Curly's Corner Shop, the blog!

Long lost cousins?

No – honestly, it isn’t until May next year.

Surely this must go down as the longest election campaign in South Tyneside’s history, however the Labour Party is already out of the blocks and up and running!

Former Mayor John Anglin has announced in a letter to residents of the Beacon and Bents ward in South Shields that he’ll be contesting the seat that he so recently vacated in order to make a lengthy overseas trip, and being a bit mischievous I noticed a distinct similarity between Mr. Anglin and former BBC children’s’ TV presenter Johnny Morris. The man from “Animal Magic” might easily have been a long lost cousin of John Anglin, don’t you think? More than likely Morris ignored the best advice ever given to showmen, “never work with children or monkeys animals”, and Anglin must surely be contemplating this advice too as he attempts to retake the seat for Labour. It is not yet known whether or not South Shields’ most controversial and outspoken councillor, Ahmed Khan, has decided that he wishes to defend the seat in May 2012.

Also out and about in the Fellgate and Hedworth ward was another new Labour candidate Alan Smith – no not this one -  with council leader Iain Malcolm and Cllr. Bill Brady. They were there to say things to the effect that Labour does NOT forget about those wards that elect opposition councillors! Sounds quite funny really when the perception is quite the opposite, as I’m sure Cllr. Steve Harrison and his fellow independents will attest.

However there is a point to all of this, and that is that Labour is setting out an early marker that sitting Independent councillors are going to be targeted, and that they see opportunities of retaking seats which have “strayed” from Labour’s grasp in recent years. Make no bones about this, the current Labour leadership in South Tyneside sees a rosy future and believes that it can achieve overwhelming dominance in the council chamber as the Conservative and Lib-Dem brands appear “toxic” to the electorate. This new “Blue” Labour regime probably also sees some dividend coming from the tight budgetary controls imposed upon it by the coalition government, it is quite prepared to undertake the task of reducing council spending in exchange for the freeze in council taxes, they certainly don’t want to rock the boat by introducing proposals that call for increases in taxes when we are finding the economic climate “challenging”. The local Labour Party will be challenging the opposition parties to produce a well informed and costed alternative budget in the first quarter of next year, something  which they have not been adept at doing with any great success in the past few years. It also offers Labour the opportunity of opening a “trap door” for the opposition if they attempt to produce a budget calling for a reduction in council taxes if it is accompanied by even larger spending cuts than those implemented by the ruling Labour group.

Now is the time for those Conservatives, Lib_Dems, Progressive, and non aligned independents in South Tyneside to come together with a united vision of how the borough can progress through 2012 without further affecting economic decline and without burdening the local electorate with additional taxation and service charges, in an effort to appear both sympathetic to the aims of the coalition in reducing the budget deficit and the debt mountain, and appealing to those who wish to see an effective and empathetic alternative to Labour  whilst putting a firm squeeze on the Independent Alliance who have signally failed to prosper as an opposition with a real policy agenda or new ideas.

The long road to May 2012 starts here – today!

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Let’s make this viral

I came across this via one of the UKIP leader’s tweets, and well goodness me he’s a dance track!

The track is called Star Circle 2 by Johnny Slide you can download it from here and perhaps embed it in your own site, spread it around – at least in South Tyneside! Please be generous and leave a link to the original artist.

See, told you I had some sympathy with UKIP!

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Oh that does make a pleasant change, but hang on a minute, he has plenty to say this afternoon on his Twitter page where he uses this picture to represent his account. The file is entitled smb.jpg, I wonder if the “m” stands for monkey?

Really, there are times when it is better advised to stay quiet until the whole business is resolved in the courts and to desist from accusing South Tyneside council officials of telling lies and hiding the truth, and also just as well advised to stop insulting half of the football fans in your ward.

Whatever the outcome, and whatever the future holds for the South Shields based Cllr. Khan, he can be assured that he has made some sort of memorable mark on South Tyneside’s political scene.

