanders with his suave tones, Thelma Ritter with her sharper tongue, Celeste Holm doing her best to keep events under control, Anne Baxter whose beguiling soprano-like voice eventually led to her ultimate climb to stardom, and the two male leads of Gary Merrill and Hugh Marlow. Henry Fonda on stage in the role of Clarence Darrow. Anton Walbrook in a Lillian Hellman drama, Katherine Hepburn in George Bernard Shaw’s ‘The Million-Heiress’. These and many more have brought pleasure for me throughout the years.

The greatest provider now is Andre Rieu and his orchestra, chorus and guest artists performing music that brings a smile to the face, One person I haven’t mentioned is the possessor of one of the most uniquely endowed voices which can be recognised throughout the world, Joanna Lumley.

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Friends of

Saltburn Cemetery Whilst not very much appears to be going on, many ideas are being followed up by the committee. A site meeting should finally have been arranged for early April. This is no simple task as it involves people who are volunteers, council officers each of whom have varied and extensive commitments, to discuss the optimum places to erect a pergola and possibly other shelters, such as willow shelters and memorial benches. If you or any of your friends and family would care to help us, either with fundraising or fundraising activities, we will be delighted to hear from you. We are hoping that we can arrange a bag-packing day in our local supermarket in order to raise funds but I cannot confirm this at present, as I have had no further information from the organisers of this particular idea, just yet.

The committee have asked those members of the War Memorial volunteers if there is anything we can help to do, as we feel that there is a close link between the cemetery and the Memorial; however, to date I have received no correspondence from them.

So you see, although many and varied plans are afoot, the cogs of voluntary work seem to turn slowly, a fact I am learning to live with! A notice/information board is being researched and I hope to be able to present options to the committee at the next meeting so that we can proceed and order one, the difficulty here is finding a style and format that is felt by the majority to be suitable for a Victorian cemetery. However, we shall persist!

If you would like to contact me you can either e-mail me: jdjefferson@hotmail.co.uk or telephone me on 01287 623785. If you phone and the answer machine cuts in please leave me your name and number and I will get back to you. Remember: no message no return call; I’m not psychic! I hope to have more news and views for you in the next edition of the Talk of the Town.

Deana

Redcar & Cleveland Philatelic Society Our Wednesday meetings in April at the Community Centre, Durham Road, Redcar, commencing 7.15pm are: 2nd April: China: Ancient and modern; and 16th April: Around the world in 80 minutes: NEPA President, Brian Land. On 19th March our society’s entries were compared against the other Teesside finalists for the new Teesside Trophy. It was apparent how closely contested this new annual competition proved.

At the recent British National Philatelic Exhibition held in London, David Turner was awarded the Large Gold Medal (the highest level awarded at any British National exhibition) for his postal history research associated with the mid 19th Century paddle steamer era which saw emigration to the New World and Colonies. (The photograph shows the 5 judges assessing the exhibit which comprised 80 sheets across 5 frames.)

Contacts: Geoff. Reynolds (Secretary) 01642 478229. David D. Turner 01287 634893

Tom Benkinsop’s visit to Saltburn Primary School Local Labour Member of Parliament, Tom Blenkinsop, visited Saltburn Primary School to face ‘Question Time’ from the Year 6 pupils. Nearly fifty students from two classes had researched current affairs, both at school and at home with their parents, to promote high level answers to questions they felt were important to them and their future in the 21st century.

Mr Benkinsop commented as the theme music played, that it was his first time as a panellist on a version of the famous show. The students asked him a wide range of challenging questions from subjects as diverse as child poverty, badger culling and the current crisis in the Ukraine.

One question posed about the future of the steelworks at Redcar, prompted Mr Blenkinsop to reply about the world steel market and that he will try to ensure that the steelworks remain open and be competitive in the global market.

Another question was about jobs for the children as adults in the future, he replied that it was important to embrace lifelong learning and recognize that people may have several careers in their working lifetime. He reminded them that they were the children of the ‘internet age’ and the jobs 46

available to them were going to be on a much broader scale.

The children’s teachers, Mrs Axe and Mrs Wills, were pleased at their classes wide breadth of knowledge and how they had approached the opportunity of interviewing Mr Blenkinsop.

Mr Blenkinsop was presented with a picture of himself drawn by talented Year 6 artist Olivia Legg.

1st Saltburn Scout Group Another month passes and we can now see the improvement in weather as the seasons move on.

Spring is upon us and officially British Summer Time started in March. For all sections this means better opportunities to get out and enjoy our surroundings.

Beavers continue to increase in numbers, Ryan visited and after the planned family holiday will be back, keen to enjoy the activities and new friends he has made, we also expect another three recruits to have swelled the ranks before we have our Easter break. This is without those who are eligible (by age) to join the Colony. They have not been bored!

The Cubs have been at the District Quiz, with two teams representing the Pack, surprising Leaders (and their own parents) with their knowledge and abilities. We did not win but enjoyed the opportunity to meet other Cubs; it is surprising how often they find friends from school are Cubs with other Packs. Reverend Adam Reed needs to be thanked for an excellent evening enjoyed by the Cubs at Emmanuel church with an opportunity to explore the church, ring bells and discover many interesting areas of the church. Cubs were well behaved. Their starting session of sitting and listening to music (whilst quietly viewing the interior of the church) was really incredible. Parents would have been surprised at how well they conducted themselves. The Cubs’ only disappointment was being unable to go up the tower (at present undergoing some work) but Cubs were reassured by Adam that we could return and have a look. Rounded off by juice and biscuits;

Saltburn Line User Group

also some “homework” to assist them with the Promise and Community Challenge Awards. A wonderful evening. Thank you.

Scouts are expecting another new starter before the Easter break, which is useful as two of our older Scouts are moving on to Explorers as well as being Young Leaders with the Group. Peter was enrolled as a Scout having moved-up from Cubs at Xmas. William has achieved his Chief Scout’s Gold Award – well done – which makes four in the last six months. This is an encouragement for the younger or new Scouts. They realise that they can achieve the award, as well as gaining new skills and abilities in the process. Plans are now being refined for a night hike and sleep-over at the Scout building. They are also about to undertake some activities with Fire Officer Thompson for their Emergency Aid Award (first aid, etc.) at the Fire Station. In the meantime Adrian our Assistant Scout Leader will not be with us as often following a change in his shift patterns at SSI; twelve hour shifts are not conducive to working every week at a set time with Scouts. He will still be able to join us for weekend and holiday activities.

