The St John Ambulance Association has always had a big presence in our area. Consett Iron Company had its own members of the St John Ambulance Association primarily founded and trained by Dr George Renton who had founded the CIC Infirmary in 1878. First mention of the members of the Association can be found as early as the mid 1880's.

A while a go I started putting together a number of small articles I had found in the old newspapers relating to the area. Most are on the more macabre side or I just found strangely interesting. The following is a brief account of one such story I found recounted in a number of papers and other local documents as well as some further research.

Like many rural places Durham and Northumberland have there myths and legends, none more so than the tales of the mischievous Bogles. Creatures of folklore who, either ghost or goblin sprite, would pray upon any poor unsuspecting person who crossed their paths. The most famous of these for us in this area would be that of the Hedley Kow.

I was very lucky a few years ago to connect to a cousin of my grandfather’s family and they gifted me with a veritable treasure of family photos.

Crook Hall is a truly ancient estate having even been mentioned in the Boldon Book in 1183 in which the entry simply states “Cruketon pays four marks.” . The name of the landowner was not mentioned, but it was known at this time to belong to the ancient line of the De la Ley family who were the Lords of Witton.

Joanne Rowland is an artist who deals primarily with portraiture of animals, mainly in the medium of coloured pencils. Come read about how she has reached the level of incredible detail and attention to character and emotional depth of the animals she portrays.

Narbi Price was the Journal Culture Awards Visual Artist of the Year 2018, and the winner of the Contemporary British Painting Prize 2017. He was featured in Phaidon's Vitamin P3 - New Perspectives in Painting and was a prizewinner in the John Moores Painting Prize 2012.

He has recently completed an AHRC funded PhD at Newcastle University in partnership with Woodhorn Museum.

The following interview and studio visit took place in 2009

Jim is well known in the North East for his cityscapes and landscapes and he is also someone I enjoyed chatting with on a frequent basis in the period during which I occupied a studio downstairs from him at The Mushroom Works. This turned out to be as comfortable and accommodating chat as I’d ever shared with Jim