New Book
An Alarming Accident (or every glass tells a story)
Reviewed by Rita Pearce
John Brooks and Bill Cowan have combined to produce a well-researched well illustrated book on the commemorative glass, peculiar to the North East, known as Disaster Glass. This is a group of glasses which originated in the North East. They are identifiable as such because, on the whole, the engraving on them is of indifferent quality and unremarkable. However, the engravings cover a wide variety of events – exhibitions, death in the family, industrial disputes, fishing accidents, parliamentary elections, the Transvaal war, The Lusitania, royal visits, men valued by the local community; in other words, a veritable Evening Chronicle in glass. These glasses were produced between 1796 – 1916 as far as the researchers can prove. They have shown that commemorative engraving was partly an itinerant trade, like the knife grinder, using the treadle-powered machine at the door, taking advantage of local events. Other glasses however were produced from workshops in the locality. Their research has explored some of the human stories behind the inscriptions: a group of four men went out for a Saturday afternoon pleasure cruise, but none could swim so when the storm blew up, they were all drowned. Another was of two brothers aged 8 and 11 who were skating on the pit flash at Choppington. They went through the ice and were rescued lifeless by their father. Then there was the bare-knuckle prize fight on Blyth Links which was stopped by the police and 8 ferry passengers missed the last boat across the river so went over in the sculler, which sank. Two men swam to shore; two women were found floating, Ophelia–like but dead. The Bannisters left 8 children and the Bells left 5. Many of these modest memorials survive today in cupboards, attics and antique shops, and many of the stories on these cheap glasses have been forgotten like the Alnmouth Riot and the scandal of the man who broke the bank at Blyth. Times really don’t change much!
“An Alarming Accident” opens a window for us. What began as curiosity on the part of John Brooks and Bill Cowan has led to the re-discovery of the hard life of most of the working class of the North East but also shows how some rose to be respected leaders in their communities, with strong social consciences.
City and County
February 2009