All the Sections have been asked to participate in the Centenary events linked to World War I, both on the beach on 1st June and the community events on 29th June, as well as other activities. Our Group Executive is very supportive in these ideas and is keen to support activities within Saltburn community. In the meantime work continues on the building and we are now electrically safe thanks to David Gill with his updates and his inspection.

We continue to welcome assistance in all our activities and if you are interested in joining us, please enquire.

RITSON Tree Care QUALIFIED ARBORISTS

Next Meeting: Tuesday, 1st April 2014 This meeting will be the AGM and representatives of the rail industry have been invited to speak.

Meetings at Saltburn Conservative Club are held on the first Tuesday of the month 19.15pm for a 19.30pm Start. As always, all welcome.

Talk to Saltburn Line User Group.

The Group exists to protect passengers’ interests. See our website: www.saltburnlineusergroup.co.uk

Telephone the secretary on:

07875 242350 SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL LINE

John G. Hannah – 07811 801627 or johnghannah@yahoo.co.uk

 Sympathetic Tree Pruning  Sectional Dismantling  Hedge Trimming  Storm Damage  Tree Planting  Tree Inspection  Woodchipping  Stump Grinding  All Aspects of Tree Surgery

MEMBER

Local Authority Approved

undertaken

 All Debris Removed  All Areas Covered ALL WORK TO BS3998 STANDARD.

N.P.T.C. Certified & Fully Insured Environmentally Friendly Member International Society of Arboriculture

(01287) 625457

Postal Subscription to Talk of the Town If you enjoy reading Talk of the Town, why not subscribe to the postal service? You can have the magazine delivered to your door, anywhere in the UK for as little as £33.50 per year.

Simply send a cheque payable to “Gbiz IT” for £33.50 to TotT Subscriptions, 9 The Wynd, Marske, Cleveland, TS11 7LD. Don't forget to enclose your name and address. Alternatively, you can call us on 01642 477200 if you wish to pay by credit or debit card.

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Once Upon a Time in the Wapentake by Tim Beswick Things I don’t understand …in the Wapentake and the Wider World A/ Why is the World top heavy? By which I mean, why are so many of the world’s land areas in the Northern Hemisphere? Three hundred years ago geographers were convinced that there had to be a huge Southern Continent to balance the Northern Continents of Eurasia and North America. It was one of the reasons that local lad, James Cook was sent south: to find that elusive landmass, or to confirm that it wasn’t there. It wasn’t. There was nothing but thousands of miles of sea, a few tiny islands and beyond that, ice... and some terrible weather. There was Australia, of course, but big as it is it’s not what they were looking for.

When I look at a map, I’m also struck by the way that what continents do intrude below the equator (Africa, South America) are triangles pointing south. So are several land masses north of the equator: Greenland, India, for example.

The only considerable lump of land that I can think of that is the other way round, with the pointy end at the top, is the Island of Britain. Is this why the British think they’re something special?

When I have asked people who know about such things why the world should be this way I have had three kinds of response: 1/ It is meaningless to talk of ups and downs, north and south when talking about our tiny ball of earth spinning through space. Yes, but… it doesn’t really answer my question, just tells me I should phrase it better. 2/ The landmasses haven’t always been where they are now, they drift apart and drift around, and once there really was a great southern continent (Gondwanaland, they call it).

Fine… but what I want to know is why the continents have drifted in the same direction: all going north? 3/ There is no explanation, no reason; it’s just the way the world is. That’s more or less the same answer that was given to people in the past who had noticed that the west coast of Africa almost exactly matched the east coast of South America. Then they discovered continental drift and realised there was a reason.

B/ Why don’t people understand what the words ‘Flood Plains’ mean? If they did they surely wouldn’t build houses, and supermarkets, and hospitals, and schools, and factories on them? When you look at pictures of the recent floods you will often see an island standing out above the waters, and on it a few very old houses, an ancient church, and perhaps the ruins of an abbey or a castle. Of the modern buildings all around, all you can see are their roofs. Of course our ancestors didn’t know the phrase ‘Flood Plains’ either; A level Geography had not yet been invented, but they did understand the concept. They did know about Water Meadows, uninhabitable and under water for three or four months in the year, but fine places to graze your cattle the rest of the time, summer pastures (or ‘Somerset’ in AngloSaxon).

Of course, this is a Free Country, and we are repeatedly told that the way to economic growth is to get rid of all the regulations that stop developers building anything they want, anywhere they want. Fine… Okay. All I would suggest is that any developer selling a house built on a flood plain should have to tell any prospective buyer what a flood plain is… and explain that at least once a century, or once a 48

lifetime, or, more likely nowadays, once a year, the house will be submerged. This, they should go on to say, will happen more and more often, not least because all the development they have done further upstream, concreting over grassland, grubbing up trees and hedges, makes it impossible for the water to be absorbed. Instead it flows unstoppably downstream. Because of this insuring the property, and its contents, may be a problem. So might selling it on. Even getting a mortgage might be difficult. But, wow, the house does look great in the glossy brochure, with its riverside views, willow trees and neighbourhood swans... does it not?

C/ What was there before there was a there? Moving on from this little ball of mud spinning in space to the space itself. I’ve been reading that at the moment of the Big Bang, the creation of the Universe, it is calculated that a particle the size of the nucleus of a hydrogen atom (pretty small, I think) expanded to the size of a galaxy (a bit on the big size) in a billion billionth of a second. What I want to know is where did the particle come from, where did all that energy, and all that mass, come from, and how long had it been waiting, building up for the moment of creation? Apparently these are stupid questions. Before the Big Bang there was no space and no time, so my questions are meaningless. Yet I can’t help asking them.

However there is enough to worry about back home on Earth, in the here and now. In fact there are…

D/ Lots of things. I don’t understand why people think having lots of things will make them happy. I’m not trying to say that all material possessions are bad. Far from it: I recognise that an awful lot of the misery in the world is due to a lack of things. Billions of people are wretched because they have not enough to eat, nothing to wear to keep them warm, no proper roof over their heads to keep the rain away, and anyone telling them that they should suffer in silence, accept their lot, because material possessions don’t matter is telling them a cruel lie.

Why I think it all goes wrong is when people who were once poor and hungry are made happy by having a plate of food on their table come to believe that having two plates of food will make them twice as happy, even if it’s twice as much as they can eat, having ten houses they won’t actually live in will make them ten times happier than just having one place nice to live, and having a hundred fur coats in the wardrobe will make them a hundred times happier than just having one warm coat against the winter wind. Is it any wonder that there are so many people dissatisfied in this World? A promise was made: get rich (obscenely, disgustingly rich in the case of Merchant Bankers and certain entertainers and sportspeople) and get lots and lots of things and you’ll live happily ever after. And they don’t, and they feel cheated. But not half as cheated as the vastly greater number of people who don’t get rich, however hard they work, and are not in a position to say ‘pay us more money or we won’t go to work’.

