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Newcastle upon Tyne

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress. A stone wall 25 ft high was built around the town in the 13th century, to defend it from invaders during the Border war against Scotland. The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle in 1174, and Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town. Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century, and around this time became a county corporate.

From 1530 a royal act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to Newcastle quayside, giving a monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen. This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper, but it had its impact on the growth of near-neighbours Sunderland, causing a Tyneside and a Wearside rivalry that still exists. In the Sandgate area, to the east of the city and beside the river, resided the close-knit community of keelmen and their families. They were so called because they worked on the keels, boats that were used to transfer coal from the river banks to the waiting colliers, for export to London and elsewhere. During the English Civil War, Newcastle supported the king and in 1644 was stormed ('with roaring drummes') by Cromwell's Scots allies, based in pro-Parliament Sunderland. The grateful King bestowed the motto "Fortiter Defendit Triumphans" ("Triumphing by a brave defence") upon the town. Ironically, Charles was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646-7.

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages, predated the London Library by half a century. Newcastle also became the greatest glass producer in the world. Newcastle's development as a major city, however, owed most to its central role in the export of coal. The phrase taking coals to Newcastle was first recorded in 1538. In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the development of safety lamps, Stephenson's Rocket, Lord Armstrong's artillery, Be-Ro flour, Joseph Swan's electric light bulbs, and Charles Parsons' invention of the steam turbine, which led to the revolution of marine propulsion and the production of cheap electricity. Heavy industries in Newcastle declined in the second half of the 20th century; office and retail employment are now the city's staples.

Urban development

The city has an extensive neoclassical centre, largely developed in the 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson, and recently extensively restored. Grey Street, which curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne, was voted as England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. A portion of Grainger Town was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, including all but one side of the original Eldon Square itself. Immediately to the northwest of the city centre is Leazes Park, established in 1873 after a petition by 3,000 working men of the city for "ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation". Just outside one corner of this is St James' Park, the stadium home of Newcastle United F.C. which dominates the view of the city from all directions.

Another green space in Newcastle is the vast Town Moor, lying immediately north of the city centre. It is larger than Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath put together and the freemen of the city have the right to graze cattle on it. Unlike other cities where similar rights exist, they often take advantage of this, leading to the somewhat bizarre sight of cattle grazing within yards of the city's town hall, Newcastle Civic Centre. The right incidentally extends to the pitch of St James' Park, Newcastle United Football Club's ground, though this is not exercised,although the Freemen do collect rent for the loss of privilege. Honorary freemen include Bob Geldof, Nelson Mandela, Alan Shearer and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Hoppings funfair, said to be the largest travelling fair in Europe, is held here annually in June. In the south eastern corner is Exhibition Park, which is home to the Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum. The wooded gorge of the Ouseburn in the east of the city is known as Jesmond Dene and forms another popular recreation area, linked by Armstrong Park and Heaton Park to the Ouseburn Valley, where the river finally reaches the River Tyne.

Recent developments

The development of the city in the 1960s and 1970s saw the demolition of part of Grainger Town as a prelude to the modernist rebuilding initiatives of T. Dan Smith, the leader of Newcastle City Council. A corruption scandal was uncovered involving Smith and John Poulson, a property developer, and both were jailed. Echoes of the scandal were revisited in the late 1990s in the BBC TV mini-series, Our Friends in the North.

The Tyne Gorge between Newcastle on the north bank and Gateshead (an administratively separate borough) on the south bank, is famous for a series of dramatic bridges, including the Tyne Bridge of 1928 and Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge of 1849, the first road/rail bridge in the world. Large-scale regeneration has replaced former shipping premises with imposing new office developments; an innovative tilting bridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge was commissioned by Gateshead and has integrated the older Newcastle Quayside more closely with major cultural developments in Gateshead, including the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Norman Foster-designed The Sage Gateshead music centre. NewcastleGateshead Quayside is now a thriving, cosmopolitan area with an abundance of bars, restaurants and public spaces. As a tourist promotion, Newcastle and Gateshead have linked together under the banner "Newcastle-Gateshead", to spearhead the regeneration of the north east.

Notable Newcastle housing developments include Ralph Erskine's the Byker Wall designed in the 1960s and now Grade II-listed. It is on UNESCO's list of outstanding 20th century buildings. Newcastle's thriving Chinatown lies in the north-west of Grainger Town, centred on Stowell Street. A new Chinese arch, or paifang, providing a landmark entrance, was handed over to the city with a ceremony in 2005. The UK's first biotechnology village, the "Centre for Life" is located in the city centre close to the Newcastle Central railway station. The village is the first step in the City Council's plans to transform Newcastle into a science city.

Geography and climate

Newcastle is situated in the North East of England, in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear and the historical and traditional county of Northumberland. The city itself is located on the northern bank of the River Tyne at a latitude of 54.974° N and a longitude of 1.614° W. The geology of the area is most famous for its large deposits of coal. Whilst the local bedrock consists mainly of carboniferous rocks, millstone grit and oolite are also present. The climate in Newcastle is temperate, although significantly warmer than some other locations at a similar latitude due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream (via the North Atlantic Drift). Being in the rain shadow of the North Pennines, it is among the driest cities in the UK. The prevailing winds are south-westerly due to the North Atlantic Current.

