Berwick Literary Festival and Berwick 900 Our Families Project Short Stories

Excerpts from 4 stories were read at the Berwick Literary Festival talk 'Hidden Treasures and Inspiration' on 21 October 2016.

In addition, one poem was written and published on the Berwick 900 blog in December 2015.

These stories were inspired by research undertaken by volunteers on the Berwick 900 Our Families Project and used by the Creative Writing Group.

Read full versions of all 4 stories and the poem.

Hidden Treasures and Inspiration - a Talk on Friday, 21st October

Last summer, the Berwick 900 Our Families family history research project set up a small creative writing group to write fictional family stories about incidents and historical characters in Berwick’s, Tweedmouth’s and Spittal’s history, using research produced by the volunteers. There's lots of scope for imagining what led up to incidents, what impact it had on people, what happened afterwards and creating a family story. One story, a poem written by Sandra Whitnell, is about a woman murdered at Middle Ord, Northumberland, in December 1876.




Some writers in Kelso Writers' Workshop got inspiration for writing historical fiction from a talk by Margaret Skea.

This year, Linda Bankier, the Berwick Archivist will give a talk at Berwick Literary Festival about the variety of records available in Berwick Record Office, and the audience will hear excerpts from three stories based on research into the Berwick Town Council account books, a newspaper cutting from November 1863 about a crinoline that caused an accident and a poster.

The talk is on Friday, 21st October at 12 noon at the Holy Trinity Parish Centre, Berwick; cost £5. 

You're Invited to a talk about John Hamilton Hall (1799-1865) at Kelso on 29 March

Part of the research I did for Berwick 900 last year was about a Coldstream lad, John Hamilton Hall, born in 1799, whose father was not only a general physician but also a Freeman of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Guild. 

Seeing his name and occupation in the Guild records led me on an interesting and puzzling hunt for information about his family, his career as an officer in the East India Company’s Bombay Infantry. 

On Sunday, 29^th March, at the Abbey Row Community Centre, The Knowes, Kelso, TD5 7BJ, I’ll be talking about his life and career, however, just as importantly, I’ll be discussing how I researched him, some of the problems I found and the difficulties in reading and understanding the records.  Map.

The talk has been widely advertised, including in Berwick, due to local Berwick interest, so come early to get a good seat. 

I warmly invite you to attend the talk whether you are a member or not. Doors open at 2pm; the talk begins at 2.30pm. 

We'll have a range of family history publications available to buy, and there’ll be light refreshments (donation expected) available after the talk. If you have a problem with your family history, please discuss it with one of our volunteers.