I must finish now, but not before I say this. To me, the desire to acquire books and music is perfectly reasonable, and having more and more of both does make me genuinely happy. But, like most inhabitants of the triangular island that points the wrong way, I think I’m exceptional.

01287 348548 or 07796 478361

Rotary Club Tournament Triumph for Saltburn Students Year 10 students from Huntcliff School have been crowned winners of the Rotary Club Technology Tournament in the Intermediate section, which was held at the Spa Pavilion in Whitby on 6th March.

Matthew Russell, James Woods, Morgan Williams and Shannon Robinson, who study GCSE Technology in either Systems & Controls or Graphic Products, took part in the one-day competition led by Whitby Rotary Club. They had the task of building a vehicle to cross a two metre wide river using familiar tools such as hand drills.

Students worked closely as a team to brainstorm and develop ideas as part of the initial design process, then went on to create a portfolio that was assessed and marked out of 10. The next stage was to create the vehicle itself and also a pulley system, which tested students’ advanced skills and ability in the subject of technology, and also their time management skills.

Judges commented on the speed and accuracy of the students as they worked, after having questioned teams involved throughout the day and then presented with the final product.

Peter Cruickshank, Subject Leader of Technology, said “I’m really pleased and proud that our GCSE Technology students won this prestigious tournament – they worked very hard”.

The students were announced as winners during a

Shannon Robinson, James Woods, Matthew Russell and Morgan Williams stand with Whitby’s Mayor at the Rotary Club Technology Tournament

ceremony to end the successful day, and were given the chance to meet the Mayor of Whitby upon being presented with certificates. Rotary Club representative, Guy Hirst, visited Huntcliff on 19th March to present the students with their impressive trophy during a whole school assembly.

Heather Ollerenshaw 49

A Vision for Earthbeat “We have a strong aspiration to move on and establish a single base for Earthbeat, to celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary,” says Tony Galuidi, leader of the thriving theatre company. “We are very happy working at Saltburn Community Theatre and Emmanuel Church Hall, but it would be good to have a place of our own.”

Earthbeat is a theatre company for people with learning difficulties. It has been based in Saltburn for about eight years. Eighty-four performers attend the service on five different days of the week. It is a registered charity and was started by Tony twenty-four years ago. A percussion group came to the Adult Training Centre that he was working at and this inspired the people to develop their own show of songs and dances from around the world. The name ‘Earthbeat’ described it very well. “We’re going to recreate the same show for our anniversary,” explains Tony. “Ten or eleven of the first performers are still with us and some of the core staff have stayed the course as well.”

The company tried very hard to acquire the Registry Office in Westgate, Guisborough as a base recently, but were unsuccessful as Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council accepted a higher bid from Wetherspoon’s.

“We were very disappointed, as we had plans for a theatre, a cinema and a community resource for hire. The Guisborough people were very much behind it and staged a march in our support,” says Tony. However, as a result of the strength of feeling, the Council intends to develop an arts facility at Laurence Jackson School on the outskirts of the town.

The Council has been working with Earthbeat to find suitable premises and responded to the company’s interest in the old Saltburn Junior School, when Saltburn Community and Arts Association decided to leave the building. A meeting was held, which gave Tony some optimism, but a process of public advertisement and consideration of all bids has to take place and this takes time.

“We would love to bring all of our performers and equipment together at the old School,” continues Tony, “We’ve got a container on a farm with scenery and props and this isn’t very convenient.” The company has a five year plan for the whole site, although Earthbeat doesn’t require all of the available space. It would rent out a third of it to community groups, small businesses and social enterprises at reasonable rents. The income would help to maintain the building.

Earthbeat is asking for a fifty year lease. “The previous lease was for two years, but this isn’t long enough to apply for grants and funding for development,” says Tony. “The Council understands this.” However, Earthbeat is financially successful and has substantial savings to put into the renovation of the building.

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The marketing of the building will continue till midApril and then the Council will take two weeks or so to decide on a bid. Earthbeat is looking to pay a peppercorn rent for the community asset. Tony expects the decision to be put to the Cabinet and hopes to hear that Earthbeat has been successful sometime in May. “We’re ready to move fast if the decision goes in our favour,” explains Tony. “We had a planning application in during March, to make sure we’re ready to go.” Fundraising has started and Tony, as Secretary of the Trustees, has written to four or five grant-making organisations. The team has spoken to structural engineers, architects and surveyors who want to help. “I know it’s a bit presumptuous,” he says, “but it will save time if we get the building. “ Lots of volunteers can’t wait to get started on cleaning, painting and polishing. They include parents and carers of the performers and people who regularly come to the shows. More volunteers are welcome, as Earthbeat want the community to flow through the building and feel it is important to them.

There are four Trustees, including a couple of parents, a retired hotel manager and one with experience of working with people with learning difficulties. They plan to convert the main hall into an auditorium and to introduce retractable tiered seating for a hundred and forty-two people. They would be allowed to take one internal wall down and to establish a new door and new fire exits into the school playground. The toilets that have been taken out of the building would be reinstated and a new accessible toilet installed.

The developer of the other half of the school site, which encompasses the playing fields, intends to put a new road in. This will lead to the playground and to the basketball courts and Earthbeat would have the use of half of the courts for car parking. “Access will be much better then,” says Tony, “but we don’t want to create a commercial theatre. We’re not going to compete with SCAA, as ours will mainly be for Earthbeat shows.”

Meanwhile, rehearsals for a number of shows are ongoing: the Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood the Musical, a classical piece, a Wild West Show and West Side Story performances are planned.

“We hope some of these will be presented in our new home,” says Tony. “We’re on our starting blocks and we’re ready to go!”

Rosemary Nicholls

The Victoria presents

PARMO NIGHT APRIL GIG LIST Possibly the best April ever!

