Chris Lloyd
Chris Lloyd: Conkers and nuts in the eye of a storm
5:26pm Thursday 20th September 2018
STORM ALI has blown through and carpeted our street with a crunchy layer of nuts and conkers.
Opinion: Doing deals with the online devil
10:52am Friday 14th September 2018
THE political conference season has just begun and before the heavyweights have had a chance to take the lectern, the Archbishop of Canterbury has already weighed in with speech of the year.
Cocking a snook at a bender
3:29pm Thursday 6th September 2018
THIS column is obviously diligently planned and meticulously researched. And in the week of a remarkable u-turn, it seemed appropriate to look at the history of the u-turn and then conclude with my favourite phrase from the day that Darlington’s reprieved library was opened.
10 ways to improve Darlington library, including bringing back Fred the Bear
8:30am Wednesday 5th September 2018
EVEN on social media, the almost universal reaction to the news of the u-turn that is keeping Darlington library open has been positive. But after that initial positivity, people say something along the lines of "but I haven't been in there for years…"
How Darlington library is bucking the trendbucking trend
4:03pm Thursday 30th August 2018
A RELAXING holiday for most people still includes a good book with a racey title which is read – devoured even – beneath a parasol by the pool or in a quiet corner in the shade.
Getting hot under the collar about a sad iron
3:27pm Thursday 9th August 2018
THIS week, I’ve had my eye on irons. We’re beginning to pack for our holidays, and so clothes are being chased through the washing cycle so that they can be smoothed by our top of the range, durablade, ultraglide steam iron ready to go in the case.
Chris Lloyd: A story with a sting in the tale
2:10pm Thursday 2nd August 2018
THE last time I was stung by a wasp was probably in the summer of 1998 during the last proper cricket match I was ever lucky enough to play.
A pot-pourri of play at the Mischmasch
4:04pm Thursday 26th July 2018
“BEGIN at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Chris Lloyd: Jottings about the Brexit tittle-tattle
6:41pm Thursday 19th July 2018
IT has been a week of small margins, of bits and whits, of dots and jots, of scintallas and tittles, of smidgens and smitchels and even smitches.
Why is mine a 99?
6:26pm Thursday 5th July 2018
“MAKE mine a 99” is an advertising slogan on the tip of everyone’s lips in this sweaty, sweltering heatwave.
Nice chest control: how the waistcoat's won the World Cup
6:16pm Thursday 28th June 2018
SAY what you like about Gareth Southgate, but he is incredibly loyal.
The pain of hospital parking
6:02pm Thursday 21st June 2018
THE NHS has swung magnificently behind me this week after I woke on Saturday morning to a painfully swelling ankle.
Condiments to the publicity department
6:24pm Thursday 7th June 2018
HEINZ have perpetrated the greatest publicity stunt of the week. They have threatened to rename “Salad Cream” and call it “Sandwich Cream” because only 14 per cent of purchasers use salad cream on salads; nearly all of them use it on sandwiches.
Chris Lloyd: Deathknell of the big departments
6:00pm Thursday 24th May 2018
THE proposed closures of the Darlington and Stockton branches of Marks & Spencer must be terrible news for the 120 people who work there, many of whom have become familiar faces behind their tills over the years.
Crowing about being cock-a-hoop
2:24pm Thursday 17th May 2018
A COLLEAGUE described the Mayor of the Tees Valley as being “cock-a-hoop” when he was able to disclose that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement with airport owners Peel in time for his first anniversary press conference.
Bringing a carillon back to life
3:16pm Thursday 3rd May 2018
THIS week, I have been conjuring with a carillon.
You'll never guess what instrument of execution Mr Derrick invented...
5:37pm Thursday 26th April 2018
STANDING in the sun last Saturday as the Last Post drifted mournfully across Witton Park and the memorial stone to Victoria Cross winner Lt-Cmdr George Bradford was dedicated, two words swam through my mind.
Jumping – but has Darlington missed the boat?
4:33pm Thursday 19th April 2018
ON Saturday, the community around Witton Park – veterans and schoolchildren – will come together to commemorate the centenary of the astonishing self-sacrifice of Victoria Cross-winner Lieutenant-Commander GN Bradford.
Chris Lloyd: Pulling plastic from the Swale
6:12pm Thursday 12th April 2018
ON the first good day of spring last weekend, Swaledale looked absolutely stunning, with little lambs in cute blue coats gambolling in the meadows and the most thrillingly cold crystal clear water streaming down the daleside.
Chris Lloyd: Driving the frog from my throat
6:31pm Thursday 5th April 2018
I HAVE a cold. My first of the winter. As I write, I’ve got a hacking cough and a cold sweat breaking out in beads on the top of my bald head. This morning when I awoke, my throat was so dry and sandpapery it felt like an Australian cricketer had been using it to tamper with his balls.
Strange and trivial fascinations, usually with a historical bent, in a never-ending quest to understand today’s world.
Peter Barron
Weekly columns from The Northern Echo's former editor.
Mike Amos
Stories of the characterful people and colourful places that make the North-East.
Chris Lloyd
Strange and trivial fascinations in a quest to understand today’s world.
Chris Moncrieff
Weekly political comment from political correspondent Chris Moncrieff.
Ruth Campbell
Ruth on the heartaches & belly laughs that go with being a mum.
Harry Mead
An offbeat view of the week's events and how they affect the region.
Julia Breen
Anti-injustice, pro-equality, sometimes ragey.
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Regular ruminations of a 30-something reporter from Teesside.
Ben Houchen
Monthly column from Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen.
Mike Barton
Durham Constabulary Chief Constable Mike Barton's monthly column on policing.
