There is something unique about today’s edition - it features reader comment for the first time.
It won’t be the last. Eyes & Ears is about to get bigger. And better. Part of the growth plan is to provide a platform for opinion and debate, a place where reasonable discussion can take place and people can disagree - so long as they disagree agreeably!
I’ll tell you more about those growth plans soon. It will cost me money - but it will be an investment in quality journalism and will provide you with an online newspaper that is independent, politically-neutral but North East biased.
Eyes & Ears has been free to read for nearly a year and a half now. If you like it, and like the sound of what I’m proposing to do, then this would be the perfect time for all you free subscribers to upgrade to paid. It’s £6.99 a month - how many tins of Heinz soups could you get for that these days?
Something in return
Clients of John Dance’s WealthTek are to get payments from the firm that appointed the Newcastle-based investment management company as its representative.
Sapia Partners LLP has agreed to pay £19.6m to cover shortfalls for those who have been unable to fully recover their funds. The company avoided having a £7.4m penalty imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority who decided to issue a censure because of Sapia’s cooperation and the voluntary payment.
The FCA ordered WealthTek to cease operations in April 2023. Dance, the principal partner, was subsequently charged with money laundering and fraud in what the FCA described as “one of the most serious and largest frauds we have ever investigated.”
The FCA alleged Dance transferred over £64m in client funds for his own use in pursuing a “lavish lifestyle” which included owning a string of racehorses and a Newcastle nightclub. His trial is scheduled for September 2027 at Southwark Crown Court.
Barclays previously made a voluntary payment of £6.3m to WealthTek clients and were fined £3m by the FCA for its failure to conduct even “one simple check” on money laundering which resulted in customers’ funds being put at risk.
Region in spotlight
A major international creative industries conference is taking place at Newcastle University Business School this week.
Leading economists from around the world will join UK experts to share ideas on cultural and economic development and find out more about North East successes.
It’s hosted by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Creative PEC) which is based at the university and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - itself part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a Government-sponsored non-departmental public body.
Professor Christopher Smith, AHRC executive Chair, said: “From music, film and TV to performance and gaming, Newcastle and the North East play a critical role in the UK’s creative industries, a sector which is vital to our future prosperity and wellbeing.
“This conference will showcase how this hotbed of creativity and innovation is acting as a key driver of growth and ensure that we learn from a diverse range of perspectives from around the world to build on this international success story.”
David Whetstone has more here.
Mine of information
Josiah Mortimer, chief reporter of the Byline Times, attracted a fair bit of social media reaction when he posted about the completion of a mega-solar project on the site of former coal mines that will provide enough energy to power around 1.5 million homes.
The project was in Greece - but we should be doing something similar here, was a common response. Turns out we are. Solar farms, wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps are breathing new life into former collieries around the country, but we just don’t hear that much about them. So, Josiah decided to shine a light on 10 renewable projects being built on former industrial heartlands - including two right here in the North East.
Gateshead Mine Water Heat Network: Gateshead Energy Company – owned by the council – uses water heated underground in the mines to power hundreds of homes. It’s been operational since March 2023 and is the largest project of its kind in the UK.
Mine water, at 15 degrees C, is taken from drilled boreholes and passed through a heat exchanger which transfers heat, via a heat pump, into a network of underground pipes that supply hot water at 80 degrees C to over 350 homes and more than 25 buildings – including Gateshead College, the Glasshouse and the Baltic.
Prices are guaranteed to be 5% minimum below market prices. The solar park next to the heat pump building also means the machinery itself runs on 100% sustainable energy for several months of the year.
Miners from Poland visited last July to look at what could be done with former coal sites, and seemed inspired by the idea.
Seaham Solar: A proposed solar park near the former Dawdon Colliery in County Durham would power approximately 11,000 homes each year and displace around 19,000 tonnes of carbon annually. It includes a voluntary community benefit fund of £20,000 per year over its 40-year lifetime. The application is awaiting a decision from Durham County Council and Sunderland City Council. “Subject to approval, construction is expected to take around 12 months, with first electricity generation targeted in 2027.”
Party time
The Baltic and the Glasshouse are joining forces for a Summer Block Party. A day of activities is planned for July 4, with the action spilling onto the quayside, including live music, talks, tours, creative markets and drop-in sessions – and heralding the opening of Baltic’s two next big exhibitions.
The new Level 3 attraction is to be Tish Murtha & Kuba Ryniewicz: Close to Home, featuring work by the late documentary photographer alongside that of the Newcastle-based photographer whose work has graced high profile magazines.
Opening on Level 4, meanwhile, will be Journey to the Great Below, by Brooklyn-based artist Chitra Ganesh, featuring newly commissioned sculptural works, a new animation and a wall drawing.
As well as looking and listening, it promises to be a day for browsing and buying, says David Whetstone who has all the details here.
Life-saving thank you
Jamie Hardesty is lucky to be alive. In 2022, he fell 30 feet from a mountain. The near-fatal accident left him with a broken back, a spinal cord injury and wheelchair-dependency post-paralysis.
