Sid Chaplin's evocative writing captured perfectly the tough working man's world in which he lived. As his books are reissued John Dean reports.

SID Chaplin was a North-East writer who influenced some of the greatest modern authors of recent times - and now some of his finest works are being re-issued. It is a welcome boost for the reputation of the unassuming County Durham ex-pitman.

Sid Chaplin, who was born in Shildon, County Durham, in 1916, worked at the pit face at neighbouring Ferryhill's Dean and Chapter Colliery, but later won a scholarship to attend a working men's college in Birmingham to pursue his writing. He went on to win awards for his literary works and later became a public relations officer for the National Coal Board until he retired to concentrate on writing in 1972.

Sid, who won an OBE for services to the arts, lived in retirement in Newcastle until his death in 1986.

The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched are set against a backdrop of Newcastle and describe the everyday struggle of characters trying to survive in an ever-changing world, assailed by problems, unemployment and poverty.

Written with delightful observation and deft humour, and with astutely drawn characters, all told in a very readable, simple style, the books are examples of a master at work.

Chaplin's social observations, which earned him great popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, inspired a whole generation of new writers who wanted to tell their own real, gritty stories of working people, writers such as Stan Barstow and Keith Waterhouse.

The two books were written within a year of each other and published in 1961 and 1962 at a time when Sid was in a remarkably creative vein and it is appropriate that they are reissued as part of the Flambard Modern Classic series.

After Sid Chaplin died in 1986, the legacy of his work lived on. A short story competition run in his home town bears his name. Now, the reissue of these books will, hopefully, bring Sid Chaplin's work to a whole new generation of readers.

* The Day of the Sardine and The Watchers and the Watched (Flambard Fiction, £8.99). Publishers Flambard are at Stable Cottage, East Fourstones, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 5DX.

Published: 12/10/2004