Our Past, Our Future

A group of young musicians on a tour of Belsay Hall.

We Make Culture's Young Musicians at Belsay Hall.

We Make Culture is a social enterprise based in Sunderland that delivers high quality music-making programmes for the city and beyond (see their website). Their programmes include We Make Culture’s Young Musicians group who previously took part in our 2020 Reverberate programme. The group’s project ‘Lasses and Lyrics’ explored the forgotten stories of women in Sunderland, with young female musicians writing and recording original songs based on them.

This year we continued our collaboration with We Make Culture’ new cohort of Young Musicians, who had the opportunity to work on a project exploring the rich histories and tales of the North East. Each month, the group ‘toured’ different English Heritage sites in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Durham.

Find out more about the Young Musicians’ North East tour below!

Touring the North East!

An image of Hylton Castle in Sunderland.

Hylton Castle

The group kickstarted their tour of the North East by visiting their local English Heritage site, Hylton Castle. First built in 1400, Hylton Castle was the principal residence of Sir William Hylton and his family who had estates in York, Durham and Northumberland. Today, the site is managed by Hylton Castle Trust on behalf of English Heritage.

During their visit, the Young Musicians learnt about inhabitants including the Cauld Lad of Hylton who is said to haunt the castle’s ruins. The Cauld Lad dates back to the sixteenth century when a stable boy called Robert Skelton was murdered by an enraged Baron Hylton, after failing to prepare his horse for an important journey. Although the Baron was tried for Robert’s murder, he was pardoned after an old farm worker provided a ‘suitable’ alibi.

Soon afterwards, strange incidents started to plague the castle – items would mysteriously move, fires would be extinguished without explanation, and the sound of footsteps would echo through empty rooms….

Listen to Jacob’s song Cauld Lad to hear more about the this ghostly tale!

A group of young musicians looking at the gravestones of Tynemouth Priory & Castle.

Tynemouth Priory and Castle

The 2000-year-old coastal site was the young musicians’ next stop in their North East tour!

Throughout its history, Tynemouth Priory & Castle has been Iron Age settlement, an Anglo-Saxon monastery, a royal castle and a coastal defence from the Second World War. Overlooking the River Tyne, Tynemouth Priory is a site that is shrouded with many myths and legends from the past!

One such tale includes that of a Viking called Olaf who was wounded during a raid of Tynemouth. Fortunately, Olaf was taken in and healed by the Priory’s monks who soon accepted him as a member of their community. As fate would have it, however, Olaf’s former Viking clan launched another raid on the area with his brother being tragically killed during the attack. It was said that Olaf was so grief-stricken by his brother’s death that he died while praying in the chapel. To this day, Olaf’s ghost can be seen wandering the castle’s grounds often looking out onto the sea…

The Last Time’s It Should Have Been Me is inspired by this tragic tale.

A group of young people looking at historical artefacts found at Belsay Hall.

Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens

For their next stop, the Young Musicians visited Belsay Hall to learn more about one of England’s earliest country houses to be built in the Greek Revival style. As well as unique architecture, the site has extensive quarry gardens which encapsulate the bountiful adventures of Sir Charles Monck and his grandson Sir Arthur Middleton!

During their visit, the Young Musicians had a special behind-the-scenes tour of Belsay Hall with the site’s Community Engagement Manager, Melanie Hills. This was a fantastic opportunity for the group to see rooms currently closed to the public, including a sneak peak of objects found during Belsay Hall’s large-scale restoration project (see Belsay Awakes). Highlights from Belsay Hall’s collection include fire extinguishers dating from the early 20th century, with some containing suplhric acid to help put out fires!

Experience Belsay Hall with Olivia’s song Herbacious!

An image of Finchale Abbey.

Finchale Abbey

The young musicians concluded their North East tour with a final visit to Finchale Abbey in Durham. Founded in 1196, Finchale Abbey sits on the scenic banks of the River Wear and is where St Godric (1065-1170) finally settled following his many adventures! Throughout the early medieval period, Finchale Abbey was the outpost of Durham Cathedral and functioned as a holiday retreat for the monks of Durham until its suppression in 1538. Today, the remains of the 13th-century Benedictine priory are still a key location for the modern-day Camino de Santiago pilgrammage!

On their guided tour of Finchale Abbey, many of the Young Musicians were captivated by the stories of the site’s founder St Godric! A sailor and successful merchant, St Godric decided to settle in Durham and become a hermit following his travels to Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands where the tales of St Cuthbert’s life had left a deep impression on him. In late 1112 or 1113, Godric decided on Finchale to be his hermitage site and built himself a hut with a turf roof alongside a chapel.

There are many colourful tales about St Godric as a hermit including visits from notable figures such as Thomas Becket, Aelred of Rievaulx and Pope Alexander III, and King William the Lion of Scotland. Most suprisingly, St Godric is often acknolwedged as one of England’s first songwriters having composed four songs known as ‘Godric’s hymns’ which reflect on his early adventures as a sailor. The surviving manuscripts of these songs can be found in the British Library.

To hear more about St Godric, listen to Buried in Stone by Poppy and Charlie!

Young people playing music instruments in a studio.

We Make Culture's studios in Sunderland.

Summer Music-Making Workshop

Throughout their tour, the Young Musicians were accompanied by professional musician Marty Longstaff (The Lake Poets) who supported them in their research and song-writing of the people, places and events which had inspired them. Soundscape musician Jayne Dent (Me Lost Me) specially joined the Young Musicians during their visit of Tynemouth Priory, where the group learnt how to collect samples and field recordings of the different sounds they came across when exploring the site!

The Young Musicians brought together these new skills and knowledge to write, record and produce their songs at their own studio in Sunderland. Working with singer and songwriter David Brewis to perfect their music, the Young Musicians have created a brilliant playlist inspired by the rich history and heritage of the North East.

Video incoming so that you can learn more about how the Young Musicians created their songs!

Listen to the full Our Past, Out Future playlist!