From my life as an MP in the Commons... to curling at Teesdale lunch club

TOP TEAM: Jean Alderson, Kathleen McLachlan, Muriel Bailey, Bob Harrison, Ray Alexander with Michael Carr stood behind  at Stainton Grove Day Clubs

Michael Carr was at the centre of one of the biggest political upsets of the late 20th century. Reporter Alex Metcalfe finds out how he made his way to Teesdale

FEW people on this planet have stepped into parliament and kept the peace at Stainton Grove Community Centre. But Michael Carr has.
For 12 short months in the turbulent post poll-tax pre-New Labour year of 1991, the adopted dalesman won his home seat of Ribble Valley – one of the safest Tory constituencies in the country.
“John Major had just become Prime Minister – we were not expected to win but we went in,” he says.
“I was gone by the following election.”
I meet the former MP on his 71st birthday as he helped set up indoor curling for Teesdale Day Club’s Stainton Grove branch.
He told me what he thought of the Westminster bubble.
“My first impression was it was a cross between a prep school and a gentleman’s club,” he says.
“Things have changed a bit I think – there are more women for one but that’s what it felt like.
“When I arrived after the by-election I was the new boy. I had no staff, no office and no induction so from a standing start we had to get ourselves up and running.”
The Commons is a labyrinth of corridors and small rooms all ruled over by unwritten rules and odd customs.
The Liberal Democrat MP was thrown in at the deep end.
“The first thing is letters from constituents – they arrive with a bang straight away,” he says.
“Then you get the business ones – MPs get a huge volume of correspondence. It’s a great way of keeping in touch with issues.
“I used to find if we got two or three letters about the same thing we always thought that must be an issue.
“For every one person that wrote a letter about a dozen or so people tended to think the same so they were very good ways of keeping in touch with people.”
More than 25 years on from his brief spell in the Commons, the former teacher isn’t slowing down just yet.
Between his work at the day club, he still helps Bacup Borough FC sort its referees on Saturdays and continues to feed his musical passions.
His firm, Hairy Dog Promotions, has been signing young bands since the 1990s and he’s kept his hand in ever since.
“I’ve always been a big music fan – I would have loved to have been Jimi Hendrix but I never did enough to master it,” he says.
“I promoted bands but the criteria I used was they had to write their own stuff. They had to have something they wanted to say themselves because it’s easy for cover bands to get booked.
“If you are a new young band it’s difficult to get people to listen to you.”
The former geography teacher grew up in Lancashire but always had an affinity for Teesdale. His passion for his subject led him to High Force so it’s easy to see why he now lives up at Newbiggin.
“There were never really many jobs up here and when there were, my kids were at that age where we couldn’t really move,” he says.
“I have retired but I cannot ‘not do’ anything – I like to be active. I have always been involved with voluntary work of one sort or another.”
He tells me his work as a lunch leader is completely different to anything he has done before.
“I decided I would give it a bash. Things like this are incredibly important for people who might not otherwise get out,” he says.
“It’s not exclusively for old people who’ve retired – we have a young fellow at Mickleton and it’s open to anyone. You get a three course meal and some social interaction – it’s great.”
In the meantime, the Teesdale Mercury was holding back the father-of-eight and grandfather-of-six from his role as curling referee. Indoor curling might not strike most as a fierce pastime but there are old scores to settle on the rink.
Using small brooms or their hands, two teams of four shove their wheeled stones towards a target to see who can amass the most points.
Akin to its icy cousin – the final stone in indoor curling is often decisive. The blue team’s Bob Harrison stood out as a character who doesn’t like losing.
He says: “I used to have an older brother I visited in Liverpool – he died last year and I thought I have to find something to do – something else to have in my life.
“So I joined the club and the U3A as well.”
The grandfather-of-four smote a gaggle of red stones from his path before he explained why he goes to Stainton Grove.
“I like the company – I knew none of these people until I came here,” he says.
The blues won 9-1 and Mr Carr successfully kept the peace – until next time. But he was keen to point out none of it would work without the day club’s loyal band of volunteers.
“We could not do it without them – they make sure we function,” he adds. “Anyone interested can get in touch – equally we would love more members to come and join us.”
To find out more about Teesdale Day Clubs, contact the office on 01833 695822.