The Horse Hospital

Lighting Up by Jim Beresford

I have a very splendid view of the city from my fourteenth floor penthouse. Every evening I stand on the balcony and watch the fires .  

Newcastle is now admitting to have an ‘arson crisis’ although  even all those years ago when I was a nipper, ‘snap, crackle and pop’ meant something much more exciting than Rice Crispies, more like church crispies or paper-warehouse crispies!  Now, all these years later, a special crisis conference of 150 experts has been called to address the problem or more probably to observe in total disbelief. 

This year alone there have been 15,000 arson attacks in the north east causing more than 17million pounds worth of damage and that’s not just a few nine year olds with a book of matches and an oily rag. ( we nearly had a success with the church ). There are also the serious full-time  guardians of the flame. 

Wide-eyed lovers of the midnight pyre, the ‘Parafin Pair’ caught again and again on security cameras in their black balaclavas  torching whole fleets of vans and lorries (they have a special hatred for HGV’s) 1 in 8 fires in the whole of the United Kingdom will be happening here, in this tiny city. Newcastle people NEED to smoke, one way or another, it’s in the blood