The spirit of Horden
The former pit village of Horden received an inglorious mention in these columns a couple of weeks ago when a travel blogger compared the levels of deprivation he saw to a third world country.
This week the BBC’s social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan published an in-depth article on the County Durham village. The first paragraph gives you a clear indication of the flavour:
“On hot summer days, the staff at Cotsford Primary School can't let the children into the playground because of the smell of cannabis being grown in nearby properties.”
Some 15,000 people lived in Horden at its peak in 1951, with about 4,000 employed in the mines. The population has halved since the pits closed four decades ago. There’s been no signs of levelling-up, and child poverty in parts of Horden is double the national average.
“In an area where voting Tory was seen as a sin after their closure of the mines, Reform UK have swept in, hoovering up the votes of the forgotten and the disaffected.”
The article covers absentee landlords, residents who don’t want to be there, boarded-up shops, two empty run-down tower blocks, the politics, and lost EU funding - but also the spirit of the people who live there.
Many people sent an article link to Victoria Hughes, an associate director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation with a role that involves poverty and inequality. Her roots are in east Durham and she is a trustee at Redhills, aka the Pitmen’s Parliament.
She made her feelings clear in a post on her LinkedIn: “I’m getting fed up of places like Horden being wheeled out as the poster child of ‘left behind’ places (a phrase I hate!).
“What’s missing are the stories of people building Horden’s future. The community‑led mine water energy scheme is a brilliant example (mentioned very briefly in the article): turning a legacy of coal into low‑carbon, locally rooted heat and investment – a prototype for what’s possible elsewhere.
“So is Horden Together, bringing residents and services together around housing, safety and wellbeing, and Ensemble ‘84, creating high‑quality theatre and creative jobs with and for local people – and, most of all, bringing hope, aspiration and joy. And there’s No More Nowt, the Arts Council’s cultural programme in County Durham – backing ambitious, community‑rooted cultural activity that grows confidence, connection and pride in place.
”Horden was once a powerhouse of industry and civic life. That history of communities creating their own infrastructure is part of the village’s DNA. What if we focused on how to re‑engage that muscle memory, rather than kicking places when they’re already down?
“I’d love to see more coverage that sits with that complexity: acknowledging what’s been done to Horden, but also with some positive, propositional pieces about what’s needed, what people here are doing for themselves and what could be unlocked if they were backed for the long term with an economic system which is regenerative, rather than extractive and exploitative.”
I think she’s made a good start.
Health gap
A big gap has opened between the North East and better off areas of the country in the number of years people can expect to live in good health. And the latest figures from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) show that not one area in the North is among the best performing communities.
Hannah Davies, CEO of the Northern Health Science Alliance, said: “Sadly, these deeply concerning figures on a decrease in healthy life expectancy are not a surprise.
“Our Health Equity North reports show that people in the North stop working due to ill health, whereas in the South people choose their retirement. The cost of poor health in the North is conservatively estimated at £18.2bn a year.
“Improving healthy life expectancy for all should be a non-party political issue but to do that we need to recognise as a society that its roots lie in poverty and deprivation. Helping people out of that, not punishing them for being in poverty, is the way forward.”
Wait may be over
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will have their right to support reviewed as they move into secondary school, according to the BBC.
They were reporting on leaks to a long-delayed Schools White Paper which could be released by the Department for Education tomorrow.
Children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs), legal documents setting out what extra support they are entitled to, will be reassessed after primary school from 2029 as part of a wider system overhaul.
The BBC understands this will sit alongside an extension of legal rights to include all children with SEND through school-led Individual Support Plans (ISP).
Eyes & Ears contributor Arlen Pettitt, who has a child with an EHCP, said: “I’m very sceptical about ISPs as I think they will simply add an extra layer to the system. I instinctively don’t like the idea of the system being primarily school-led, and feel there will need to be a higher power to refer to. In my own experience, and that of many parents I have spoken to, schools can be less than helpful.”
You can read his thoughts and insights in his Wor Room EXTRA column by clicking here.
Brilliant move
Community Foundation North East has launched North East Roots Ambassadors, an initiative designed to bring together individuals with strong ties to the region and encourage them to give back.
Chaired by Michael Heppell, the programme aims to build a network of 100 ambassadors over three years and raise £1m for the foundation’s North East Roots Fund.
“It’s voluntary. It’s ambitious. I’ll still do my other work. And, I’ll be honest, I’m, let’s say, ‘nervcited’,” said Michael on his LinkedIn.
Pubs reject AI artwork
Newcastle pubs the Mean Eyed Cat and Free Trade Inn have come together on social media to announce they will no longer display any AI art, including on bottles and pump clips, in order to try to protect local artists.
Simon Hubbard, who runs the Mean Eyed Cat, says he noticed “a spate of breweries who are just coming out with this absolutely dreadful AI slop” and that the subsequent alliance with the Free Trade Inn provided one of the most viewed Instagram posts the pub has made.
