Timeline - 1960 to Present

Timeline - 1960 to Present (Last Updated 18th April 2009)

NOTE - THIS TIMELINE WILL BE A WORK IN PROGRESS FOR A WHILE.TIMELINE 1960 TO PRESENT 1960'S (As posts with more information and PDF files are loaded entries here will be hyperlinked to them and this timeline will act as an index).

1962 - Poetry 20+ Formed 23rd May 1962 byMagdalene and Archie Donald and Mary Williams (who led it for over 30 years). Ended c 1993. One of the longest standing groups in the area. Follow link for more details, PDF's of anthologies and Margaret Weir's interview with Mary Williams.

- Middlesbrough Writers Group formed 1962 approx). Led mainly by Pamela Christy - laterly by Derek Gregory and Margret Weir - the group was a mainstay of te writing scene for over 30 years based around writing for publication and profit and bosted many published writers and tutors in their ranks over the years. Group ended in mid 1990's. Follow link for more details and their Writers Tips PDF.

1965 - The Darlington Writers Circle  began at Crombies Restaurant and later Bennett House in Darlington. Again many publishe writers in their ranks andthe group lasted over 30 years and possibly still going. Another group associated was led by Mary Sweeten at Bennett House and I think this group is still active. Follow link for more details.

1968 - Jon Miles Longden held informal meetings with writers at the original Purple Onion - Coffee Inn, Bottomley St. Middlesbrough. Peter Stockill meets Jon for the first time.

1968 - Thornaby's Pavilion Poets formed at Thornaby Pavilion founded by Jon Miles Longden, Vincent Mullholland, Norah Hill and Ray Tester. A highly popular group with a number of strings to its bowes. Not sure when it endd but didn't survive to the 1980's as fa as I know. Follow link for more details.

1972 - Gordon Hodgeon arrives on Teesside from Lancaster to take up the post of English Advisor for Cleveland County education. Gordon also becomes advisor to the Northern Arts Literature panel and leader of the Brotton Writers group and helped to pioneer the first Writer in Residencies in the area - Bob Pegg (1983 - 85) Pete Morgan 1984-5, Cath McCreery 1986 who worked in schools an libraries on the estates and the Asian Writers Project with Rukhsana Ahmad. Gordon became involved in later devlopments with the establishment of Write Around and sat on the boards of Cleveland Arts; Buzzwords and the Editorial board of Mudfog Press. Back in Lancaster he was a member of Lancaster and Morcombe Writers Group, which was run by Norman Iles and included David Craig and Nigel Grey in it's members who edited the magazine Fireweed.

1972 - Brotton Writers Group formed by Andrew Stibbs, John Todd, Matt Davidson, Alan Stewart, John Fookes, Eric Turnbull and Gordon Hodgeon out of the Brotton Labour Party. Longstanding writers group in the area who are still active. Follow link for more details.

1972 - Housecall Writers Group - was created by poets who contributed to the BBC Radio Cleveland (Radio Teesside back then) programme Housecall by presenter Mike Hollingworth with support from Mike and ater presenter Bill hunter. Group was active until the 1990's. Follow link for more information.

1980 - Trev Teasdel arrives on Teesside from Coventry to begin a degree course at Teesside Polytech. Becomes a central literary activist and catalyst, tutor and writer in the area over the years.

1980 - Rebecca O'Rourke (Published Writer) was Co-ordinator of the Leeds University Adult Education Centre, Harrow Rd. Middlesbrough in 1980 (soon to move to London to work with the Community Publishing Project - Centreprise. Se wasn't aware of other writers in the area at this stage but returned in the early 90's to research the vigourous Community writing developments that had built up from much of what follows here! Here 1992 research project booklet will be discussed on this site.

1981 - Trev Teasdel becomes secretary of The Humanities Society and joins the Student Union Entertainment Committee at Teesside Poly where he meets Dave Wood - singer songwriter and others with whome he forms the Multi Media Society.

March 1981 - Trev Teasdel organises his first mixed media performance nights on Teesside based on ones he organised for the Coventry Music Scene in the 70's as part of the Humanities Society programme. Discusses with Dave Wood the possiblility of a new Student Union society that can build on this initiative. At the Empire (now the Tavern on Linthorpe Rd with poets a band and acoustic acts).

