Two od Newcastle’s most successful residents over the 21st centuray have been awarded the freedom of the city.
Eddie Howe, who managed Newcastle United to the club’s first major trophy since the 1950s, was given the honour following a Council vote on Wednesday, where acclaimed chef Terry Laybourne was also celebrated.
The honorary freedom of the city is bestowed on eminent individuals or groups who have made a major contribution to life on Tyneside and is a title also held by sporting legends including Alan Shearer, Jackie Milburn, and Sir Bobby Robson.
Terry Laybourne (left), Eddie Howe with Newcastle Mayor Cllr Karen KilgourTerry Laybourne (left), Eddie Howe with Newcastle Mayor Cllr Karen Kilgour
Terry Laybourne (left), Eddie Howe with Newcastle Mayor Cllr Karen Kilgour | LDRS
Laybourne was the first Tyneside based chef to bring a Michelin star to the city. This came to commemorate his work at 21 Queen Street in the 1980s.
The 69-year-old told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he was “privileged” to be awarded the freedom of his home city, though “a little bewildered” to find himself on a list of luminaries that includes the likes of Nelson Mandela and Sir Bobby Robson.
He also paid tribute to the “great people” he had worked alongside over the years, with his restaurants having employed more than 5,000 staff.
Reflecting on the opening of the flagship restaurant now known simply as 21, Mr Laybourne joked that he was “full of blind optimism and a fair dose of stupidity”.
He also praised the “whole spectrum of choice” that Newcastle’s restaurant scene has grown to offer in the decades since.”
Howe was nominated for the award from City Mayor Karen Kilgour. The Buckinghamshire-born manager took over at St James Park in 2021, steering the club to two Champions League campaigns in that time.
The second European season will take place next season after Howe helped to deliver a fifth placed finish in the 2024-25 Premier League.
Messages of congratulations to Eddie Howe were read out at Wednesday’s council meeting from the likes of former Newcastle goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and the family of former club chairman Freddy Shepherd, who have both been honoured with the Freedom of Newcastle previously, as well as other Newcastle United fans.
The status is purely ceremonial and involves recipients being presented with a scroll and having their name carved into the sandstone wall of the Civic Centre’s Banqueting Hall.
It is not the same as being a hereditary Freeman of Newcastle, a centuries-old group whose members must swear an oath to defend the city and have traditionally had special rights and duties – including the right to graze cattle on the Town Moor.
ve you got a story you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld athttps://www.yourworld.net/submit/It's free to use and, once checked, your story will appear on our website and, space allowing, in our newspapers.
Continue Reading