When I was a boy, a family lived on the opposite side of the road to me. Phil and I were to become lifelong friends and musicians. Phil’s grandfather Jim Franklin lived with the family. He was an old-style flat picking banjo player and would often play to Phil and I when we were boys. His enthusiasm and inspiration were a major influence on me picking up the guitar. 

After passing we learned his early life story. Like many men of his age, he was a manual worker, laid off in the depression in Sunderland. With a young family to feed and no job, he turned to playing his banjo in and around Sunderland. In the 30’s Jim and many other men were ‘persuaded’ to travel 200 miles to work as a Forester in East Anglia. In Jim’s case this was the Thetford Forest near the village of West Toft. 

This is Jim’s tale, ‘The West Toft Woodsman’.

The West Toft Woodsman

Recounting the Miners Strike of 1984 at Easington Pit

Easington ‘84

Fire And Water

Andy is a former member of the Sunderland Bluegrass band The Heavenly Thrillbillies. Andy is song writer, Guitar, Dobro and Harmonica player in the band. The Tunstallachia Upland Boys is an independent project by Andy. All compositions instrument and vocal tracks and production were made by Andy.
The aim of the musical project ‘The Tunstallachia Upland Boys’ is to explore contemporary Urban Themes and Issues through the media of Alternate Country Music. 
I hope you enjoy the music here as much as I have enjoyed writing and performing it.

The West Toft Woodsman

Andy J Fraser & The Tunstallachia Upland Boys

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