Northern Lights
I have always thought Newcastle one of the most attractive large towns in England. Far enough from London to resist its vampirical in- fluence, the city has always maintained, an identity of its own quite unknown in some of the larger Midland towns. The more saddening, then, to read reports of its soot,caked buildings deterring 'executives' from ever coming within a hundred miles of the place. It shouldn't take any intelligent reporter more than the time allowed by a day-return from King's Cross (now a very comfortable trip, and almost up to pre- war schedules) to see what is happening within the North-East is neither more nor less than what is happening in the country as a whole. There is a continuing movement of people into the already thickly populated urban areas. So, as the Hartlepools decline, Newcastle and Sun- derland continue to grow. Is there cause for concern in this? I see it as the healthy develop- ment of a regional capital which can be largely independent of London. I hope ,Lord Hailsham will see that the very last thing that should be done is to disperse aid widely,,This would have an almost negligible effect. I think that the decline of some of the less attractive, and now even less functional, towns should be encouraged, but I should certainly be unwilling to view this as the decline of a whole region just because a few MPs and journalists have blinded themselves to the encouraging developments already taking place.
Previous page