Every Wednesday 5-8pm A selection of home-made Parmos and a drink for £6.95 or 2 for £12 (half) £9.95 or 2 for £18 (full)

Thursday 3/4/14 – POMC Sunday 6/4/14 – TBC Thursday 10/4/14 – Stickle Backs Sunday 13/4/14 – Alpha Place Thursday 17/4/14 – Oasis Jam Sunday 20/4/14 – U2 Tribute Thursday 24/4/14 – Striking Back Sunday 27/4/14 – Rough Justice

O’Gradys Hotel 18-20 Queen Street, Redcar TS10 1AE

April Gigs: Fri 4th - De-Silva Sat 5th - TBC Fri 11th - Idolise Sat 12th - Cousin Matthew Thurs 17th - Revolutionaries Fri 18th - Shiver Sat 19th - U2 Tribute Sun 20th - Madness (Ticket Only) Wed 23rd - Persuaders Fri 25th - Bryan Adams Experience Sat 26th - Gladstone Sun 27th - Ray Johns

Tel: 01287 626131 The Victoria Quiz Night

THE VICTORIA

Every Wednesday

Cash Prizes On the last Wednesday of the Month the jackpot quiz will take place: on Wednesday, 30th April 2014.

4 People Not Profit present

‘Black Gold’ 4 People Not Profit’s film night ‘Open your mind’ returns with a film looking at the stark realities of international trade with everyone’s favourite morning pick me up coffee in ‘Black Gold’. The film will be screened as usual upstairs in The Marine, Saltburn and will be on Thursday, 17th April.

Doors at 7pm and the film starts at 7.30pm. With time for discussion after the film, and as ever the event is free entry.

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world’s coffee trade becomes apparent.

New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

“Excellent, angry, good humoured and essential” Observer.

“Remarkable, a scandalous but moving story, it has extraordinary power” - The Daily Telegraph.

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April Activities at Saltburn Library Join us for plenty of Easter fun as we run a number of exciting activities to help fill the School holidays.

Easter crafts and find the bunnies in the library garden on Wednesday, 9th and Thursday, 10th April, from 2-3pm.

Interactive story and crafts with the Community Animateurs on Saturday, 12th April, 10.30-11.30am.

Easter hunt and bonnet parade with Sustrans on Wednesday, 16th April from 10.30am (after Rhymetime).

Also be Active in April and join Sustrans for our Fitter Families sessions (meeting at the Library): Fun Family Walk on April 5th at 10.30am and Bike Ride on April 12th at 10.30am.

We are also hoping to start a new Friends of Saltburn Library group and are looking for anyone who would be interested in being part of a group to help with planning activities, raising funds, maintaining the Library garden, organising coffee mornings and any other ideas that might help to raise the profile of the Library. For further information please pop into the Library, contact us via email saltburn_library@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk or telephone 01287 623584.

Tracey

When I were a Lad When I were a lad, we played outside in all weathers, mostly because we were not allowed inside during the day.

So at weekends and school holidays, we were off, gangs of young lads playing games that now would be frowned upon by the Health and Safety police.

We invented skateboards long before the U.S.A. thought of them. We would put a book (in my case usually the Eagle Annual) on to a roller skate, and hurtle down Hawthorn Drive at speeds that would scare an Olympic bob sleigh team.

Sometimes my cousin came to visit, and when we set off to spend the day in the endless woods between Brotton and Saltburn, armed with my sheath knife (bought for seventeen and sixpence on a school trip to Windermere) my catapult, with elastic bought from Gresty’s of Saltburn, matches and sandwiches, usually jam (except for the lad who had Marmite, who now works for N.A.S.A. Behind me I could hear “wait for me”, my cousin!

My younger cousin would follow me and the rest of the lads everywhere, and would always accept the challenge to climb the highest trees in the woods.

My cousin could shoot a bow and arrow, or swing across the beck on an old rope, as good as any of us, or ride down the shale heap on Coach Road, on a bogie made from pram wheels off the tip and bits of old wood skilfully screwed together with big nails.

My cousin would always tuck into sausages and baked potatoes (liberated from local farms) black from our camp fire, with bits of ash to give better flavour.

My cousin was as good as any of my friends. But my cousin was a girl!

Tyke 52

Diamond Guest House Diamond House 9 Diamond Street Saltburn-by-the-Sea Cleveland TS12 1EB Tel: 01287 203912 or 07715 621077 email: diamondhouse9@gmail.com www.diamondhousesaltburn.co.uk

Hands On Therapy Clinic Remedial Therapy Reflexology Sports Injuries Relaxation Louise Clark ITEC Diploma MBSR, GCP, BCMA Reg Saltburn Leisure Centre, Marske Mill Lane

Tel: 01287 625700 Mob: 07775 610745

AMATSU Japanese Natural Therapy A complementary whole body approach to regain health, function and balance by empowering the body’s own natural repair mechanisms.

Eric Birbeck MBRCP Oriental Medicine Master Amatsu Practitioner Telephone 07812 746246

Valley Players We have belatedly discovered that, for the second year running, we won the cup for best stage design in the Richmond Festival. And we are now looking forward to starting work on our next new play, ‘On a wing and a prayer’ which will be performed by our young people in Emmanuel Church, Saltburn on July 20th and which looks at the vital part played by pigeons in the first world war, both in taking messages back from the front and in taking vital photographs. Of course the thing about animals was that they couldn’t talk, even under torture.

Meanwhile, we have two very large oak tree costumes for hire; and an acorn!

Djenane

Rocking at the Cons Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Tommy Steel, The Platters are just a few of the wonderful acts that I recall seeing back in the fifties and sixties in the Globe Theatre, Stockton. I have been taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane, courtesy of a great website belonging to Stan Laundon, the former BBC announcer; if there are any more mature rockers out there, look it up: http://www.stanlaundon.com/. I remember paying 2/3d (12p) to see Buddy Holly in March 1958, about a year before he was killed or ‘The day the music died’ as written by Don McLean in American Pie. It was these momentous experiences that fuelled my lifelong love of music and although I have the voice and musical abilities of a bullfrog, my appreciation of live music is undiminished.

As our members will know, the club are sponsoring live music events on every weekend, as our program below shows. We have some great bands lined up and continue to seek out more. Our club will again be hosting the after show parties for the musicians in this year’s Grand Ol’ Oprey, for five nights starting 20th April (see the colour poster on page 39). This fantastic music festival, produced by the Rotary club for charity, is in its fifth year and has produced more than £20,000 for local good causes, including our theatre.

Quite often these parties end up being impromptu jam sessions. We cannot promise you Buddy Holly for 12p, but we can give you even better value: all of our events are free.

If you want to support good live music please put the dates below in your diary, come out and be there, you never know you could be watching the next Buddy Holly.