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High level talks

Click pictures to enlarge

I’m very grateful to former South Shields councillor George Wilkinson who unearthed these pictures from his family album showing George and a very younger yours truly in talks with the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The pictures were taken in March 1982 at the Five Bridges Hotel in Gateshead at a Conservative Party function, Maggie was fond of visiting the regions to find out first hand what the feelings of the party were, and always relished the opportunity to meet others too, as she kept herself well informed about the state of the nation. She visited the north-east many times whilst Leader of the Opposition and also as Prime Minister and this was one of a number of occasions that I was fortunate enough to bend her ear!

I wonder how she might have handled our recent woes? How would she have dealt with the Northern Rock collapse and the banking crisis of 2008? Would she have allowed the UK to participate in such a massive banking bail out, and would she have contributed so much to the IMF and the ECB to bail out other European nations who were unable to deal with their own deficits and debt mountains? Would she have allowed any Chancellor of hers to build up such massive debts as those accrued by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling?

I was about 25 years old at the time of this meeting, having been a mostly green and wet behind the ears Progressive councillor for the Beacon and Bents ward, to be honest and truthful until George told me about these photographs I’d forgotten all about this visit, even now I haven’t got a clue about what we might have been discussing. I do recall a later meeting in Seaton Delaval Hall when she discussed the beauty of The Leas and the coastline in South Shields and how she hoped that they would always be there for the public to enjoy, that was long before they were entrusted the The National Trust for safekeeping, at a meeting at the late Lord Elliot’s home in Northumberland we discussed how the miner’s strike was affecting their families and the hardships they were enduring, I was a little surprised at her concern. However, this meeting has me beaten, perhaps George can help out.

So readers, what do you think Maggie was telling us? How do you think she would have dealt with the debt crisis?

(Note to George Elsom – we weren’t discussing future charity events such as Movo, or my film star looks!)

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What gives them the right?

Apologies for the lack of posts during this past week, it’s been a busy time at work and domestic disaster has struck too, not much has been going on in South Tyneside other than the production of posters invoking us to vote for Little Mix on ITV’s X Factor, however it has been another week dominated by the Eurozone debt crisis. Having seen Papandreou and Berlusconi removed from their premierships and replaced by Eurotechnocrats without so much as a referendum or a general election it is worrying to witness that the combined might of Germany and France appears to have negated the very principles of democracy and freedom that the Common Market was originally envisaged to protect. The Commission and the Council have already set their faces against the holding of referenda and have warned that any member state which fancies leaving the Eurozone would of necessity have to leave the EU too, it must have struck the Greek population as astonishing when Merkel and Sarkozy summoned Papandreou to a meeting to explain his idea of allowing the Greek people a say in the matter! Hence we now see  governments headed by a former ECB banker and a former Commissioner. Similarly the Irish people must be feeling rather shocked that their latest budget proposals were forwarded to all member states before ending up in front of the German Bundestag!

Just what is it about these EU empire builders that makes them feel they can stamp their authority  over people in a manner almost as heinous as some Arab states? I tend to agree with Gavin Hewitt, the questions need to be asked:

Perhaps the clearest definition of democracy was contained in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

In Europe “the consent of the governed” is in danger of going missing. When George Papandreou suggested putting the EU bailout to a referendum in Greece, France’s President Sarkozy, in a conversation with President Obama, had the Greek leader down as a madman, suffering from depression.

At the heart of the European project lies a suspicion of the people. It is often said that the European Union has been built in spite of the people, and not with the people. Those who argue the people’s case are dismissed as “populists”. It is the easy Brussels put-down.

Recently when a reporter challenged the perks of the EU commissioners his question was dismissed as “populist”. To question immigration policy even at a time of shocking youth unemployment is to risk the tag “populist”.

As we move inexorably towards a common European government with an elected President, we have to wonder just how much involvement will be granted to we “the people” in these processes. We also need to question just why our own political leaders in the UK are signed up to this club, and I refer equally to Cameron, Clegg, and Miliband. One has the distinct feeling that the Frankfurt Group, and possibly even the Bildergurg Group have already set out the agenda which our leaders are assigned to blindly follow. Oh for a party leader who has the “bottle” to call not for the renegotiating of certain powers from the EU, but the withdrawal of British membership, I realise that 50% of our exports go to the EU area, yet I cannot envisage that changing dramatically if we were no longer part of the club.

