Newcastle & Get Carter's 'Long Bar'

I am sure there's many of you out there who are fans of the 1971 film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine. Say what you like about the film itself (I love it, by the way), but it is a fascinating watch for us Novocastrians - and indeed for those interested in the North-East in general - due to the fact that it was shot, pretty much in its entirety, on and around Tyneside. If you haven't seen it, then where have you been these past 50+ years?

Anyway, there is something about one of the early scenes in the film that I have kinda known all my adult life, but which has been lied about for ages. And that is the identity of the bar to which Caine heads after he exits the Central Station upon arrival in Newcastle. Me and my contemporaries (I am 58, BTW) have always known this to have been The Long Bar, roughly opposite and slightly to the right as you leave the station. Now this pub disappeared when the whole block was demolished and redeveloped donkey's ago. It is now occupied largely by the Hampton by Hilton Hotel. I was always told that The Long Bar stretched all the way through this block - hence its name (though its real name was The North Eastern Bar).

Lately, though, the Victoria Comet, which sits exactly opposite the station, has laid claim to being the old pub in question. It is plastered with Get Carter commemorative plaques and information panels inside and out, but no one seems to have been bothered about the fact that they've got it wrong (either deliberately or accidentally, I'm not sure which). 

I, for one, have never really given it much thought. Until, that is, I was prompted by a five minute YouTube video by Eddy of 'Tyneside Life' - check it out here. It really is quite extraordinary, and what a strange old story. There is also another video, here, which correctly identifies The North Eastern Bar as the site of the scene in question. 

When scrolling through the comments of the first video I also found reference to the apparent appearance of a teenage Jimmy Nail in Get Carter - see here. Amazing!

Anyway, if you've got a spare day or two you really could get well and truly lost down the Get Carter rabbit-hole on YouTube. So, good luck with that...

Tynemouth ... and Libraries in General

Whilst thinking about planning a trip to Tynemouth this weekend for the quarterly Book Fair (see here - you really should consider going), I was reminded of that most excellent of websites on the town and its environs by Luan Hanratty entitled Penball.uk . I have been aware of the site for some time, but have never properly explored it - so I decided to have a closer look.

Anyway, it really is quite, well, as I say, excellent! And if you've any interest in Tynemouth, North Shields, or indeed any of outlying places thereabouts, you really need to make it a regular port of call. There are many, many fascinating and thought-provoking articles to be found there. I've barely scratched the surface myself, but one which caught my attention was 'Finding Blake Chesters' (the 'missing' Roman fort of North Shields). Have a look, please - it's fab.

However, it was 'The Case for a Tynemouth Museum' that really piqued my interest. It considers the farcical situation that has arisen over the disappearance of Tynemouth's library (closed in February 2020, with it's re-build facing delay after delay), and asks whether or not a new library is even worth the effort. Shock, horror!

Now I've been a library and archive-goer all my life - I've even written guides to them in my publishing past. But as long ago as the 1990s I have thought that these institutions ought, really, to be evolving more into, well, I don't really know! It's just that they seem to have been dying a long, slow death since the internet kicked in, and they need to be re-invented. Those of us who love books and archives and historical research sometimes find it hard to admit, but it's true. And Tynemouth Library's demise (I didn't even know it wasn't there anymore!) typifies the problem: in their old and existing form they just don't seem to be getting used anymore. Tynemouth lost its library to a promised 'redevelopment', the project gets delayed, folk get used to it not being there ... then the new, revamped building ends up as another eatery, or whatever, instead.

It's a problem, and I'm not sure what the answer is. But Luan Hanratty at least has a go at a suggested alternative.

Luan can also be followed on Twitter, here.

The William Coulson Memorial

Now and then, I should like to use this blog to simply point the reader in the direction of a particularly interesting article about Newcastle/North-East history which I have fell upon. This is one such occasion.

When I am out and about on my Newcastle wanderings I often pass this fella:

The William Coulson Memorial is situated at the junction of City Road, Walker Road, Ouse Street and Horatio Street - roughly opposite the Bethel Chapel. I didn't know much about this chap, even after I'd read all the various words etched into the monument, front and back.

Then, just the other day I was casually browsing the internet when I came across an excellent piece about him by Sue Syson on the Ouseburn Trust website - see here. I shall not spoil it further for you, so do have a look - there are some interesting tie-ins with other parts of the city.

[Note: Do have a close look at the wording on the reverse of the statue. I just love the reference to "the higher impulses of true manliness and womanliness" ... and wonder what the present-day woke brigade would think of the terminology! 😲]

 

Newcastle China Football

Just found this on my crowded office shelf. Obtained it on eBay a couple of years ago, put it to one side, then forgot about it. As you can see, it is a little China football (about 2.5in in diameter), and bears the coat of arms of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Well, I think it's supposed to be a football - the pattern of the 'leather' seems to be more like that of a basketball, but it does have the tell-tale stitching on the top... 

