Seems appropriate to say this today - somewhere on the Sgt Pepper cover is a Newcastle United striker who signed for Liverpool. Eyes & Ears is not just an essential service for regional news, you know! eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Early deep dive by me on the early days of Reform in power in Durham - how’s it going so far? Via the excellent Eyes and Ears North East on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/eyesande...

Politicised headlines, the cost of NOT dualling the A1, 25 years of Life, our changing high streets, Run Geordie Run's mean feet, Greggs sausage rolls become a cultural icon - and RIP Sir Ian Gibson. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

How do you write a wonderful and engaging story about your collection of walking sticks? Michael Chaplin shows us how... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

Who remembers Tudor crisps? Would you have climbed a mountain for them? Great bit of nostalgia in this week's Eyes & Ears: eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Start with some volcanic just, add a Durham graduate and some 'field work' from Newcastle University, and you have a cheap way to increase crop yields by 20%, suck carbon out of the atmosphere - and has just won a $5m award. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/publish/post...

Now this is worth five minutes of anyone's time... a cracking read from former BBC editor @jacquih.bsky.social eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

"If anyone in the North East hasn't yet subscribed to Brian Aitken's brilliant weekly news round-up, get on it! With proper journalist pithiness, it summarises everything you need to know as well as everything you didn't know you needed to know." eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Dementia is something that many of us encounter. This is a moving account of how it can impact a family, done with the delicate light-touch of an outstanding writer with first-hand experience. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

Quick-fire regional news round-up plus Gazza, SEND crisis, a Tonali cartoon and, who remembers the Cinzano ads with Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter? eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Just one of the images selected by North East photographer Paul Alexander Knox for his feature 'My Life Through a Lens'., which is one of our gems from The QT Archives. The others are worth a look... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

My five minute round-up of regional news and a few other bits and bobs: eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

"From Roker Park, the sensation that shook the world of football rigid," said the narrator in a terribly, terribly English accent. It's not just 'new' news that you get with Eyes & Ears you know... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Tish Murtha's work is featured across the artwork and merchandise for the latest Sam Fender album. This is well worth a read... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

Even if you don't remember The Tube, you'll love this. Contains a link to Tina Turner's comeback, recorded live with Heaven 17 in the early 80s. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

If you think you don't have time to read this, then you really need to read this... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Why did Queen Victoria insist on having the curtains closed when the royal train travelled through Newcastle? Michael Chaplin will tell you in this wonderful long read from The QT Vaults. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/from-the-q...

This is quite the story to discover, as writer Chris Jackson did, when he was on holiday... From The QT: Eruption which changed the world open.substack.com/pub/eyesande...

My curated round-up of the past seven days. Includes child poverty, Brexit, regeneration, university cuts and public interest journalism and... eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

It’s official! Sunderland is a Music City - Sunderland joins the European music cities network!

Everything you need to know, in one place, once a week. This week's Eyes & Ears includes academies, Dylan covers, university numbers, boost for business, cyber attacks, hospital beds and rats under the bonnet. It's free and it saves you time: eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

My curated round-up of North East news - all in one place, once a week. You can subscribe for free at [email protected]

Eyes & Ears North East eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com?r=fkgbj&utm_...

It's not good at all Bob. [email protected]

Congratulations to Peter Straughan, winner of Best Screenplay at the Golden Globe Awards in LA for Conclave. Gateshead-born and formerly Writer-in-Residence at Live Theatre Newcastle, he also was the screenwriter for Wolf Hall and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. What a talent!

So true what you say John. Ans so sad.

Another good one gone. Davie Laws rose from being a firefighter to chief exec of Newcastle International Airport. And he was NECC president for a couple of years. Loved his football, loved life, and loved a laugh. RIP Davie

RIP Johnnie Walker. What a voice. And a great taste in music.

Here is a link to a weekly newsletter I have just started on Substack. It's a one-stop shop for news in the NE of England - my curated digest with a few added 'extras'. Subscription is free. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com/p/eyes-and-e...

Super weekly round-up of all things north-east by @briantheqt.bsky.social. Here’s hoping the much missed QT returns in 2025. eyesandearsnortheast.substack.com?utm_campaign...

Completely normal emotional response to a bit of light-hearted political satire. Not at all deeply sinister or totally deranged and absolutely NOTHING like 1930s Germany in any form. Glad I’ve cleared that up.

Thanks Val. I'll get better as the weeks go on!

Gregg Wallace had to spend a lot of time opening his mouth for forkfuls of food. He needs to keep his mouth shut right now and open his ears

Our political discourse has been fatally cheapened since 2016 - and here’s👇 one of the prime culprits. It’s how democracy dies.

The meme I didn't know I needed

Reform UK, what they say and what they do.

Remember folks that we need to return to the old habit of reposting (retweeting) people's posts instead of liking them to allow the folks we think are cool to build their following. Let's continue to build one another's visibility as a community should.

Some media are making a big noise about a petition calling for another election reaching 1m signatures (let's assume no bots are involved!!). That's the same media that has been ignoring talk of revisiting another vote on something far bigger and of much more consequence to many more of us #Brexit

This summary entirely chimes with my experience reporting on media use in the UK general election. Lots of people weren’t consuming any news directly yet were still weirdly aware of a lot of the big scandals or allegations. They didn’t even know how the story had reached them, it just sort of… had.

A strong, united Europe is more important than ever now. And we should be part of it.

Good luck to Geordie trainer Brian Ellison, who runs Northumberland Plate hero Onesmoothoperator in the Melbourne Cup in the early hours - the race that brings Australia to a standstill. He has a chance. Bookmakers have him third favourite at odds of 7-1

Two versions of the budget👇

Phew!

Chris went to fourth-tier Bordeaux to interview Andy Carroll and was greeted with “Bonjour!” and then “Pamplemousse!” his favourite French word. What a lovely piece this is on a man spending more than he is earning in order to keep playing. #NUFC www.nytimes.com/athletic/586...

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #6,201,869!

Most of us will know someone who has dementia. This is a wonderful piece of writing from Harry Pearson. <!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->theqt.online/if-you-didnt-l…

Constitutional eyes might be on the House of Lords today but this convention of northern mayors is more significant. www.conventionofthenorth.org.uk/news/all-roa...

Just seen the latest circulation figures for the UK's regional newspapers. Shocked that there are only 7 in the whole of the country that sell more than 10,000 a day. Wasn't that long ago that there were at least 7 selling 100,000 a day. Average year-on-year decline of nearly 20%.