GRAND HOTEL ARTISTS' RESIDENCY
GRAND TIMES - A NEW PUBLICATION
Featuring Keith Armstrong’s sequence of poems inspired by the recent artists' residency.
I have written
A Grand poem
On the Long Sands
For visitors to read
From their windows.
THE GRAND HOTEL, TYNEMOUTH
Owned by the Duke of Northumberland, and initially built as a summer residence in 1872 for the Duchess, it was converted to an hotel in 1877. Built by Thomas Moor of Sunderland for £10,000, throughout its chequered past the Grand Hotel has always been regarded as the most luxurious hotel in the area, with one of its main attractions being the opulent sweeping Victorian staircase. The hotel has survived to put Tynemouth well and truly on the map, attracting tourists from all over the world keen to sample the proud heritage of North East England.
LAUREL AND HARDY AT THE GRAND
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy first arrived at the Grand on Thursday July 28th 1932. .
They returned to the Grand for a civic reception with the Mayor of Tynemouth on Wednesday 26th February 1947, during an appearance at the Newcastle Empire Theatre, their British theatre debut.
Ther last visit to the Grand was from Monday March 17th 1952.
STARS AT THE GRAND
In 2004, North Shields playwright Tom Hadaway (1923-2005) wrote a play ‘Actors and Orphans’ about Laurel and Hardy’s first visit to the Grand in 1932:
‘You make the beds? Honey, that makes you somebody! Believe me! A single item of bed linen can say more than the collected works of William Shakespeare.’
Apart from Laurel and Hardy, the list of the many celebrities and much loved people who have graced the Grand includes: Dame Vera Lynn, Mike and Bernie Winters, Stanley Baker, Margaret Rutherford, Tynemouth’s Conservative M.P. Dame Irene Ward, comedian Dave Allen, actors Stephen Tomkinson, Billy Hartman (Terry Woods in Emmerdale), John Middleton (Ashley Thomas, the Emmerdale vicar), Chris Gascoyne (Peter Barlow in Coronation Street), musician Bob Geldof and, last but not least, footballing legend Sir Bobby Robson.
For the love of Sir Bobby
we will drink in the sea
For the love of Sir Bobby
we will dance with our kids
For the love of Sir Bobby
we will rise again
(Keith Armstrong)
IN LOVING MEMORY OF SIR BOBBY ROBSON (1933-2009)
FREE COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM NIGEL HASTIE, MANAGER, GRAND HOTEL TEL. 0191 2936666 OR KEITH ARMSTRONG & PETER DIXON TEL. 0191 2529531
