Richard Grainger's Brush With Death

 

Anyone who knows anything about the history of Newcastle, will surely also know at least a little about Richard Grainger. He was born in the town in 1797, lived pretty much all of his life there, before dying in Newcastle in 1861. He was our greatest ever builder, developer and entrepreneur, leaving a legacy in stone that survives in beautiful abundance today.

Despite his monumental efforts in transforming the townscape during the late Georgian and early Victorian eras, his safety record was remarkably good. There were only ever two serious accidents in his time at the development helm: the first being a collapse of scaffolding at the Leazes, and the second a building collapse in Market Street. And in the second of these Grainger himself was very nearly killed.

The following account is taken from The Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore & Legend of January 1889:

The work was not without its perils. On the 11th of June 1835, for instance, about three o’clock in the afternoon, three houses on the south-west side of Market Street suddenly fell with a tremendous crash whilst in course of erection. The buildings had nearly reached their intended height. At least a hundred men were at work upon and immediately around them, several of whom were precipitated to the ground with the falling materials, and were buried in the ruins. Many more had almost miraculous escapes from a similar fate. As soon as the alarm had subsided, the other workmen, upwards of seven hundred in number, devoted themselves to the relief and rescue of the sufferers. Of those disinterred, one, the foreman of the masons, died in a few hours; four were dead when found; fifteen were got out alive, but greatly injured, and two of them died, making seven in all. Grainger himself had a narrow escape. He had inspected the houses but a few minutes before; when they fell, he was standing upon the scaffolding of the adjacent house.

Well, if you ask me, if the boss had only just inspected the houses prior to their collapse, I'm not sure that he knew what he was doing! 😉

Coanwood Quaker Meeting House

As part of the process of putting together Volume 4 of The Great North-East: An English History Tour, I am now wandering far and wide in pursuit of the photos I need for said book. The other day I persuaded my wife to take us on a trip to the relatively remote destination that is Coanwood Quaker Meeting House, a couple of miles or so east of Coanwood (at precisely NY709589, if you're interested). I was so taken with the place that I feel compelled to tell you all about it now.

It ain't easy to find, but the above grid reference will get you there. Park up near the farm entrance, walk over the little bridge and the pretty brook, and the chapel is hidden behind the trees to your right. It really is a lovely little spot. Let me say to begin with that as surviving Quaker chapels go, this is just about the most perfectly-preserved example of its kind in the UK. It has remained pretty much unchanged since its construction in 1760.

The head of a local landowning family of the time, Cuthbert Wigham, was responsible for its founding. Stone construction, Welsh slate roof (probably originally heather-thatched - most likely the only alteration!), and a beautifully austere interior. Stone flagged floor, plain open-backed wooden pews, raised Elders' benches, and a partitioned room at the rear with a small fireplace.

Outside can be found a small graveyard with the little, rounded headstones of the Quaker type - including that of the aforementioned Cuthbert Wigham. And to one side can be found a netty!

The meeting house ceased operating as a Quaker chapel in 1960, but is still maintained by local volunteers. Recently, overall care has been transferred from the Historic Chapels Trust to the 'Friends of Friendless Churches' organisation. It is usually to be found open to the public, as it was when I visited on a Saturday morning.

Hopefully, it will be accessible when you decide to pay it a visit. And if you're feeling particularly gregarious, the annual gathering/picnic will be held there at 12.30pm on 14th September 2025. It really is a cutie, and I would urge you to call in when you're next in the vicinity.

And I'll let you know when that book of mine is available for purchase. Will be out later this year.

Newcastle's C-Roads

When my mate and I recently called in at the Cosy Dove pub on Hunter's Road in Spital Tongues, we fell upon this strange-looking road sign. It can be found in the middle of the street a little to the east of the pub:

It tells us, of course, that the thoroughfare in question is a C-road, which is quite a rare breed these days. We've all heard of A- and B-roads, but there was once a time when we had C-, D- and even U-roads to contend with, too. These lesser-known classifications of the UK's road numbering system are - or rather were - used primarily by local (and not national) authorities, and were for low-density streets.

There are only a handful of C-roads left, and I'm not sure there are ANY D- and U-roads still in existence. Of the few that are still marked on signage as per above many of them are to be found in and around Newcastle, for some strange reason. Another one (the C-104) runs through Fawdon (aka Kingston Park Road), and the C-137 runs along Queen Victoria Road, Richardson Road and up into Spital Tongues.

There are others, too - check out this website for further info - as well as looking up the individual road numbers here.

As for the above C-116, it apparently runs from some indeterminate point on Claremont Road, along Hunter's Road, Brighton Grove and Bentinck Road, before ending at Elswick Cemetery.

Well I never.

Sparkie Williams

My recent visit to the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle brought me face-to-face with one of Tyneside’s most famous twentieth century residents. As the specimen was stuffed, I’m sure you’ll be relieved to learn that it wasn’t human. It’s this fella:

Sparkie Williams became a national celebrity here in the UK during the late 1950s and early 1960s due to his unusually expansive repertoire of words. This otherwise ordinary-looking budgerigar mastered in excess of 500 of them, including many phrases - some of them innocent nursery rhymes and others a little more colourful!

He was bred and ‘hatched’ in the North-East in 1954, and was owned by Mrs Mattie Williams, who lived in Forest Hall. His aptitude for language being recognised at an early age, he gained his name on account of him being declared a ‘bright spark’ by his owner. In July 1958, when he was 3½, he won the BBC International Cage Word Contest. In fact he was so good that he was banned from taking part again thereafter.

