Northumberland

The engineer put his own life on the line for the safety of his fellow-workers in the coal industry.

Cornish Professor of Chemistry and multi-award-winning scientist Sir Humphrey Davy invented a safety-lamp for mines in 1815; but up in Newcastle, colliery employee George (‘Geordie’) Stephenson (1781-1848) was already working on his own design – as if his life depended on it.

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The young monk taught some hard-hearted pagans a lesson they’d never forget.

The historian Bede (c.672-735) was a monk at Jarrow, a short distance up the River Tyne from Tynemouth in North East England. It was at Jarrow that Bede heard this story, as told by one of those who had seen it a few years earlier.

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An inquisitive monk spied on a guest’s night-time walks.

Coldingham (today just across the Scottish border) was at one time home to a monastery for men and women. The Abbess was Ebbe, who as it happens was also a princess – a real historical fact. She invited Cuthbert to stay there for a few days.

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A self-made man who never forgot his humble beginnings.

George Stephenson (1781-1848) was an illiterate boy from the North East, who, through his pioneering railways and steam engines, became arguably the most important civil engineer in world history.

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