Anyway, on the underside it bears the mark of 'Florentine China', which (according to the internet) was a product of 'Crested China & Souvenir Ware' of the Taylor & Kent Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent. And it dates to 1900-1925 - so it's around 100+ years old. By most people's definition that makes it an antique. Cool. Though it's still only worth about a fiver.

There's also a little red spot-stamp on the underside. This means something, as I've noticed this sort of thing on other examples online. If anyone out there knows what this means - or indeed anything else about the piece - do let me know. I  would, for example, love to know why it was produced ... perhaps for a special event (football related?).

Anyway, back on the shelf it goes.

A Visit to Bishop Auckland

I hadn't been for a good few years, maybe 20, maybe more. But, once again, keen to take advantage of the temporary availability of cheap bus tickets, I decided to set forth from my Tyneside home to one of the more distant parts of the region: Bishop Auckland.

What follows is a far from comprehensive - nor even, perhaps, a fair - account of the town and its attractions but it is an honest overview of my morning's visit a few weeks ago. There are plenty of things I didn't get to see, I agree.

I arrived via the X21 at a little after 8.00am. An early shout, I admit, but at least it gave me plenty of time. The main reason for my visit was to seek out the much heralded Auckland Castle Deer House. I wanted a photo for my forthcoming book (The Great North-East: An English History Tour, vol.2), for one thing, but also thought I might as well book a ticket for Auckland Castle, too. So I did. Well, what with my early arrival, I made straight for the Park and its weirdly wonderful Deer House. And it really is a cracker:

As I still had loads of spare time, I had a hour's wander around the Park. I hadn't a clue where I was going, but just ambled around in a big circle until I got back to the Deer House. On the way I encountered this curious little obelisk:

And, yes, that's me bottom right! I thought that maybe this was a memorial of some sort; but it's nothing more than a well 'cap' covering a part of the eighteenth century water supply system for the castle.

I still had 90 minutes to kill before I could make use of my castle ticket, so I headed back into the town centre to take a look at the shops. I hooked around the NW of the town and came back to the Market Place via a thoroughfare known as Fore Bondgate and its 'specialist shops'. I passed a bookshop (unfortunately closed), before leaving the street and taking a right into Newgate Street - the main shopping area of the town. I walked all the way down and all the way back up without calling in anywhere, and felt a little disappointed with what was on offer. A great deal of the shops were closed and/or boarded up, having presumably met there fate during the pandemic. The huge former Beales department store was a particularly sad sight.

By the time I'd returned to the Market Place I still had half an hour to kill, so I had a quick look inside the Town Hall building. There was a cafe, a theatre, a cinema, a gallery ... but I couldn't find the library. Until, that is, I was directed down into the basement and into the smallest town library I think I've ever seen. When I was last here I'm sure the library took up most of the ground floor (I could be wrong) - very disappointing.

With a tiny little bit of time left I called in at the fancy new 'Auckland Tower': a mini heritage centre-cum-shop-cum-viewing platform. I received a lovely welcome and a personal tour of the place - and, of course, got to experience a brilliant panorama of the town from atop the tower itself.

OK, then, so it was off to the Castle....

The place is, these days, essentially ran as tourist attraction. The bishops no longer reside there, the castle having recently been bought by a prominent philanthropist and heavily renovated thanks to the huge amounts of money thrown at the place by both him and various grants and awards. Must say that it's a lovely place, and a real asset to the North-East.

First port of call is St.Peter's Chapel, the oldest part of the complex:

Next, there's a sort of ante-room, with its many portraits and a short video presentation:

Then it's up the stairs and the Throne Room, faithfully renovated in period style:

The Long Dining Room (below) is perhaps the best of the lot. Those pieces of art are the famous Zurbaran paintings, representing Jacob and his twelve sons - arguably the North-East's finest artistic treasure.

The rest of the 'tour' is given over to themed rooms based on and around the lives of various bishops over the years. They are essentially the private apartments of the main men, from the 1890s through the late twentieth century. Didn't get any pics, but I'm sure you get the general idea. In fact, a pretty good account (and more pics) can be found here.

Canny though it was, I found it all a bit strangely underwhelming. What I didn't realise at the time was that it was actually International Women's Day and they had all sorts of arty things on display, which the attendants seemed particularly keen for me to see and discuss. Now I'm just not into art so found it all rather annoying. I'd much rather have just put a set of earphones on and done an audio tour (not sure if this facility is available now). And I think £15.80 per person (inc. booking fee) is a bit over the top. Just my opinion, though.

