In the Dark

The news of the death at the age of 100 of former US President Jimmy Carter reminded me of a day way back when I was still at school. It was Friday, May 6th, 1977 and I was at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. I remember that morning it was announced at Assembly that Carter would be visiting the city and giving a speech outside the Civic Centre, which was less than 10 minutes’ walk from the School. I think some senior boys were allowed to go an see him, but as a mere third-former I went to a class and the occasion largely passed me by.

One thing I do remember is a classmate after Assembly saying “Thank God he didn’t visit Sunderland instead…” – Carter visited Newcastle on his way to Washington (the ancestral home of George Washington), which is nearer to Sunderland than Newcastle. I suppose the reason was that Newcastle has an airport, whereas Sunderland hasn’t.

The other thing I remember was the TV coverage on Look North when I got home, which showed the start of President Carter’s speech with his famous “Howay the Lads!”

R.I.P. Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

This entry was posted on December 30, 2024 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Biographical, History, R.I.P., Television with tags Civic Centre, Howay the Lads, Jimmy carter, Newcastle upon Tyne. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.