Jimmy Newlands was captain of Tynedale for two seasons between 1955 and 1957 and represented Northumberland County on a number of occasions.
John sent a photo of his father’s county cap and offered to donate it to the Club.l

Dave Kendall, our President, replied to John thanking him for his thoughtful, generous offer and invited John to attend the Pre-Match Dinner before the Preston Grasshoppers match where his father’s cap could be formally handed over to the Club.

Douglas Hamilton, one of our senior club members, was a friend of Jimmy Newlands and knew him very well. Douglas put the following article together:-

J.A. NEWLANDS
There will be a very important guest at the lunch before the match v Preston Grasshoppers. John Newlands, son of the late Jimmy Newlands, an ex-captain of Tynedale, has generously agreed to donate his father’s Northumberland County cap to the club.

David Kendall our club President will accept the gift on behalf of the club, and it will join other club memorabilia displayed in the clubhouse, as a reminder of a great ex-player and war hero.

J.A. (Jimmy) Newlands was an outstanding hooker in his day. He played for the senior Northumberland County team many times - often alongside his Tynedale pals, Bill Dinning, Walter Rutherford, Ken Hall and Harry Brogdon.

Jimmy played in Tynedale’s famous 1948 Senior Cup winning team and then captained the club in Seasons 1955/56 and 1956/57. He continued as a staunch supporter of Tynedale RFC all his life, attending many annual Past Player lunches.

After retiring Jimmy had taken up refereeing. He was a member of the Northumberland Referees’s Society for many years, officiating at a high level. This was a classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper! Having been an exponent of the dark arts of front-row play, before the Laws were changed to stop swinging and the loosening of hookers’ binds on props, Jimmy was particularly harsh on front-row misdemeanors.

He had been born and raised in Wylam, then spent his married life in Riding Mill and later lived in Ryton. He went to school at the Newcastle RGS where he learned to play rugby. Jimmy joined the Royal Navy aged 16. In 1942 he served on ships accompanying the Arctic convoys, which carried goods to support Russian war efforts, sailing to Murmansk and Archangel. He later piloted landing craft on to the Normandy beaches on D Day.
Jimmy died, aged 90, in 2015. The club’s flag flew at half-mast at the next home match (v Hartpury College) as a mark of respect.

Jimmy was a cheerful, friendly companion, but he could be grumpy. It was said that the last words he uttered were to the cleaner at his Care Home, who was told very sharply to move when she stood in front of him and blocked his view of the television.

Just before he died he was awarded, belatedly, along with others who had served in the Arctic, the Atlantic Cross medal. Expected to show gratitude he is alleged to have said to them “about time too”.

His funeral took place at Holy Cross Church, Ryton. It was a lovely sunny early Spring day, so mourners who got there early were surprised to see hymn number 68 up on the board inside the church – “In the bleak Midwinter!”. Just before the service started a church official came out of the vestry and replaced the 8 with a 2 and a 3. Ah - 623 “Eternal Father strong to save”, containing the words “for those in peril on the sea”, - much more appropriate for Jimmy, the ex-mariner and warrior!