Highlights Tour Flashcards
Introduction
Welcome to Highlights of City of Newcastle & Gateshead tour
‘Christine’ - Newcastle City Guide volunteer
From Top of Grey Street to Quayside within city walls
Lasts 1.5 hours
Guidelines of Tour
Stay together
Be aware of where walking
pavements,
road works,
scooters
delivery bicycles
Use green man at traffic lights
If you can’t hear me let me know
If you need to leave then please let guide know
All information welcome
History
Over 2,000 years of history
Been controlled by the Romans, Angles and Normans
3 June 1882 granted city status, parting from Durham diocese to create a new Newcastle diocese
Newcastle was at the centre of a booming North East industrial powerhouse. The region has built some of the world’s finest ships, produced high-quality coal across Northumberland and Durham and railways, engineering and electricity.
Famous Industrialists like George and Robert Stephenson, Joseph Swan, Lord William Armstrong and Charles Parsons
Between the years of 1825 - 1840 Newcastle was rebuilt by 3 men;
John Dobson - Architect
Richard Grainger - Builder
John Clayton - Town Clerk
Famous for its river, bridges, history, architecture, 2 universities 55k students, culture, nightlife, football, brown ale, attitude and more - a city of great pride
Population of 300,200 in 2021 ((0.5%) of England & Wales 59,597,300 in 2021) (ONS)
Grey Street
Grey Street is one of the main streets in Newcastle, stretching from Grey’s Monument down to the junction with Mosley Street. Beyond that point, it continues as Dean Street, leading down to the picturesque Quayside.
The street is steeped in history and boasts a rich architectural heritage.
Georgian Architecture: The street showcases magnificent Georgian architecture, with beautifully preserved buildings lining its length.
Previously known as Upper Dean Street
Renamed Grey Street in 1830’s after second Earl Grey, seat in Howick Hall in Northumberland
Built over Lort Burn down the middle as part of Grainger Dobson improvements
Built on a curve
All guttering and downpipes are hidden inside as they couldn’t be exposed - this leads to internal flooding
In 1862, Prime Minister William Gladstone described it as “our best modern street”.
In 1948, the poet John Betjeman declared: “As for the curve of Grey Street, I shall never forget seeing it to perfection, traffic-less on a misty Sunday morning. Not even old Regent Street London can compare with that descending subtle curve.”
In 2010, BBC Radio 4 listeners voted Grey Street as the “Best street in the UK.”
Greys Monument
Most prominent landmark in city - meeting point, Speakers, demonstrations and street musicians
Commemorates Greys’ Reform Act of 1832, extending voting rights (not to everyone)
Built in 1838
Grade I listed
The Monument wasn’t part of Richard Grainger’s original plan for a redesigned Newcastle, but was quickly erected between 1837 and 1838 after being paid for by public subscription.
Designed by Benjamin Green - also did Theatre Royal
Sculptor Edward Hodges Bailey
Made from Portland Stone - a Roman Doric column
135 ft high (41.15 metres) with a spiral staircase of 165 steps and viewing platform for panoramic views
Statue of Earl Grey, stands 13 feet tall, depicts him in the robes of the Order of the Garter
Completed and opened in August 1838 - Earl Grey declined to attend
The Monument in Newcastle was constructed partially in response to plans in London to erect a Corinthian column in London’s Trafalgar Square in honour of British naval hero, Lord Nelson. In the event, Newcastle won the race of the Monuments by five years!
Has been a mini roundabout for traffic before the area was pedestrianised
In 1977, as work on the new Metro system and Monument station took place, special care had to be taken with the column which might have become destabilised. The Chronicle reported: “Beneath it is another monument - a circular column of piles runs nearly 40 feet into the earth to prevent Tyneside having a local version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!”
Local historian Steve Ellwood intriguingly claims how a ‘time capsule’ was buried in the foundations of Grey’s Monument when it was built during 1837 and 1838 and could have been rediscovered during the 1970s excavations. It is made of glass and contains a drawing of the monument, a list of subscribers to its erection, a scroll tribute to Earl Grey and a collection of coins, medals and tokens.