Some recent local news has made me wonder what kind of war zone we are now living in. A young woman has been arrested in Guisborough for biting off the nose of another young woman at a wake. A forty year old man was found wandering around the A66 near South Bank after someone had chopped off his penis. There has been a number of very elderly and vulnerable folk in Marske who have been conned out of tens of thousands of pounds for gardening services that were not fulfilled by a family gang. One of my neighbours had his house entered by two masked men, who proceeded to tie him up, threaten him with hammers, and ransack his home. Being concerned and dismayed at these monstrous events, I consulted my window cleaner as he is a font of homespun wisdom. He told me that it was all down to the Government for reducing benefits, which enforced people to turn to crime. I believe the problem is a bit more complex than that. A friend of mine who teaches computer skills to children in a Teesside school, tells me that daily he has to endure the most foul and obscene abuse from his 11 year old pupils, without being able to do anything about it. If that is

the case, then we have lost control and discipline in some schools and we have handed over the asylum to the inmates, so what do we expect? Discipline and doing the right thing were not dirty words when I was a kid in Stockton, but that was before well meaning, but woolly minded, liberal and socialist administrators lost us the plot and handed over the keys.

There was one case of a recent local crime, where I felt some sympathy for the perpetrator and culled some amusement from the situation. However, as our regular readers will have noted, I have a somewhat strange sense of humour. A young man in Carlin How was reported to the police for dancing naked in his bedroom which had non curtained windows. The police entered the house and found the man presumably drunk, asleep and undressed on the bedroom floor. He struggled after being handcuffed and arrested, insisting: “I am in my own house, I can be naked in my own house.” However, it appears that he was wrong, as he was convicted of outraging public decency. This incident had been photographed by a female witness on her phone. I ponder, if the genders had been reversed, and it been a man photographing an unclothed dancing woman though a window might he not have been arrested instead? This goes to prove that an Englishman’s home is no longer his castle and not drawing your curtains could lead to you outraging pubic decency. Why ‘public decency’ was outraged by this intoxicated young man but appears to be unconcerned about much worse being piped into our front rooms by television is beyond me. In Amsterdam he would be a tourist attraction.

This column is read by some strange people in strange places. Having read last month that our Parliamentary Candidate Will Goodhand would be in the club meeting members and friends on 15th March, a band of left wing fanatics decided to stage a demonstration outside the club. A more weird bunch you’d never wish to meet, some wearing masks and bearing obscene banners. Having annoyed some of our senior members and frightened some small children, they peacefully left having presumably achieved their intent of impeding democratic process. I fear the worst if they represent the opposition.

May I remind readers that the views expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the club committee or anyone connected to the club. I enjoy getting feedback good or bad, as long as it is not anonymous.

Mike Sellars, Club President. Email mike.sellars@ntlworld.com This article is financially supported by Saltburn Conservative and Unionist Club.

Our Events to entertain in April.

Fri 5th April and every Friday from 8pm. All new open mic night hosted by Jono, with audience voting and cash prizes.

Artists please come early to register.

Sat 6th April Capt Jack Sparrow’s band, with vocalist Bob Caswell and special guest, saxophonist Danny Allan.

Sat 12th April Steve Dixon Band, Blues at its best.

Sat 19th April Ray Dales Band featuring James Harrison on keyboard.

Sat 26th April Dean Heslop and Beckie Cooke, returning by audience demand.

Wed 2nd and 16th March Julie’s Quiz, new teams welcome.

Every Tuesday night at 10 pm, Meat and bottle draw.

Every Sunday, 6 pm, Beer Draw and Cash Rollover, (now standing at £500 & increasing by £20 each week until won).

Most Saturday afternoon meetings of ‘The Conmen’, Americana Musicians jam session.

Also regular meetings of The Book Club, Saltburn Line Users Group, Residents Group meetings and others.

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Moola

Brian Hudson

1 Dundas Street West (Next to Easy PC & Music)

Decorator

Moola is open from 10.00am until 4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday

Repairs and Alterations

Sewing Workshops Dressmaking Mobile: 07980 292969

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Interior and Exterior 30 years experience Free estimates

01287 624011

Saltburn Animal Rescue Association.

A small charity seeking to rescue and re-home cats and dogs, Tel: 01642 488108 (weekdays only, 10am to 2pm).

SARA has many dogs and cats that need new homes. All are clean, healthy, neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

Hi, my name is Ally, and I’m a three year old Staffie girl, seen here in the photograph on the left. I’m dark grey in colour with a pretty white patch on my chest and tummy, and my paws match too.

I came into SARA’s care through no fault of my own. I’m in a bit of mess at the moment and desperately need a home where I can get some very much deserved TLC with experienced dog owners.

Unfortunately in the past my skin was allowed to get into such a state that I will need treatment for the rest of my life, which SARA will pay for. Despite my discomfort I am a very affectionate girl who needs a home where I won’t be left for long. I am good with children and will make a fantastic companion.

I’m also writing a bit about my friend Leo, like me he is another Staffie. We would love Staffie lovers to help with our amazing boy Leo as he desperately needs a proper family. Leo is in the other photograph, on the left, and as you can see he is a really handsome boy with a wide smiley happy face. He is a lovely reddish brown colour. This poor boy has been bounced about from pillar to post throughout his entire life. Leo has been in the pound more times that he can count on one paw and the same can be said for the number of homes he has had in his short 7 year life.

Poor Leo has no idea what is going on and why every time he shows loyalty and affection to a family he ends up back behind bars. He deserves so much better

than this. He just needs someone with the time, patience, love and understanding to care for him. Leo has all the traits that make Staffies one of the nation’s favourite breeds: he is extremely affectionate, loves cuddles, and like most Staffies he wishes he could just be a lap dog, even though he is a little too big, but if there is room on the sofa he loves to sit beside you.

Leo plays well with children and is generally all around a big, lazy, softy-bum. He wasn’t socialized very well with other dogs when he was younger, so doesn’t really understand how to play properly but he is not aggressive with other dogs. So if you have room in your heart for this poor little man, who has spent about half his life in kennels through no fault of his own, please come down to Foxrush Farm and give him a walk and a cuddle, and you’ll find that he would make a wonderful loyal friend to any family.

SARA fundraising events during April The next monthly meeting of SARA will be held in the TocH premises, Albion Terrace, Saltburn, on Wednesday, 2nd April at 7.30pm. New members are very welcome.

Saturday 12th April – SARA will be holding a Ceilidh kindly arranged by the Cleveland Bay Folk Band. This will be held at Marske Leisure Centre, from 7.30pm to 11pm. Tickets £7.00 include a pie and pea supper.

Tickets are on sale from Foxrush Farm and the SARA charity shop in Guisborough. Come along and support SARA. All proceeds will go to the Foxrush Farm Sanctuary and Re-homing fund.

Saturday 19th April – SARA will be holding an Easter Coffee Morning at Marske Hall, Redcar Road, Marske, from 10am to 2.00pm. There will be an Easter Egg Tombola, an Easter Bonnet Parade (with a prize for the best bonnet). Other stalls will include Home-made cakes, books, raffle and pet stall. Refreshments will be on sale.

