Stanley Sings: An intergenerational song by the people of Stanley

Writer Bob Beagrie and singer/songwriter Sara Dennis have been collaborating with children from St Joseph’s Primary School and residents of Towneley Court, a retirement housing complex, in Stanley to create a new song for the town.

The ambition was to create an intergenerational song that was performed at the Stanley Christmas Market in early December.

Over the course of ten songwriting workshops Bob and Sara asked participants to share their stories of Stanley and talk about what it is like to live there. The stories shared and creative writing by the participants were combined to create ‘Keeping Stanley’s Beacon Alight’.

An excerpt from the song Keeping Stanley’s Beacon Alight

We are the oak trees,
And this is what we’ve learned,
Allus keep doors open,
Be there for your friends.

Though we may just be acorns,
We’ll help our Garden thrive,
With wit and gumption we winnet gan wran,
to
Keep Stanley’s spirit alive

“We worked closely with the participants in mining their memories of growing up and living in Stanley. We spoke of its transformation from a colliery town and the changes within the urban spaces and the collective stories linked to certain buildings. Whilst radical shifts in lifestyle and leisure were identified, there remained a sense of local resilience and community connection.”
Bob Beagrie

“We paid particular attention to local and social histories, folklore, dialect and traditions to craft a song to reflect the essence of the town. Using direct quotes and stories from participants, and weaving in elements of Tommy Armstrong’s song, ‘Stanla Markit’, ‘Keeping Stanley’s Beacon Alight’ really captures the feeling of community connection, spirit, hope and heritage.”
Sara Dennis

Bob Beagrie (PhD) is a poet, writer and performer and literary activist. He lives in Middlesbrough and has published fifteen collections of poetry. Sara Dennis is musician, writer, poet and facilitator from Teesside.

This project was delivered by New Writing North in partnership with Karbon Homes.

Image: rehearsal with all participants, photo: Jo Hislop.