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"Letter From
America"
Allan and his wife Sheila have been married for 12 years and lived in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California, U.S.A. for 12 years, which, according to Allan, is aptly named, as the 10 square miles that cover it, is exactly that.
Allan is a Byker born Geordie, who used to spend a great deal of time in North Northumberland, staying at Barmoor Mill, just outside of Lowick Village, whilst serving with the Air Sea Rescue when it was based at Acklington. He knows Lowick, the area and of course, the two local pubs very well. When sending the pictures, Allan commented "I'm the one who looks a bit like James Dean. That's my story and I'm sticking to it". I agree that he definitely does look like James Dean, but the way James Dean probably looks now. Sheila is from the 'West End' of Newcastle and although it's not quite as posh as Byker, she is still a Geordie through and through. They are both proud of their Northern origins and managed to retain their distinctive accents. In August, 2000, Allan and Sheila paid a visit to Lowick Village to buy that 'poor soul, standing at the bar' a drink. They arrived at The White Swan on Saturday, 12th, August, 2000, and a most enjoyable afternoon was spent, over 'yin' or 'twa' (one or two) foaming ales.
We
continued to keep in regular contact with them by E-Mail and Telephone, We spent a highly enjoyable and entertaining week in their company, touring the area and taking in the sights and attractions of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, The Mojave Desert, and even Universal Studios, and have the added accolade of having 'paddled' in the Pacific Ocean at Ventura Beach. We were extremely grateful to Allan and Sheila for their fantastic hospitality, and above all, their friendship. Allan and Sheila have now returned to the U.K. and come back home to the North East, which will no doubt give us the opportunity to keep in closer contact and maybe even get together for a 'social' beer or two. ************* Santa Clarita is about 40 miles, over the mountains, from Los Angeles and is composed of the four smaller incorporated cities of Saugus, Valencia, Newhall and Canyon Country. Newhall was one of the old cowboy towns from way back when, and Tom Mix and William Hart used to live there. In latter years, John Wayne also called it home, and for a while, used to come up from Hollywood to do his serious drinking. My thanks to Allan and Sheila for giving their permission for this article and providing some of the above images and information.
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One of the many
benefits of the Internet was demonstrated when Allan Harrison, a fellow
Geordie who was then living in America, managed to find this website, even though it
had only just been uploaded. He 'Clicked the Bird'
and sent me an
E-Mail, and we have kept in touch ever since.
Allan
worked as a
Field Service Engineer for The Aquafine Corporation, a company which manufactures
ultraviolet water purifiers, and travelled all
over the United States and occasionally into Europe, where he sometimes
managed to lose his way and end up in Newcastle upon Tyne.
and in May,
2003, my wife Brenda and I spent a couple of weeks on holiday in
America, first visiting Las Vegas and
then California, where we had the pleasure of staying with Allan and Sheila
at their home in Santa Clarita, luxuriating in the 'world renowned' "Harrison
Hotel",
which had a
magic refrigerator
secreted in the garage from whence was derived an 
inexhaustible supply of beer,
including Newcastle Brown Ale.