All proceeds will go to Foxrush Farm Sanctuary and Rehoming Fund.

For any further information ring Foxrush Farm Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm or visit our website on www.s-a-r-a.org.uk Sheila Green 55

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The Saltburn Profile Rex Scales Rex Scales was surprised to find himself Chairman of Saltburn Retired Men’s Forum a while back, but he’s enjoying himself. On the passing of Reg Blacklock, he stepped up from being the Deputy and is now responsible for keeping everything in order at the Monday morning meetings. “You meet thirty fellers who’ve lived lives similar to your own and make good friends,” he says.

Rex was born into a mining family in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. “When the pits were open and going full blast, my Dad delivered coal to miners’ houses. I used to sit in the lorry with him and help him shovel,” he remembers.

But when he was eighteen, National Service called and he joined the army. (This was the bad winter of 1947, when there was thirty feet of deep snow over the Settle to Carlisle train.) His first six weeks’ training was at Gallowgate Camp at Richmond, with the Green Howards. He was then posted to Hilsea Barracks at Portsmouth, which was followed by a spell at Chilwell, Nottingham. After four months, he was sent to Malaya.

It took a month for the thirty thousand ton troop ship, the SS Georgic, to get there. “We sailed through the Suez Canal and landed in Singapore in November 1947,” he recalls. “We spent a week in Nee Soon transit camp and were then posted to 221 Vehicle Co Tebraw.” Rex was a clerk in the Issue Park for eighteen months and while he was there, he taught himself to drive all the varied vehicles, which has stood him in good stead. He taught both his sons and his wife to drive and they all passed first time.

On return, he became a junior railway clerk at Carr Loco LNER running sheds, but the pay was poor, so in November 1949, he joined the West Riding Constabulary.

He did three weeks’ training at Pannal Ash, near Harrogate, before being sent to Keighley. After two and a half years there, he was posted to Fingerprints at the Wakefield HQ. He spent a long time there, but for the last six of his thirty years’ service, he was the village Constable at Grassington.

“In my last year, my wife Anne and I bought a house at Skipton and I worked for Skipton Craven Council for the next thirteen years as a rent collector and bailiff, until I retired at sixty-five,” he says.

Rex met Anne at Barnoldswick Police Dance, when she was seventeen and he was twenty-seven. She went off to Roehampton to train as a teacher and he volunteered to go to Cyprus to serve in its Police Force for three years, but they met up again and got married. They had two sons, one of whom, Andrew, lives in Saltburn with his wife Caroline, piano teacher and leader of the White Rose Singers.

Andrew works with computers and his brother, Martin, lives in High Wycombe and works for the Foreign Office.

“When we decided to move from Skipton after forty-five years, we came to Saltburn to be near family, but sadly Anne died of breast cancer in 2011,” Rex says.

He is very proud of his four grandchildren: David, who is an Assistant Head of a secondary school, at the age of twenty-eight; Claire, who is training to be a primary teacher; Danielle, who is doing her ‘A’ levels and Charlotte, who is still at school.

by Rosemary Nicholls

As well as the Retired Men’s Forum, Rex has joined Harry Simpson’s Keep Fit class in the Emmanuel Church Hall. “We do chair exercises to music,” he says.

“It’s run on a very friendly basis.”

Every Sunday afternoon in the summer, Rex likes to go along to the Bandstand to hear the music. He enjoys George Melly, the Guisborough Big Band and New Orleans Jazz. “George Melly used to write very good books about music,” he says.

At Skipton, Rex was a member of the local Library, but now he reads newspapers and watches TV more. His tastes included French Foreign Legion books and he likes to read obituaries of people who were in the army.

He enjoys sport and played in Police football teams years ago, although it was difficult fitting it in with shift work. He likes to follow the Wakefield Rugby League team.

He has enjoyed the travelling he has done to Malaya and Cyprus. He came back from Cyprus in 1960 on £80, taking a boat to Brindisi and calling in at the Rome Olympics. He drove up to the Hook of Holland and arrived home proudly in his Ford Anglia 105E with cut-back windows, which he’d acquired along the way. He likes travel films, especially those of David Attenborough. He’s been along to Saltburn Film Society too.

Rex confesses that he’s ‘a terrible chef’ and says he will accept any invitations extended to him. He is a loyal supporter of local cafes and enjoys lunches at Gresley Court.

Now eighty-five, he looks back on a satisfying life.

He is still a keen driver, making the journey to Martin’s family in High Wycombe on his own. He stops off at Colne and Chesterfield to see his sisters-in-law, but feels he’s settled in Saltburn ‘quite well’.

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GPS’d by Alan Butler Regular readers of my articles in Talk of the Town will be quite well aware by now that there are times when my relationship with modern technology is a somewhat strained one. Computers, mobile phones, notepads and even super-advanced coffee machines have all been known to get me into something of a stew but I have to say, hand on heart, that there is no modern gismo that has caused me more problems, frustration and pure rage than GPS, or SatNav as most people call it. We have a GPS in our car that is affectionately called Laura, mainly because of her well spoken female voice – she just sort of sounds like a Laura.

Laura is not the most patient person in the world, especially when Kate is not in the car to mollify her when I fail to follow her last command or drive down a brand new piece of road she doesn’t yet know about. Laura is also quite idiosyncratic. She has been known in the past to take us down the most remote road in the whole UK, in order to cross a toll bridge that probably hasn’t seen a vehicle at all since the last stagecoach went by and she also has a predilection for a particular housing estate in Lowestoft that she thinks is the town centre. Laura has a curt manner, is deeply critical of the slightest error and on occasions can seem downright rude but it has to be said that in comparison to what I encountered in France last week she is an absolute angel.

It all seemed quite simple. I had to pick up a hire car at the airport north of Paris and drive about 200 km southwest to a picturesque small town named Vendôme, where I would meet a film crew with whom I was making a documentary. It didn’t help when the busy car hire man left alone, without instructions in a vehicle that had a dashboard that would have looked right at home on the Starship Enterprise. It had a built in GPS that baffled me just to look at it. In fact, suspecting that something of the sort might happen I had taken Laura with me but probably because she is the only GPS in the world that does not like to travel, she refused point blank to speak to me for the whole of the five days I was in France. The moment I returned home and complained to Kate about the fact, Laura began chatting away in a manner that suggested she had been compliant and friendly throughout the whole trip.