I am staunchly Eurosceptic, I no longer believe that the Common Market or EEC that we originally joined exists any longer, I have a great deal of sympathy with UKIP on this one issue, unfortunately they are popularly seen as a single issue party, whether or not they have any relevance to local politics in South Tyneside remains to be seen – for now we must await the first uttering of David Potts.

Better off out!

May I also recommend this excellent article by Dan Hannan, a true Conservative.

Please excuse me, I must now attend to my washing machine which will need either repair or replacement, the smoke emanating from its innards is smelling as awful as the Euro political project .

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Remembrance Sunday in South Tyneside

As Her Majesty the Queen led the nation’s tributes by paying respect to our fallen heroes at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, here in South Tyneside a number of remembrance events took place around the borough coinciding with the televised event in London. Services were held in South Shields, Jarrow, Hebburn, Cleadon Village, Whitburn Village and East Boldon where parades and wreath laying ceremonies took place. As a “Shieldsman” I was remarking with friends yesterday evening how much the popularity and feeling for our armed services has increased steadily over recent years, and this shows itself in the numbers who now attend the ceremony at Westoe Cenotaph. The recent long running conflicts in Afghanistan, and to a lesser extent Libya, have reinforced in our minds the professionalism, dedication, and ultimate sacrifice given by our armed services and we welcome this opportunity to show our respect and homage to those who never made it home.

It was a dull misty and damp morning in South Shields as the parade assembled behind the Town Hall in Westoe Road, the moisture shrouded the clock tower of the proud old building and muffled the sound of the tolling bell of St. Bede’s church, as the clock chimed at 10:30 the parade commenced led by the Harton and Westoe Brass Band to make its way up the hill of Westoe Road to the Cenotaph. The salute was taken by Deputy Mayor Cllr. Eileen Leask and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, hundreds of participants representing the armed services, veterans organisations, the Royal British Legion, and youth organisations filed past watched by an expectant crowd. Once at Westoe they were met by the Revd. Paul Kennedy, Vicar of St. Michael and All the Angels, and Father Michael Wemyss of St. Bede’s parish church who jointly conducted the ceremony. Huge crowds had gathered unperturbed by the damp chill weather to participate in a respectful two minutes silence at 11:00 am preceding a short service and the wreath laying ceremony.

Leading the tributes on behalf of the Borough of South Tyneside were Deputy Mayor Eileen Leask, Council Leader Iain Malcolm, and Chief Executive Martin Swales. Wreaths representing all sections of our community were laid and it was heart warming to see one gentleman still marching to this event and taking part on behalf of his buddies at the ripe young age of 91. As you look through these dull and greyish pictures, spare a thought for the younger generation, there were many of them there this morning, brownies, scouts, Air Training Corps, Army Cadets, T. S. Collingwood, Royal Marine Cadets, Boys Brigade and schools. They have a hunger for knowledge about our past, and many of them are now coming into contact with families who may recently have lost a loved in in conflict, or seen a relative return home bearing injuries. Remembrance Sunday is no longer just about the Great War of 1914 -18 and the Second World War, it has transcended those two dreadful conflagrations and strengthened its meaning to new generations of participants, which I hope you may discover through some of the pictures showing above.

In a week which has seen a departure from the normal political unity at this time of year, we learn that some 2000 British army personnel will remain in Afghanistan for up to 20 years training commanders of the Afghan National Army to British standards, whilst at the same time our government intends to carry on paring back the numbers of personnel who we depend upon to defend our interests. The spat between Conservatives and Labour sadly sounds a sour note when our attention ought to be firmly focussed on the welfare of armed service personnel when they are returned to civilian life, or are returned to the UK seriously injured, it is often heard that as a nation we do not treat our veterans as well as we might.

Also sadly noted, once again, was the almost total lack of opposition councillors within the civic party at Westoe, although one was seen popping into the corner shop before the parade arrived. Has Remembrance Sunday suddenly become party political or what? I know that at least one Conservative councillor was on duty today, but really……… where were the South Shields non Labour councillors as the rest of the community did its duty?

