'Banners of protest, banners of hope.' Ed Pickford captures the spirit of the Durham Miners' Gala in song
March 13, 2024
Colin Randall writes: By very welcome coincidence, Andrew Curry's fascinating article on the role of music and humour in the story of coalmining appeared just before Ed Pickford posted at Facebook his song about the Durham miners' gala, a great occasion in the calendar of our county but also so uproarious that my mother always forbade me to attend.
I think for once I can allow the words of Ed's song and the clip say all that needs to be said.
Decades after Ed marvelled folk club crowds as part of the unforgettable trio, Northern Front, he continues to impress us with the sheer quality of his writing. And never forget, he gave us this wonderful beast of a song ...
Mention of Andrew's piece yesterday stirred memories for Ed. "I remember seeing Close the Coalhouse Door in that The People's Theatre Newcastle in the 1960s," he wrote. "Alex Glasgow I first came across when he interviewed me after I'd written Seaham Harbour Bay in the 1960s."
** Ed's comment prompted me to look up Seaham Harbour Bay, his song commemorating a lifeboat tragedy that took the lives of all five RNLI men on board the George Elmy and four of the five men they had rescued from the fishing vessel Economy, in trouble in a force eight wind and stormy seas off Dawdon Colliery, 1962. The one survivor had managed to grasp the propeller shaft of the capsized lifeboat with one hand while pushing the other through a ruffle hole of the keel.
It was a devastating event for Seaham, expertly and movingly evoked in Ed's lyrics. I was delighted to find a version by Marie Little, very fondly remembered from North-eastern folk club days.
Join the Salut! Live Facebook group. Visit this link nowSee also:
Ed Pickford - The Big Interview (from 2009, Part One)
Pitmen Poets: Their version of Ed Pickford's Workers' Song was Salut! Live's track of 2022 and Bare Knuckle - on which it appears - album of the year
The Big Interview (Part Two)
Johnny Handle sings Ed's song, Last of the Pitman Painters (No Motor Cars in His Spennymoor Town)
Re Seaham Harbour : that's the saddest song I've heard in a long while, made more so by Marie's wonderful voice and her complimentary guitar playing.
Posted by: John Heslop | March 15, 2024 at 12:33 AM
It was really lovely the way you fitted Seaham Harbour Bay into your piece about coal and you're right about Ed being such a great writer.
I also enjoyed your piece on Buffy Ste Marie, I had never come across any of the negative comments re her heritage before,. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and their own perspective but that is one of the things about social media that really p***es me off, all the negative comments and with AI now on the scene I really don’t know what to believe anymore, I feel truth is dead in the water!!
There is also much good done on social media and it is lovey to see so much info on your site... trouble is I could spend all night on it and my life is too short to spend so much time on social media,
I did a gig at the Women against pit closures do in Durham on 2nd March, What a fab day it was! We marched with the banners from palace green to Dunelm, we had a brass band and they played Cressford before we set off, (very moving!) then they struck up and off we went, felt like gala day again! The women put so much work in, there was music, poetry and speeches and there were women there from all over the country and even Holland, Germany and the USA it was so moving and I felt very honoured to be invited to sing.
Once again, thank you for all your work and once again apologies for not responding sooner but I find everything to do with computers such a chore as I have very little luck with them ad feel driven to doing everything in life on line which I resent, I feel marginalised and I know I should bite the bullet and get more savvy with it all but I am just turning into a grumpy old woman who will die with my boots on….well maybe one, I do try!
Posted by: Marie Little | March 26, 2024 at 12:40 AM