Jesmond Old Cemetery, Grave of Sid Chaplin

1916-1986. Sid Chaplin was a writer. His first publication was a collection of short stories called 'The Leaping Lad' in 1946. He won an award from the Rockefeller Trust for this book. He returned to working as a colliery blacksmith when the money ran out. In 1950 he moved to London as chief reporter for the mining magazine 'Coal'. He returned to Newcastle some years later and wrote more books about north-east working class life, including 'The Watchers and the Watched' and 'The Day of the Sardine'. He was involved in the musical 'Close the Coalhouse Door'. He wrote scripts for the television series 'When the Boat Comes In'. In 1961 he helped form Northern Arts. In 1977 Sid Chaplin was awarded the OBE for his services to the Arts. His gravestone features two roughly cut natural-looking stones, one set up-end on the other and the lower one inscribed with a quill.