In The Blink Of An Eye

---

The astute among you will have notice that I have managed to write the best part of 5000 words in my last two blogs on Newcastle without barely touching on the defining feature that identifies and is the reason of the city. The River Tyne flows through the city. It was once the lifeblood and to some extent remains so. In yesteryear, both banks would have teamed with industry. In the city area, it is pretty much all gone and for many years the area by the water lay dormant and neglected. The “new” industry of leisure and entertainment has now spawned a revival and the last 25 years ago has seen a revolution in land use. Newcastle grabs the limelight and rightly so, but for my final blog I decided to focus from a Gateshead perspective. We set off across the river to explore.



In the shadow of the Cathedral of St Nicholas and the remains of the castle of Newcastle, the single lane carriageway heads out across the river towards the south. This is the High Level Bridge. In many ways, it launched Newcastle and consigned Gateshead to being the afterthought. The bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson, as a means of expanding the rail network into Scotland and opened by Queen Victoria in 1849. The double decker structure carries trains on the upper deck with a road underneath. The latter now forms part of a bus lane to make the journey from central Newcastle to Gateshead more time consistent. We set out to walk across, which gives you a panoramic view up and down the Tyne of the other crossing points. The rail crossings are now largely on the King Edward Bridge, whilst the Swing Bridge below looks something of a toy in comparison. The iconic Tyne Bridge runs just beyond, giving the impression that you have landed in Sydney if it were not for the large promotion of the Great North Run emblazoned on the structure.. There are surprisingly few people who seem to walk over for what is possibly the finest view in the city.



We are defintely on the Gateshead side when we take the first street after the bridge. Where else will you find the world's first "free range butcher and craft beer shop"? An old delivery bicycle leaning against the window oustide helpfully reinforces the point. The Blacknbottle is an interesting concept and I hope it suceeds. I like both craft beer and quality meat usually in the order.. It was an interesting and surprsing find, which demonstrates to all those that stay on the Toon side that there are other good things to be found on the voyage of discovery just a few paces outside their comfort zone. I have driven over the Tyne Bridge many times, but never once noted the pub on the left hand side called The Central. A unique .. well possibly not ...unusual, wedge shaped building squeezed in under the railway bridge is another interesting find. The pub is owned by the Head of Steam group - a chain which stretches from Leicester up here. the city centre venue is not far from the central Railway Station. I note with interest that there is even a Nottingham venue - open since March and I haven't even discovered it yet. My bad, as my footballing colleagues on a Thursday would utter. I instantly like the venue, not least of which for saving a very interesting building. The Central wasn't open, so a dispute was saved in case I had been tempted to have a quick wander in just for research purposes. The pub surtely has a rosy future, tucked away behind an upmarket block of flats and within walking distance of the bright lights on the north side of the river. It is also a logical choice for residents of the Hilton Gateshead, should they be able to pull themselves away from a hotel bar. The Hilton takes a commanding view of the approaches to the Tyne Bridge and the full extent of the city across the awater beyond. We would later listen to a couple who had just returned to living in the area on retirement after years of living away in employment exile - "who would have thought of a Hilton in Gateshead in our lieftime"? It is a reality and has been for some considerable time".



We wandered up the road towards the Gateshead Town Hall. A huge gothic complex. Gateshead Town Hall was built when the town had Victorian optimism. I note in a press article that the building has been described as surplus by the local Council, who have determined that the seet and surrounding land can be sold off to release funding for elsewhere. A 250 year old lease had been granted, so the Town Hall could become an "attraction". It already is actually - just stand on the far side of the opposite car park and look in admiration at the architecture. It is a very different architecture to what has become of one of the more more famous landmarks of Gateshead. I speak not of the Angel of the North - the huge Gormley statue that greets vistors as they arrive on the A1. We stayed downtown, so my blog features neither the Angel or the God of northern out of town shopping - the Metro Centre. Gateshead (and Newcastle) were used as a backdrop to the Michael Caine film, Get Carter. The Trinity Square car park was a huge block of concrete that featured in the film. It would have been very visible from where I stood near the old Town Hall, but meant an end with the demolition wrecking ball in 2010.



