Waterloo 200 years on

Tuesday June 30th 2015

Dr John Sadler, is speaking at Ponteland Library to mark the 200th anniversary of this battle. This is a free event. To book your place telephone the library 01661 823594.

History of power generation et al conference at Discovery Museum

Conference on the history of power generation, distribution, utilisation and other engineering specialisms

Conference

Why not join this FREE event on 6th June 2015 and hear presentations about our engineering heritage. An optional visit to Cragside House on 7th June is also planned (Free entry for National trust members)

Register before Sat 9 May via the IET website or contact ed_dinning@yahoo.co.uk  alocker@theiet.org

robert.martinroyle@btinternet.com

Date and Time

06 June 2015 - 09:00 to 07 June 2015 - 17:00

Location

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom - Newcastle Discovery Museum

Organiser

Organised by the History of Technology TPN. Contact alocker@theiet.org for more information.

About this event

The History Weekend event commences on 6th June with a free to attend one day conference where papers will be presented reviewing the history of power and other engineering specialisms relevant to the IET. There will also be the opportunity to visit the Discovery Museum's 'Arcs and Sparks' collection. Those who stay for the whole weekend can join the optional visit on Sunday 7th to Cragside House, a National Trust property which was the first private residence to employ hydroelectric power. There is an entry charge to Cragside House for non-National Trust members. Depending on demand it may be necessary to hire a coach for travel to Cragside House in which case a charge will have to be made. Further details about Cragside House can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside 

Programme

Provisional programme details are as follows:-

Saturday 6th June

09.00-09.30hrs arrival and final registration

09.30-17.30hrs presentations and visit to 'Arcs and Sparks' collection

Sunday 7th June 

Optional visit to Cragside House - details and timings to be arranged

Reasons to attend

Are you interested in our engineering heritage ? Then this free event on 6th June is for you. As well as hearing presentations on a range of historical topics there is the opportunity to visit the 'Arcs and Sparks' collection at the Discovery Museum. If you decide to stay for the whole weekend you can join the optional visit on Sunday 7th June to the National Trust property Cragside House, the first private property to employ hydroelectric power 

Additional information

For the Saturday 6th June day at the Discovery Museum light refreshments e.g. tea/coffee will be provided throughout the day for attendees.Light lunchtime snacks can be purchased from the Discovery Museum cafe.

When you register please indicate if you wish to join the optional trip to Cragside House on Sunday 7th and if you require transport. Once numbers are finalised the organisers will advise you if it is necessary to hire a coach and the cost. If numbers are low it may be possible to arrange car sharing

This History Weekend is organised by the History of Technology TPN in conjunction with the Local Network. Weekend History Conferences started in 1973 and have been held regularly ever since. The aim is to capture and record the history of engineering relevant to the Institution based on the direct knowledge, experiences or researches of members. Papers presented are preserved and published in Proceedings, reference copies of which are held in the IET Library. In that way a substantial historical record of our profession and its achievements has been, and continues to be, established  

   

Registration information

To register please contact Anne Locker IET Library and Archives Manager on alocker@theiet.org .

When you register please indicate if you wish to join the optional visit on Sunday 7th June and if you require return transport from Newcastle to Cragside House

Culture and Cake

DISCOVERY MUSEUM
Come along to Culture & Cake, the first of many events to run from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums new 'Platinum Programme' - a culture and heritage programme of activities and experiences for people aged over 55.
Have you ever fancied going behind the scenes at Discovery Museum and having an in-depth look at the vast costume collection? Well Culture & Cake will allow you to do this as well as listening to one of our experts and having a cup of tea or coffee and cake in the Turbinia Cafe after.
Sessions take place every Wednesday starting from 13 May and will be on a different theme each week (see below for details). Each session is £6, however you can block book for all six sessions for just £30. Sessions run 11am - 12noon followed by tea/coffee and cake in the cafe.
Please book in advance by contacting joanne.charlton@twmusuems.org.uk (0191) 277 2297.
Session themes
13 May - Early dresses
20 May - Fans and samplers
27 May - Later dresses
3 June - First World War clothing
10 June - Shoes
17 June - Hats

To make the people smile again

International Brigade Banner embroidered by the Women of Barcelona, 1938. Courtesy of the International Brigade Archive at the Marx Memorial Library, London

 Laing Art Gallery
Sat 16 May, 2pm – 3.45pm.
Free, Function Room.
This is a chance to hear to the fascinating 2007 BBC radio drama/documentary on the Spanish Civil War and the British Contingent of the International Brigades. It follows the story of a British brigade survivor, George Wheeler, who fought in the last great battle of the Ebro and was taken prisoner.
The drama is intercut with interviews with American, Spanish and British survivors, with comments by Professor Paul Preston who has written a definitive account of the war. The production will be followed by talks by the drama producer, Steve Chambers (University of Northumbria) and Martin Ellis (Zymurgy Publishing), publisher of the book on which the drama was based. (drama 1 hour, break, talks 30 mins)

WallsEnders - ships, streets and pastimes

Segedunum 2nd May 11.30am - 4pm, kids under 16 years go free

Fun for all ages

Come along and meet up with old friends and neighbours who used to live in the streets that once occupied the site where Segedunum Roman Fort and Baths now stands.

