Hello, my name is Andrew Gray, and I live in Heaton, in Newcastle upon Tyne. I was born in Newcastle and returned to the region to work in 1995, moving to Newcastle in August 2000. As must be obvious from this website, my main political involvement is as a member of the Green Party, and one of my hobbies is walking.
Upper Teesdale is one of my favourite places in the region, both for its unusual landscape and the unique flora that can be found there. While in Newcastle, I have spent many Saturdays and evenings in the shadow of the Monument (to 2nd Earl Grey and the 1832 Reform Act), whether campaigning for the Green Party, nuclear disarmament, peaceful and lawful solutions to the threat of terrorism (or to the threat of an Iraqi dictator), or simply meeting friends. Add to that family members whom I can stay with in Tynedale, and a walking route from Cow Green to Howick seems less bizarre.
Politically, I am the Green Party's election agent in the North East, so will be moving straight from the Walk for Democracy into the last few days of campaigning for the Euro elections on 4th June. I have also been selected as the candidate for Newcastle East at the next General Election (where I stood against Nic Brown in 2001, then Agriculture Minister during the last FMD epidemic), and have been the Green Party's candidate at local elections for Heaton and South Heaton wards. I have been a member of the Green Party since about 1990, a few at least of my political concerns are evident from the notes on the route for this walk, and a simple blog (which I will set up on this site shortly before the walk starts) will doubtless reveal more about my opinions.
Fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories should have already worked out the significance of the dancing figures that feature on these pages. I'm not a fan myself, but I have been using free (or 'open source') software for over a decade, and the greatest typesetting package of them all (TeX) is probably also the only one to include these figures as a font. For anyone who wants to work out the code and doesn't have Conan Doyle's collected works to hand, note that the little triangular flags that three of the figures hold indicate the ends of words (i.e. they are held by the figure representing the final letter of each word).
When not campaigning, walking, reading or enjoying the company of my partner or friends, I am frequently on our allotment site (shared). Alternatively, I may be at my place of work (in a local library), where I also act as a Trade Union representative and caseworker.
And if you really want to know more, you'll have to elect me as your MP (if you live in Newcastle East), because one of my long-standing pledges is to publish all my expense claims online from day one :-)
The walker, Andrew Gray (March 2009) |
Andrew handing out leaflets at a demonstration against the imminent bombing of Iraq, February 2003 |