Author Talk Pip Fallow ‘Dragged Up Proppa’ Growing Up In Britain’s Forgotten North

We are super excited to welcome author Pip Fallow to the Gorebridge Beacon. There is a background to his visit, in short, a mere one copy of his book Dragged Up Proppa: Growing Up In Britain’s Forgotten North has been passed around the Beacon for months now, volunteers, users and staff reading their way through and all of us saying ‘we remember these times, we lived them too’. On a whim we contacted Pip, and have confessed to Pip that we have been sharing one copy but yet he still said yes to coming to visit!

Who is Pip Fallow (and does this resonate with you?): 

Pip Fallow was born in the coal-miner’s cottage where his family of eight lived, in a village near Durham. Pip was destined to join his father down the pit, but the closure of his village’s mine in the 1980s saw him at the back of the dole queue like the rest. This is Pip’s story of being ‘dragged up proppa’, living by his wits, working and travelling the world before finally settling a few miles from where he grew up.

A lot has been written about the red wall in recent years but Pip Fallow has lived it. This is his account of some of the most important issues affecting Britain today; from levelling-up and the north-south divide, to social mobility and class, and the devastating social upheaval caused by decades of deindustrialization and government neglect. Showing how broken promises of the past impact his village and the politics of today.

This is the memoir of a man who left school illiterate, but has now written a book. The story of a lost generation who were prepared for a life that had disappeared by the time they were ready for it, of communities with once strong social ties that have now disintegrated, and a way of living that simply no longer exists in Britain today.

‘Fallow’s memoir is not just a classic piece of working-class writing, but a truly gripping narrative’ – Brian Groom, author of Northerners: A History

Come along on the 15th November and hear from Pip, ask questions, share. His story is so similar to Gorebridge. It will resonate with anyone growing up in a mining village in the 70/80’s, it will speak volumes to anyone who remembers the pit closures, the unemployment, the poverty and the lack of opportunities.

P.S. If Waterstone’s get back to us, copies will be available to buy on the night.

P.P.S Refreshments will be served.

P.P.P.S Event is free, but a donation tin will be available.