Sport

The City has a strong sporting tradition, being home to Premiership football team Newcastle United(Est. 1892) for whom England player Michael Owen features. Alan Shearer, retired as a player at the end of the 2006 season, was possibly the best striker to ever play football for Newcastle United. The city also has two non-League football teams, Newcastle Blue Star and Newcastle Benfield who both play in the Northern Football League. Also in Newcastle are Guinness Premiership rugby union side Newcastle Falcons, for whom England player Jonny Wilkinson features. The city's Metro Radio Arena is home to Newcastle Vipers ice hockey team, and Newcastle Eagles basketball team. The city's Speedway team Newcastle Diamonds are based at Brough Park in Byker, a venue that is also home to greyhound racing. The greatest Speedway rider of all time, Ivan Mauger, who hailed from New Zealand was World Champion six times and rode for the Diamonds in the 1960s. Racing started at Brough Park in 1929. Newcastle Racecourse at High Gosforth Park holds regular meets, including the prestigious race for the Northumberland Plate, first run in 1838, which takes place in June each year. Newcastle also hosts the start of the annual BUPA Great North Run, the world's largest half-marathon in which participants famously race over the Tyne Bridge into Gateshead and then towards the finish line 13.1 miles away on the coast at neighbouring South Shields. Another famous athletic event is the 5.7 mile Blaydon Race (a road race from Newcastle to Blaydon), which has taken place on June 9 annually since 1981, to commemorate the celebrated Blaydon Races horse racing.

Nightlife

Newcastle has a reputation for being a fun-loving city with many bars, restaurants and nightclubs. More recently, Newcastle has become popular as a destination for Stag and Hen parties. Newcastle was in the top ten of the country's top night spots, and The Rough Guide to Britain placed Newcastle upon Tyne's nightlife as Great Britain's no. 1 tourist attraction. There are notable concentrations of pubs, bars and nightclubs around the Bigg Market, and the Quayside area of the city centre. There are many bars on the Bigg Market, and other popular areas for nightlife are Collingwood Street, Neville Street, the Central Station area and Osborne Road in the Jesmond area of the city. In recent years "The Gate" has opening in the city centre, a new indoor complex consisting of bars, upmarket clubs, restaurants and a 12-screen Empire multiplex cinema. Focused on the Times Square area near the Centre for Life, the "Pink Triangle" is the centre of Newcastle's gay scene and hosts many bars and pubs and two clubs.The community has seen much expansion in the past five years, with further growth planned in the future. The city has a wide variety of restaurants such as Italian, Indian, Thai and has a Chinese village with many Chinese restaurants, on Stowell Street. There has also been a growth in premium restaurants in recent years with top chefs. The biggest noticeable difference in the last ten years has been increased opening hours, more upmarket bars, a greater range of clubs and some of the older traditional pubs closing. Although many have been revamped and remain very popular.

Theatre and entertainment

A growth in theatre culture has taken place in recent years, centred on the impressive Theatre Royal on Grey Street, which for over 25 years has hosted a season of performances from the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Theatre Royal has recently been closed for refurbishment and reopened in October 2006 in time for the travelling West End musical, Grease and the annual RSC season. Other theatres in the city include the Journal Tyne Theatre, Northern Stage, the Live Theatre, the People's Theatre, Dance City, and the Jubilee Theatre. There are several other venues in and around Newcastle, such as Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle Arena and The Sage Gateshead.

Festivals and fairs

The Hoppings, reputedly the largest travelling fair in Europe, takes place on Newcastle Town Moor every June. The event had its origins in the Temperance Movement during the early 1880s and coincides with the annual race week at High Gosforth Park.A new music festival, the Hi Fi Festival took place in May 2006, at Matfen on the outskirts of the city.^[17] May also sees Newcastle and Gateshead host the Orange Evolution, which culminates with the Freevolution free music festival held on the Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides over the Spring Bank Holiday, with performances from well known and up and coming acts from the world of Rock, Indie and Dance Music. Surrounding Tyneside has many festivals, including MOTFest (The Mouth Of Tyne Festival) held at Tynemouth, a coastal village 8 miles east of Newcastle.

Shopping

There are several major shopping areas in Newcastle city centre. The largest of these is the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, which incorporates the first and largest Fenwick department store, and a John Lewis store (formerly known as Bainbridge) which is often cited as the first department store in the world.

Eldon Square is currently undergoing a full redevelopment which will include a new bus station, replacing the old underground bus station and redeveloping the fascia of the centre that faces Grainger Town to allow the 1970s concrete to be replaced by more forgiving materials to accommodate its architectural surroundings. As part of the redevelopment the 1970s Green Market will be closed down in early 2007 and rebuilt.

The main shopping street in the city is Northumberland Street. In a 2004 report, it was ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the UK for rent, outside of London.^[19] Other shopping centres in Newcastle include the relatively modern Eldon Garden and Monument Mall complexes, the Newgate Centre, Central Arcade and the traditional Grainger Market. The largest suburban shopping areas are Gosforth and Byker. The largest indoor shopping centre in Europe, The MetroCentre in Gateshead is also nearby.

Famous residents

Engineer and industrialist Lord Armstrong, Catholic leader Cardinal Basil Hume, Engineer Robert Stephenson, Lord Taylor, Miriam Stoppard, comedian Rowan Atkinson, entertainers Ant and Dec, and international footballers Paul Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley and Alan Shearer. These are a few of the many famous people born in or associated with Newcastle. For a full list, see List of famous residents of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Museums and places of interest

Web Cameras & Satellite Photographs:

• Look North Webcam
• Tyne Bridge
• Google satellite map of river Tyne and the iconic bridges
• Google satellite map of St James' Park and Newcastle University's campus

Web: http://www.newcastle.gov.uk