Short novel set in PARIS
Talking Location With Sue Reed – NEWCASTLE and through NORTHUMBERLAND
21st October 2023
#TalkingLocationWith.. author Sue Reed, author of The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn – Newcastle and through Northumberland.
My debut novel, The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn sees Molly being driven from inner city Newcastle by her Mam to rural Northumberland to stay with her bohemian grandparents because her mam says she can’t be trusted. Her mam, a single parent is a nurse on the covid ward at the beginning of the pandemic and Molly has been caught shoplifting.
They leave town, driving past the Town Moor, the large expanse of common land in the middle of Newcastle where the famous Hoppings, the annual fun fair is held. Molly talks about the cows that graze the Town Moor, and how unusual it is to see cows in town:
“A few dogwalkers braved the Town Moor, heads bent against the wind. Rumour had it the Hoppings might not be on this year. Even if they were, I didn’t think I’d be allowed to go after Mam found out I got off with the lad that worked on the Waltzer last year, and now this. You could see the cows in the distance across the grass. Weird, that. Cows in the middle of Newcastle.”
Newcastle Gaol
South Tyne
They follow the Tyne Valley, along the A69, driving past Brocksbushes Farm where Molly’s friends left her in the dark during a Halloween Spook Night, and then past the wood chip factory that belches smoke into the sky, and more than one child, my son included, has asked, ‘is that the factory that makes the clouds?’
As rain lashes down, Molly’s mam grips the steering wheel and turns off the main road to navigate country lanes awash with water, pheasants and dog walkers, with the pungent smell of wild garlic from the verges providing a heady aroma. They drive through the tiny village of Beltingham, once home to the Bowes Lyon family, with the Queen mother’s cousin, Lady Mary having lived in the big house in the village until quite recently. The churchyard makes an interesting visit, not only for the graves of the Bowes Lyon family, and a Roman alter stone to the goddess Saturda, but it is also home to a 900-year-old yew tree that can be found behind the village church.
As Molly and her Mam approach Nan and Grandad’s cottage, a historic bastle farmhouse with a castle turret looms in the distance. This is Willimoteswick Castle Farm and is alleged to have been the birthplace of Bishop Ridley. A bastle is a fortified dwelling and provided safe haven for both people and animals in the days of the Border Reivers.
Willimoteswick Farm in the distance
Much to Molly’s initial disgust, her grandparents live down a country lane, with a nature reserve and woods about a mile’s walk back down the lane. It is here that she meets Martha who has stumbled into present time through a portal on the green metal bridge that spans the South Tyne. Beltingham Nature Reserve is the setting for Martha’s makeshift camp, on an island that sits in the middle of the fast-flowing waters of the Tyne. Martha is homeless, is living in the woods and is on the run from the witchfinder and the 1649 Newcastle Witch Trials, where her mother, Ann Watson has been banged up in the gaol in Newcastle. Newcastle Castle is open to visitors who can see the gaol where some of the women accused of witchcraft and hung on the Town Moor is 1650 were held. Ann Watson was one of them.
The Green Bridge
Back to the countryside, and Bardon Mill station and village shop can be found by crossing over the South Tyne, a beautiful part of the world, where salmon fishermen stand in waders and folk come to walk and soak in the glorious countryside of southwest Northumberland. This area is steeped in history and natural beauty and in The Rewilding of Molly McFlynn, Molly develops a love of nature and sustainable living. She has been rewilded and returns to town life when lockdown is lifted. The final scene sees her back on the Town Moor, commemorating the hanging on Ann Watson and the other fifteen women and one man hung there on 21 August 1650 in the biggest single execution during what is now known as the burning times.
Sue Reed
Catch Sue Reed on Twitter @suereedwrites
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