TAKE 15 crates of whisky, 100lb of haggis, a group of drunken Scotsmen and a trip to Soviet Union Russia – and you’ve got yourself a very memorable Burns Night.

While it may sound like something from a comedy film script, this was the reality for one Tynedale resident.

Christine Paterson, who lives in Sparty Lea, was invited to join the Robert Burns World Federation to celebrate the life and works of the national Bard in Russia in 1975 – the first time Burns Night had been celebrated in the Soviet Union.

Each year, members of the Burns Federation celebrate the event in a different place with the simple aim of showing other countries how it’s done.

Born and raised in Gateshead, Christine had never celebrated Burns Night before and didn’t know what to expect as she boarded a plane bound for Moscow with over 100 Scots dressed in kilts.

A popular singer, Christine was asked to join the trip to sing a number of traditional Burns Night songs.

Landing on Russian soil with crippling temperatures of minus 30 degrees must have been quite an experience.

Christine said: “The piper got off the plane first and played the bagpipes as we all came onto the tarmac.

“The men were all wearing kilts and you could tell the Russian soldiers at the airport didn’t know what on earth was going on.”

Russia was not like anywhere Christine had been before.

“We were always brought up to think that the Soviet Union was really scary,” she said.

“It was wonderful, but worrying.

“The reporter we were with was anxious about how people would react to her presence, so we were careful what we talked about.”

The Burns Night celebrations, held at the Intourist Hotel, were nothing if not raucous.

The party read poems, sang songs, ate haggis and drank an awful lot of whisky.

As the celebrations were drawing to a close with a merry rendition of Auld Lang Syne , the piper was asked if he wanted to play a lament in front of Lenin’s tomb.

Christine said: “I remember the words exactly. We were told we must behave with the utmost decorum, otherwise it would be taken as an insult to Lenin.

“We walked out onto Red Square and some of the group burst into song, singing I Belong to Glasgow. It was so surreal.

“Walking along the square in the moonlight and hearing the pipes being played at the tomb was an incredibly moving moment.”

The next morning, the party were due to go on a sightseeing tour, but Christine said only six people turned up while the rest were nursing their whisky-induced hangovers.

After a tour of the Kremlin, the group were taken to a writers’ guild meeting where there was a series of talks on the topic of Burns Night.

“The Russians seemed to know a lot about Robert Burns,” Christine explained.

“There was a university professor giving a talk who had been to Ayrshire and had translated the works of Burns into Russian.”

This was no mean feat. Many of Burns’ poems and songs are written in old Scots dialect, some of which haven’t even been translated into English.

After a whirlwind weekend of culture and haggis, it was time for the party to return to the UK.

Christine said: “I have great memories of that Burns Night and I feel very privileged that I was asked to go. It is something I will remember forever.

“I have not been back to Russia, but if I were to go again, I would advise anyone to go in better weather.”

After appearing in the national press at the time, Christine became the go-to singer for Burns Night suppers, singing and giving talks about her Soviet experience.

Christine’s life is almost as colourful as her weekend in Soviet Russia.

She was educated at grammar school in Gateshead before studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Her first job, aged 22, was with Scottish Opera.

From there she went to the D’Oyly Carte opera company and Opera North, singing her way up and down the country.

Christine has also appeared as a singer and piano player in several television programmes, including Emmerdale, Casualty , Doctor Who and When The Boat Comes In, which was filmed in North Shields.

She cites summer seasons in Scarborough as her favourite singing gigs.

“I have sung all over; one of my first concerts was at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham,” she said.

“But nothing will compare to my Burns Night weekend in Russia.”