We welcome back local favourites 'The Ironopolis Singers' with a premiere of their new show - 'Smokestack Land', based on material by Graeme Miles.

 

At the centre of the show is Graeme's songs about the Tees and the Tees estuary. Showcasing his best known and best loved songs, such as;  Ring of Iron, Over Yonder Banks and Sad February- audience participation will be encouraged!

Plenty of previously unrecorded songs will also be performed, highlighting a wealth of Graeme's material.

 

The show opens with the Tees Estuary on the north bank, Graeme's teenage stamping ground and his inspiration for songs, then crosses the Tees to old Middlesbrough, (or 'Smokestack Land' - as Graeme called it), dealing with its success as a world leader in iron and steel fabrication, to its demise and destruction. Telling the story of Middlesbrough's population being dispersed to knew parts of the city, these songs illustrate industrialisation in the North East and its direct impact on the people of the area. 

 

The show ends with an outline of a new Middlesbrough, rising from the ashes of the old town 'over the border'. Despite all of the changes, the Transporter bridge still stands proudly, a relic of the old Middlesbrough.