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The Ballad of the Crocodile and the Underpass
The Ballad of the Crocodile and the Underpass community podcasters
Collecting and Sharing Stories of Washington New Town
‘The Ballad of the Crocodile and the Underpass’ – Stories of Washington New Town’, is a podcast ballad partnership between Washington Heritage Partnership, We Make Culture, University of Sunderland, Baseline Shift and Arts Centre Washington.
Since April 2024 this partnership, podcaster and musician Grace Stubbings and the Washington community podcasting group have been working with people and organisations in Washington to collect and share experiences of life in a new town.
Musicians Paige Temperley and David Brewis (Field Music) have been working with community members and young people at Arts Centre Washington to turn stories of Washington into songs.
The songs, interviews, sounds and archive recordings have been woven together to create unique ballad podcasts. The group have been influenced by the radio ballad work of Charles Parker, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger who made radio ballads about working class stories in the 1950s and ’60s for the BBC.
In the first series, 5 episodes will tell the stories of
1. The Town of Roundabouts: how the new town was delineated by new roads, roundabouts, concrete crocodiles, and the ever-so-controversial district numbering system.
2. Underpass Overpass – These features aren’t unique to new towns but they are very prevalent. We explore the ideal that no child would ever need to cross a road to attend school and the modern day realities of these ‘betwixt and between’ spaces.
3. H’way Jimmy – Memories of the 1977 visit of US President Jimmy Carter to Washington Village, the ancestral home of George Washington.
4. Ghost and Witches – Just because you’re in a new town doesn’t mean that you’re free of legends, superstition and the ghosts of earlier settlements. We hear personal stories of the supernatural, as well as the sad tales of women accused of witchcraft.
5. Curly Wurly Bridge – Did you know that Fatfield is home to a concrete icon? This episode looks at the so-called Curly Wurly Bridge, the design that took Fatfield from pit village to modern development, and busts a myth or two about Mediterranean influences.
Also as part of the project a series of photomontage artworks have been created by artist Tommy Anderson to celebrate the urban landscapes, culture and social heritage of Washington.
Using images from the library archive, the set of four artworks explore themes of industry, construction, housing and community. The larger artwork combines archive images and new photography portraying a snapshot of life in Washington over the past 60 years.
