The Devil's Waiting Room

The Devil's Waiting Room is biographical journey centred around the summer in 1969 in the fishing port of North Shields on the banks of the River Tyne. Racism was still very strong and open and had an iron grip on the town during perpetual time for change. The last summer sees the changes and adventures through my eyes as a 10 year old innocent who just wanted to run and play but was caught up in the undercurrent of the times.

As one of the few mixed race families in North Shields, that created isolation and tension that a pre-pubescent child could never really understand at the time. North Shields had many interesting characters that spilt over into our lives, whether we liked it or not.

The Sandman and the Ghosts kept us awake at night till the morning broke. Outside we ran. At home we persevered. And late at night, I would hear my father cry. The world evolved in black and white, everything only ever happened in cold shades of grey. However, the summer of that year was the colour of freedom. It spun around in a spectrum of kaleidoscopic vibrant tones that no adult could ever see. While older people saw news and information, we fed on the freedom of our playground. From the Spanish Battery to the Tiger Stairs, there was no black and there was no white. This was our Promised Land, and in it we were free.