Lost in Time in England’s Northeast - New York Times

For real Anglophilia, I thought, you should be driving from the Durham railway station, just before twilight, up North Road, Potters Bank and Elvet Hill Road, narrow, green, damp, mysterious, arriving at the top in time for one last look at the ancient world that still lives in the landscape there.




Durham Cathedral seen from a hill overlooking the town. Andrew Testa for The New York Times 

As you walk down Grey Street to the quayside, admiring the mix of old buildings and new, sharply delineated in the northern light, you may not recognize conversations you hear as English: Newcastle is famous for its local Geordie accent, said by linguists to be as close to original Anglo-Saxon pronunciation (that is, intransigently unaffected by Norman French or Viking Scandinavian) as any dialect in Britain.

To read the artcle by Jane Smiley’s new novel, “Some Luck,” will be published in October.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/travel/lost-in-time-in-englands-northeast.html?_r=1

READING LIST
The three books listed here explore some of the history and the local predispositions that I touch on: Bede and St. Cuthbert help us visit the Anglo-Saxon period, Seumas Milne writes about the end of coal mining (and therefore prosperity) during the Thatcher era, and George MacDonald Fraser wittily explores the love of fighting and defiance along the untamed Scotch-English border.
Bede, “Ecclesiastical History of the English People: With Bede’s Letter to Egbert and Cuthbert’s Letter on the Death of Bede” (Penguin Classics).
Seumas Milne, “The Enemy Within: The Secret War Against the Miners” (Verso).
George MacDonald Fraser, “The Reavers” (Random House).

A version of this article appears in print on June 8, 2014, on page TR1 of the New York edition with the headline: Lost in Time.

HS2 - what does it mean for the North East? A disaster as the the region will become even more isolated

HS2 will terminate in Yorkshire - It will do nothing for the North East of England

The East Coast Main Line our life line with the London will become a secondary rail route feeding in Westminster’s eye's a secondary Region.

The North East should unite behind North East England First campaign to get the Government to invest in the North East improving the links with the North West, the Midlands, South Wales, Edinburgh and the South Coast missing London.

£50bn correctly spent will create a renaissance of the rail industry across the country rather than making it quicker for politicians to get to their constituencies on a Friday.

Fund transport outside London properly, say MPs - £2,500 per head in London compared with £5 per head in the North East.

The Institute of Public Policy Research says transport infrastructure spending is £2,500 per head in London compared with £5 per head in the North East.

 Transport projects in parts of England outside London have been underfunded in recent years and this "cannot be allowed to continue", MPs have said.

The Transport Committee also argued that changes to the way money is shared "could disadvantage the regions".

It called for a review of funding by the 2020 general election, adding that spending per head in London was more than twice that elsewhere.

But the government said its projects would "benefit all areas of England".
The committee's report looked into new arrangements, from 2015, for local decisions on transport spending to be devolved to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and more competition for contracts.

It said ministers must "ensure that there is a fairer allocation of funding" than at present.
Committee chairman Louise Ellman, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said: "Far less money is spent on transport projects outside London than in the capital. This inequality has gone on for too long and has to change."

We have invested more than £6bn in 2011/12 alone in developing transport infrastructure outside London” Government spokesman"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27675069

ADMIN: With North East of England suffering poor infrastructure due to the political decisions made in Westminster to support excessive transport funding in London, Wales and Scotland - the time has arrived for this to be stopped and reversed NOW.

It is in the Countries interest for Edinburgh to be connected by three lane motorway from London via Newcastle - Let alone improving the East Coast Mainline.

Scottish independence: Tories back Scots income tax power - This would be a disaster for the Region

"Scotland should be given full income tax powers following a vote against independence, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has said.

She also argued Holyrood should get additional responsibility over VAT, income tax and welfare.

The plans, which have been endorsed by Prime Minister David Cameron, will be in the Conservative manifesto for the 2015 UK election."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27656628

Alex Salmon is achieving more for Scotland at the expense of the North East of England than he could ever have wished for with this referendum.

If Scotland becomes a country within the UK then the North East is being sold down the river by Westminster politicians.

Scotland will flourish at the expense of our region as jobs are sucked out the Region due to the power that the Scottish Parliament will have through having tax raising powers - this is madness

Aim of North East England First

North East England First (NEF) is a new force fighting for the people of the Region. We will champion the NE putting it equal too London, Scotland & Wales