A lightning conductor runs down the side of the monument
You will also note a fitting on the side which was a attached to cable when we used cable cars
Open on the 1st Saturday of the month in the Summer season.
Newcastle Town Walls
13th and 14th centuries - The defensive Town Wall at Newcastle was built at a time when the North of England was under frequent threat of invasion, during hostilities with Scotland.
The wall was over 2 miles in circumference and surrounded by a fosse (defensive ditch).
The wall had 6 main fortified gates (Close Gate, West Gate, New Gate, Pilgrim Street Gate, Pandon Gate and Sand Gate), a number of posterns (smaller gates), 17 towers, and several smaller turrets.
Inside the walls there were further defences; the Black Gate and Castle Keep.
Newcastle was successfully defended from Scottish attacks on a number of occasions, but in the Siege of 1644 during the ‘English’ Civil War, the Scots breached the wall. Much of the wall fell into disrepair as hostilities with Scotland declined.
As the town grew, large sections were demolished, with the stones being re-used for new buildings. Some of the towers were altered for use for other purposes. Parts of the wall survive today; the most substantial remains are the walls on the western side of the city, and well worth a visit.
Central Arcade
Grade II Listed
The Central Exchange is a triangular building, designed by John Wardle and George Walker and built by Richard Grainger as part of the redevelopment of Newcastle city centre.
The building was originally designed to be a corn exchange. It was completed 1837 and opened as a subscription newsroom (see picture of the newsroom c1860) where the wealthy gentlemen of the day could come to read newspapers gathered from around the world. Coffee rooms occupied space in the corner drums and the building became a focal point for Newcastle’s social elite.
The fact that the building was not proving to be a great commercial success became apparent in March 1846 when a hand written share prospectus from Richard Grainger proposed to raise additional funds by selling 1,700 shares at £50 each. The prospectus notes that the news room had 1,300 subscribers paying 1 guinea each and produced an annual rent of £674 per annum. It then goes on to propose that a small increase in subscriptions of ½ guinea (50%) would allow the rent to increase to £1356. Grainger then set out the rent from shops, offices and coffee rooms as £1,340. However the premises were not fully occupied. As the additional rent he estimated would come from having the building fully occupied was £2,416, that suggests only about a third were occupied.
In the event, the share scheme was also a failure. Two years later, on 7 April 1848, the Durham County Advertiser reported that shareholders called a meeting with Grainger to hear the findings of a committee appointed to investigate the scheme. The committee recommended the immediate reimbursement of the shareholders. In the event, only 536 shares had actually been sold, with Grainger holding the remainder.
1867 The first incarnation of the Central Exchange ended on Sunday 11 August when the building was ravaged by fire.
1870 the building reopened and was occupied by the Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts. It included an art gallery, concert hall and theatre.
1897 The theatre was replaced by a vaudeville theatre.
1901 The interior of the building was badly damaged by fire. This time, the building was completely redesigned by Joseph Oswald and Son to form an elegant shopping arcade with a barrel vaulted glazed roof, decorated using the full arsenal of Edwardian techniques with lustrous faience tiling, double arched entrances and a mosaic floor.
- Central Arcade reopened
Edwardian Baroque architecture, neo classical style popular during the early 20th century.
Triangular building with 3 domes
Barrel vaulted steel and glass roof 50 feet above - the resulting space was flooded with light, allowing the shop windows to be adequately lit, but as light filtered through the glazed roof it gave the space a vaguely unreal quality.
the corridors are lined with lustrous faience tiles
the main entrances are formed from double-arches with a central column in the Composite Order
a dated cartouche is displayed in the spandrel above
“all the shop fronts are treated uniformly in polished teak and plate glass”
the original glass mosaic floor (1906), by Rust’s Vitreous Mosaics of Battersea, wore out and had to be replaced in the 1990’s by the American Olean mosaics.
Burmantofts tiles from Leeds - found around Newcastle and found in Harrods food hall.
