It's a little-known fact that on October 6th 1854 the people of Tyneside believed that the end of the world was upon them. In the early hours an explosion occurred which shook the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and its neighbour Gateshead to their very foundations.
During our Beamish Test Day we discovered by chance that an ancestor of Melanie Cant had been killed in the great Newcastle / Gateshead explosion back in 1854 and that the whole thing started in a warehouse owned by an ancestor of Bill Croney of Sanguines Catering . . .
BBC Radio Newcastle picked up on this story and interviewed Bill earlier this week. Bill said, "local history should be taught in schools. This is more relevant to the region than the Great Fire of London." We totally agree. Well done Bill!
You can read all about the Great Gateshead Fire by clicking here and you can hear Bill's interview on BBC iPlayer.
First we have Mags on TV and now we have Bill on the radio, plus the one and only John Atkinson . . . We have a wealth of media stars in DBN these days!
