Favourite Newcastle Books No.1: 'Newcastle in 50 Buildings'

If you could hand-pick an individual to put together a book of this nature, it would be difficult to come up with a better suggestion than Mr Steve Ellwood. Sure, there may be better qualified architectural experts out there (or maybe not?), and equally excellent photographers - though I very much doubt there is a more knowledgeable local around to tackle the text itself. 

You see, Ellwood is something of an obsessive when it comes to Newcastle. I'm guessing that architecture is his first love - whether it be the grand buildings and their features or the lesser-known structures and their minor details, Steve's your man. Readers of this blog will be aware that he is always popping up on Twitter and history forums with some obscure fact or observation - and, as I have already told you, he is a keen photographer, too. His general knowledge of Newcastle's history is considerable - so much so, in fact, that he is also a City Guide! 

There will, of course, be those of you who will disagree with his choice of '50 Buildings'. But remember that Newcastle has an astonishing 4,000+ listed buildings, so the task was nigh on impossible. And what the author has tried to do, clearly, is present us with a nice cross-section of old and new, well-known and lesser known - and, indeed, nice and not-so-nice! Though published as recently as 2016, one of the buildings, the Dex Garage, New Bridge Street, has, in fact, already disappeared!

The individual entries are nicely balanced, with a decent dose of technical detail (but not too much) to accompany the layman-friendly text. The 50 total could easily have been 'upped' to two, three or even five hundred, such is the depth of the city's architectural riches. So, er, let's have another volume or three, Steve!

Newcastle in 50 Buildings, by Steve Ellwood, published by Amberley Books, 2016. Can usually be found on Amazon.

The Cathedra: Newcastle's Bishop's Throne

This is the Bishop’s seat, or throne, of Newcastle Cathedral. It is called a ‘cathedra’, from the Greek word meaning ‘seat’. When our town was raised to city status in 1882 (and St.Nicholas’ Church was thus upgraded to a cathedral), local artist Ralph Hedley carved this fine piece of work … which extends upwards, in great ornamental fashion, to some six metres! It is pretty wide, too, in order to accommodate the bishop’s ceremonial robes.

The first bishop to park their backside hereabouts was one Ernest Wilberforce (1882-1896); and only the one woman, Christine Hardman (2015-21), has had the pleasure.

Note: In case you're wondering, yes, Ernest Wilberforce was related to the famous William Wilberforce (of slavery abolition fame), being the great man's grandson.

[article taken from Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past, vol.2 (see left)]

Newcastle Stuff

Just a quick one this week. Or rather two.

Firstly, I came across a Newcastle history website/blog the other day which I'd not seen before. It's called 'NewcastleStuff' and can be found here. There's not a lot of blurb on the site to indicate who's running it or for how long they've been doing so, but most of the articles are from the past year or so and there's every hope that more will follow in due course. 

Like my blog, there's not a lot up there so far, but it may be worth keeping an eye on. As we all know, the internet is not exactly overflowing with Newcastle-related websites, so whoever you are ... do try to keep it going!

BTW, if anyone out there is aware of any other similar corners of the web, do let me know. I'd really like to gather together as many links to the city's history as possible.

--O--

The second thing I'd like to mention is, well, it's an invitation, really. Thing is, I'd be happy to publish any articles, long or short, relating to the history of Newcastle on this blog; so if you have anything you'd like to air, then let me know. I cannot offer you any payment for the same, but am happy to help you publicise any book or project you are working on. It may even be an excerpt from something you already have on the market and want to drum up a few more sales. Or it may be that you are just looking for an outlet for your hobby!

Anyway, let me know if you're up for it.

Email me at micksouthwick @ blueyonder.co.uk (without the gaps, obviously).

Bridges of Tyne

A couple of days ago I unearthed an old photo album containing some of my earliest efforts at B&W photography. Among them were a series of snaps from Boxing Day 1984. I'd just turned 20, and my dad ran me down to the Quayside on a crisp, clear morning to indulge my latest fad. I've included five of the many images I gathered that day - a little short of 38 years ago. Bloody Nora.

The first is the classic shot from a little in front of the old Milk Market. There were six bridges grouped together betwixt Newcastle and Gateshead at this point in time, with four clearly visible here (Tyne, Swing, High Level and Metro). And that's the Tuxedo Princess floating nightclub, of course, moored on the Gateshead side. I had my stag night there in 1987. 

Here's the awesome sight of the High Level Bridge from the Newcastle end - soak up that winter sunshine!

The High Level Bridge again, with the Swing and Tyne Bridges in the background.

And further evidence of the day's sparkling weather, as the sun glints through the girders of the recently-built Metro Bridge (opened 1981). The King Edward VII Railway Bridge can be seen in the background, as can (just) the underside of the new Redheugh Bridge (opened a year or so previously, in 1983).

Hard to believe that these photos were taken almost two decades before the Millennium Bridge saw light of day!

Oh, and on the way home we had to dip down to Scotswood to capture good old 'Scotchy Bridge':

When this bridge opened in the Spring of 1967 I was a very young nipper. At the time, my dad rode to work on a bike from Denton Burn to Blaydon Haughs - crossing this bridge as he went. In my innocence I assumed that he had to pedal over the fullness of the arch!

Boy, those photographs took some peeling outta that album. Suppose they had been sitting there for a long time, mind.