Westall

ROBERT WESTALL (1929 - 1993)

Robert Westall was one of the most original and striking of modern writers for children; his book The Machine Gunners would be on any teacher's list of classroom readers. He was born at 7 Vicarage Street, North Shields and the family moved to 18 Balkwell Green when Robert was about five years old. He attended Tynemouth Municipal high School before going on to study fine art at King's College, Newcastle and the Slade School in London. He later taught and eventually became an antique dealer in Cheshire.

The Machine Gunners (1975) was his first book and it won him the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Set in Garmouth (Tynemouth) during World War II, it concerns the theft by boys of a machine-gun from a crashed German bomber. Described as wonderfully vivid and forceful, it has been televised by the BBC, as has The Watch House, a ghost story linked with the famous Tynemouth institution. Fathom Five is set in the Haven, the Fish Quay and Low Street, North Shields, whose demolition Westall deeply regretted, pointing out that in Whitby and Scarborough such streets are treasured. Though Westall is a realistic writer, concerned with human relationships, he does make telling use of the supernatural at times. He has, in fact written some of the best children's ghost stories of the 20th century. The Wind Eye is a timeslip story, describing a modern family coming under the healing influence of Saint Cuthbert.

Westall kept an exile's love for his home town and was pleased at the restoration of the Watch House and those Georgian gems, the High and Low Lights. The clear river (a Great Crested Grebe fishing off Tynemouth pier) and the absence of shipping were a great contrast with his youth, when ships were moored three deep in the Tyne and the water was so dirty that only black-jack could survive in it. He would have loved to see the river full of pleasure craft but was worried about vandalism and what he called 'the blind following after southern values'. North Tyneside Council have now established a Robert Westall Trail, featuring locations described in the novelist's work. A plaque has been erected in Vicarage Street.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
ROBERT WESTALL (1929 - 1993) Robert Westall was one of the most original and striking of modern writers for children; his book The Machine Gunners would be on any teacher's list of classroom readers. He was born at 7 Vicarage Street, North Shields and the family moved to 18 Balkwell Green when Robert was about five years old. He attended Tynemouth Municipal high School before going on to study fine art at King's College, Newcastle and the Slade School in London. He later taught and eventually became an antique dealer in Cheshire. The Machine Gunners (1975) was his first book and it won him the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Set in Garmouth (Tynemouth) during World War II, it concerns the theft by boys of a machine-gun from a crashed German bomber. Described as wonderfully vivid and forceful, it has been televised by the BBC, as has The Watch House, a ghost story linked with the famous Tynemouth institution. Fathom Five is set in the Haven, the Fish Quay and Low Street, North Shields, whose demolition Westall deeply regretted, pointing out that in Whitby and Scarborough such streets are treasured. Though Westall is a realistic writer, concerned with human relationships, he does make telling use of the supernatural at times. He has, in fact written some of the best children's ghost stories of the 20th century. The Wind Eye is a timeslip story, describing a modern family coming under the healing influence of Saint Cuthbert. Westall kept an exile's love for his home town and was pleased at the restoration of the Watch House and those Georgian gems, the High and Low Lights. The clear river (a Great Crested Grebe fishing off Tynemouth pier) and the absence of shipping were a great contrast with his youth, when ships were moored three deep in the Tyne and the water was so dirty that only black-jack could survive in it. He would have loved to see the river full of pleasure craft but was worried about vandalism and what he called 'the blind following after southern values'. North Tyneside Council have now established a Robert Westall Trail, featuring locations described in the novelist's work. A plaque has been erected in Vicarage Street.
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