Take part in the reunion photo and enjoy a fun family day with entertainment from Linskill community choir, Wallsend Wanderers Jazz Band and many others.
Test your knowledge with our fun Wallsend quiz, enjoy looking at some of our amazing old photographs, relax with a cuppa or try your luck on some of our games - including tombola and the paper plane flight challenge.

Evening Meetings Programme 2015/2016

2015

17 September-Dorothy Brownlee:"Clifford's Fort North Shields and the Lifeboat connection"

15 October-Jim Elliott:"25th Anniversary of the Gateshead Flower Festival"

19 November-Professor Ian Haynes:"Recent Work on Hadrian's Wall on Tyneside"

10 December-Xmas Social with entertainment (Northumbrian Music) provided by "Robson's Choice"

2016

21 January-Mike Greatbatch:"Wherrymen and Chain Horse Lads"

18 February-John Moreels:"Nostalgic Views of the North"

17 March-Dr Ian Roberts:"A History of Policing in Northumberland 1780-1950"

21 April-Rev Peter Barham:"The Railway Paintings of John Wilson Carmichael"

Meetings are held in St Mary's Church Hall, Thornhill Road, Ponteland at 7.30pm.

Visitors Welcome     £2
Annual subscription £6 (single)
                                 £10 (couple)
Christmas Social      £8 

Friend of Union Chain Bridge Newsletter Spring 2015

Welcome to our Spring Up-date. Those of you who are following the progress of the project in the local news will be aware that Scottish Borders Council has pledged £550,000 to the refurbishment of the Bridge, which, with Northumberland County Council’s allocation of £500,000, means the project has more than £1m behind it so far.

Extraordinary General Meeting

Overwhelming support was given at an Extraordinary General Meeting held at Paxton Village Hall in January for the conversion of the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge from an Unincorporated Association to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Our application for charitable status is currently in the hands of the Charity Commission and we await our official charity number. Thank you to those of you who were able to come along to that meeting.

Heritage Lottery Fund Bid Bid

In February the Trustees were invited to comment on the ‘Project Enquiry Form’, which is a short, 1,000 word application to the Heritage Lottery Fund prepared by Consult Robinson and commissioned by Northumberland County Council. This outlined the application based on capital works including repairs to the deck, masonry, parapets, hangers and chains, traffic calming and also community heritage projects including education, interpretation, marketing, a celebration on completion of the restoration and co-ordination. It was expected that this application would be made in February and would be based on the engineering report prepared for NCC in 2010 which estimated the costs of repair as £4.7 million. However NCC has postponed making the application in order to review those figures based on a second engineering report which we and they hope to receive in April.

Meeting with Historic Scotland

In March the Trustees initiated a meeting with Historic Scotland and here follows a report on that meeting from John Home Robertson:

"Heather, John, Ted and Stephen met David Fleetwood of the Scottish Government Historic Environment Department and Andrew Martindale and Thomas Knowles of Historic Scotland on the bridge on 5th March, following correspondence between John and Fiona Hyslop MSP, the Scottish Culture Minister.

They explained that Historic Scotland can pay grants of up to 25% of eligible repair and restoration costs up to £500k. Since this is a cross-border structure, they would have to ensure that their money is spent on the Scottish part of the bridge, but they saw no difficulty in satisfying that requirement, and they can pay the grant through either Northumberland County Council or Scottish Borders Council.

Obviously they could not prejudge an application for funding, but they clearly fully appreciate the historic importance of the bridge, and they seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of collaborating with partners on both sides of the border - they suggested an early meeting with both local authorities, their counterparts at English Heritage and the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge.

Altogether an extremely positive and constructive meeting. Let's hope that English Heritage will match the £500k that could be available from Historic Scotland."

The Trustees intend to arrange a meeting with representatives of English Heritage in the near future.

Corporate and General Membership

We have drawn up plans to launch Corporate Membership and forms will be available soon. We hope that if companies take up the opportunity to become corporate members their businesses can be advertised on promotional materials and on our website. Please email unionbridgefriends@gmail.comfor more information.

We will be asking regular members to renew their membership on 1st October 2015 and so if you became a member last summer you will benefit from a few extra months’ membership and unfortunately if you became a member in late autumn or winter you might lose out on a couple of months’ membership.  However, it has been thought sensible to fix a particular renewal date and the membership fee per person will remain the same (£5). Those who have become members should have received a car sticker, postcard and leaflet. If anyone has not received these please let us know and we’ll get them to you.

Berwickshire Naturalists Talk

Looking ahead, Professor Roland Paxton – who is one of our patrons - has accepted an invitation from the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club to give a talk about the Bridge in Hutton Village Hall on 20 May at 2pm. Those who are not members of the Berwickshire Naturalists are welcome to attend as guests and are asked to pay £2 per head.