JB Priestley's views on the North East examined again

Oct 26 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

North East blamed a head cold for criticism

A SCRAPBOOK of original reviews of English Journey is held in the J.B. Priestley Archive at the University of Bradford, in the city where the writer was born.

It contains The Journal’s reaction, with headlines of "Tyneside Denounced by J B Priestley" and "Hebburn Awaits Doomsday."

The paper reports protest speeches in Jarrow Town Council.

It goes on: "Mr Priestley is a big man and has trod very heavily on the Tynesider’s toes.

"He might have indicated whether Northern industrialists and municipal authorities have sat complacently dozing while the shipyards fell to ruin.

"He might have ascertained if any moves have been made towards slum clearance. Destructive criticism is not enough.

"The chapters based on Tyneside and Durham are the blackest in the book.

"He was accompanied by vile weather and a severe cold in his head. No doubt he sneezed away much of his tolerance and good humour.

"At any rate, Tyneside’s name would not have been bedraggled as it has been in the eyes of the world had that cold kept Mr Priestley confined to his hotel."

The life of Priestley

BORN in Bradford in 1894, John Boynton Priestley was one of the foremost English playwrights and dramatists of the 20th Century.

Priestley served and was wounded in the First World War. His university education at Cambridge took place after the war, by which time he was well in his 20s. After early success as a novelist he turned to writing plays.

Time and the Conways, written in 1937, remains enduringly popular, but his best-known work is probably An Inspector Calls, written in 1946. It is still a staple of GCSE English Literature syllabuses, has been made into films for both cinema and television, and is periodically revived at both professionals and amateur theatres.

Three times married, Priestley was a left-winger who was occasionally viewed with suspicion by the establishment.

He declined a number of honours in his later years, but did accept membership of the Order of Merit in 1977. He died in 1984, aged 89.