“You cannot be in a situation where it is more economical for you to fly-tip than it is to legally get rid of rubbish.” The words of Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp at a conference in County Durham.
On the subject of dumping, there is a shocking story about vulnerable people being put in taxis by London councils and driven hundreds of miles to the North East.
There’s also music, metros, and the shocking rise in the cost of hospitality at the Stadium of Light
‘Dumped’ in the North East
Vulnerable families, including women fleeing abuse, are being illegally “dumped” by London councils hundreds of miles away in cheap, sparsely furnished properties in areas such as County Durham, Hartlepool and Darlington.
Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash told the Guardian it was a “disgrace” and accused London councils of the “dumping of a crisis on to northern communities”.
“It is undoubtedly the case that this kind of behaviour is increasing tension in towns like Hartlepool as local people face massive challenges with housing and other public services. It is ripping at the social fabric of the community I represent.”
Charities described the policy as inhumane and accused councils of targeting vulnerable refugees who speak little English and have little ability to understand or challenge the move. If they refuse, they are in effect forced on to the streets.
An Albanian woman who fled a sex trafficking gang in Manchester was unlawfully told to move out of her property in west London to a property 260 miles away in County Durham despite being highly vulnerable and having two young children.
When she raised concerns to Ealing council, officers provided the details of two sex trafficking support organisations it said were in County Durham – except one was based in Durham, North Carolina in the US, and the other in Durham, Ontario, Canada.
‘Scrap tip charges’
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp helped launch an anti-littering campaign when she spoke about about waste fees and council skip charges during a major countryside conference at Raby Castle.
“The local authorities have to roll back on the skip taxes, the skip fees, and everything,” she said. “You cannot be in a situation where it is more economical for you to fly-tip than it is to be legally get rid of rubbish.
“The second thing is the fines have got to be far in excess of what they are now, and they’ve got to be implemented, and we’ve got to see people made a real example of. It’s got to be clear that you’re going to get in a lot of trouble for it.”
You can read the Future Countryside report here.
We have lift-off
Defence giant Lockheed Martin UK has announced its first tranche of space jobs, with vacancies in the North East, Helensburgh in Scotland and Havant in Hampshire. The move comes as the business looks to create up to 2,000 new positions.
The new opportunities range from trainees to senior project planners. Rod Drury, vice president for global space at Lockheed Martin, said: “This is about creating new jobs, building new capability, and ensuring the UK has what it needs to defend its critical assets in space. “It’s a genuine opportunity to grow the UK space sector while strengthening national security - and to position the North East at the heart of that future.”
United in music
A new initiative designed to help North East and Tees Valley musicians build international careers has been officially launched at SXSW London.
The Northern Music Export Office, which was first announced at SXSW in Austin, Texas earlier this year, brings together partners from the North East, Tees Valley, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire to support artists, managers, labels and music businesses looking to reach audiences beyond the UK.
Delivered by North East-based music development organisation Generator, the programme will offer touring support, mentoring, export training and development opportunities aimed at helping Northern talent compete on the global stage.
Artists involved in the launch, which was hosted by Washington-born Radio One DJ, Maia Beth, included South Shields singer-songwriter Nadine Shah, while the initiative’s backers hope it will help create new international opportunities for the next generation of Northern talent.
Generator CEO Mick Ross, who has also been CEO of the export office for the past six months, said: “This initiative is the product of so much work by a number of passionate individuals and organisations who want to provide opportunities to the amazing talent we have across the north.”
Talking of music
It was only a couple of weeks ago (Eyes & Ears 22.05.26) that I was telling you about the new Rolling Stones video In The Stars where Mick, Keith and Ronnie had been ‘de-aged’ using groundbreaking deepfake technology.
The results are amazing - and the number of clicks the video has received puts it pretty close to the top of the all-time Eyes & Ears charts.
So, I should probably tell you about a standout day when I was a young lad working as a sub editor on the Evening Express in Aberdeen in the early 80s. I also wrote the weekly pop column and took a mysterious call one morning from a PR company who said I should go to the Capitol Theatre straight away.
No reason was given despite my obvious probing. My boss said I should go, and he also sent a photographer along “just in case”.
There were three people stood outside the Capitol when I arrived, a woman - and two of my mates! They were frantically waving at me to join them in the queue because Rolling Stones tickets were about to go on sale.
Mystery solved. I didn’t have to worry about tickets as I knew that two review tickets would be coming my way (and, boy, was I popular in the office all of a sudden as people ingratiated themselves in an attempt to be my plus one).
But how did my mates know? Turns out they were in the right place at the right time.
Imagine the scene. It’s not long after opening time. The bar is quiet. Just two punters and a barmaid. Then two guys in suits and ties walk in, one with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. Barmaid asks the obvious question. The guy replies that inside his briefcase are tickets for a Rolling Stones concert that will be announced that day without any pre-publicity.
The barmaid got someone to cover her shift. My mates were the two punters. They heard every word. That’s why the three of them were first in the queue.
The photographer, meanwhile, had secured a vantage point in a tall building opposite the venue. As word spread like wildfire - in the days before mobile phones and social media, don’t forget - he captured some brilliant photographs of the snake of people who lined up to get tickets to see one of the greatest rock bands of all time - before they were de-aged.
Metros to go on show
As Tyne and Wear Metro’s old trains enter their final weeks in service, two have been saved from the breaker’s yard as heritage exhibits which will illustrate their part in the region’s railway history.
