TANGLED WORM is the online shop and sister site for England’s North East and is one way we raise revenue for the upkeep of our well-established North East site.
The England’s North East site began life as a bit of a hobby back in the 1990s and has continued to develop exponentially since.
Established by historian and former Northern Echo writer, David Simpson, it now features hundreds of pages covering North East history, culture and life. Running a site on this scale takes time and effort so revenue from the Tangled Worm shop at tangledworm.com goes towards maintaining and updating the site, even if it’s just to raise a bit of petrol money to go out and about and take photographs around the region.
With a name inspired by the worm legend stories of Northern England, Tangled Worm began life in March 2018 with a focus on maps featuring the history and heritage of North East England.
The initial focus was on these heritage maps which build on David’s extensive research into North East history. In recent months the Tangled Worm business has expanded into clothes, accessories and gifts, mostly with North East themes.
These products, with designs unique to Tangled Worm include mugs, clothes, coasters, cushions, tote bags, necklaces, door mats and tea towels and we are constantly expanding our ranges and products.
Our ranges include products with themes such as Hadrian’s Wall, Bamburgh Castle, the Angel of the North, Geordie words, Newcastle upon Tyne, Durham and Wearside as well as some products featuring our very own Tangly, the Tangled Worm which forms our logo.
Our Hadrian’s Wall range features a map of the Roman wall and the main forts. The range includes mugs, coasters and place mats, a maxi wallet and a tote bag featuring the famous Sycamore Gap.
Clothes by Tangled Worm include hoodies and t-shirts, all available in a choice of four colours in various sizes. For example our Angel T-shirt is available in grey, white, green and light blue.
We also do socks featuring our very own Tangly. Our tote bags likewise include a choice of four colours for each product. There are bags for Mackem Lasses, Geordie Lasses and Durham Lasses and others featuring the Angel, Sanctuary Knocker and Bamburgh.
We are proud of our region and it’s great that sales from Tangled Worm can be used towards keeping the England’s North East site up and running.
Check out our Tangled Worm Shop at tangledworm.com and help support a North East site and business.
1. What were the names and locations of the two monasteries founded by Benedict Biscop in the seventh century that were both associated with the famed monk and scholar, the Venerable Bede?
2. In medieval times these North East-based men with king-like powers could raise their own armies; appoint their own sheriffs and justices; administer their own laws; levy taxes and customs duties; create fairs and markets; issue charters; salvage shipwrecks; collect revenue from mines; administer the forests and mint their own coins. Who were they?
3. What was bred by the brothers Charles and Robert Colling of Ketton Farm near Darlington around 1796 and taken on a tour of the whole country?
5. The first ever video to feature on MTV was written and performed by a musician from Houghton-le-Spring. What was his name, what was the song and what was his group called?
6. Which village near Ogle in Northumberland is noted for its annual summer time baal ceremony which dates back to pagan times?
7. What was the apparent true identity of James Drummond who worked as a ferryman on the River Wear at Fatfield near Washington from around 1746?
8. In 1031 who walked barefoot from the County Durham village of Garmondsway (near Coxhoe) on a pilgrimage to St Cuthbert’s shrine?
9. The historic town of Alston in the valley of the South Tyne is situated in which county?
19. Which beautiful North East castle was described by William Shakespeare as a “worm-eaten hold of ragged stone”?
20. Which notable female campaigner for women’s rights who died in 1913 lived in the village of Longhorsley near Morpeth and what was her fate?
21. Wor Nanny’s a Maizor’, The Trimdon Grange Disaster, ‘The Oakey Strike Evictions’, ‘The Durham Strike’, ‘Stanla Markit’, ‘The Cat Pie’, ‘Sheeld Raw Flud’ and ‘Dorham Gaol’ were works by which North East songwriter, known as ‘the Pitman Poet‘?
22. What was the name of the Sir Walter Scott poem that alludes to the Teesdale area with lots of references to the dale’s Viking connections?
29. Bruce’s Ladder, Gunner’s Pool, Black Bull’s Hole, Kissing Frog Stones, Devil’s Lapstone, Devil’s Bridge, Devil’s Scar, Seven Chambers and Pegjellimas Cave are all features in which North East beauty spot?
30. Who were the Votadini and the Brigantes?
31. Sportsman, Charles W. Alcock (pictured) who established the FA Cup competition and organised the world’s first international football and cricket competitions was born in which North East town?
32. Who and what features on the statue at the centre of Newcastle’s Old Eldon Square?
33. What is the name of the once-elusive particle predicted by the Nobel prize-winning Newcastle-born physicist Peter Higgs?
34. What did Mrs Clements of Durham City invent in 1720?
36. The song ‘My Grandfather’s Clock ‘ (1878), from which all long case clocks now take their name was inspired by a clock situated in an inn in which North East village?
37. What shocking event occurred in the year AD 793 that shook the region to the core and was supposedly preceded by ‘terrible portents’, that ‘sorely affrighted the inhabitants’?
1. Which Northumberland town, named from the valley in which it is situated, is famed for its pagan-style tar barrel ceremony that takes place here every New Year’s Eve?
2. In which North East town can you find the headquarters of The Northern Echo newspaper?
3. What is the name of the river that joins the River Wear near Bishop Auckland?
4. What is the name of the impressive and picturesque four-corner towered castle situated near Haydon bridge that is now a hotel?
7. Daniel Adamson, who developed the famous Manchester Ship Canal came from which North East town?
8. What is the name of the household cleaner invented by William Handley at Byker in 1929?
Mining man. Question 9
9. Who was the Pelton-born miner’s leader (pictured) who founded the Northern Union of Pitmen in 1831
10. William De Hartburn (of Hartburn near Stockton-on-Tees) bought a manor from Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham and so changed his name to become the first member of which famous family?
11. The River South Tyne and the River Tees both begin their journey on which Cumbrian mountain that forms the highest point in the Pennines?
12. What was the name of the Sunderland-born naturalist who was the saviour of the Spanish Ibex?
13. In which North East town was the Scottish king, William the Lion captured in 1174 and the Scottish king, Malcolm Canmore killed in 1093?
14. Where can you find the Mahogany Drift Mine; Ravensworth Terrace; Bishop Auckland’s Sun Inn and the Annfield Plain co-op?
17. What was the name of the Viking wapentake or administrative district that stretched from Teesdale to Hartlepool and named after a small village between Stockton and Darlington?
18. What is the name of the magnificent mansion, now a National Trust property that lies close to the Northumbrian town of Rothbury, noted for its wonderfully wild landscaped grounds?
Outline of Roman fort of Pons Aelius near Newcastle castle. Photo David Simpson
19. What are ‘Aelius’ and ‘Pons’ in the Roman name for Newcastle Pons Aelius?
20. Beonnam-Wall (meaning within the wall) on Tyneside is now known by what name? It was the site of a Roman fort called Condercum.
21. What is the name of the river that flows through the centre of Darlington?
25. Which beautiful well-planned stone village dating from 1752 was largely constructed using stones from a twelfth century abbey that stood on the site?
26. The Derwentcote furnace near Gateshead dates from the 1720s. What was manufactured here?
12. North Shields-born 
31. Sportsman, 