Underground access via Market Street for deliveries to the central arcade and Central Exchange Hotel
Sign in the shop for Ladies Boots is listed
Had hotel above
Has apartments above
JG Windows been in the arcade since 1908 and is the biggest store inside the building. Many of us will have visited the arcade to buy records, sheet music or musical equipment. Over the years the well-known shop has welcomed many of the region’s budding pop and rock stars through its doors as young shoppers, from Mark Knopfler, Neil Tennant, Bryan Ferry and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson
Bought by Ruben brothers in 2022
Nelson Street
Nelson Street - named after Lord Nelson, hero of Battle of Trafalgar
Most of this street is Grade II listed buildings
Stop at Charles Dickens plaque - Dickens made 5 or 6 visits to Newcastle in the Music hall
In the early 1850s Dickens organised his own travelling theatre group in which he acted; undertaking extensive tours of the country over the years, including assembly rooms in Newcastle.
In winter of 1861, Dickens gave solo readings of David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby and Little Dombey. Seats were expensive at between 1 and 4 shillings. Poor people could stand in gallery and pay 1 penny.
From 1857 Dickens had a long standing romance with actress Nelly Ternan; whose parents were popular entertainers in the Newcastle stage
On one occasion, a gas batten crashed down from above him, the audience panicked but he remained calm and carried on to thunderous applause
Grainger Street
Grainger Market
M&S
Michael Marks was a Polish Jew refuge
Started with penny bazaar in Leeds and other northern markets
Joined up with Tom Spencer, a cashier from wholesalers Dewhirst, who put his life time savings into the business
The Marks and Spencer’s store was opened in 1895 and is known to be the last surviving example of a ‘Penny Bazaar’ shop. This was a marketing trick where many goods were priced as a penny and marked with ‘Don’t ask the Price, It’s a Penny’. This was unheard of as that time people would normally have to ask for the price of goods in shops before buying.
Smallest M&S
Managed by Newcastle Northumberland St branch
Original signage and stained glass
Lamps have been converted from gas to electricity.
One original gas lamp left
Sea horses on glass panels.
Symbol of Newcastle as a sea port
.
Weigh House
“Weigh Houses were once a feature of many markets up and down the country, it was originally used by traders to weigh their deliveries. When the Market was first built, the Weigh House was on the opposite side of Alley One, but now it’s one of the few units within the Market which have entrances on more than one alleyway. Today the Weigh House is a hub inside the Market and has many uses. It is staffed by Newcastle City Council.” (Grainger Market Traders’ Association). You can even get yourself weighed and receive a little ticket with your weight on!!.
Original weighing machine is now in Beamish Museum
Todays weighing machine is electronic
They give you a slip with the weight rather than shout it out
Managers office next door used to be the ladies weigh house
Picture of opening banquet on wall of weigh room - original in laing art gallery
Pre covid 300-500 people per day winter/summer; now 35 -50 people per day
Cost 50 pence
Market Street
Theatre Royal
The Theatre Royal, originally on Drury Lane off Mosley Street, opened in 1788 and was granted its Royal licence by King George III
A ‘flagship’ of Richard Grainger’s famous redevelopment of Newcastle city centre in a neoclassical style.
Grade I listed (Tyne Theatre too)
It officially opened its doors on February 20, 1837, with a performance of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” and was men only as they were waiting for decor to dry and wouldn’t work for women’s dresses
Built in 7 months
Royal Signature on top. Set within the theatre’s pediment and carved fully in the round, a coat of arms consisting of a central circular shield with the royal device, flanked by a couchant lion and unicorn. Based on hanovian royalty as Queen Victoria not on throne yet.
One of the first managers here was Thomas Ternan who employed his wife, Frances Ternan as the main actress.
In 1899, following a performance of William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, a huge fire destroyed the interior of the building.
It had its interior redesigned by Frank Matcham and reopened on 31 December 1901 with a new and grand auditorium. Externally, the building is exactly as it was when it was first built.
1980’s - It underwent a major refurbishment and restoration, reopening on 11 January 1988 with a performance of A Man For All Seasons starring Charlton Heston.
