Nicholas Freeston

Nicholas Freeston
Born (1907-08-28)28 August 1907
Kendal, Westmorland, England, UK
Died 6 February 1978(1978-02-06) (aged 70)
Accrington, Lancashire, England, UK
Occupation Poet, weaver
Spouse Rose Freeston
(d. 1977)
Children Roy, Brian, Carole

Nicholas Freeston (1907-1978) was an English poet who spent most of his working life as a weaver in cotton mills near his home in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire. He published five books of poetry, occasionally writing in Lancashire dialect, and won fifteen awards including a gold medal presented by the president of the United Poets' Laureate International. He was listed in the third edition of Who's Who in the World and appeared on television and radio reading his own work.[1] A UK national newspaper, the Daily Mirror, called him the "Cotton Mill Bard"[2] and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, the "Wordsworth of the Weaving Shed".[3]

Early life

Nicholas Freeston was born in Kendal, Westmorland in August 1907 and moved with his family to Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire, at the age of 8. One of ten children he started work in a cotton mill aged 12.[2] According to a Daily Mirror profile of the poet from 1963, the first verse of one of his poems captured the challenges of his early life:

"A silver spoon was never mine. I cut my teeth on tears. And all the things that men call fine have passed me down the years."

He took a correspondence course in English during the economic depression of the 1930s when he was out of work for six years, but it was 1947 before his first poem was published.[2] The Lancashire Evening Telegraph described how he bolstered his learning by taking evening classes with the Workers' Educational Association and reading immense amounts of poetry.[1]

Poetry

Nicholas Freeston published his first book of poetry, Christmas Bells and Other Poems, in 1950, followed by The House of the Croft in 1952 and The First Christmas in 1953.[4] He was able to publish the books thanks to the generosity of local patrons.[5] A profile of the poet in the Northern Daily Telegraph, a local newspaper, told how Freeston had the 'unusual hobby' of writing poetry after working by day as a weaver at Messrs. Hindle and Warburton's Oakenshaw Mill [in Clayton-le-Moors]. Asked if his job was a barrier to writing poetry, he told the newspaper: "Not a bit of it. It is an asset. I get a lot of my ideas at the loom".[6]

In 1955 the BBC radio presenter Wilfred Pickles selected two of Nicholas Freeston's poems for inclusion in an anthology of poetry and prose of the 'north counties' of England. The book, My North Countrie, featured Freeston's Lancashire dialect verses, 'Th' Art Lookin' Sackless' and 'A Bird Song Away'.[7]

"That he sung to his mate Ah wor never in deawt, Nobbut luv could inspire sich a cry. An' ut th'end uv his song Coom her answerin' sheawt, Fro' a stately owd Cherry nearby."

In the same year as the publication of Pickles' anthology, Freeston published his fourth book, a collection of his own poems priced two shillings. He donated proceeds from the book's sale to Nazareth House, a charity in Blackburn, Lancashire.[4]

Freeston's final book, a collection of 65 poems, was published in 1966, in response to numerous requests for his work.[8] The book featured 'The Blackbird in Delph Road', a reference to Birtwistle and Fielding's Delph Road Mill, Great Harwood, where he worked the night-shift in the weaving shed. The poem 'Paddy' was dedicated to an Irish man he worked with, who was, according to the Accrington Observer, "a great walker and bird-watcher until he died at the age of 93":[9]

"Ah'm gradely fain that Fate decreed That he should pass my way."

The book also included the semi-autobiographical verse, 'Above the Din', which was brought to a much wider audience a year earlier in a profile of the poet in the Daily Mail newspaper. The profile described how Freeston found inspiration for his poetry in the loneliness of 'the deafening clash of the looms' in a weaving shed where he worked the night-shift:[10]

"Above the din of the looms I heard the splendid song of a happy bird. And the message there was plain to me of the things to come, of the joys to be."

Freeston described being completely alone in the noise of the weaving shed, "I could never lip-read so I composed 200 poems and committed them to paper during my supper break".[10] When he was interviewed about his poetry by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in 1970, he was working as a weaver in a cotton mill in Oswaldtwistle,[3] the Lancashire town where James Hargreaves, the inventor of the revolutionary textile machine the spinning jenny, was born in the early 18th century.[11] Freeston told the Telegraph, "I find beauty in the world about me. You have to look for beauty in ugly surroundings. This is what I do and it gives me great solace". Freeston explained how he could only write when he could feel and see the words in pictures. "I'm not one of those commercial poets who can write to order", he said, explaining how he thought of his poems at the loom or walking along the street: "I recall something that has struck me during a day in the countryside or something remembered from my childhood."

"They laid it low my tree, And why, I never knew, One said - 'twas for its ugliness, And some - it spoiled the view."