The next landmark is to Gateshead what the Opera House is to Sydney. The area is now known offically as Gateshead Quays and is home to the Sage. The Sage is to many an eyesore, but to others an iconic building design of the highest order. The former would liken it to a giant glass slug or a shiney condom.The light reflects off the £70 million structure, which dominates the area overlooking the river. I think I fall into the iconic building camp. It is visually quite stunning and very different from everything else around it. I have never found the opportunity to visit for a live performance, but have it on a list of things to do along many other lists. There are 2 main halls - Sage 1 and Sage 2 - with respective capacities of 1700 and 600. The building has been open since 2004, but this was the first time I had been inside. White circles of the concert halls rise above your head, whilst the glass exterior allows a view of Newcastle across the river. A performace space outside doubles a terrace. A spray painted container added some colour. We sat and had a coffee and looked out over the vista.



We descened the steps towards the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, known more commonly as the BALTIC. It hosts a frequently changing programme of exhibitions and events in the huge spaces inside. The BALTIC was opened 2002 within a conversion of a flour mill. The Baltic Flour Mill was only built in 1950, but the design used was that of a plan from the 1930s. It had an extension in 1957, but closed in 1981. It was one of a series of flour mills between here and Dunston by the Metro Centre, but the only one that remains. A series of rich and famous donors are listed at the entrance - Bryan Ferry and Sting as natives of the region are given pride of place. Yoko Ono is high on the list too, although as far as I know, she has no connection with the North East. In all honesty, some of the exhibitions are not exactly to my taste. I quite liked the old photographs of Tyneside, but other bits were strange. However, the entrance is free. The 5th floor viewing gallery is inside. On the 4th floor, the outside viewing gallery gives a panorama over the river and Gateshead Quays, as well as Newcastle city centre. I would wholeheartedly recommend it. A local couple gave a running commentary on the changing landscape from when they were young. They advised that a big wheel like the London Eye was planned. We are going to call it Why aye man, she chuckled in the local Geordie accent. Geordie is often incomprehensible to some, but to us it is second nature and we often use much the same vocabulary anyway. The local Kittiwakes who nest on the bridges and high buildings were not in residence. They have swapped life on the local cliffs for urban living. Handy for a night out, if kittiwakes do such things.

The area to the side of the BALTIC is occupied by some high rise executive apartments. The rumour has it that the kings of Saturday night TV own a pair of penthouse apartments in one of them. They could see all the way to Byker Grove from there. Down below stands the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, making a short cut back into Newcastle city centre for pedestrians and cyclists. The Sage might get a mixed review, but the general consensus on this £22 million bridge is fairly positive. It opened in 2001 and was designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre. Newcastle accepts credit for a lot of the river regeneration by default, but the bridge very defintely belongs to Gateshead - the name on the side of it re-confirms. The clever bit of the bridge is the hydraulic opening mechanism that can allow larger vessels to sail unerneath. The days of really large vessels coming this far up river are long gone, but boats of 25 metres can pass underneath. The opening process takes under 5 minutes and costs under £4 a time. The open structure gives the bridge the nickname of the Blinking Eye. The offcial opening times are listed on the local Council website, but the tour boats are a good guide as they all go up river first, before turning back towards the coast. A few large Roman Abramovich yachts were moored on the city side of the river near the Law Courts and a large sailing yacht left at a convenient time to give us a demonstration of the mechanism.



It had been a good few days on Tyneside. As the locals would say, it had been canny.

---

Comments

[Rainyb]

Sage Gateshead, a concert venue & a centre for musical education, opened in 2004.

[Rainyb]

Great blog! Thanks for sharing.

[Dancing Dave]

Millenium Bridge
Now...that's a bridge! I've posted some of your stunning pics in Architectural Details thread in the Photography Forum. Check 'em out.