Tyne and Weird

by Rob Kilburn

‘Since man uttered his first word he has been telling stories for entertainment, to serve as warnings and to simply pass the time’Huddled up against the end of Hadrian’s Wall, the county of Tyne and Wear is known for its wealth of historical sites, for castles, the Venerable Bede, and stotty cakes. But did you know about Sunderland’s brush with the greatest liar on earth, or the widespread mesmerism of the Victorian era? And what’s the connection with all these Americans?This is an eclectic collection of local characters and historical oddities, of short (and tall) tales that perfectly illustrate just how weird Tyne and Wear can truly be.

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2020

Reviews

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of intriguing, amazing, interesting and entertaining short true stories relating to my local area of Tyne and Wear.

[Rachel Bruce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting creepy, weird stories about the North East, but instead, it felt more like a list of famous people that happened to pass through Newcastle. The fact that Jimi Hendrix’s time living in Heaton with Chas Chandler is glossed over in five short lines, without even mentioning he lived there, is a massive oversight.


The links to the North East felt tenuous, and as someone who grew up here, the more interesting stories were all things we were taught in school, making it a redundant read for locals. There were quite a few grammatical errors that made it feel rushed, and the illustrator seemed misinformed, drawing the wrong Dolly statue. Plus, the same story even appears twice! Not recommended.

[Bexar Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection!

[Robert Kirkup · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more weirdness from this. There are a couple of chapters at the back which deal with weird and paranormal stories but otherwise this is a collection of local histories and folklore. There is much of interest here for anyone looking for the forgotten stories of Tyne and Wear, but a comprehensive reference list would have been appreciated - references are given in some entries but not most, and this would have deepened the interest and added some weight to what is an often trivial collection.

[Andrew Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generous four. Curious book, really. It's almost like a collection of vignettes. The stories are themed in each chapter and tend to fall into a few categories. Some are tales of things that have happened in the northeast, such as inventors or local characters. Often these link to wider trends, and some accounts are examples of these in the area (like witch hunts in the 1600s). Others again touch on important events that have, sometimes very tenuous, links to the northeast. It can get as weak a link as noting that important events in other countries happened to have someone from the northeast there, not even in any special capacity. By the end it felt like the author had included every possible link to the northeast, and while some were very interesting, others felt like the author was scraping the bottom of the barrel. I'm not sure how he's filled a second book. It also ends very abruptly.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous read! I feared at first that it would be too historical as it starts with connections with the Americas but the more I read, the more gruesome the stories turned out to be!
As a non native wishing to know more about the Northern folklore- especially if related to Newcastle- I was delighted.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and easy read with plenty of intriguing stories about weird people and odd events.

[Jacob Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy read with some pub quiz-esque knowledge of Tyneside. Stocking filler for any North-Easterner