The Essay - Free Thinking 2010 - New Histories of the North East - A Landscape for Everyman

The last in a series of five essays with new perspectives on the history of North East England. Before the industrial revolution, artists such as Walter Scott and JMW Turner came to the North East and found its landscape fulfilled their vision of natural beauty as a unifying force for 'Everyman'. 200 years later, much of the heavy industry has returned to grass. Writer Rebecca Jenkins, resident of Teesdale, argues that it's time for the North East to reclaim the glory of its rural culture and extinguish the whippets and flat caps clichés that never fully represented the region. Recorded in front of an audience at the Sage Gateshead, as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival of ideas 2010.