ACCLAIMED sports writer and journalist Harry Pearson will be guest speaker at the inaugural event of the British Society of Sports History’s (BSSH) North East & Yorkshire Network.
The Symposium takes place at Teesside University [Clarendon Building] on Saturday, November 14, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund supported Tees Transporter Bridge Visitor Experience Project.
Open to all, the free event is the first by the BSSH’s new North East and Yorkshire regional network. Then network provides a platform to encourage wider interest in the area’s diverse sport and leisure history and heritage.
Keynote speaker Harry Pearson, who received an Honorary Doctorate from Teesside University in 2012, has written a number of well-received sports books and been a regular contributor to The Independent, The Guardian and When Saturday Comes.
Pearson’s The Far Corner was shortlisted for the 1995 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, while Slipless in Settle won the 2012 MCC Book of the Year Award.
Other papers will explore a variety of topics include Middlesbrough Football Club’s financial difficulties in the 1980s, the River Tees’ sporting history, international sports statues, civic ceremony in Middlesbrough and working class culture in sport.
Teesside University’s Mike McGuinness, co-organiser of the symposium, said: “It is a coup for Teesside to host the first BSSH North East and Yorkshire network event. In securing Harry Pearson as the keynote speaker, this first event is sure to be popular and will provide a fascinating insight into the links between urban leisure, history and heritage.”
Fellow co-organiser and Tees Transporter Bridge Education Officer Tosh Warwick added:
“We are delighted to support the BSSH North East and Yorkshire event alongside Teesside University. In exploring the development of sport and leisure on and along the ‘steel river’, the project contributes to this wider celebration of urban leisure, history and heritage.”
The Symposium is free to attend and all are welcome. Bookings can be made at http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/whats_on/events_details.cfm?event_id=7824.