Four years later, the former QT columnist and editor of the Newcastle Tech Digest, can walk, swim and cycle. He can’t move quickly, but he can move.
It’s amazing then that this summer he is taking on three challenges: a mountain hike, triathlon and coast-to-coast cycle, to raise money for Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation, the volunteer team who came to his rescue and saved his life.
“This isn’t a typical endurance challenge,” he said. “I live with neurological limitations from the injury. Movement is restricted. Fatigue is real. Things most people take for granted, walking, balance, endurance, still require effort and intent. So that’s exactly why I’m doing this. This is about rebuilding distance, physically and mentally, from where I was.”
A quick word
Of all the accolades that could come your way, “best magical being” sounds like it should be close to the top. It’s now one that former X Factor winner Joe McElderry can wear with pride following the UK Pantomime Awards 2026 where he was recognised for his role as the Spirit of the Ring in Aladdin at Newcastle Theatre Royal. Liverpool artist Andrew Small says Premier League football club Sunderland used a design based on his 2008 Roker seafront sculpture on this season’s away kit without permission. He is now considering legal action, while the club denies any copyright breach. Tuesday will see the announcement of the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings List 2026. I’m reliably informed that the North East has at least one entry. Last year the historic Gibson Street Baths in Newcastle made the list, although I’m not aware that there have been any developments with the council-owned Edwardian building since then. The Shields Ferry is back in operation today - with emergency repairs to the storm-damaged ferry landing expected to reach almost £250,000. A new £24m landing closer to the North Shields Fish Quay is due to open in 2027 to replace the current site at Smiths Dock. The former head of property at Newcastle City Council, Paul Stewart, has joined Avison Young as a director.
Fair return
A major contemporary craft and art fair is set to return to Newcastle this summer, bringing more than 100 independent makers and artists to the city.
Following a successful debut, The Great Northern Contemporary Craft & Art Fair Newcastle will once again take over Northumbria University’s Sport Central in June, offering a four-day programme celebrating high-quality design, craftsmanship and creativity.
Running from June 18-21, the event will open with a preview evening before a full weekend of exhibitions, demonstrations and opportunities to meet artists working across disciplines including fine art, sculpture, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and furniture.
Si, you Jimmy
Lovely interview in High Life North magazine with the remarkable Jimmy Nicol. The 87-year-old, who has been welcoming visitors to Raby Castle since 2018, has been getting regional and national recognition for his voluntary work.
You get the feeling he would have been just as happy conducting the interview in Spanish.
“I enjoy using my knowledge of the Spanish language to help Raby’s Spanish visitors,” he said. “I once sent a County Durham calendar to the Spanish royal family, along with information about the area as a Christmas present, and I was delighted to receive a Christmas card from them in return. Nearly half a billion people across the world speak Spanish, and it would be amazing if we could welcome more of them to the region to experience what it has to offer.”
Feedback
I’m guilty of not asking for your feedback often enough. The door is very much open. I’d love to grow Eyes & Ears into being a platform for intelligent conversation and debate. Here are a few comments received from recent editions:
“Really liking this feed. Excellent mix of info, opinion and news, both good and bad. Good news is hard to seek in the rest of journalism so this balance is profoundly to be welcomed. Also like the occasional comment, like hating the word ‘re-imagining’; now, if you go for an all out war on ‘reaching out’, I’m yours for life.”
And another:
“Interesting stuff as always. As a Geordie expat it's refreshing to find a decent way to keep up with the local news as some of the main local media give you cancer of the eyeballs.”
“AI is a pipe dream designed to extract money from the last desperate suckers who haven’t realised it yet. Data Centres will take at least two years to build and even if they ever come online, they use an inordinate amount of power and water for already obsolete technology.”
“At last! Thank you for Simon Rushworth’s article, spelling out so clearly why pension funds - particularly council pension funds, drawing on our local council tax - are vital on several fronts: accountability, investment, intergenerational fairness, to name a few. Add Tees and Durham Pension Funds to Tyne & Wear, and we have £22 billion originally from our pockets invested mainly abroad. Our Divest Tyne & Wear campaign has pushed for five years for those assets to increase investment in sustainable local schemes to improve futures, and switch out of destructive fossil fuels.”
“On ‘care’: I’m a southerner trespassing here - with admiration - so you can cut me off if this is too far out of line. The right to die bill was introduced by a Northern MP, and is itself being killed by a bunch of right wing diehards (sorry) who seem to confuse the most rigorous process with something out of the Third Reich. Presumably because that’s what the Daily Mail wants. Even the Scots made a hash of it.
“However, while anyone too far gone with dementia could not be deemed capable of making that decision, it should surely be possible for a person to add to a Living Will - a legal document - the fact that they would chose death over incontinence, the inability to recognise one’s loved ones, and yes, the certainty of bankrupting them to pay to keep them alive.
“I’ve written this into my Living Will, saying that that would be my choice if it ever became legal.
“The current means test is a mess, but talking about the cost of care while refusing ever to let anyone die, even when they say they want to, is absurd. A grown up debate is required, but that seems to be beyond our legislators - and likely to remain so while religion still plays a disproportionate role in public life.”