14 March 2011 closed for a major restoration of the auditorium, box office, bars and restaurant. The restoration restored the theatre to the original 1901 Frank Matcham Edwardian interior.
The whole interior was stripped apart from the original plasterwork which was carefully preserved.
The proscenium arch, tiers and boxes were gold leafed and the plasterwork restored.
On all levels the seats were replaced with Edwardian-style theatre seats in keeping with the restoration.
The amphitheatre which was removed during previous renovations was restored to offer more leg room and better views than the gallery. This took the theatre to five distinct seating areas, the stalls, grand circle, upper circle, amphitheatre and gallery.
Wheelchair spaces were installed on levels which had previously been inaccessible. As well as the boxes near the stage, boxes at the rear of the grand and upper circles were also restored taking the total number of boxes up to ten.
The stage lift and orchestra pit were replaced to offer better facilities for opera and musicals.
A new ventilation system was put in place to improve comfort levels in the theatre.
New frescos for the lobby and upper circle were commissioned and put in place.
This £4.75m project introduced higher standards of comfort and improved energy.
12 September 2011 - The Theatre Royal reopened with Alan Bennett’s epic period drama The Madness of George III; George III was in fact the monarch who gave the Theatre Royal its charter.
The current theatre has a proscenium stage, and accommodates a variable orchestra pit on 2 lifts - which reduces the stall seating. The audience of 1,250 seats is on four levels: stalls (501), grand circle (252), upper circle (249) and gallery (247).
RSC used to be resident but moved to Northern Stage but coming back
The theatre currently hosts a variety of shows, including ballet, contemporary dance, drama, musicals and opera. The Christmas pantomime is one of the UK’s most popular.
Time capsule outside, X marks the spot
Note : A proscenium arch describes the frame that surrounds a stage space, separating the audience from the stage. This helps to create a fourth wall, which is particularly appropriate for naturalistic productions. In a proscenium arch theatre, the audience all sit facing the same way. The stage is often raised and the audience usually sit in raked seating, meaning that drapes and large pieces of scenery can be used without obstructing sightlines. The blocking is relatively easy as the audience sit in one fixed position.
High Bridge
The city’s winding High Bridge is a location rooted in history, taking its name from a bridge that once spanned the Lort Burn valley
“Until the valley of the Lort Burn which ran from Castle Leazes to the Tyne was filled in, two bridges – the Upper Dean Bridge and the Nether Dean Bridge - spanned it.
High Bridge marks the site of the Upper Dean Bridge that connected Pilgrim Street with the Bigg Market.”
The steep dene of the Lort Burn was one of several waterways which flowed through the old town of Newcastle down to the River Tyne.
By the beginning of the 19th century, it had essentially become an open sewer. Meat waste from the old Flesh Market was also thrown into the burn providing, no doubt, a rich aroma in the area. In 1827 it was described as a “vast nauseous hollow, equally unhealthy and inconvenient”.
Richard Grainger’s radical plans for reshaping Newcastle were put into effect in 1834. One of those plans would be to fill in the Lort Burn valley with rubbish, rubble and topsoil and create a new street, Dean Street.
By the beginning of the 19th century, it had essentially become an open sewer. Meat waste from the old Flesh Market was also thrown into the burn providing, no doubt, a rich aroma in the area. In 1827 it was described as a “vast nauseous hollow, equally unhealthy and inconvenient”.
Richard Grainger’s radical plans for reshaping Newcastle were put into effect in 1834. One of those plans would be to fill in the Lort Burn valley with rubbish, rubble and topsoil and create a new street, Dean Street.
In the 1960s, it was even dubbed ‘Newcastle’s answer to London’s Carnaby Street’ by the local press
The lane (in normal times) plays host to an ever-changing array of boutiques, tattoo parlours, micro pubs and cafes.
For those of us who enjoy a pint now and again, there are three venerable city-centre boozers, starting from the Bigg Market end – the Beehive, The Duke of Wellington, and the Bacchus.
