Welcome to the Norman Nicholson Audio Archive

Here you will find interviews with people who knew Nicholson personally, as well as recordings of the poet's own voice.

To view the log of each track, click on the 'fullscreen' icon, bottom right of the Scribd template. Please respect the copyright of the creators of the different tracks. Enquiries should be directed to normannicholsonsociety@gmail.com 

Doreen Cornthwaite

Doreen is Nicholson's second cousin, related on her father's side to Norman's mother Edith, nee Cornthwaite - which is Norman's middle name. She was born in South Africa and got to know Norman well after moving to Cumbria in the 1960s.

Neil Curry

Neil Curry, Cumbrian poet and friend of Nicholson, discusses his work as editor of Nicholson's Collected Poems, ​published by Faber & Faber in 1994. Audio courtesy of BBC Radio Cumbria.

Freedom of Copeland, 1984

BBC Radio Cumbria report on the award of the Freedom of the Borough of Copeland to Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson at Whitehaven, including section of Nicholson's acceptance speech.

Peggy Troll, part 1

Peggy Troll describes growing up in Millom and becoming aware that a famous poet lived in the town. She talks about her personal friendship with Norman and his wife Yvonne, and how the friendship developed after Yvonne's death in 1982.

Peggy Troll, part 2

Peggy Troll, a well-known teacher in Millom and a personal friend of Norman and Yvonne Nicholson, recalls the day when Norman passed away in 1987. She talks about his literary legacy and the formation of the Norman Nicholson Society, of which she was the inaugural chair.

John Troll

Millom resident John talks about his friendship with Norman; how he would call at his house for a whisky and a chat; and how he drove him out of the town to see Halley's Comet in 1986.

Susan Troll

Susan Troll, nurse to the Nicholson family and later a family friend, talks about Norman's stepmother Rose and Norman as she and her children knew him. She describes the help Norman received after his wife Yvonne passed away and recalls Norman's final illness and death in 1987.

Dorothy Richardson

Lifelong Millom resident Dorothy recalls hearing about Nicholson as a schoolgirl and later getting to know him personally. She thinks that he was not very well appreciated by local people in the 1940s and 50s - but that has changed now.

Betty Watson

Former manager of Millom Folk Museum, Betty recalls discussing with Norman an exhibition about himself which the museum organised. She discusses the way Norman was perceived by the Millom public. 

Pat Nelson

Pat Nelson first heard about Nicholson when her parents took her to his father's shop to buy school uniform. She later got to know him when working at Millom Library.

Norman Nicholson: 'Millom Delivered'  BBC Third Programme

In this talk for the BBC's Third Programme in 1952, Norman looks back at Millom from beyond the River Duddon and finds a value in the place and its topography that he has not previously appreciated. A transcript was later published in The Listener.​

Melvyn Bragg

Broadcaster, writer, critic and Cumbrian, Melvyn Bragg discusses aspects of Nicholson's work and his enduring reputation in an interview recorded for Something to Tell, produced to mark the centenary of Nicholson's birth in 2014.