On a lighter note, you will see some leather clad lads and lasses in the pictures, your first thoughts may be that they are troublesome, or the celebrity chefs “Hairy Bikers” , in fact they are members of the Badlander’s Motorcycle Club who regularly meet in South Shields. Many of them are also members of the Royal British Legion Riders Section and they have, jointly with local Hells Angels, raised thousands of pounds in recent years for charities such as “Help the Heroes”.  Don’t be afraid to approach them at next year’s event or at their Armed Forces charity fund raiser at the Bents Park, they are a cheerful friendly bunch and a great laugh!

You cannot judge a book by its cover!

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South Tyneside commences weekend of quiet contemplation

It was 93 years ago today that the guns on the Western Front fell silent at the end of the Great War at 11:00, it was supposed to be a war that ended all wars, sadly we were only entering another century littered with conflicts around the globe. There was no real lasting piece after the First World War which sowed the seeds of further nationalist ambitions which led to a more damaging global war only 25 years later, and since then despite the formation of the United Nations mankind has seen to it that regional conflicts continued, and continued to involve British personnel right up to the present day. The signing of the Armistice with the German  delegation in Foch’s private carriage in the forest of Compiegne should have been the signal that war was a futile measure in settling political and national tensions, however the very same train later carried Hitler and his coterie through the Clairiere to demand the surrender of the French in 1940.

Today in South Tyneside we began to reflect on history, and its effect on generations of Geordies who answered the call to serve their country. Shops and offices fell silent for two minutes, motorists in some cases stopped their cars to observe this tradition of ours, schoolchildren involved themselves taking avail of the opportunity to learn from older relatives and neighbours. One of the interesting things that they came to appreciate is that wars are not only fought by professional and conscripted soldiers, sailors, and airmen, they are also fought by factory workers, nurses and doctors, carpenters, welders, ambulance drivers, and a whole host of others. Included amongst them will be merchant seamen who in time of conflict have provided the lifeline which kept Britain alive, kept us fed, kept us armed, and unfortunately kept our foes busy. South Shields has a long maritime association, not only did we build and repair ships, we also provided the men who operated them, we lost them too in large numbers. As a seafaring community we are always wary and respectful of the seas and oceans, they hold dangers of their own, however these dangers were magnified many times over in times of war as countless flotillas and convoys brought sustenance from across the Atlantic and provided much needed help and support to the Russian war effort during the second global conflagration. Even in more recent conflicts we have called upon our merchant navy to help support our armed services and put themselves at increased risk of loss of life, the Falklands War was a major illustration when ships taken up from the trade, and others, received heavy damage at the hands of Argentinian Super Etendards.

The recent troubled history of the Missions to Seamen and the Flying Angel Club at the Mill Dam in South Shields highlighted just how strongly we all felt attached to the men and women of the seas, yet it takes troubled times to spark our fervour in supporting them, but at times such as today we mark our respect for their efforts and sacrifices over the last 70 years and more, we pay tribute to those brave souls consumed by the tempestuous waters as they did their duty, remembering them with as much pride and honour as those in the uniformed services. They served as well as any, and served so that South Tyneside can enjoy the tolerance and freedom that would not be ours if we had lost that titanic struggle against Nazi Germany.

Although the memorial to our merchant seamen is relatively young, we are now building up a strong presence as we gather around it on Armistice day every year, crowds and participation grows, and I wonder if some day it might equal and accompany the Remembrance Sunday service that we have at Westoe Cenotaph. Today we held a service of remembrance and laid poppy wreaths at the memorial in the Mill Dam, the service was conducted by the Revd. Andrew Bealing who has had long and close connections with the Mission to Seamen (Seafarers), we saw the Royal British Legion honouring the dead of the non uniformed servants of the UK, old soldiers be-medalled steadfast and straight paying homage to lost comrades, we saw possibly the last members of the Russian Convoy Club in their white berets, we saw the Deputy Mayor Cllr. Eileen Leask and the Deputy Mayoress Cllr. Olive Punchion laying wreaths on behalf of the borough, I saw former councillors and colleagues, but most importantly I saw children.  By bringing school children to these events we once more plant seeds of hope that they will not be standing in their old age on a cold damp November morning, planting a wooden cross honouring the memory of one of their friends.

We must continue to carry that hope in our prayers.

