Five Wearside stories you might have missed this week
A new lease of life for a disused church, repairs of a much-loved pier and the start of a year of music - these are just some of the things that made the news this week.Here are five Wearside stories you might have missed.
Pier repairs begin
Top honours for community volunteers
Volunteers have been awarded the highest honour their local authority can grant for outstanding services to the community.Chester-le-Street residents John Adey and Jimmy Carroll were among those given a Chairman's Medal by Durham County Council thanks to their community efforts to commemorate those from the borough who have fought and died in wars.The pair were instrumental in creating the town's Remembrance memorial and annual parade, offering residents opportunities to reflect and pay their respects.Also recognised were volunteers from the Open Door Church for their support for vulnerable residents across Willington.
Film festival returns with packed programme
A film festival has returned with its biggest programme yet, according to bosses.The Sunderland Shorts Film Festival, which is now in its 10th year, will show more than 200 films at venues across the city centre until Sunday.Festival director Chris Allan said it had seen its most popular year and had received more than 1,100 entries, hundreds more than in 2024.Read more about it here.
New lease of life for disused church
A historic church building could become an adult learning and arts centre.Sunderland City Council's planning department has approved the change of use of St Mary's Church in South Hylton.The Grade II-listed structure, which sits on the corner of Wear Street and Church Street, dates to the 1800s and has been vacant for some time.Read more about the plans here.
Opening acts for music year announced
Chart-topping indie rockers Franz Ferdinand and acclaimed singer-songwriter Adele Sandé are to kick off a year-long major celebration of music.The two acts will launch the Sunderland Year of Music 2025-2026 in June.It will mark Franz Ferdinand's return to Wearside for the first time in more than a decade, while Sunderland-born Sandé - formerly known as Emeli - will be making her stage debut under her real name.The gigs will kickstart a week of special live events across the city.Read more about it here.
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Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tom Jones reveals he 'almost collapsed' while recording iconic James Bond theme tune
Tom Jones recently revealed he 'almost collapsed' while recording the iconic theme tune for the James Bond movie Thunderball, which was released in 1965. The Welsh singer, 85, was recruited last-minute to conjure up a number incorporating the movie's name after Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick's attempts were axed by producers for exceeding the opening credits length. Ultimately, composer John Barry and lyricist Don Black placed their bets on Tom, who is renowned for his powerful baritone voice. However, Tom has confessed belting out the song's climactic high note left him close to passing out in the recording booth. Sharing the nerve-wracking incident on Radio 2's Sound of the 60s with Tony Blackburn, Tom said: 'John Barry, who wrote the music, and Don Black did the lyrics, From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'So John Barry said, "Hold the note as long as you can because the music is going to go on longer than that, so don't try to hold it until the end. So just hold it as long as you can and then forget it." I forgot to take a big enough breath.' Tom went on to reveal that the original lyrics were meant to be 'he strikes like thunder' before taking a deep breath and belting out the word 'ball'. He explained: 'But I didn't, so I hit ball and I'm going, and I'm going, and I close my eyes, and I go a little flat towards the end there. You'll hear it just at the end, tapering off, because I couldn't hold it any longer. Recounting the aftermath of singing the last note, he added: 'When I opened my eyes, the room was spinning, so I had to grab hold of the booth I was in to steady myself. I almost went down.' During an interview with Far Out magazine, songwriter Don also recalled how Tom 'got a head rush' while singing the final note of the song. He said: 'The thing I remember most is Tom Jones' recording of the song in which he fainted on the last note. He got a head rush or something. The Bond songs I describe as the lure of the forbidden. It should have the whiff of a boudoir about it.' Explaining his inspiration behind the lyrics of the tune, he added: 'With Thunderball, the first thing I did was look it up in the dictionary. So I scratched my head and used it as a code word, you know, "He strikes like Thunderball". Tom was chosen to perform the James Bond theme tune just a year after achieving chart success with his hit It's Not Unusual. However, Thunderball only reached number 35 in the UK Top 40. Tom has had a stellar career with an impressive tally of 36 UK Top 40 hits and 19 US Top 40 successes. His significant contributions to the music industry were recognised when he was knighted in 2006. However, his version of Thunderball didn't quite hit the mark according to Classic FM, which ranked the song as the fourth-worst James Bond theme in 2022. On the other hand, Shirley's timeless hit Diamonds Are Forever from 1971 was crowned the best James Bond theme by the same publication. The legendary singer, 88, also provided the vocals for Bond themes Goldfinger in 1964 and Moonraker in 1979.
