Author Geoff Holland
-Bob Sargeant musician and record producer, Bob, whose granddad was involved in the local fish industry, was born in North Shields in 1947 and grew up in Hazel Avenue close to Preston Cemetery. As a keyboards player Bob was part of the 1960s burgeoning local music scene with a number of bands including the popular Junco Partners. He left the North East in 1970 for London, becoming a studio musician as well as playing live with the likes of Mick Abrahams, Al Stewart, and the band Curved Air, playing the organ on their final album, ‘Airborne’. In 1975, he released a solo album, ‘First Starring Role’ before going on to became a regular producer of sessions on John Peel‘s radio shows on BBC Radio 1 with acts such as Joy Division, the Cure, Stiff Little Fingers, Gang of Four, Wire, and Dexys Midnight Runners. Later Bob worked as a producer for Haircut 100, A Flock of Seagulls, the Specials, the Undertones, the Damned, the Woodentops, and many more. He died in Kilburn in 2021 leaving behind an important musical legacy.
-Marion Fawkes outstanding race walker and World Record holder, Marion was born in North Shields in 1948 where she grew up. After leaving school she joined local athletics club North Shields Polytechnic, at the time based at Collingwood Field, North Shields, where she competed in various events including 200m hurdles, 800m, 1500m, 3000m and cross country. Despite enjoying success at county level, Marion eventually, and almost accidentally, developed a taste for race walking which for women at the time was still in the early stages of development. In 1974, with race walking now an integral part of the women’s athletics calendar, Marion became firmly established as one of the leading race walkers in the country when she became the British 3000m Champion. Further success followed, culminating in Marion setting a new World Record for the 5km road walk and in a glittering, trophy-laden career Marion went on to set a total of 23 British, 7 European and 4 World records. To this day, she remains one of the legends of women’s race walking, hugely influential in helping to breakdown some of the barriers that existed in women’s sport.
-Brian Johnson a guy who surely needs no introduction, singer songwriter and lead singer of superstar group AC/DC who, after a chequered career on the North East music scene gaining some success with the group Geordie, went on to establish a global reputation. Whilst always indelibly linked with his home town of Dunston near Gateshead, Brian did for a short period in his adult life live in North Shields, firstly in Chirton West View and then in Preston Grange. He continues to perform worldwide to bucket loads of acclaim whilst remaining a true down to earth Geordie.
he wrote and sang about here…..
-Ewan McColl 1915-born folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector and actor, Ewan McColl is perhaps better known as the father of Kirsty McColl, singer, songwriter and duettist with Shane MacGowan on the Christmas perennial, ‘Fairytale of New York’. The writer of many fine songs including, ‘Dirty Old Town’ and ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face‘, it is in Ewan’s song, ‘The Shoals of Herring’ where he sings about North Shields. Produced for the ‘Singing the Fishing’ episode of the BBC Radio ‘Ballads’ series, broadcast in 1960, the song, which is written in the voice of a fisherman, reflects on life on the Scottish sailing luggers (herring fishing boats) that followed the herring shoals down the east coast. Who can fail to feel a sense of North Shields pride, together with a small helping of nostalgia for the boom years of the North Shields herring industry, when you hear the words, “We left the home grounds in the month of June/And for canny Shields we soon were bearing/With a hundred cran of the silver darlings/That we’d taken from the shoals of herring”. The song has been recorded over the years by a multitude of artists, including The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers and The Corries, further cementing the poetic phrase, ‘canny Shields’ into the national psyche.
he painted here…..
-Norman Cornish was perhaps the most famous artist to emerge from the North East in the 20th century, becoming one of the most respected British artists of his time. Born in 1919 in Spennymoor, he started work as a miner at the age of 14, and continued to work underground even after his painting career was established. He finally became a full-time artist in 1966, with the bulk of his work generally associated with the life and times of communities across the region, particularly his beloved Spennymoor. However, he did occasionally step outside his County Durham world of disappearing pits and close knit mining communities, and in 1980, he was commissioned by The Port of Tyne Authority to capture in oils their recently completed Roll-On Roll-Off ferry terminal at North Shields. This prestigious commission was a departure from his traditional subjects, one which he relished, and, unable to drive, he travelled on a number of occasions to North Shields by bus (changing at Newcastle en route) in order to complete a series of preparatory drawings and watercolours. These drawings and the final oil on canvas are a superb historical record of the Port of Tyne facility as it was in 1980. He was not by any means the first artist to record North Shields on canvas and he certainly will not be the last.
