Rediscovering Newcastle

As a student I spent 6 interesting years in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but, as noted earlier, I've not been back since 1982. That's a long time ago and I took the opportunity last week to rediscover an interesting place, which has changed considerably in the last 35 years. Join me in an amble around the city, which has a long history.

I used to live in student accommodation in Leazes Terrace shown here and, as deputy warden, had a nice room on the top floor overlooking St. James Park the Newcastle United soccer ground. I could  even watch games from my room,which overlooked the ground, but actually mostly watched from inside the ground where the atmosphere was much better.

However, I'd no longer be able to watch games from my window because the football ground now has a massive new stand opposite:

I used to walk this street through the university every day from my accommodation next to St. James Park, which you can just see in the background..

And my destination was this building where my research office was located!

 

 Down in the city I came across some lovely old buildings that I remembered from the past:

The Plummer Tower shown here was built in the 13th century and formed part of the town wall.

Alas, modernity has intruded into the city - including the freeway shown here which appears to run across the buildings where the geography department was located when I first reached Newcastle back in 1963.

 Much of central city was reconstructed in the 19th century and lined with impressive Georgian buildings, not forgetting the massive Grey's Monument - he, the second Earl Grey was British Prime Minister in the 1830s. Also shown here is the Theatre, also on Grey Street.

 

 
 Grey Street winds down to the historic heart of the city on the banks of the Tyne. This photo shows more remnants of the town wall and, in the middle, the Black Gate which was finished in around 1250 and was the main entrance to the castle. Just north of the castle is the cathedral.

 

 

From the castle I walked across the 19th century double-decker bridge with a road below and the metro above. This bridge across the Tyne provided excellent views downstream. First there is the low-level swing bridge and then something rather familiar. If it looks like the Sydney Harbour bridge, you're right! The Tyne Bridge was the model for the subsequent Sydney counterpart.

 

Views of the city centre from the double-decker bridge and back to the castle.

The redeveloped waterfront. When I was a student the waterfront area was decorated with old warehouses and was a relic of 19th century industrialisation. Now, on both sides of the river - including Gateshead - there are many new buildings, both commercial and residential. These are linked across the river by the interesting and curved Millennium Bridge which I strolled across.

And, on the Gateshead side nearby, was the graceful exhibition centre.

 

Back in the commercial centre I was drawn to Hadrian's Tipi, which was a set of stalls under wig-wams. Hadrian I can understand. Newcastle was at one end of the famous Hadrian's wall, which anticipated the great wall of China by over a thousand years and served the same purpose - keeping out aggressive heathens!

Northumberland Street is still the main retail drag, but like many other places is now pedestrianised. I was interested to see that it had also turned into a vehicle showroom!

I didn't know that Greg runs a sandwich bar!

I also walked through the Eldon Square shopping centre with its Christmas decorations.

And saw this guy's street art - a dog made from sand!

Well, that's it for now.

AS