The Crocodile Collective: Stories of Washington (UK) and beyond is a podcast for anyone interested in history, heritage and everyday stories and sounds from Washington, Tyne and Wear.

In this episode we hear about brothers Richard and Barney Betts’ journey along the C2C cycleway between Consett and Sunderland to find out more about their ancestor, T.E Harrison who is part of the engineering legacy of Washington.

We hear a live performance from the wonderful local singer songwriter Ken Tong about Railways.

Close by the same cycleway, we hear from Roger Morris who muses on the importance of allotments in his and other allotment holders’ lives.

Crocodile collective members Jude Murphy and Ged Parker discuss the wider issues to do with the importance of the railway (and railway songs) and Washington’s unsung heroes of engineering.

Finally, James Williams introduces his amazing short audio story Reflections of Green and Black.

Thanks to Richard and Barney Betts and Ken Tong

Useful links: https://www.historypin.org/en/washington-uk-heritage-map/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Elliot_Harrison

Presenters: Jim Metcalfe and James Williams

Producers: Caroline Mitchell and Elvira Pirozzi

Podcast Theme Music: "The Lambton Croc" by Jude Murphy

Audio editor and support: Joe Simmons

Exec Producers: Caroline Mitchell, Sarah Murray and Jude Murphy and NEVoice CIC

Thanks to Matthew Blyth and staff at Arts Centre Washington; University of Sunderland: Richard Berry, the radio and podcasting team in the School of Media & Creative Industries and everyone at Washington Town Centre Library and Podcast Studio.

The Crocodile Collective Community Podcast Group is: Sarah Murray, Joe Simmons, Roger Morris, David James Taylor, Jan Lawson; Ged Parker, Liz Greener, James Williams, Jim Metcalfe, Elvira Pirozzi, Jude Murphy and Caroline Mitchell