One has been gifted to the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields and talks are being held with another North East museum as a home for the other. A third was donated to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to support firefighter training.
The rest are being sent to a specialist breakers yard in County Durham where they will be recycled.
The train donated to the North Tyneside museum – in the original yellow and white Metro colour scheme – is Carriage 4001, the first prototype Metro carriage delivered to the Metro test track in 1975, five years ahead of the system opening in August 1980. The move is a homecoming, with the museum site at Middle Engine Lane the former site of the Metro test track. Tony Henderson has more.
How much?
Yes, there’s cost of living increases, inflation and getting into Europe to take into consideration, but all is not well at the Stadium of Light with the recently-announced increases in hospitality charges.
Gavin Brown of Robinson Brown Design took to LinkedIn to say that his £4k package has been increased to £15k - a sum too rich for his company.
“We feel the club is pushing away small businesses like ours from being able to be sponsors in the pursuit of higher income and larger / regional / national / international businesses. Whilst we understand that to a degree, the club is built on the local support of fans and local small businesses like ourselves, and to just discard us is a bit of a slap in the face.”
He has received a lot of support, people sharing a similar story - and suggestions to turn to South Shields FC or Washington Rugby Club instead.
A quick word
From world championship quoits and Napoleonic soldiers to Meccano masterpieces and carriage-driving competitions, Beamish Museum has unveiled a packed programme of summer events. Cultured. North East has all the details. Gateshead has become the second North East council to say it will stop flying the Pride flag outside its civic centre. It will also pull funding for future Pride events. In what could be seen as a two-fingered response, about 700 people attended a fundraiser in Sunderland on Saturday ahead of a month-long Summer of Pride festival which will bring Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead together in one “unforgettable programme”. The Big Library at Ushaw House in County Durham, home to more than 50,000 rare books, early manuscripts and first editions, is to open to the public for one day a month as part of its 175th anniversary celebrations. Newcastle International Airport, the fastest growing among the UK’s 15 largest airports in the first quarter of 2026, has recorded its busiest-ever May half term, welcoming over 200,000 passengers – an 8% increase compared to last year.
What made Creamola foam?
I came across this video while doing some research for the usual nostalgic TV ad break that features in Eyes & Ears every Friday.
Sausage rolls in a tin, Rise & Shine (powdered orange juice), the Amazin’ raisin bar, Mint Cracknell, Ice Magic (the chocolate syrup that went hard the second it touched ice cream and Goblin meat pudding in a tin “with an ingredient list that read like a dare”. Just a few of the products in the video which sees the 16 minutes fly by.
You can still get Ice Magic in the US where it is sold as Smucker’s Magic Shell. You can’t get Toast Toppers though. Heinz stopped making it in 2015 and have not brought it back despite the best efforts of many petitions.
Then there was Hedgehog flavoured crisps that got done for false advertising because they didn’t contain any hedgehog and, my favourite, Creamola Foam, which was like Andrews Liver Salts but came in a variety of fruit flavours.
Most of us tried it straight from the spoon at least once but what I didn’t know until now was that the foaming agent used contained soap - and that wasn’t mentioned in the list of ingredients.
Recommended reads
New Orleans, 3 December 1999: Professor Charles Craddock, an expert in blood cancer, slinks into the main hall at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Head pounding with the combined effects of jet lag and a hangover, he considers walking straight back out again. The flight from England lasted an age, and dinner is calling.
He chides himself. He’s come all this way, he thinks. He ought to at least stay and listen.
Slipping into one of the few remaining seats at the back of the room, he takes in the wide auditorium. This is the 41st annual meeting of the American Society of Haematology. Four thousand delegates - including the world’s greatest minds working in the field of blood diseases - are gathered for a plenary presentation. The lights dim and a tall, string-bean of a man steps out onto the stage.
Thirty minutes later, and the room is rapt. Hangover forgotten, Craddock is sitting forward, his hands gripping the edge of the chair. The man on stage is Dr Brian Druker - and what he is saying will change the course of medical history.
Twenty-seven years on, and Craddock is trying to do the very same. He claims to be at the vanguard of a revolution in UK medicine, one that will speed-up access to potentially life-saving blood cancer treatments. The question is, can he persuade drug companies he’s offering something that commercial giants and elite universities can’t?
More from Kate Knowles in the Birmingham Dispatch here.
Many words have been written about good and bad prime ministers. But what about good and bad ex-prime ministers? Tony Blair is one of the best prime ministers we have had. He is also one of the worst former prime ministers we have ever had, writes Ian Dunt in his Substack column.
“This is a really specific and useful role, which is underrecognised. It provides a space for someone with experience and gravitas to intervene in political life. If you get it right, you can be an elder statesman, providing continuity with the past, an articulation of national values, and an assessment of the future. Blair is atrocious at this role.
“There is another prime minister who makes regular efforts to intervene on modern affairs and influence the direction of British political thought. His efforts are not given much coverage. Hardly anyone seems aware that he does it at all. And yet his words are full of grace, fine judgement and a profound sense of public duty. His name is John Major.”
For the advertising section may I suggest the old Club biscuit film and the jingle that went:
‘if you want a lot of chocolate
on your biscuit join our Club’. You can make a useful comparison with the sad specimen that is the current, reduced size, unchocolatey ersatz version that is untemptingly cluttering the shelves these days. I have taste tested - the new ones are rubbish. Where do I go now for my sneaky bad-girl treats?