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29 March 2008
YEMEN
Yemen is the land of the Queen of Sheba and was once at the heart of the incense trade; there are even claims that it was the site for the Garden of Eden and the resting place of Noah’s Ark. But unlike its oil-rich neighbours, Oman and Saudi Arabia, Yemen has yet to embrace modernity. Its remote plains and troubled history set it apart.
Sandi Toksvig steps back into old-style Arabia with Max Scott to discover the country’s unique architecture and hospitable café culture. Sandi is also joined by Tina Gharavi and Darren Palmer who documented and retraced the life and journey of generations of Yemeni sailors who formed a vital but little-known part of British immigrant history, establishing the UK’s first Muslim and Arab community in South Shields.
SPRING BREAKS
Natural history writer and broadcaster, Paul Evans and author Andrew Eames discuss the delights of travelling in springtime and go in search of the perfect spring break.
Presented by Sandi Toksvig
Photo: Youssef Nabil: The Last of the Dictionary Men (Courtesy of Youssef Nabil – Copyright: © the artist)
This week’s guests:
Tina Gharavi is a Lecturer in English (Digital Media) at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She is also a filmmaker and creator of the new exhibition Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors.
The exhibition documents the lives and memories of the UK’s oldest Muslim and Arab Community in South Shields, Tyne & Wear. In the last 100 years, thousands of seamen from Yemen settled in the small town of South Shields to work in the established maritime industry based on the rivers Tyne and Wear in the North East of England. Today only thirteen men from the first generation survive. Over the course of three years, Tina collaborated with the seamen, to record their endangered stories and experiences.
In March 2007, Tina Gharavi and Darren Palmer, a third generation Yemeni whose own grandfather had arrived from Yemen in 1919, travelled back to Yemen to discover the country and to find the village Darren’s granddad left.
Exhibition: Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors
2 April - 5 May 2008
Venue: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Gateshead Quays
South Shore Road
Gateshead NE8 3BA
Tel: 0191 478 1810
Max Scott studied Arabic as a student and spent time in Yemen studying its language. Max has travelled extensively in the Middle East and now runs a small publishing company specialising in books related to the region.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office's (FCO)
Travel Advice Notices aim to ensure that British travellers are well prepared before departure.
Paul Evans is a writer and broadcaster. Paul is a regular contributor for The Guardian as a country diarist, he reports on Shropshire’s changing seasons and natural landscapes from the much-loved Wenlock Edge. Paul can also be heard on Radio 4’s Nature programme.
Andrew Eames is a travel writer and the man behind The 8:55 To Baghdad. Andrew’s new book is entitled Something Different for the Weekend – 52 Seasonal Breaks for the Imaginative Traveller it offers short getaways for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, that can be reached comfortably and enjoyed for a few days, factoring in how long it takes to get there and different time zones.
Something Different for the Weekend
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
ISBN-10: 1841622095
ISBN-13: 978-1841622095
The 8:55 To Baghdad
Mon 31 Mar – Friday 04 April 2008
13:15 - 13:30 on BBC Radio 7
Andrew Eames follows in the footsteps of Agatha Christie's Middle Eastern adventures (5 episodes)The BBC cannot be held responsible for
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The daughter of a foreign correspondent, Sandi has been travelling all her life more info | |
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