And that was basically it for my visit. Some pluses, some minuses, but I still very much enjoyed it. There are at least a couple of other notable 'attractions' that I missed. There's the Spanish Gallery and the Mining Art Gallery, for starters. I fancied the latter, but you needed to book in advance. And there will soon be another to come quite soon: the spectacular Faith Museum. 

Defo worth a day's visit, I'd say - and if you're into art then you'll absolutely love it! 

Remember, though, for most of the stuff you need to book in advance online. See here and follow the links.

Newcastle's Old 'Red Light District'

The thoroughfare now known as Pandon has been modernised beyond recognition in recent years. It is the short street a little to the north-west of the Milk Market area, home to several multi-storey car parks and a selection of up-market eateries. But the course of the road – formerly known as Pandon Street – goes back a long way. Around the time of Mackenzie’s 1827 history of the town, though, it seems to have been going through a rough patch...

Pandon Street leads from the foot of the Wall Knoll, eastward, to the head of Coxon’s Chare. It is a narrow, winding, dirty street, and appears to have been called, in old times, Crosswell-gate. According to tradition, the opulent, pious, and munificent Roger Thornton lived in this street; though now it is generally shunned by respectable people, not only on account of the dirtiness of the passage, but as being inhabited by many of those coarse and impudent wenches, called, in these refined times, Cyprian nymphs, who subsist by administering to the gross appetites of those who are unfortunately strangers to the exquisite pleasures arising from a correct and refined taste, and blind to the disgrace, pain, and disappointment which result from deviating from the smooth paths of moral rectitude.

As you can imagine, such areas of ill repute were many, varied and prone to ‘wander’ over time. Previously, Mackenzie pointed out, it was the narrow chares a few yards to the west of Pandon Street which played host to the ladies of the night. Roughly speaking, Plumber Chare ran along what is now King Street (that’s the one offering the classic view of All Saints’ Church from the Quayside) ...

Plumber Chare was noted, a few years ago, as the receptacle of Cyprian nymphs, whose blandishments were of the most coarse and vulgar description. Indeed, most of these dark lanes were inhabited by “very dangerous, though not very tempting females.” But the character of these lanes has been much altered in late years; most of the dwelling houses having been converted into granaries, warehouses, maltings, breweries, etc.

[article taken from Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past, vol.1 (see left-hand column)]

Durham Castle Tour

I recently put my name down for a guided tour of Durham Castle. I had never so much as crossed the threshold of the edifice before, and knew next to nothing about the place. To be honest, I thought it was 'out of bounds' to plebs like me.

On an earlier visit to Durham I noticed that this was not the case, and that you could book a tour online at a fiver a shot. So a couple of weeks later I turned up at the gates of this iconic structure and awaited my guide for the venture.

After having booked your slot in advance, you have to call in at the reception of the nearby Museum of Archaeology (itself worth a quick look) to notify them of your arrival and to pick up your official wristband. You then walk the few yards towards the castle gates and wait for the tour to commence.

A small gaggle of us were perhaps a little surprised to discover that a young student was to lead the way - and a Spanish national at that. But very well informed indeed she was, and off we all toddled on our 50 minute tour. We proceeded through the gatehouse (above) and into the 'bailey' area of the castle (below).

Most of Durham Castle is actually given over to student accommodation, so their are strict limits on where you can go. Our guide made it clear, though, that we weren't missing much, as the bits we weren't privy to were clogged up with student-related clutter. Anyway, the first bit we were shown was the Tunstall Chapel, on the right of the above image and shown internally by way of my slightly out-of-focus photo below. It was built in 1540, and contains much of interest, including some very odd wooden carvings - among them several strange beasts and a wife in a wheelbarrow!

The Tunstall Gallery was next, running betwixt the chapel and the Great Hall. It contains a fascinating gaggle of historical bits and bobs, including this lovely archway...

... And a copy of one of Bishop Tunstall's mathematics books. Tunstall's effort was, apparently, the first printed work published in England devoted exclusively to mathematics. Another North-East first, then.

I didn't get a photo of the next area of interest, being the 'flying' or 'floating' staircase that exists at the far end of the Gallery as we approached the Great Hall. Known as the Black Staircase, it was built by Bishop Cosin in the late seventeenth century. It was rather unwisely put together without any vertical supports, then began to lean precariously, and is now supported by wooden posts. It still looks very wobbly indeed, but we were assured it is quite safe!

Finally, there is the Great Hall. This goes way back, date wise, having been extended and altered over the centuries too. It has always been used for wining and dining - from the great and the good of former times to the university staff and students of today. And if it looks familiar, then it was this open space upon which Harry Potter's Hogwarts Great Hall was based (or so we were told). And as for that 'flying staircase', well, yes, that idea, too, was stolen by the Harry Potter folk!

A 50 minute tour of a World Heritage Site for £5. Not bad at all.

More about Durham Castle can be found here. Tour info here.