The pubs’ stance is supported by Reece Hugill who owns the Newcastle brewery Donzoko and believes using local artists is about being part of a community. “If I was to use ChatGPT for my designs rather than our designer Sean, that’s taking money out of the local area into the hands of a multibillionaire,” he said.
“That is removing value from the local community and local artists and into the hands of some of the richest people in the world.”
Well, when you put it like that.
Planning pickle
I only found out that pickleball was a thing three days ago (Eyes & Ears 20.02.26) and here’s me writing about the growing sport again. This time though planning officers at Gateshead are recommending that a proposed padel and pickleball centre on the Team Valley be refused.
The planning committee meets on Wednesday. Deputy leader Gary Haley does not sit on the committee but applicants RDG Leisure will be wishing he did.
“The council’s health and wellbeing strategy aims to reduce inequalities by promoting physical activities, and the economic development strategy aims to increase the attractiveness of Gateshead as a vibrant place to live, work and visit,” he said.
“The proposed change of use to a padel and pickleball centre would contribute positively to both strategies while also providing employment within the Team Valley.”
With 212 messages of support from the public, I’d have a small wager on the committee going against the advice of their officials.
Fair fares
Hexham mayor Councillor Derek Kennedy has called for train fares on the Tyne Valley line to match the cheaper prices paid on the Northumberland Line.
Meanwhile, Northumberland Park, the fifth station on the Northumberland Line, was welcoming passengers for the first time this morning. Cathy Massarella, managing director of Nexus, said: “This brand‑new station creates a direct link straight into the Tyne and Wear Metro, opening even more opportunities for tens of thousands of people across the region.
“From visiting the coast to quicker access to businesses based along the network, customers can now benefit from improved connectivity and help reduce congestion on the road.”
The final station, Bedlington, is due to open to customers on Sunday, March 29.
A quick word
Sam Fender’s collaboration with Olivia Dean, Rein Me In, is No.1 after being in the charts for 35 weeks. It now holds the record for the most consecutive weeks in the Top 40 before hitting the top spot - beating the 19 weeks of Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud. Hartlepool councillors have delayed making a decision on their budget and council tax rates to go back to Government and make their case for additional funding. The budget has to be set by March 5. Mitsubishi has taken a 25% stake in the Woodsmith fertiliser mine, raising hopes that the project can be resumed in full and creating hundreds of jobs in North Yorkshire and Teesside. The retina division of Newcastle-based Newcells Biotech has been bought out of administration by Cambridge company Axol Bioscience. All staff who work in that department have been retained but 18 other jobs have been lost. The retail park at Team Valley has been sold in a £100m deal to London real estate company Ashtrom Properties. There will be no trains between Middlesbrough and Whitby from Monday to Friday this week so a level crossing can be replaced.
Baby it’s cold outside
Plenty of snow and freezing temperatures at this year’s Winter Olympics, but things were obviously rather hotter in the athlete villages. Organisers provided 10,000 free condoms for the 2,800 competitors - and had to re-stock after only three days.
Crumbs
Sometimes you can convey so much in just a few words. Amanda Roberts, the sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre, spoke to the BBC after the news broke of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. “We believe it’s the breadcrumb to the larger dinner,” she said.
Recommended reads
This is by way of a follow-up to Friday’s Eyes & Ears piece about AI and the essay Something Big Is Happening which has had 80m views on Twitter.
Noah Smith is an American economist, writer and commentator and says the Matt Shumer essay, if anything, understates the pace and magnitude of the changes taking place.
“There’s a bigger reality out there that people outside the tech industry, and even many people within it, don’t seem to have grasped yet,” writes Smith. “It isn’t just that AI could take your job, or put millions of people on welfare, or give us infinite free software, or whatever. It’s that for the first time in all of recorded history, humans no longer are - or soon no longer will be - the most intelligent beings on this planet.
Investigative journalists at Democracy for Sale have been reporting on how Labour Together, the think tank that helped Keir Starmer get to No.10, hired a PR firm to discredit journalists who had exposed at least £730,000 in undeclared funding to their cause.
“Our reporting on this scandal has made headlines across the media and has now triggered an inquiry by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team. So what’s the problem? Surely this means we’ll finally get to the bottom of Labour Together’s black ops campaign? We’re not so confident.”
Its 400 square mile of landscape has been shaped by over 10,000 years of human activity. Northumberland National Park is enjoyed by over 1.7m visitors each year, using over 1,200 kilometres of public rights of way. Tony Henderson reports on how it will celebrate its 70th anniversary.
Today’s article about Horden prompted me to dip into The QT archives and bring you this brilliant piece from former BBC editor Jacqui Hodgson who went to Sacriston in March 2024 and spoke to a man who was breathing new life into another former pit village.