His fame made him a sought-after subject for advertisers, and he famously fronted a campaign by Capern’s bird seed for two years. He featured on BBC Radio, appeared on TV’s BBC Tonight programme alongside Cliff Michelmore, and starred in a best-selling record. He is also said to have had more than £1,000 in his own bank account!

Sparkie died in December 1962 aged eight, and his owner had him stuffed by top taxidermist, Rowland Ward Ltd of London, and mounted on a perch. His rigid form was then taken on a tour of the UK in an exhibition of his life and work, and by 1996 was on permanent display at the Hancock Museum. The institution held a special exhibition of his life and times in 2002-03, at which you could procure specially-produced merchandise.

The famous Geordie squawker (he spoke in a local accent) has since featured in an opera, and is recognised as the world’s most outstanding talking bird of all-time in the Guinness Book of Records.

Oh, and there’s plenty of Sparkie to be found on YouTube if you’re interested.

Great North Museum: Hancock - Library & Archives

I hesitate to pen an article on this particular topic, on account that I am largely unfamiliar with the subject matter. For here we have a library & archive repository in Newcastle that I have never previously visited - which is amazing, really, as it specialises in local history. I am talking about the Great North Museum: Hancock's Library & Archive.

Much of what you can find here was once held on the upper floor of the Black Gate, when the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne was based there. That is the only other time I have previously browsed their holdings - and that was several decades ago. And what we have here is the combined collections of several institutions. I shall not tell you exactly what in order that you may be forced to visit their website. Believe me, if you're interested in history, archaeology, natural history - or pretty much anything to do with the region's past - then you should keep this place in mind during the course of your studies. And in addition to what you see on show, you can use the library catalogue to see if they've got something of interest hidden away behind the scenes.

It can be found on the 2nd floor, at the very rear of the Great North Museum: Hancock. It is quite an adventure trying to find the place, but you can just wander in without an appointment - but please note the limited opening hours. There is no membership scheme, but the actual borrowing of books is restricted to members of the participating bodies (Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, Natural History Society of Northumbria, and Newcastle University). Still, though, it really is quite something, and deserves to be more widely known and/or used.

So go and have a look next time you're at the Hancock.

The Tyne's Roman Shrines

If you ever find yourself wandering amidst the schoolkids at Newcastle's Hancock Museum, please be sure to check out the following collection of suitably coloured Roman altars that can be found in the Hadrian's Wall gallery:

(click on image to enlarge)

And have an especially close look at the left-hand pair, dedicated to the gods Neptune and Oceanus, as these are particularly significant:

You mustn't worry, though, for they haven't actually been daubed with modern-day masonry paint. And whilst you're standing there you may well wonder for some confused moments how the special effect has been, well, effected. It's all a trick of the light - see here for the official story. And the nearby info panel puts you in the picture, too:

As for the two altars to the left, well, they were dredged from the bed of the River Tyne in 1875 (Neptune) and 1903 (Oceanus), respectively, at the spot now occupied by the Swing Bridge. It was here that the old Roman Bridge of Pons Aelius spanned the river, and the altars would most probably have adorned the structure (or possibly formed the centre piece of a bridgehead shrine)  - and may even have been deliberately cast into the river at some point in an act of dedication. Neptune and Oceanus were, of course, water gods, and their placement upon or near the Roman bridge would be perfectly appropriate. 

Both stones bear a dedication to their respective god and the inscription "the Sixth Victorious Legion Loyal and Faithful (made this)". The 6th Legion was active in Britain from 122 AD to the end of the Roman occupation, so there's a good chance they were made at the time of Hadrian and the construction of his famous Wall.

Brilliant effort by the Hancock, this. It's the sort of thing that makes museums genuinely interesting!

Newcastle's Alternative High Level Bridge

The Martin brothers were a well-known gaggle of siblings who hailed from the Haydon Bridge area of Northumberland in the late eighteenth century. The most famous of the litter was John, who became a very famous artist. Though brilliant, John was a little eccentric; but that was nothing compared to brother Jonathan, who is best remembered for torching York Minster in 1829.

The sanest of the bunch was Richard, who spent many years in the military; and then there was a sister, Anne, of whom we know virtually nothing – as well as many more brothers and sisters who died in infancy.

However, the oldest of the lot, William, was as equally unbalanced as arsonist Jonathan. Born in Bardon Mill in 1772, he spent a decade in the Northumberland Militia, before becoming an inventor.

Initially, he seemed to have rather a lot of good ideas, winning awards for some of his schemes and patents; but his particular take on the non-existence of gravity and his theories on perpetual motion machines proved (obviously) to be misplaced. As the 1820s and ’30s progressed he became ever more famous for his peculiar pronouncements (his ‘Anti-Newtonian’ campaign being particularly loopy). He presented himself as something of an ‘alternative’ philosopher, proposing all sorts of weird and wonderful items, ideas and concepts, progressively distancing himself from reality in the process.

However, one of his more sensible ideas was for a high-level bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle, put forward many years before Robert Stephenson’s version was actually built – and he even published a pamphlet illustrating the design, and claimed later that Stephenson had stolen his idea. These sparse facts, and the image of the said river crossing as shown above is all that seems to have survived of this remarkable passage of history.

William Martin was once described by a contemporary as “perfectly cracked, but harmless.” He was a genuine, yet brilliant, eccentric, who lived on just the wrong side of madness. He died at his brother John’s house in Chelsea in 1851 – a little over a year after the real High Level Bridge was actually completed. And I must say that the final design does look rather similar to William Martin’s….

[this article is taken from my book Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past, vol.3. See left-hand column for link to examine the tome on Amazon]