7th October 2026

Ali Rowland and Jim Donnelly

Present: Coquet Tales: Stories of Amble and the Surrounding Area

Coquet Tales guides us through the seasons as experienced in the small seaside town of Amble, known as the 'friendliest port in England'.

Coquet Tales, Stories of Amble and the Surrounding Area, Volume 1 includes poems and stories by Ali Rowland and illustrations by Jim Donnelly that celebrate the charms of Amble and the River Coquet. The book takes readers through the seasons with tales that can start off in the daily reality of life in a small seaside town, but by the end seem to have a wider significance. The striking photographic images have been subtly enhanced to give an almost otherworldly quality to what at first might look like everyday scenes

Ali Rowland

Ali Rowland is a local author and prize winning poet who was nominated for Best of the Net in 2025. This is her fourth collection of poetry.

Jim Donnelly

Jim Donnelly is a local photographer and an accomplished writer himself, as well as a former Northumberland Open Winner and co-director of Dovecote Street Arts CIC in Amble.

(Some of you may remember the presentation Jim gave us in September 2023).

Andrew Charleton

We are delighted to invite back the incredibly talented musician, Andrew Charleton.

I started playing guitar in 1978. Since then I have been in a number of bands and played venues far to numerous to mention throughout the north east.

I have taught guitar for a number of years and also featured on BBC radio two's Folk on Two programme ( twice).

I have also composed guitar music for the National park and the National Trust to accompany their promotional videos.

I enjoy all types of guitar music but now I mainly play acoustic finger style with a helping of flat picking when in the mood. I am also interested in American bluegrass music and rattle out a few tunes on the five string banjo and steel guitar!

Over the years I have had the huge honour of sharing a couple of tunes with some legendary folk musicians such as Alistair Anderson, Joe Hutton, Lynn Tocker and Kathryn Tickell to name a few.