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Party gains first councillor in South Tyneside

Cllr. David Potts, the former Conservative then independent representative for Cleadon Village and East Boldon ward in South Tyneside has officially joined the UK Independence Party, there now appears to be little chance at all of him resigning his seat in the near future. He becomes the first UKIP councillor in the borough, albeit he has never been elected under their umbrella flag.

29 year old Councillor Potts works as a currency trader and is a director (or Vice President) of Craigmile and Potts LLC, a company based in Iowa, USA. He lives with his girlfriend Laura and splits his time between his homes in Hertfordshire and Tyneside, where he mainly operates. On his company website he is described as a head currency trader and VP who is incredibly successful in the money markets. As of September when he was publicly welcomed to the company, the CEO had never met him, but David was described as a  “hard right, pure capitalist” believing that the market is always correct and governments should never interfere in capitalism other than to provide a “basic” regulatory structure.

His autobiographical book on the culture of alcoholism in politics and finance, “Bitter… Who me?”, is due to be published early next year.

Only last month David Potts warned:

I do not believe a word that comes out of a politician, bureaucrat or rating agency’s mouth, AND NOR SHOULD YOU.

We shall take heed of the “pin-striped pioneer“.

David Potts was pictured yesterday outside of South Shields Town Hall with UKIP’s  North East regional organiser Gordon Parkin, (it was alleged in the past that party officials had been funded by the EU in a Sunday Times investigation)

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Brunswick War Memorial restored and unveiled at South Shields Town Hall

This is a story which moved me, I’d come across a tiny part of it whilst watching one of Bill Clavery’s DVDs showing his collection of old pictures of the Laygate area of South Shields. Not long after the Armistice at the end of the Great War a group of families in the Brunswick Street and Wilson Street areas of South Shields started a collection to raise enough funds to erect a War Memorial to their young sons who had participated in and given their lives during the First World War , it has to be remembered that this area of the town, a strip of land running alongside the River Tyne from the Market PLace to Tyne Dock was the beating heart of South Shields. The area that we now call Rekendyke comprised then a multitude of packed terraced housing in “long streets” where the majority of South Shields folks lived, it was this area that South Shields grew in and developed after the industrial revolution took growth away from a small township huddled around its church and market. They were never anything but poorer people living here, they were mainly employed in chemical, mining, and shipbuilding industries prior to the Great War, but when the call came the young men of Laygate answered it in earnest and with valour. Many, not old enough yet to vote, were sacrificed and did not return to South Shields and this was the reason why their families and neighbours wanted a lasting memorial to them.

They raised sufficient funds to have a wonderful brass plate engraved with the names of all the 207 young soldiers and seamen of these few streets who had gone to war, and commemorating those who did not return or were taken as prisoners of war. The plaque was mounted on a wall at the end of Brunswick Street and unveiled by Lt. Col. Sir Robert Chapman on 21st. April 1919, it was looked upon with pride for many years until the demolition of most of the terraced streets in the Rekendyke area started in the 1960s, the plaque seemed to be lost forever until it was rediscovered in the Royal British Legion Club in Queen Street, South Shields many years later.

South Tyneside Council and the Royal British Legion ensured that this plaque attained Listed Monument status as an historical artefact of significant importance to the borough, and funding was sourced with the help of English Heritage to have the now blackened and heavily tarnished brass plate restored, cleaned, re-polished and mounted on a suitable backing. The aim was to give it a new home where borough residents can view it again.

Finally, yesterday evening in a re-dedication ceremony in South Shields Town Hall the Brunswick War Memorial Plaque was unveiled by the Mayor Cllr. JIm Sewell and the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne Wear Sir Nigel Sherlock, the event was also attended by Sir David Chapman (Bt) grandson of Sir Robert who originally performed the first unveiling on those Laygate Streets. A colour party from the Royal British Legion provided an escort for the gathered guests and a lone piper played as they made their way down from the reception room to view the ceremony. The plaque is mounted in the main entrance hallway of the Town Hall and looks magnificent.

The ceremony was performed in the entrance hallway with short speeches from the Lord Lt. Sir Nigel Sherlock, who admittedly did not know a huge amount about the Laygate area but was able to distinctly remember Allens dept. store on the corner of Laygate Lane, Iain Malcolm the Leader of South Tyneside Council, the Mayor Jim Sewell, and the Revd. Paul Kennedy Vicar of St. Michael and All the Angels, Westoe, performed the re-dedication.

