On the music front I’m looking forward to Camerata’s Classic Alchemy (pictured above) on the 20 and 21 February at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Sting’s musical The Last Ship on the 9 April. 

Sting’s Musical “The Last Ship”

My father was born in Wallsend, Sunderland. My grandfather was a ship builder until the demand for ships dried up in between the world wars. After joining a long line of men looking for work each morning for weeks he gave up and began a new life as a self-appointed observer of wildlife and nature in the wilds of Northumberland. 

Eventually, becoming a weekly columnist on the Newcastle Chromicle about the adventures he had roaming sometimes twenty miles a day. He was called The Vagabond. I never got to meet him. He wasn’t deemed to be suitable, but now I’m proud that I am the granddaughter of a self-educated man who wrote many books, memoir, children’s stories, and travelogues about various places including Scotland. He became a cult figure and there were vagabond tours which took coach loads of tourists to meet The Vagabond and hear about the local wildlife. His books are collectors’ items in Northumberland second hand and antique book shops.

AI says this about him:

Frederick Alex Wills, known as “The Vagabond,” was a popular journalist and writer in the North of England, famous for his walking columns in the Newcastle Chronicle, chronicling rambles through the countryside, and authoring books like The Rambles of Vagabond, capturing local life and landscapes for readers. He was a local legend in the North East, blending Fleet Street skills with regional charm to become a beloved chronicler of outdoor life, with reprints of his work keeping his legacy alive. 

• "The Vagabond" Persona: He adopted this persona for his popular newspaper series, taking readers on walks and sharing observations about nature and people.
• Regional Focus: His writing centred on the beauty and life of the North of England, making him a significant figure in regional literature.
• Published Works: He compiled his columns into books, including A Book of the Open-Air: The Rambles of ‘Vagabond’ of the ‘Newcastle Chronicle’, often reprinted by local publishers.
• In essence, Frederick A. Wills was a quintessential regional writer, whose engaging “Vagabond” columns brought the countryside to life for generations of North Easterners. 

All of the above is by way of saying that I’m therefore thrilled that Limelight have asked me to review Sting’s The Last Ship on 9 April, which coincides with the opening of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s Glasshouse Theatre. The Last Ship is set in Wallsend and what happened to that community when the ship building industry stalled. 

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