Mitford Family

Achievements Part 3: a summary

~ jmchild ~ Leave a comment

This is the third part in my series of posts about Dad (Wilf Mitford)’s achievements. It’s a summary of the impact of his work. All of the posts in this series are taken directly from an award nomination made by my Mum, Maggie, back in the late 1990s, which is an absolute gem in terms of the history of Dad’s folk music writing period. This is all of course just one part of his songwriting history. Before his venture into Geordie songs he wrote some great pop songs like ‘A Fool for You’ and ‘Sitting Here Thinking’, and in later life he wrote more about his own experiences in his album ‘Geordie on his Holidays in Spain’ and ‘A Northumbrian Geordie’.

Continue reading →

Achievements Part 1

~ jmchild ~ 1 Comment

When going through Dad’s things I found this award nomination that my Mum wrote, no doubt with some input from Dad. It’s an absolute gem of a piece of writing as it clearly outlines what he produced, when, and the reception it received. I couldn’t resist sharing it. I’ve left it pretty much as written, with only a few changes to formatting here and there, and I’ve added some photos from the time to bring it to life. I’m splitting it into 3 parts so come back again soon for part 2!.

“Wilf Mitford has been writing songs for the last thirty years. Influenced by the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney he wrote his first ‘pop’ song in 1963 when he was fourteen.

In the late 1960’s he started writing contemporary folk songs which he performed in local clubs in the North East area.

Continue reading →

The Pitman Poet

~ jmchild ~ 1 Comment

CHORUS : So here’s to the memory of Tommy Armstrong
He was the pitman poet, righting all life’s wrongs
In the words of his poems which are now folk songs
Here’s to the memory of Tommy Armstrong

He was the pitman poet, recording life and times
In the late eighteen hundreds in his verses and his rhymes
When the main source of earnings was working down the mines
And sometimes the wages there were paid back in fines

Continue reading →