October 1981 - Trev Teasdel, Dave Wood and Amelia Ward for the Poly Multi-Media Society with creative workshop, mixed media night and a writers group. Leads on to other projects in the wider community - Castalians and more. Dave Wood forms the Multi Media Band AKA The Euclidean Mushroom Band who play in Sheffield, Stockton, Middsbrough - including the Town Hall and more with a 15 Poetry installation by Trev Teasdel - with backing from the band.

February 1982 - Ann Wainwright and Pamela Hutson launch Cleveland's first poetry magazine of the modern age - Poetic Licence, creating excitment in the community and linking local writers with national and international poets via the Small press network and publishing chapbooks and anthologies and a small press digester. Billingham born Ann was also a student at Teesside Poly at the time.

May 1982 - Ann Wainwright, Trev Teasdel and Colin Walker launch The Castalians (Monthly Poetry performance night) at the Dovecot Arts Centre in Stockton as a result of the work of Poetic Licence and the Multi Media Society. Highly successful and brought together some of the important names in this history for the first time. In

1984 - it was relaunched as The New Poetry Scene.

1982 - Ann Wainwright organises a poetry competition each issue in Poetic Licence judged by John Hewitt, then Co-ordinator of Leeds University Centre, Harrow Rd. (replacing Rebecca O' Rourke) and was the first link with the upcoming underground writing movement witht he University centre. Later this link develops and becomes significant through the WEA in 1986 and The Leeds University Creative Programme of the 1990's. Ann drew links with Radio Celeveland's Housecall programme and writers group. Presenter Mike Hollingworth awarded the prizes for the competition and read the winning entrys out on air. Ann also developed links with Radio Cleveland's Asian Programme through presenter Ashi. Poetry developments for the area's Asian community become significant later on through an Asian Writer in residency and the development of Mushaira's (Urdu and English poetry symposiums) and Khadim Hussain's Cleveland Review.

Autumn 1982 - Pamela Hutson and Trev Teasdel join Kevin Daws as co-editors of Kevin's environmental / Northern history magazine Voice of the North. They introduce a poetry section with environmental themes, a women's conciousness section and a focus on unemployment along with some cultural articles on local folk history and an interview with the Liverpool poets.

1982 - Early inauguration of Village Arts (East Cleveland Community Arts organisation based in Loftus). Coordinator Doff Pollard is an important arts and writing activist in the area and one of their early projects was East Women Live in Skinninggrove which began the next year. Doff was later inovled with co-organising the regional Write Together programme in 1985 with Keith Armstrong. Teesside groups were heavily involved in that.

1982 - Cleveland Arts form in Middlesbrough to administer a more local focus for the the regional arts body - Northern Arts. Cleveland Arts become significatnt for the furthurance of the writing movement in 1987 through a link up with Write Around but also supported other writing projects in the area.

1982 - Sue Reid and John Carthew (Senior lecturers on Teesside Poly Humanities English Lit Dept form the Cleveland Literary Society meeting at Leeds University Centre. Andy Croft later joins the group after 1983 and by the the late 80's relaunches it as Poetry Live at the Cambridge Hotel.

1983 - Ann Wainwright publishes a second poetry magazine with a more avant Garde focus called Station Identification.

1983 - Voice of the North joins forces with the Tynside peace magazine - Northern Survivor and achieves a wider North East circulation. Trevor and Kevin also develop links with the Media Group at Darlington Arts Centre, using their resource centre to produce the magazine in a new A4 format.

October 1983 - The Darlington Media Group became important too as a base for producing poetry chapbooks for poets with the Multi Media Society and Castalians (eg John Quinn (AKA Joe Flamingo). They were also good for links that furthered the work of this underground writing movement, via a first link to the Durham Northern Voices poet / editor - Keith Armstrong (who becomes significant along the way) and to a link up with Pete Roberts who was both on the board of the Media Group and soon to launch Community Arts Middlesbrough with Paul Hyde.

