What object or keepsake sums up Tyneside for you? A Newcastle United shirt, a bottle of Brown Ale, a copy of Viz?
If any of those was your choice, you are not alone. They are among the items featured in the first exhibition on the People’s Plinth at the Farrell Centre at Newcastle University.
The centre opened in April, having been instigated by the international architect Sir Terry Farrell, who grew up in the city and graduated from Newcastle University. The public has been invited to lend objects for regularly changing exhibitions on the plinth, with the centre saying: “These objects are personal, but also frequently speak to shared and collective experiences over the years. Together they offer a snapshot of Tyneside as it was, as it is, and as it might become. We are looking for anything and everything that helps tell the story of Tyneside.”
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Lorna Burn has contributed her copy of The New Geordie Dictionary, published by Frank Graham in 2000, which she values as part of her desire to keep the dialect alive.
She said: “Actor Alan Rickman is reported to have said ‘ I think that every English actor is nervous of a Newcastle accent.’ Perhaps with some cause. I bought this Geordie dictionary for a boyfriend as it was a running joke he couldn’t understand what I said, he not being from Tyneside.
“For me, the Geordie accent is an important part of defining the uniqueness of Tyneside. I feel passionately that it be preserved and encouraged in schools, while teaching when and where it is most appropriate for it to be used. I feel the importance of being connected to the history of the city, not only to the Geordie accent but the richness of the language, poetry and songs that goes with it.”
Jack Arthurs came up with a copy of Viz, which has read since his teenage years. “Viz is brilliant and I love it. It deserves a place on the plinth for its distinctive representation of Newcastle and the North East and for bringing sustained joy and laughter for the last 45 years – an outstanding achievement,” he said.
Jane McCartney’s offering is a bottle of Brown Ale, which was one of the last batch to come of the production line at the Tyne Brewery before it closed in May, 2005, while Lorraine Proudlock chose her Newcastle and Gateshead version of Monopoly, which she bought in the 1990s and points out locations which no longer exist such as the Tyne Brewery and Northern Electric at Carliol House.
The Farrell Centre at the university is admission free and open from Wednesday-Sunday 10am-5pm. People can contribute to the plinth exhibitions by sending a photograph of their object and a paragraph saying why it should go on show to hello@farrellcentre.org.uk.
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