Awards and recognition

Nicholas Freeston won fifteen awards for his Lancashire dialect and lyric poetry, and by the time of his death in 1978, was listed in the third edition of Who's Who in the World.[1] The Accrington Observer, the weekly newspaper for Accrington and the surrounding area, known as Hyndburn, called him the borough's "Premier Poet" for his "pure-as-crystal poetry".[9] Despite the recognition, he insisted: "The weaving shed is really as far as I expected to be known".[10]

"Coom, coom neaw Johnny Yella-bill, Coom, stop that merry din. Ah fear tha'll bust thi precious heart, An' that would bi a sin."

Television and radio

Nicholas Freeston made a number of appearances on television and radio in the north west of England:[17]

One of his poems was broadcast by the actress Violet Carson who played Ena Sharples in the British television soap opera, Coronation Street.[2] She read 'Th' Art Lookin' Sackless' on the BBC North regional children's hour programme, Lancashire Hot Pot.[23]

"Th'art lookin' sackless, Speckled Breast. As sackless as con be. Coom up! an' spooart thi mottled vest an' pipe a toon fer me."

Music

Some of Nicholas Freeston's poems were set to music by Ivy Mason Whipp and performed by, among others, the Oswaldtwistle born opera singer Vivian Townley.[1] The poems set to music were 'The Stream', 'A Bird Song Away', 'The Thrush' and 'They Sweeten Time', all published by Boosey and Hawkes.[24] Freeston's works have been performed on BBC radio by the singers Cynthia Glover, Gladys New, Donald Pilley and Raymond Budd of Black and White Minstrels fame.[25] Pauline Darrell sang 'The Stream' in The Grand Hotel on the BBC Light Programme in 1967.[26] A performance of 'The Stream' featured on the 1972 album 'Sounds Like North Cornwall'.[27]

"There flowed through Heav'n a lovely stream, I saw its splendour in my dream, I saw child-angels at their play, Take stars from out the Milky Way....."

Publications

Nicholas Freeston published five books of poetry[1] between 1950 and 1966:

All the books are still available at various Lancashire County Council libraries.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Leaver, Eric. "Looms were mill poet's muse". Lancashire Evening Telegraph (Blackburn). 8 February 1978. Front page.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gagie, Michael. "The man who cut his teeth on tears..." Daily Mirror (London). 18 December 1963
  3. 1 2 Broadhurst, Terry. "Nick finds poetry on the shop-floor". Lancashire Evening Telegraph (Blackburn). 9 February 1970
  4. 1 2 Northern Daily Telegraph (Blackburn). 1955.
  5. ↑ "Weaver-poet's second book". Northern Daily Telegraph (Blackburn). 1952
  6. ↑ "Weaver-poet gets ideas as he works". Northern Daily Telegraph (Blackburn). 1951.
  7. ↑ Pickles, Wilfred. My North Countrie. George, Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1955
  8. ↑ Freeston, Nicholas. "Author's Notes". Poems. 1966
  9. 1 2 Dobson, Bob. "Mill worker Nicholas wove a beautiful poem". Accrington Observer. 19 December 1997.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Windsor, John. "A man - who won poets' gold medal - alone." Daily Mail (London). 11 September 1965
  11. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica. James Hargreaves. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/255264/James-Hargreaves. Extracted 9 February 2014.
  12. ↑ Arkwright, John Stanley. "Forward". Freeston, Nicholas. Poems. 12 March 1966
  13. ↑ "The mill poet wins gold award". Daily Mirror (London). 16 June 1965. Page 24.
  14. ↑ "Another award for Clayton poet". Accrington Observer. 23 October 1965
  15. ↑ Diack, Philip. "Back street poet joins the top people". The Daily Herald (London). 11 December 1963
  16. ↑ Freeston, Nicholas. "Author's Notes". Collected Poems. August 1955
  17. ↑ "Clayton poet's triumph". Accrington Observer. 1966
  18. ↑ "Clayton poet recites on TV". Accrington Observer. 12 March 1960
  19. ↑ Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 20 December 1963
  20. ↑ "Our Poet". Catholic News. January 1964
  21. ↑ "Letters to the Editor". Accrington Observer. 9 October 1965
  22. ↑ "Clayton poet was TV "star"". Accrington Observer. 26 June 1965
  23. ↑ Northern Daily Telegraph (Blackburn). 1952
  24. ↑ British Library (London). Online Catalogue. Retrieved on 31 December 2013.
  25. ↑ "Musical Poet in Who's Who". Accrington Observer. 2 Nov 1977.
  26. ↑ "They liked the lyric". Accrington Observer. 8 May 1967.
  27. ↑ Sounds Like North Cornwall. Sentinel Records. SENS 1011. 1972
  28. ↑ Lancashire County Council. Libraries Catalogue - Nicholas Freeston. Retrieved 2 February 2014
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