I sat in the car park of the airport for twenty minutes, trying to figure out how to make the GPS work, and then how to persuade it to speak English. Three times I walked back to the little hut and persuaded the car hire man to come and set the thing for me and on each occasion it stopped working the moment he turned away.

In the end I did not dare ask him again, for fear of souring international relationships beyond repair. Even when I did get the GPS going in some sort of fashion I drove four times around the car hire compound until Francine, as I christened her, condescended to point me in the direction of an exit. I was so disconcerted at her initial performance that I would rather have put my head into the mouth of a lion than to set out into five lanes of French traffic with 58

Francine in charge.

I found a place to park and started again. Finally, I saw the word Vendôme on the brightly coloured screen and we were off. It was late afternoon and traffic down to Paris was building up. In addition to making sure I was staying on the right side of the road I was also being constantly assaulted by impatient Parisians, whilst straining to hear the dulcet tones of Francine, who spoke in a sexy whisper. In desperation to understand her I operated every knob and control in front of me. The screen wipers started, my seat rose up in the air like a ship at sea, all the lights came on, the radio began to play Arabic music and even my bottom began to get hot but Francine steadfastly refused to raise her voice by a single decibel.

What made matters worse was that whilst I was used to Laura kindly telling me several hundred yards before I had to make any sort of turn, Francine was a last-minute girl and did not seem to think it was necessary to inform me about any change of lane or exit until it was already flashing by on my right or left. I don’t normally panic but I was definitely headed for Paris and had visions of ending up in the middle of seven lanes of traffic on the Champs Élysées or driving for hours round and round the Place de la Concorde, unable to do anything except see that huge obelisk passing me by time and time again.

Ignorant as I am of the finer points of French geography, I did know that Lyons was south of Paris and I also knew that the Périphérique is the name Parisians give to their ring road. As a result, for nearly an hour I utterly ignored Francine, even though she went on burbling at me seductively until the suburbs of Paris began to disappear behind me. I then pulled into a service station and bought a map. Sitting back in the car, with Francine telling me ever so politely that we weren’t actually on the road any more, I carefully ascertained my present location. To my utter relief I discovered that I was on the right road heading towards Chartres and that not far beyond that was Vendôme.

Why in the name of the Almighty didn’t I just take a map with me in the first place? I have been driving cars for over 40 years and somehow or other I always managed to get where I was going for decades before GPS was even a twinkle in some geek’s eye. I don’t remember ever being so hot, flustered or frustrated – partly because I couldn’t work the air conditioning in the car either!

With hindsight the funniest part of the whole adventure came when I finally found Vendôme and drove three times around the town until I spied my hotel.

Somehow I found a parking space in the crowded streets and was just about to turn off the engine when that seductive voice, with its sultry French accent told me “You have reached your destination.”

Thanks, Francine.

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3rd Guisborough Beer Festival Following two successful beer festivals run jointly by Guisborough Rotary, Round Table and Cleveland CAMRA, the 3rd charity beer festival will be held on 25th and 26th April in the Parish Hall, Bow Street, Guisborough. There will be 31 different cask ales from Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Staffordshire and 5 from local breweries, as well as cider, perry and local fruit wine.

Steak and ale pies, locally made in Guisborough by Enfield Butchers, will be available along with other hot and cold snacks at both evening and night sessions.

Daytime opening hours and admission for Friday and Saturday are 11am - 4pm £3.00, and evening hours are 6pm - 11pm Friday £5.00 and Saturday, when the Guisborough Big Band will be providing entertainment, £7.00.

Entry prices include a free commemorative tankard, programme and £1.00 refund for CAMRA members at the door on production of a valid membership card. Tickets are available from Roger Darnton Estate Agents, 68 Westgate and Guisborough Book Shop, 4 Chaloner Street.

For more details please see http:// www.clevelandcamra.org.uk/ or contact Paul Whitefoot on 01287 632794.

CHOCOLINI'S NEWS NUGGETS Our Bunnies and Chicks are out!

As it’s impossible to show our complete range you may like to have a look at our Facebook page or call into the shop and see for yourself.

Although Easter is at its latest this year Don’t be late in ordering or picking up your Easter Eggs or personalise gift.

Happy Easter to all our lovely Customers!

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Saltburn Allotments Association April tends to be the month of high hopes, seed sowing and planting out. The beginning of the year was so soggy that I think some of us will be planting out our potatoes in early April along with our parsnips and carrots. A bit late but things will soon catch up (fingers crossed).

In March I sowed some lettuce, leek, brassicas, beetroot, broad beans and peas in guttering which I shall have to find space for very soon. Now, I’m looking forward to sowing maize and French beans, climbing and dwarf, under cover. Other seeds you can sow this month include more peas and broad beans, summer and winter cabbage, broccoli, sprouts and cauliflower, radish, celery and celeriac, beetroot, lettuce and salad leaves, curcubits (cucumbers, courgettes etc.) and, there’s just time for tomatoes, peppers, chillies and aubergines. I start all of these off under cover with the thought that I can manage numbers more effectively and that I’ll have good healthy little plants to plant out later that will be more able to resist pests and diseases.

I’ve just been looking at an article in this Month’s Kitchen Garden magazine that talks about companion planting. Some people do this all the time and I know others are sceptical. Some examples include growing nasturtiums to draw caterpillars and blackfly away from food crops, sunflowers to shade heat sensitive crops such as lettuce and sweet peas among the climbing beans to encourage pollinators that then pollinate the beans. I might give it a go this year.

I want to remind you about this year’s Saltburn Craft and Produce Show. Last year was really successful and we hope for even better this year. The schedule should be out shortly and there should be more information elsewhere in this magazine but, from our point of view, the following fruit and vegetable classes will apply: 3 onions dressed, 3 courgettes, 5 mixed vegetables, 5 potatoes, 1 cabbage, 3 shallots, 1 lettuce, 5 radishes, 1 odd shaped vegetable, 1 leek, 3 beetroot, 1 cauliflower, 5 pods of peas, best tasting vegetable, 4 tomatoes, 5 strawberries, 5 gooseberries, 5 sticks of rhubarb.

There are also floral entries and entries for children of all ages. Last year we had some wonderful knitted entries and this would be most welcomed again this year.

Show schedules will be available in the library and the allotment containers shortly.

A final quick reminder is for the Farmers’ Market in Saltburn on 12th April. We didn’t have a stall in March but expect to have some good things this month, including, I hope, plenty of rhubarb. Please note that some of our stalls have moved round the corner to the area in front of the developing town centre garden. If you have anything that you can spare for our stall, please come and find us.

In the meantime, happy gardening, Sue 60

Big Mouth Strikes Again!