1983 - Andy croft arives on Teesside from Nottingham to work as a literature tutor for the WEA and later as a Senior Lecturer in Literature at the Leeds University. This is also an important moment in this history.

1983 - Trev Teasdel begins work on his first poetry chapbook for Poetic Licence Collective - Escaped Poet - published in 1984 and sold via the International Small Press network. One of the poems is featured in the US / German magazine Gypsy as part of the prologue along side a piece from author Henry Miller.

1983 - Stokesley Writers Group begins as a WEA Creative Writing Course organised by Tutor organiser Maude Warwick. The group met both as a course (with a different tutor each year including Andy Croft and Trev Teasdel) and an informal writers group inbetween the courses. The group got involved in the later Write Around festival.

1983 Bob Pegg (Folklore musician and writer with Mr Fox) took up the post of Cleveland's first official writer in residence at the Dovecot Arts centre. Bob produced two anthologies during his residencey, one for school children following on from school workshops, and one for the adults he'd worked with. Bob also organised the first Cleveland Literature Festival with a weekend programme at the Dovecaot Arts Centre in 1984.

1983 - a small writers group emerged from the Teesside Poly Multi Media poetry and music workshop who wanted a writers group more for the page than the stage. They linked up with English lecturer John Carthew who was on the board of the Dovecot. John brought Bob Pegg, the new writer in residence to work with the group. This led to John implementing the first Creative Writing elements into his English lit courses. This group, through a later student intake in 1986 became associated with Richard Briddon who arrived from Bath and became an inportant literary activist after 1986 / 7. The group would be known then as the Middlesbrough Writers Workshop. Here was the early history of the group. Trevor produced chapbooks for one of it's members - John Quinn and poetry video in which John Quinn emulated his hero Bob Dylan in the 1965 film footage for Subterannean Homesick Blues with a Teesside twist!

1984 June - New Poetry Scene ( a relaunch of the Castalians along new lines) organised by Trev Teasdel and Ann Wainwright. Bradford performance poet Little Brother the first main guest.

1984 - Bob Pegg organises the first Cleveland lit fest at the Dovecott with Nick Toczac and Brian Patten and Seething Wells.

1984 - Andy Croft organises his first Creative Writing class for the Middlesbrough branch of the WEA for the Unemployed at Hemlington in Middlesbrough - they produce an anthology. The class includes some of the Castalians such Jon Miles Longden and Peter Stockill as well as some of the member who became involved with Teesside Writers Workshop. Mainly Andy was teaching literature classes - it wouldn't be until the early 90's that he'd organise the Leeds University Creative Writing course programme. Some of his lit students were not only WEA branch members like poet Frank Talling and his wife but also members of Poetry 20+.

1984 - Community Arts Middlesbrough form in North Ormesby with workers Paul Hyde and Peter Roberts of the Media group in Darlington. Trev Teasdel is the second Co-operative member to join and becomes a member of their managment committtee. Trev becomes a volunteer worker responsible for overseeing their Community writers groups with Peter Roberts and later Clive Rawson. Trevor becomes volunteer link between Teesside Writers Workshop and CAM.

1984 - Teeside Writers Workshop is launched by Community Arts Middlesbrough (CAM) - CAM worker Peter Roberts invites Jingling Geordie - top North East poet Keith Armstrong and the Tyneside Writers Workshop performance group to launch it at the Albert Hotel, Albert Rd. Middlesbrough. Castalians / New Poetry Scene members Jon Miles Longden, Johnny Nichol, Peter Stockill and it's organiser - Trev Teasdel attend and become it's organising committee after initial readjustments and discussions on direction. Vera Davis from the Teesside Poly Humanites Society joins along with future Outlet editors Pauline Plummer and Terry Lawson. Andy Croft is a member but doesn't attend much owing ot teaching committments.

1984 - sees a second official Writer in Residence in the area with established poet Pete Morgan conducting writers surgeries in Redcar and North Ormsby libraries (perhaps more). Pete will do another stint in 1985.

1986 - October Birth of Outlet Magazine (Link to PDF of every issue and notes on Outlet's development work)

To Be Continued...

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