*NEW BOOK* Novocastrian: A Newcastle Memoir

[See end of post for special offer, being a free sample of the book]

Here I am, aged 6½, in my Bukta track suit posing for the camera on Slatyford Lane in the summer of 1971. It was at the bus stop near the junction with Pooley Road if you’re really that interested.

Yes, Denton Burn - and Newcastle’s West End in general - was where I spent the first twenty-odd years of my life, before marriage and other stuff took me elsewhere. Though the suburb was not without its issues, I loved it there; and ever since I’ve never considered living anywhere else other than on Tyneside, within spitting distance of my native parish.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then, has formed the central pillar of my life for these past six decades. Not only have I lived, schooled, worked and socialised in its shadow, but I have wasted countless hours watching its football team endlessly struggle for recognition and honours for far too long, too. I have also been an enthusiast of the city’s history for as long as I can remember. I love the place.

Being something of a genealogist, a couple of years ago I sat down and worked out how much of my own personal family history was linked to Newcastle. Turns out that at the time I conducted my mental calculation I was on the eve of the 200th anniversary of my ancestors’ very first appearance in the town: the baptism of my great-great-grandmother at St.Andrew’s Church in May 1824. I paid the church a visit on the exact day of the anniversary as a nod to Elizabeth Hudson’s christening and to the past in general. My family line won’t always be centred on Newcastle, so I thought it worth the effort*.

I then considered it appropriate that I get some of the family’s Newcastle story down on paper. I’d picked up a lot about my family tree over the years, had a pretty good knowledge of the city’s past, and, well, I had actually lived through more than half a century of said history. I thought I’d try to bring it all together: several strands of related stories in one book … for my own satisfaction if nothing else.

It was a good deal more difficult than I’d imagined. It took two years to pull everything together and organise it into a comprehensible read. I got a bit lost in places, probably forgot some bits, and maybe rambled on too much from time to time. I’m not sure how many of you will be interested, but it is out there now in the shape of Novocastrian: A Newcastle Memoir. It’s all about the city’s history over the past couple of centuries, especially those bits that relate to my ancestors’ stories; as well as my own experience of growing up in and around Newcastle in the 1970s and 1980s. And, as I say, there’s a fair few mentions of that bloody football team, too.

Anyway, it’s up there on Amazon if you want to give it a try. There’s no e-book this time, I’m afraid, just the paperback version. And the profits for this one are not (for once!) going to charity - so do help me on my way towards millionaire status 🙂…

* As for future generations, my wife and I were recently delivered of our very first grandchild, a girl, on 30th December 2025, at Northumbria Hospital, Cramlington. So not at Newcastle, then ☹️. Oh, and I should perhaps admit that I have this month moved house to Morpeth - being the furthest point from Newcastle that I have ever lived. Does this, I wonder, amount to a betrayal to my birthplace?

SPECIAL OFFER: If you’d like a free sample extract from the book (the first 16 pages or so, in PDF form), then email me at southwickmick@gmail.com . No catches, and no obligation to buy the whole book, of course!

Newcastle Keep Well Room

On my recent visit to Newcastle Keep (a quite marvellous place, BTW), I turned a corner and was surprised to fall upon the structure's 'Well Room'. How strange - and how wonderful - I thought. This magnificent piece of medieval engineering is accompanied by the following modest information panel:

Now I was going to do a bit of research and find out as much as I could about the keep's life-saving feature, but soon came upon a nice little article from Ales Iles' blog, which rendered my plan somewhat redundant. So do check it out - and indeed have a browse of the rest of Mr Iles' website, where there is plenty to interest the history-mad Novocastrian.

But you really must visit the castle keep for yourself, too, though. Check out their website at www.newcastlecastle.co.uk 

Newcastle Racecourse Teaser

I trust you will excuse me returning to the northern suburbs of Newcastle again for my latest post. The thing is, I am in between houses at the moment (moving from Winlaton to, hopefully, Morpeth) and am, for a while, staying up in Hazlerigg at my son's house. So as every self-respecting historical nosey parker would do, I am having a poke around my new environment to see what I can find.

One such expedition took me a-wandering down the Great North Road, where I fell upon the entrance to Newcastle Racecourse and found the following:

And what, exactly, was the funny-shaped cross and shell all about, I wondered?

Well, it turns out that it is the emblazonment that featured on the shield of the coat of arms of the Brandling family who once owned Gosforth House, the eighteenth century mansion that still lies beyond the gates (and forms part of the racecourse complex). It is now more commonly referred to as Brandling House.

The mansion was built in the 1750s by Charles Brandling (1733-1802), and acted as the family's main residence for several decades. Despite the dynasty's many lucrative business interests (banking and coal, mainly), they eventually overstretched themselves and Gosforth House was sold in 1852. In 1880, High Gosforth Park Company bought a large chunk of the estate, and turned the area into a racecourse. The house itself formed a major part of the development, but its internals were destroyed by a fire started by the suffragettes in 1914. It was then restored in 1921, and currently serves as an events centre.

The gate columns are obviously (I assume) originals, and show the distinctive Patonce Cross, with escallop shell in the upper left-hand quadrant. I understand that this curious combination is representative of a deep Christian faith and a devotion to pilgrimage. Quite why the Brandlings plumped for this I don't know.

Nice that they left the gateposts intact, though.