Keith Proud

Latest articles from Keith Proud

The martyr and the Dryburn ace

Wharton Park, a 19th Century gift to the residents of Durham, has a rich and colourful history marked by saintly execution and wartime sacrifice.

It's not where you start

Dorothy Clement, a seamstress from humble origins in Darlington, was sent to London to make her way in the world... and, famously, found love.

A rather strange fish

Barnabe Barnes was buried at Durham in December 1609 but spent his life putting pen to paper and causing a few feuds on the way.

The poet and the portrait

It was the sort of love story that inspires writers, but the romance of famed poets Elizabeth Barrett Barrett and Robert Browning hid a dark secret.

Heart of the city

The Saxon word “aelfet-ee”, meaning “swan island”, has become corrupted over the years until it is now “Elvet”, and refers to the area of land across the River Wear, due west of the peninsula, on which Durhams cathedral and castle stand. There are two principal thoroughfares in the area – Old Elvet and New Elvet. The former was once regarded as the finest street in the city, along which horses used to be run by their owners to show them off when fairs were held there.

A star of Tow Law

The discovery of x-rays by the German Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen in 1895 caused a sensation in scientific and medical circles and created interest in the subject across the world, even in the unlikely setting of the small coal-mining town of Tow Law, in rural County Durham.

The duke’s piper

Jamie Allan, a celebrated musician and friend of the aristrocacy, but also thief, bigamist, and deserter, who died in a Durham prison cell awaiting deportation

Earl to old bishop

Bishop Hugh Pudsey’s legacy for the North-East was more than just a bridge over the River Wear and a few expensive projects.

Saint’s final journey

From Lindisfarne to Durham City and back again, St Cuthbert provided guidance to the monks who carried his body to his final resting place.