The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Stars: An Afrofuturist Space Odyssey review – one woman's mission to Planet Orgasm
Do not underestimate the gravity of the medical complaint on which this play pivots. Mrs (Debra Michaels) has never had an orgasm and would like to experience it now, in her middle years. Her GP makes the mistake of dismissing it, reminding her that she is in menopause and packing her off for a dementia test. But this quest for the most elusive thing in her life is not whimsy, nor the middle-class sexual bohemianism of Miranda July's novel All Fours, although Mojisola Adebayo's script might be considered an offshoot of 'hot-flush noir' but with radical edges around sexuality, gender, class and race. The journey here relates to abuse, trauma, misogyny, Christian evangelism and mixed heritage relationships in what appears to be a near-future world, which looks much like our own, and is intent on reducing the pleasure and freedom of women and girls of colour. The analogy to space travel gives the story its levity: Brexit is in the past; Spexit (a government programme that relocates immigrants to space and is odiously reminiscent of the Rwanda scheme) is the present. Afrofuturist elements come in beautiful black and white animations (by Candice Purwin) projected on a back screen, which deal with difficult subject matter in a beguiling and naive way. Miriam Nabarro's set features the home of Mrs and hangs at a tilt, with luminous edges, as if its own lonely planet. Musical interludes bring foot-tapping beats (by Sun Ra, Queen, Jamila Woods and others) but also stop the story short, plucking us out of the dark depths of the drama. A Tamasha co-production first performed in 2023, it is directed by Gail Babb and delivered in a prevailingly bright tone. Michaels navigates the shifts between light and dark well, sometimes speaking in rhyme. Slowly, her character tells us of a past marked by teenage sexual assault and a passionless marriage to a man whose death leaves her finally free to explore her queerness. Mrs's son, a DJ (Bradley Charles), plays records in a booth on the side of the stage and occasionally chips in but this is essentially a monologue in which she tells us her story and animates various others: a friendship with a young girl who has undergone FGM, and the medical prejudice faced by an intersex friend. In between, there is African mythology and folklore which is beautifully illustrated on the screen but brief and not entirely tied together. Mrs's interstellar voyage into untrammelled new territory is a quest for joy and healing too; she finds lift-off in a wonderful, tear-inducing ending. At Brixton House, London, until 28 June
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Catherine goes behind the scenes at museum stores
The Princess of Wales has visited the Victoria and Albert Museum's storehouse in East London, as it opens its vast collection to more museum, which has its main building in South Kensington, has more than 600,000 objects in newly-opened store rooms at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic had a behind-the-scenes tour, where she praised how the public will be able to get a close view of so many historic V&A East Storehouse is a purpose-built museum store, intended to widen access and "unlock" its huge collection of art, design and fashion items, much of which is not usually on display. "What a fantastic idea to have all these pieces to learn from - so they're not just behind the scenes and stored away somewhere. You can see them in person and up close," said Catherine."What an opportunity for everyone to see historic pieces first hand," she said, praising the "eclectic" was shown around the store's cavernous rooms by the museum's director Tristram Hunt and she saw examples of conservation work on textiles in the Hunt showed the princess some examples of textiles by the Victorian designer, William Morris, and she said how much she liked the foliage spoke to the museum director about how some of the historic textiles on show could still look museum stores, free to visitors, has an "order an object" service which allows visitors to book an appointment to see an object close up and get information about it from museum to royal sources, the purpose of the visit was to highlight the importance of creative opportunity and to celebrate the "power of creativity". Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
