Whatever happened to the Owenites? After the end of the Owenite movement in the 1840s, those who were inspired by Robert Owen’s co-operative social philosophy became a loose ‘Diaspora’. Tyneside was one place where Owenism still influenced local action, and most of all at Wallsend where Co-operators tried to shape their own community with its own school in the early 1870s.

Start Time: 19.00
Date: 2012-04-10

We leave at 10 a..m. by the Picture & Piano on the Quayside returning at 1 o’clock in time for lunch at various venues. The charge will be £15 per person; children over 5, £7.50. There will be a historical commentary. There are still some places left. To reserve contact: ppp@nelh.org or 07761818384.

1. Diary
2. Editorial
3. Why the Project is Important
4. Oral History Update
5. Topic Themes
6. News
7. Tyneside in the Age of Revolution
8. Radical Politics of the Left
9. Have you read Lisbeth Simm?
10. The Fight for Women’s Rights in the North East 1896-1914
11. Police Spies
12. The Church and Politics
13. Pit Disasters
14. Youth and Community Work History,
15. Newish Books of Interest.

Metropolitan culture and vernacular traditions: cultural policy and the making of the modern North East after 1945

This talk examines the impact of new institutions that emerged after 1945 upon a region with deeply rooted vernacular traditions. The creation of the regional arts board and the development of regional broadcasting, as well as the national efforts to manage the northern economic problems, presented challenges for vernacular culture. Some surprising paradoxes are revealed: the region at the end of the nation’s cultural queue was the first to create a regional arts council. The last English region to receive television broadcasting produced Tyne Tees, the television company that hoped to outshine the BBC in the local integrity of its programmes. In the ensuing battle between provincial and metropolitan values, the north east as a modern culture region took shape.

Wednesday 22^nd February 7 pm