Robeson certainly visited County Durham. I met him myself on Stockton station in 1959. On 6th May 1949 he was in Gateshead and met by the town's MP Konni Zilliacus, who he first encountered in 1930. Robeson gave a free afternoon concert at the Bensham Cinema with many turned away. He had tea at the home of the chairman of Gateshead Labour and Trades Council. He then gave an informal rendition of Negro spirituals at St John's church. After that he performed before 2000 at an evening concert at the Town Hall. This latter event was the beginning of a formal tour that took him to Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Clydebank.