Month: April 2025

On Sunday, 13th April from 7pm ‘Phoenix Folk’ will be hosting an online listening party for their collection of fiddle tunes telling the lost stories of ‘Ballast Hills’.

They will also be joined by poet Harry Gallagher.

The zoom will include a chat about the inspirations and stories behind the collection and also playing some of the digital tracks from the album.

To sign up to the zoom and access the codes from the website: CLICK HERE

If you want to hear more from ‘Phoenix Folk’ they also have an upcoming live in-person performance on the 2nd May @ Cullercoat’s Watch House. Titled ‘Beneath This Ground’ this performance promises to be an eclectic mixture of fiddle tunes and poetry retelling the stories buried at Ballast Hills.

All music and poetry has been created by Marina Dodgson, Maurice Condie and Harry Gallagher, make sure to register now: https://phoenixfolk.co.uk/events/folkwatchhouse-beneath/

Our second newsletter is nearly ready!

Email us @ballast.hills@newcastle.ac.uk with the subject line ‘Subscribe’ to receive April’s edition and be added to our monthly mailing list

A sneak peek at this April’s updates;

• Take a look back at our launch event we hosted at Newcastle City Library
• Learn more about what our volunteers uncovered during March’s gravestone cleaning
• What do you call Ballast Hills? Plaguey Fields, Grannies Park, BH Playground, Park, Cemetery, or Burial Ground
• Hear from one of our Descendents Group members about their experience with uncovering their family history locally at Ballast Hills

If you missed our March edition you can find it here on our blog under the ‘Newsletter’ tab on the homepage

On March 22nd, we had the pleasure of hosting our launch event at Newcastle City Library! The event was a huge success and was a lovely opportunity for project leads, volunteers, descendants and everyone interested in BHBG to meet and share their own experiences of the site.

During the afternoon we were lucky enough to welcome ‘Phoenix Folk’ and Harry Gallagher who performed a range of music and poetry in reflection and solidarity with those buried at BHBG.

We are so happy to share with you the collection of music and poetry composed by the amazing ‘Phoenix Folk’ in collaboration with BHBG! https://phoenixfolk.co.uk/product-category/book/

Take a look at some photos from the event…