The Tees The Tees Online

In the last few podcasts we have talked about Teesside, its culture and the audible badge of honour that is the distinctive accent. But what are the unique ingredients that mark out talking 'proper' Teesside?

We asked Whinney Banks raised Dr Peter Stockwell of Nottingham University, one of the UK's top experts in socio-linguistics, to talk us through the rhythm, dialect and evolution of our local lingo, a linguistic frontier town that has medieval vowels flattened by industry and immigration.

Edited by Sunita Ghosh Dastidar.

After 35 years living here, Boro striking legend Bernie Slaven says he feels like a Teessider. But he is also very much a Scot with an accent as wide as the Clyde . Yet he played international football for the Republic of Ireland. He is a bundle of contradictions.

I talked to Bernie about his complex identities, the toxic sectarian backdrop to growing up in Glasgow, his culture shock on arriving in Middlesbrough in 1985 and how he learned to love - and champion - Teesside.

For sports fans, Steve Crossman has one of the most recognisable Teesside accents in the country.

The Guisborough-raised broadcaster hosts Radio Five Live's action packed Sunday afternoon show, keeping a lot of balls in the air and switching between football, rugby and formula one and keeping some high-profile guests in check.

It has been a long journey that has taken Steve and his microphone across the globe, through riots and to some great sporting moments - and he has bumped into fellow Teessiders along the way in the oddest spots.

Listen as he relates his tale and his love for home turf to Anthony Vickers.

Edited by Sunita Ghosh Dastidar.

Teesside has a “mythical” quality that lends itself to crime fiction says Stockton-born author John Nicholson.

John is an acclaimed football writer who was long-listed for the Telegraph Sports Book of the Year for his strident anti-Premier League polemic "Can We Have Our Football Back?" last year.

But for thousands of Teessiders he is best known as the author of the gritty Nick Guymer novels that put the industrial landscape and the lush hidden hinterlands of the area centre-stage.

John, an exile currently living on the West coast of Scotland, has written 16 Nick Guymer 'Tees Noir' thrillers since 2006 and says his home turf is a massive inspiration.

“Since I’ve started to work on it I’ve realised Teesside is a kind of mythical place," he told TheTeesOnline.

“It exists only to the people who live there. It lives sort of in our imagination and no one else actually knows where it is.

“Anything can happen there. So I thought because of all that it was a great place to set a crime novel. It was a way to introduce Teesside to the rest of Britain.”

John, who grew up in Fairfield in Stockton, finds the contradictions of Teesside fire the imagination. "It’s a really interesting combination of man-made industry set against the natural world," he said.

"It’s that gritty realism versus airy romance that is so inspiring. Teesside is unfashionable, but it’s got a romantic element to it.”

Listen to John outline how he made Teesside the hero in his books - and more

Edited by Sunita Ghosh Dastidar.

Paul Smith has got his fingers crossed as Maximo Park battle it out with wrinkly rocker Alice Cooper for the coveted No 1 album spot this weekend.

The Billingham-born frontman is relishing a return to action with a powerful statement of intent after a long lockdown that has given him a lot of time to think about his Teesside roots, home his industrial heritage informs his music and about how music may face a struggle once society reopens.

Last month he was misquoted in Parliament. Here, in a Talking Tees chat with Anthony Vickers,  he puts the record straight, explains his Bladerunner landscape inspirations, his pride in an accent as wide as the Transporter and how the lockdown has starkly exposed the inequalities in society.

Edited by Sunita Ghosh Dastidar.

This week's music is by Crimson Bloom, NICE GUY, Vela Incident, Taylor Mayd, Victoria Ownsnett, Nadedja, ROJOR, TnG, Marq Electronica and Komparrison.

Plus, an interview with Ben and Elliott from Gone tomorrow.