More top TV comedy capers heading for Saltburn They’ve just about got their breath back from two amazing nights with top TV funnyman Alan Carr at Saltburn Community Theatre.

And now Saltburn’s Big Mouth Comedy Club has bagged another clutch of top TV comics this spring.

Tickets sold out in a matter of days for Have I Got News For You and QI regular Mark Steel’s gig at Saltburn Community Theatre on Thursday, 22nd May. And tickets are selling fast for Big Mouth’s monthly gigs at The Spa Hotel starring Alun Cochrane from Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow on Saturday, 5th April, and huge Big Mouth favourite Matt Reed on Saturday, 3rd May. Sharp-eyed comedy fans will notice that Brass Neck has also changed its name and teamed up with Boro’s legendary Big Mouth Comedy Club to launch two new monthly gigs in Redcar and Guisborough.

Carmel Ramsay of Big Mouth Comedy said: “We’ve obviously been working very closely with Big Mouth these last couple of years, and now we’re launching in Redcar and Guisborough it just makes sense to change names.

“Nothing else changes. We still have the same mix of great comics and brilliant audiences that make us stand out from the crowd.

“We also have a brand new website where people can buy tickets online without paying those annoying booking fees. So everyone’s definitely a winner on that one. Go to www.bigmouthcomedy.co.uk and you’ll also find details of all our shows for the next few months.

“We have some amazing line-ups coming together for the rest of the year. Saltburn is gaining a fantastic reputation on the circuit as a great show and comedians just can’t wait to play here.”

Big Mouth Comedy Club: Saturday, 5th April, Spa Hotel, Saltburn. Starring: Alun Cochrane (MC), plus Seymour Mace, Steve Shanyaski & Rich Wall. Tickets £12.50. Tickets from www.bigmouthcomedy.co.uk Saltburn Health Foods or The Spa Hotel on 01287 622 544.

Big Mouth Comedy Club: Saturday 3 May, Spa Hotel, Saltburn. Starring: Kai Humphries, Nige, Nina Gilligan & Matt Reed (MC). Tickets: £8 ltd edition earlybird / £12.50. Tickets from www.bigmouthcomedy.co.uk Saltburn Health Foods or The Spa Hotel on 01287 622 544.

Mark Steel: Mark Steel’s In Town. Saltburn Community Theatre. Thursday 22 May. £15.00. SOLD OUT!

The Muses of Jim I am writing this on what would have been Betty’s Birthday. I was awoken very early by my mobile: it was my number three daughter Jill hoping I was all right.

Actually I was enjoying a rather very memorable dream. I can’t remember what it was about but it was very good. As for the rest of the day I put on the washer quite early and even attempted to bake some cake. Well, I used the bread maker and then went to Redcar shopping, leaving the machine to its own devices. Unfortunately, whilst following the instructions to the letter the result was a lump of cooked dough. I shall have to seek advice on this matter. Local expert, where are you?

Earlier in the month after my fall I could hardly walk and had breathing problems, and had to be admitted into James Cook until they stabilised my condition. The down size was that I was discovered to have a mobility problem and was issued with a stick. I even received training on how to use it. I must admit it is a help, especially when going up and down stairs. Thank God for the NHS. Although carrying several carrier bags whilst using a stick is very dangerous indeed, they never mentioned that during my stick training. Because of my accident I was unable to do much in the way of housework.

Fortunately, Vicki, my number 2 daughter, came to my assistance, along with daughter, Megan and her partner, Vicki’s, not Megan’s, and they all helped to tidy the house.

Now that I am recovering I have taken up the vac and duster again and to my surprise discovered a lost pair of glasses.

There has been a change of relationship between me and the cats. Nevison has stayed away for a few days and is still awol, Spud only comes home at around 8.00pm for supper and then leaves the house again They are worse than teenagers. I had intended to take them to the vets, but, because of my fall and the following weakness, I have let that slip. Now that I am nearly recovered I shall have to action it next week. Taking Spud first and then Nevison on his eventual return home. Although it is possible they may be seeking to own some other human or humans. I suppose even cats have the right to self determination and I wish them both well.

I finally managed to send some of Father’s war time material to the airfield in California, USA, where he had done his basic flying training. After several attempts to email the material I had to post it. And I have just received the news it has arrived safe and sound. So that’s the end of another chapter. I am certain another one will be opening shortly.

Finally, I had a bit of luck on the Lotto, winning twenty-five pounds! So I decided to buy a second hand compact digital camera. Which I have done. It was a real bargain at only £3.98. Fortunately, my old camera cables and smart card are compatible so it is a real snap. I must admit that as I did buy it in a Redcar second hand shop, I did think about the previous owners and the possible circumstances that might have lead to them selling it, but who knows.

Jim Wingham,without the cats 61

The Saltburn Crossword no 154 set by Saxton Across 8 Entrance plus exit at home yet not (2, 3, 3) 9 Pictures taken and abbreviated (6) 10 Criminals on self appraisal (6) 11 Getting away from gin paces (8) 12 Diesel engine road vehicle driven without in (4) 13 Local road be the start of confusion (4, 6) 15 and 20 Across Local family business such a great boss any one can interpret after removing the AA (7, 8) 16 Skin irritation could do with soothing moisturiser (3, 4) 18 Larger instructions I drew timer around (5, 5) 19 He sounds terribly Russian (4) 20 See 15 Across 22 A country house nagger sorts out (6) 23 Slight look can gel when fashioned (6) 24 Not boring, former lover quoting references (8)

Down Name___________________________________ Address_________________________________ ________________________________________ Telephone_______________________________

Solution to Crossword no 153

The winner of last month’s crossword was Peter Fairey of Langbaurgh Court, Saltburn

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1 Done without dignity gives sour uncle money I decipher (15) 2 Causing great trouble in Venice conning in disarray (15) 3 Purchaser of home you use herb to persuade (5, 5) 4 Swears under oath and sat test to prove it (7) 5 Great saga found in steep ice (4) 6 They don’t take part in formulating port, can’t in Spain (15) 7 Describing balanced contrast on a picture (to do with light and dark) is disturbing ranch coin nugget (15) 14 The arts of warfare disintegrating tiger’s scat existence (10) 17 Drunk or disorderly mass he’d caused (7) 21 Stevenage contains the flat (4)

Note the new address for crossword entries Send your completed crossword to: Saltburn Crossword no 154, c/o Jackie’s Saverstore, 8 Station Buildings, Saltburn, TS12 1AQ

by Friday, 18th April 2014. First correct solution out of the bag wins a £10 voucher kindly donated by Tim and Sheila of Real Meals.

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