Robson Green’s acting, presenting and singing skills have earned him sparkling success, but he’ll never forget his rugged roots

I’m from Northumberland mining stock – my father, grandfather and great grandfather were miners. There was a unity and mutual trust among miners from working together in a dangerous job. I was recently working on a film about the SAS and it reminded me of those guys and, yes, of lifeboat crews too. They’re decent and honest with values, integrity and self-worth – what I call salt of the earth.

I worked as a milkman and a cappella singer before I became an apprentice draughtsman at a shipyard in Newcastle. At one point I was drawing aft hull designs for HMS Ark Royal. But then I went down the showbiz route: I joined a local band. In 1988 I got into acting and that led to my role in Soldier Soldier.

Fishing is bloody good for you, and so is eating fish. I was 7 when I got into fishing. My Uncle Matheson took me on a river trip. He taught me how to cast and to make flies. Only a few days ago we were back out on the river. They don’t call fish brain food for nothing – the omega-3 lifts your spirits. I love fresh lemon sole, wild salmon or sea trout. But I’m equally keen on haddock caught from a trawler and battered in a
Seahouses chippy.

My friends call me the ‘jammy Geordie’. That’s because, in the Extreme Fishing TV programme, I get to travel to exotic places doing the hobby I love. Soon I’m going sea angling with Rob Archer, a lifeboat crew member from Hartlepool. I met Rob at the Pride of Britain Awards when the crew
got recognised for a rescue they did. I go to sea for fishing, but I know I couldn’t go and risk my life in a dangerous environment to save other people like the RNLI volunteers.

I hated history at school, but now I’m fascinated. I presented a TV programme shown over the Summer called How the North Was Built. It was a social history based on coal, which fuelled the industrial revolution in the north. And I’m filming a show about the history of Northumberland. There’s a bit about Holy Island, where people often get caught out on the causeway at high tide – so Seahouses lifeboat crew are often in demand there. And we’ll be talking about Grace Darling (see page 24) – how on earth did she row all that way? I’m not sure I believe it, but we’ll leave it up to the audience to see what they think …