I hope to have excerpts from their speeches in a short while.

It was fitting that this ceremony was held just as we are about to go into that period of remembrance close to Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, the timing was perfect and we must pay tribute to those who have toiled to have the plaque ready and mounted just in time for these events. For those of us who consider ourselves “Shieldsmen” it would be almost impossible NOT to have had some forebears and relatives who were NOT born and brought up in the Laygate area of the town, it was where the vast majority of our families originated, so now you can pop into the Town Hall at any time and view the names on the plaque. Yesterday I was scouring for Coulsons, Nichols, and Raines, all names associated with my mother’s side of our family.

Please click on any photo to enlarge.

Adam Ellison, South Tyneside’s representative to the UK Youth Parliament read Rupert Brooke’s poem “The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

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Memorable day for South Tyneside veteran councillor

Yesterday in South Shields Town Hall Cllr. Jimmy Capstick accepted the honour of being installed as a Freeman of the Borough of South Tyneside in a ceremony attended by hundreds of friends, family, ex-councillors and well wishers. It was a very special day for Jimmy, the longest serving councillor in South Tyneside, and one which will have filled him with happiness and pride, however as everyone was assembled in the council chamber it fell to Chief Executive Martin Swales to announce that Jimmy was not there! He’d been rushed into hospital earlier in the day but had bravely discharged himself  and was making his way to South Shields by taxi in order to attend, once again displaying his great sense of duty and commitment in the most selfless manner, he was determined not to spoil the day for everyone else! Sadly it meant that Jimmy missed the chance to fully participate in the lunch and civic reception afterwards as he quickly returned home, possibly on doctors’ orders.

It was great to see and meet up with former friends and colleagues as well as unexpectedly bumping into one of Mrs. Curly’s relatives, and I’m also very grateful to Mayor Cllr. Jim Sewell for giving me special dispensation to record some of the moments of the ceremony and reception to bring to you today. Rather than writing a long post on the event here are just some bullet points that help to inform you about the pictures and some of the other moments of memory.

• Great to see George Wilkinson, Stan Smith, Steve Mannion, and Ken Hickman – familiar faces in familiar seats, Stan looks as though he is back to good health.
• Wonderful to converse with Jean Alderson, widow of the former high ranking council officer Reevel Alderson.
• Good to see so many people from St. Peter’s church in Harton.
• Cllr. George Elsom is now sporting a healthy growth of hair on his upper lip to help raise awareness and money for a prostate cancer charity – big ups George!
• Happy to photograph members of Jimmy Capstick’s family and record their pride and joy.
• George Wilkinson has unearthed a little gem in his family photos, I hope to bring it to you shortly.
• Cllr. Capstick, despite his failing health, got through his acceptance speech with grace, humility, and lots of his familiar humour.
• Cllr. Enid Hetherington spoke on behalf of the Progressive Association.
• Cllr. Steve Harrison spoke on behalf of the official opposition.
• Big respect to Cllr. Iain Malcolm Labour’s leader in South Tyneside for being a “big politician” and honouring his opponent in such a public and memorable manner.
• Disappointment at the absence of quite a few of our councillors (perhaps they had work or other commitments).
• The meal was simple chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, nobody could accuse the council of lavish spending in tough times.
• People of all political persuasions were genuinely happy and pleased to be with Cllr. Capstick and his family, 45 years service as a councillor deserves some respect and recognition.
• Bit of a pity that I couldn’t spend a few moments with Jimmy but it was understandable given the circumstances.
• Good to see former Labour councillor Tom Bamford enjoying his retirement and in excellent spirits.
• The giant screen in the main reception room looked like “This is your Life” – nice touch.
• Great to see the public gallery heaving packed, the overspill watched a live video stream in the ante room.
• Great to have participation from a representative of the “Hello Club” from our German twin town Wuppertal.
• Many thanks to Val and Dorothy for being so helpful and doing what they do best, they really are treasures.
• Jimmy is the only serving South Tyneside councillor to have been honoured in this way.

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