'Newcastle Through the Ages'

(click images to enlarge)

'Newcastle Through the Ages' is the name of two-part relief panel on the northern side of the Primark store, on the corner of Northumberland Street and Northumberland Road in Newcastle. Officially it is a 'polychrome ciment fondu' creation, which effectively translates as a 'coloured cement cast'. They are more than seven feet in height and about nine feet and twenty-one feet, respectively, in length. Almost no-one seems to know they are there, never mind pay them any attention.

They are the work of sculptors Henry and Joyce Collins, and were installed in 1974, and offer, as you can see, a wealth of random historical information about the city. Remarkably, no one seems to have any information about its commissioning nor its subsequent history. Though C&A occupied the building at the time of the installation, it is a mystery as to who funded the work.

I am not going to insult your intelligence, nor your knowledge of 'The Toon's' history, by giving you a detailed description of the various images and inscriptions - anyway, it's kinda fun trying to decipher it all for yourself. I hope the images are big enough for you to have a close enough look - if not, there can be found some even nicer pics here.

The only bit I'm not sure about is the date '1865'. Now this was the year that the great John Dobson died, and his name is shown adjacent to the date, so could this explain it. And the '1865' is shown in what appears to be a representation of the Central Station, which was designed by Dobson.

If you've any queries or observations then do leave a comment below.