‘He’ll tell his tale o’er a pint of ale,
And crack his joke, and bad
Must be the heart who loveth not
To hear the Collier Lad.’ (Skipsey)
To be a pitman poet
you drag words
out of the seam of a dictionary,
write against the grain
all the time
feeling the pain
of a small education,
scribbling in the dark
for a bright spark
germ of a poem.
Hewing
for rhymes,
ducking
in case the roof
of the verse
caved in on you,
Joe
it was bloody hard
to learn,
to craft a line
from the black pit
when the whole world
weighed down on you.
A man was forced
to sing,
to render a ballad
like a lamp in the tunnel,
scraping an education
from coal,
crawling along bookshelves
to find daylight,
Shakespeare,
Shelley
and melody
in the stacks
of an underground library.
KEITH ARMSTRONG
TUESDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
BENSHAM GROVE COMMUNITY CENTRE, SIDNEY GROVE, GATESHEAD
WEA NE History and Heritage Branch & NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS PRESENT:
THE PITMAN POET OF PERCY MAIN: JOSEPH SKIPSEY (1832-1903)
THE W.E.A. AND NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS PRESENT:
THE
PITMAN POET OF PERCY MAIN: JOSEPH SKIPSEY (1832-1903) 185TH ANNIVERSARY
OF HIS BIRTH EVENT WITH TYNESIDE LAUNCH OF A NEW BOOK ABOUT SKIPSEY
PUBLISHED BY NVCP IN ASSOCIATION WITH NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL.
FEATURING
POETRY AND SONGS BY CONTRIBUTORS TO THE BOOK, TOGETHER WITH READINGS OF
SKIPSEY'S OWN POEMS, INTRODUCED BY EDITORS KEITH ARMSTRONG AND PETER
DIXON OF NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS WITH FOLK MUSIC BY THE
SAWDUST JACKS, KEITH GREGSON AND GARY MILLER AND ALSO FEATURING ANN
SESSOMS ON NORTHUMBRIAN PIPES WITH
PERIOD TUNES.
TUESDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 7.30PM, BENSHAM GROVE COMMUNITY CENTRE, SIDNEY GROVE, GATESHEAD.
tapestry
poor avenues
life rich
tapestry
warm glow
community
hope springs
pit broken
grass grows
blink bonny
clocks alarm
wake joy in us
buses sweep past
at morn
buried dreams
night sings
town in winter
frosty coats
hearts melt
come the day
me hinny
love speaks
the streets glow
in my memory
golden times
this is
my home
your honour
badges in dust
in my chest
pride
our children
sing
heal wounds
my love
black and white
cups
wansbeck
flows
red
once
my eyes
glowed
my heart
ashington
ash town
yer bugs
i’m drowning
in kisses
deliver
babies
gifts
seed
with my eyes
visions
wor jackie
bobbing
river
doon that hole
gold
nuggets
this is my place
no place
for rats
turn pages
seek liberty
in ancient books
photographs
wor lass
beautiful
bring me sunshine
light
the back lanes
kicking a ball
the walls
echo
KEITH ARMSTRONG
TUESDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 7.30pm
BENSHAM GROVE COMMUNITY CENTRE, SIDNEY GROVE, GATESHEAD
WEA NE History and Heritage Branch & NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS PRESENT:
THE PITMAN POET OF PERCY MAIN: JOSEPH SKIPSEY (1832-1903)
THE W.E.A. AND NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS PRESENT:
THE
PITMAN POET OF PERCY MAIN: JOSEPH SKIPSEY (1832-1903) 185TH ANNIVERSARY
OF HIS BIRTH EVENT WITH TYNESIDE LAUNCH OF A NEW BOOK ABOUT SKIPSEY
PUBLISHED BY NVCP IN ASSOCIATION WITH NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL.
FEATURING
POETRY AND SONGS BY CONTRIBUTORS TO THE BOOK, TOGETHER WITH READINGS OF
SKIPSEY'S OWN POEMS, INTRODUCED BY EDITORS KEITH ARMSTRONG AND PETER
DIXON OF NORTHERN VOICES COMMUNITY PROJECTS WITH FOLK MUSIC BY THE
SAWDUST JACKS AND ALSO FEATURING ANN SESSOMS ON NORTHUMBRIAN PIPES WITH
PERIOD TUNES.
TUESDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 7.30PM, BENSHAM GROVE COMMUNITY CENTRE, SIDNEY GROVE, GATESHEAD.
Dr Jude Murphy, Project Organiser (Heritage)
Part-time : working days: Tuesday to Thursday
WEA North East Region
Joseph Cowen House, 21 Portland Terrace
Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1QQ
0191 212 6125
jmurphy@wea.org.uk
www.ne.wea.org.uk
My poem 'Song for Northumberland' now on permanent display, with image of Bamburgh, at new youth hostel at Bardon Mill.