The Duke of Wellington, especially, has a long, interesting history. One of its managers, the 52-stone “Scottish giant” William Campbell, died there in 1878 and his over-sized coffin had to be removed from upstairs in the building by a crane. Thousands lined the route of the cortege as it made its way to Jesmond Cemetery.
Armstrong Works
1767 - started as Watson’s High Bridge Works, established and began to blaze a trail of innovation and creativity that was celebrated for centuries.
1846 -Henry Watson inherits the family business at High Bridge Works. Visionary Newcastle inventor Lord Armstrong commissioned Watson to produce the rotary engine that pioneered the use of hydroelectricity.
1892 - Ward’s printers, first established 1845, move to High Bridge and build on the Watson family legacy of inventive workmanship on this iconic site.
1903 - The Ward’s Building opens at 31-39 High Bridge, establishing a long and successful printing works throughout the twentieth century.
1995 - Waygood Gallery and Studios is founded and establishes High Bridge as a dedicated workspace and venue for contemporary art and design
2012 - Following an ambitious £10m structural refurbishment, Ward’s Building reopens as BALTIC 39; a unique cultural hub in the city centre with gallery, studio, office and teaching space.
2021 - This evolved to High Bridge Works in 2021.
Ladies Toilets
4 High Bridge
UK’s smallest Gin Bar
Georgian building - original floor tiles, brick work
seating only 15 guests and sizing at just 11sqm
Owned by same people as WC!
Newcastle Markets
Haymarket
The Haymarket area of Newcastle, which is now dominated by the bus station of the same name, was once an area dedicated to the selling of fodder and other farm produce . It was not always so, though.
In times of yore, it was well outside the old town walls, of course, and therefore lay undeveloped until relatively modern times. As Percy Street and Northumberland Street developed, the future Haymarket area was one of the last spots in the vicinity to receive attention. It was described as an area of “dirty, unseemly waste, full of puddles and pools of putrid water.” In 1808, however, it was paved and turned into a parade ground for local soldiery. Then, in 1824, a Hay Market was established there, held every Tuesday. “High-piled carts of hay and the groups of horses and buyers and sellers, formed a fine picture, with the background of picturesque dormer-windowed old houses on the west side of the street.” Here, too, would be the gathering point for “wild beast shows” and exhibitions of “wax-works, fat women and living skeletons.” Hiring for farmers’ servants was held there from 1838, turning the area into a great gathering point for country folk – no wonder, then, that the public house which once dominated the area was called The Farmer’s Rest. Hay, straw and the likes continued to be sold there until the early years of the twentieth century … and eventually the market passed into history, with the bus station opening in 1930.
Cloth Market
Cloth Market is one of the older streets in Newcastle and was obviously connected with the cloth trade.
The most famous establishment in Cloth Market is (or was) Balmbra’s a Music Hall mentioned in the Blaydon Races Geordie anthem. The Balmbra’s name has subsequently been adopted by later bars on the site.
Milk Market
Milk Market is now part of the A186 linking City Road below the Keelmen’s Hospital to the Quayside and Sandgate area above the Millennium Bridge. The trading of milk likely took place here long ago in medieval times but from the nineteenth century it was the site of the busy Paddy’s Market, where clothes were traded as late as the 1970s. Nearby Sandgate was an important area of Irish settlement in the mid to late nineteenth century.
Bigg Market
Bigg is a kind of barley with four rows of grain on each ear. By the 1890s the street was a market for poultry, eggs, bacon and butter but has long been noted for pubs and inns, though the modern establishments are bars and clubs.
Groat Market
Groat Market is a street of medieval origins but mostly dominated by modern buildings of the twentieth century, including the headquarters (Thomson House) of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle and Journal newspapers. Back in medieval times, groats – unground oats with their hulls removed – were sold here.
Grainger Market
Quayside Market
The Quayside Market has a long history dating back to 1736 when it was first recorded in historic records as a fair. The original Quayside market stretched from the old Tyne Bridge (near the site of the current Swing Bridge) along Sandgate and beyond. Commercial stalls selling every manner of goods were pitched along the riverside with a variety of fairground attractions and racing tipsters providing added entertainment.
