It was only a matter of time until John Grundy got around to writing a book on the landscapes and history of Northumberland.
His new book, John Grundy’s History of Northumberland, is out this week and follows his History of Newcastle volume in 2016.
But John’s passion for regional history and architecture began long before that. He taught English at Highfield School in Felling in Gateshead and then for 20 years at South Tyneside College.
In 1984 he took four years out of teaching to take on a full-time job as a listed buildings field worker for English Heritage. This involved checking every building and structure in most of north and west Northumberland as part of a project to gauge what may merit listed status.
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Later he was one of the co-authors involved in the updating and expansion of Pevsner’s Northumberland edition of The Buildings of England series, which included Newcastle. In 2003 he wrote Northern Pride , which featured the best of northern architecture from cathedrals to fish and chip shops.
A move into TV saw John present the BBC North East series Townscape and then Town Portraits. Grundy Goes... as broadcast in the 1990s on Tyne Tees TV followed by Grundy’s Wonders and Grundy's Northern Pride. He also delivered aboard the Shields ferry on summer tours along the River Tyne.
John, 75, who lives in Gosforth in Newcastle, said: “I loved writing the Newcastle book as the history of the city from the Romans and before, to the medieval, Victorian and industrial is extraordinary. I love the fact that the remains of Hadrian’s Wall are under our feet at places like the Lit and Phil and then can be seen when you get to Benwell. Newcastle is a fantastic place.”
Northumberland, with its prehistoric landscape, Roman frontier and wide open spaces as a legacy of centuries of warfare with the Scots and then the lawless times of the Border Reivers has provided another rich seam to mine. “Northumberland, like Newcastle. has the feeling of being a separate place, of a place on the edge,” said John.
He is also chairman of the Friends of Beamish Museum, another of his favourite locations. “Beamish tells the story of the area extraordinarily well, and with integrity, acre and precision,” he said.
John Grundy’s History of Northumberland is from Tyne Bridge Publishing at £30.
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