NOTE – DATE CHANGED. NELH Tuesday Meeting. Keith Jewitt will talk about: Sid Chaplin – a Writer’s World
2 February 2027 @ 19:00 - 20:30
Please note that the date for this meeting has been changed from 12 January 2027 to Tuesday 2 February 2027
This will be a Zoom meeting. Zoom details to follow.
Sid Chaplin is often described in the context of the Durham coalfield, which provided him with the material for his early writing. In this talk, based on research in the Sid Chaplin archive at Newcastle University, Keith Jewitt describes the other world which Sid inhabited, in conjunction with everyday life at the pit and within his family. Sid became a well-loved figure both at home and in London’s highbrow literary circles, although inevitably there were also tensions, revealed in his richly detailed letters to friends.
Keith Jewitt was born in Jarrow, moved to Benton as a child, and was lucky enough to see “Close the Coalhouse Door” (based on Sid Chaplin’s stories) in 1968. He went on to study History at university and is now a semi-retired accountant with an interest in local history.