Gary Strachan – "Write" Said Fred
Whimsical observations from deep within an erratic mind
Yesterday evening I watched a recording of a BBC Four broadcast of the John Wilson Orchestra from the Royal Albert Hall; a performance forming part of the 2019 Proms season. The Gateshead-born conductor's orchestra treating their audience to a selection of music from Warner Brothers movies. John Wilson was educated in the same Low Fell... Continue Reading →
I've felt physically drained over the past few days. Witnessing this constant rain seemingly bearing the same energy depleting qualities which Samson experienced after a trip to the barbers. The Nazarite's flowing locks, which initially attracted him to his beau Delilah, the fabled source of his immense strength. Their removal rendering him vulnerable to enemies,... Continue Reading →
Yours truly is sitting on the bed in casa Strachan's spare room as I commence this monologue. My current domain, the smallest of the three upstairs chambers gracing my humble abode, which doubles as a man cave and occasional panic room. Its use as a panic room ordinarily manifests from a need to hide after forgetting... Continue Reading →
As a consequence of its sloping physical geography from the east Gateshead area of Wrekenton down to the Team Valley, my childhood home at Low Fell was 'blessed' with a back garden bearing a 25% (1 in 4 in old money) incline. The late 1960's Leech built three bedroomed semi-detached, purchased by my parents at... Continue Reading →
As I recall, the Low Fell library was built-in the early 1970's. Progress of its construction at the corner of Durham Road and Chowdene Bank something I witnessed during games of football on adjacent grassland on the cusp of a small dene. A near neighbour of the Thomas Wilson WMC. A club I'm told was... Continue Reading →
“Mrs Dragons, Stanley's spoiling our skipping game!” An oft heard piece of tittle-tattle aimed at my mum during her patrols of the Oakfield Infant School (OIS) playground in late 1970s Gateshead. Her role as dinner nanny at the Low Fell nursery exposing the Leeds lady to the regular telling of tales, in particular other pupil's... Continue Reading →
Yesterday in Fit For A Princess I wrote of a moored ex-ferry that in the 1980's was revamped into a floating nightclub on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne. It's location close to where the Sage arena now sits. Also located only a stones throw from where the Sage resides stood the now demolished Hawks Road... Continue Reading →
In the last couple of weeks I've posted a number of my narratives onto two Facebook groups whose members have links to my childhood home, Low Fell in Gateshead. These pieces of prose a selection of newly penned and previously written recollections from childhood. Partly factually/partly fictional, their publication was driven by my desire to... Continue Reading →
Recollections of 1970's dental appointments bring to mind thoughts of oral torture chambers infused with odours of stale gas anaesthesia and the flatulence of nervous patients. Visits in which you'd open your mouth for treatment which'd be closely followed by a pain induced "Aaaaarrrrggghhh" - As opposed to the much calmer "Ah" associated with GP... Continue Reading →