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Between the salt and the ash
A journey into the soul of Northumbria
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2025
About this book
A writer's quest to understand the deep past and uncertain future of his homeland.
After inheriting the miner's safety lamp that belonged to his great-grandfather, Jake Morris-Campbell sets out on a pilgrimage across his homeland. Travelling from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral, he asks what new ways might be made through the old north.
This region, a hub of early Christian Britain and later strongly defined by industry and class, now faces an uncertain future. But it remains a unique and starkly beautiful part of the country, with a deep history that is intimately entwined with the idea of Englishness. Jake’s journey along the ‘Camino of the North’ sees him explore the shifting nature of individual and regional identity across thirteen-hundred years of social change. At the same time, it challenges him to reconsider his own calling as a writer and how it relates to the lives of the people he meets along the way.
Between the salt and the ash asks what stories the North East can tell about itself in the wake of Christianity and coal. Rejecting the damaging trope of ‘left behind’ communities, Jake uncovers neglected seams of culture and history, while offering a heartfelt celebration of the place he calls hyem.
After inheriting the miner's safety lamp that belonged to his great-grandfather, Jake Morris-Campbell sets out on a pilgrimage across his homeland. Travelling from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral, he asks what new ways might be made through the old north.
This region, a hub of early Christian Britain and later strongly defined by industry and class, now faces an uncertain future. But it remains a unique and starkly beautiful part of the country, with a deep history that is intimately entwined with the idea of Englishness. Jake’s journey along the ‘Camino of the North’ sees him explore the shifting nature of individual and regional identity across thirteen-hundred years of social change. At the same time, it challenges him to reconsider his own calling as a writer and how it relates to the lives of the people he meets along the way.
Between the salt and the ash asks what stories the North East can tell about itself in the wake of Christianity and coal. Rejecting the damaging trope of ‘left behind’ communities, Jake uncovers neglected seams of culture and history, while offering a heartfelt celebration of the place he calls hyem.
Author / Editor information
Jake Morris-Campbell was born in South Shields in 1988. His collection of poetry Corrigenda for Costafine Town (2021) was longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize. A BBC New Generation Thinker, he regularly appears on Radio 3. Recent commissions include writing for the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at The Laing Gallery, Newcastle and for the After Dark Festival at The Glasshouse, Gateshead. He is co-editor of Marratide: Selected Poems of William Martin (2025) and currently works as Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University.
Reviews
'Beautifully crafted.'
Robert Colls, The New Statesman
‘Jake Morris-Campbell’s beautiful book is a pilgrimage charting his family's Northumbrian heritage. Between the salt and the ash is simultaneously poetic and epic in Morris-Campbell’s sweep of the region’s history, language and landscape. After reading this, you will want nothing more than to take the journey yourself.’
Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Chancellor of Durham University
'A tender Northumbrian camino through England's own land of saints and scholars.'
Dan Jackson, author of The Northumbrians
'This is a beautiful and significant book. Its blend of history, poetry and travelogue gives a complex and compelling vision of the strange and lovely land of the north. It should be read by us all, wherever we live.'
David Almond, author of Skellig
'Beautifully written, Between the salt and the ash melds history, industry and memories into a moving portrait of the land between Tyne and Wear.'
Brian Groom, author of Northerners: A History
'Our heritage isn’t just about mining and nor is this book. The author expertly shows how the region is made up of layers of history, identity, work etc, and the way that sculpture, art, poetry etc can represent the region and its identity.'
Peter Sagar, North East Bylines
'This is a fabulous book. It is a work of sacramental theology, although the author might not see it that way: it celebrates the past, intensely observes the present, and so points hopefully to the future. It makes me want to go back up north and stay there.'
Peter McGeary, Church Times
Robert Colls, The New Statesman
‘Jake Morris-Campbell’s beautiful book is a pilgrimage charting his family's Northumbrian heritage. Between the salt and the ash is simultaneously poetic and epic in Morris-Campbell’s sweep of the region’s history, language and landscape. After reading this, you will want nothing more than to take the journey yourself.’
Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Chancellor of Durham University
'A tender Northumbrian camino through England's own land of saints and scholars.'
Dan Jackson, author of The Northumbrians
'This is a beautiful and significant book. Its blend of history, poetry and travelogue gives a complex and compelling vision of the strange and lovely land of the north. It should be read by us all, wherever we live.'
David Almond, author of Skellig
'Beautifully written, Between the salt and the ash melds history, industry and memories into a moving portrait of the land between Tyne and Wear.'
Brian Groom, author of Northerners: A History
'Our heritage isn’t just about mining and nor is this book. The author expertly shows how the region is made up of layers of history, identity, work etc, and the way that sculpture, art, poetry etc can represent the region and its identity.'
Peter Sagar, North East Bylines
'This is a fabulous book. It is a work of sacramental theology, although the author might not see it that way: it celebrates the past, intensely observes the present, and so points hopefully to the future. It makes me want to go back up north and stay there.'
Peter McGeary, Church Times
Topics
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Front Matter
i -
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Dedication
iv -
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Contents
v -
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Epigraphs
1 -
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Prologue
3 -
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Introduction
13 -
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I The sea on sanded feet
29 -
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1 The compass takes its weigh
31 -
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2 Coastline of castles
51 -
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3 Salt pans and sand dunes
71 -
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4 The Spine Road
97 -
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5 Harvest from the deep
121 -
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Tirtha
141 -
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II Stringing Bedes
145 -
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6 Following the Don
147 -
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7 The Ash Path
169 -
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8 Ghosts of the East End
189 -
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9 What kingdom without common feasting?
209 -
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10 Light moved on
231 -
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11 The big meeting
247 -
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Tirtha
264 -
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Davy
266 -
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Coda
269 -
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Glossary of Northumbrian dialect terms
274 -
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Acknowledgements
276 -
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Notes
278 -
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Index
286
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 15, 2025
eBook ISBN:
9781526175380
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781526175380
Keywords for this book
Boldon Book; Durham Cathedral; Lindisfarne; North East England; Northumbria; oral tradition; pilgrimage; psychogeography; saints; Venerable Bede; Camino; The Northumbrians; Dan Richards; Amy Liptrot; The Outrun; Wainwright prize; Camino de Santiago; Ondaatje Prize; Royal Society of Literature; place writing; Bamburgh; Northumbrian coast; poetry; the North; faith and religion; post-industrial North East; golden age; walking; heritage; mining communities; Saint Bede; Saint Cuthbert
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
