Geordie Photographs

Metro Bridge viewed from Central Station. August 2013

Peek a Boo. All saints from the Tyne Bridge. June 2009 ( view full screen)

Sage Gateshead - November 2004, one month before it opened.

Scotswood Bridge ---- The new bridge replaced the first Scotswood Bridge, or Chain Bridge as it was known locally. The old bridge comprised two stone towers, from which the road deck was suspended by chains. When it was opened in April, 1831, it was the first bridge over the River Tyne to be built during Tyneside’s industrial era, long pre-dating its more illustrious neighbours downriver, that would later link Newcastle and Gateshead. A new Scotswood Bridge finally replaced t...he old Scotswood Bridge known as the Chain Bridge and built in 1831. The old bridge was too narrow and although it had been reconstructed and widened before the war to save the cost of a completely new bridge, a plan for a replacement was drawn up for Durham and Northumberland County Councils and Newcastle City Council in 1941. In 1960 the Ministry Of Transport gave permission for a new bridge and this was commenced in 1964 and opened in 1967. The designers were Mott, Hay and Anderson and Mitchell Construction/Dorman Long constructed it. It is supported by two piers in the river, and is a short distance west of the old bridge. There are four lanes and it links Blaydon and the Derwent valley on the south side with Scotswood Road and the west end of Newcastle to the north. It also gives access to the nearby Metro Centre, the big shopping complex on the south bnk of the Tyne opened in 1986 and since extended to become Europe's largest. When the Gateshead Western by-pass was built in 1970, it led onto Scotswood Bridge but when the new Blaydon Bridge was opened in 1990 the road crossing no longer had trunk road status. Footpaths are provided at each side. A box-girder bridge, concerns were soon raised after serious problems with similar bridges elsewhere and traffic was limited to single file between June 1971 and January 1974 while it was strengthened and more repairs were done in 1979-80 and in 1983 and 1991. It has never been popular owing to its somewhat plain design and frequent structural problems. Scotswood Road is now dual carriageway for most of its length and this must lead to increased traffic usage on the bridge. ( B&W Photo by Mirrorpix)
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September 2003- Work in Progress

Harry Clasper Flag Pole:- The metal flag sign near Scotswood Bridge was commissioned to celebrate the historical event of the 19c Rowing races which took place in the area. The location for this artwork marks the race course that was the former course of 19c rowing and near to Derwenthaugh where Harry Clasper worked, and marks the Start of the Modern Races. The sculpture is made from steel and measures 4m in height.
The 'Harry Clasper' Rowing Banner sign visually links with... the existing Banner feature celebrating the Blaydon Horse Races, and celebrates the History of Rowing in the area, by creating a marker to the famous 19c rower of Derwenthaugh in the 1840s, Harry Clasper. Harry Clasper was a Tyneside professional rower and an innovative boat designer. He was born in Dunston on 5th July 1812. His family moved to Jarrow where he later became an apprentice ship's carpenter in Brown's Boatyard. As well as rowing Clasper was a pub landlord. In 1842 he won the Durham Regatta Single Sculls race in a boat he built himself. He also competed with four-oared boats, and improved their design over time, with his crew winning the Champion Fours at the Thames Regatta 7 times. Clasper became a Tyneside hero. He died on 12th July 1870, and his funeral procession had a huge public attendance. His coffin was transported from the Tunnel Inn in Ouseburn (where he was landlord) to the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Whickham. The Harry Clasper pubic house in Whickham is named after him.
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Berwick - Lion House and allotments

Central Arcade - August 2004

Hmmmm, not sure about this.

Gateshead July 2018 - Not a usual view. And a very different from a view to a few years back. In sight here:- Old Gateshead Town Hall,Windmill hills retirement home, Old railway arches- duly "decorated". Sage car park, Tesco's store and Trinity Square. and more!

Tyne God -June 2007 - Newcastle has played host to the Romans, the Vikings, and indigenous British tribes. With that in mind, here is the mighty River God Tyne! You can find him on the side of the Civic Centre. Newcastle City Council commissioned the sculpture and David Wynne completed it in 1968. It is cast from bronze. Originally a darker colour, running water turned him green and brown. Originally a stream of water was supposed to trickle downwards from his raised right arm.

This is the Bob Olley mural on the gable end of Sallyport Crescent (north), just off City Road Newcastle, installed 1986. It was commissioned by Newsham Architects it represents Newcastle's river heritage, featuring Keelmen and Merchant Seamen.

Info from CWGC -- St. Andrew's and Jesmond Cemetery contains 183 First World War burials, about half of them in a war graves plot. The 30 Second World War burials are scattered throughout the cemetery. There are also 11 Norwegian seamen buried in the cemetery; their graves are grouped together in Section P.

Willington Dene Viaduct looking west:... Some interesting titbits about this bridge and its twin. Info from LNER Info website:- When an Act was passed on 21 June 1836 for a railway from Newcastle to North Shields, it was for a railway 7 miles long and commencing on the east side of Pilgrim Street. The engineer of the Newcastle & North Shields railway was Robert Nicholson (1808 - 1858), but the most dramatic contributions to the line were made by John and Benjamin Green, who ...designed the viaducts across the Ouseburn valley, between Newcastle and Byker, and Willington Dene, between Wallsend and Howden. The viaducts were of laminated timber construction on the Wiebeking system and supported by tall stone pillars, and earned Benjamin the 'Telford Medal' from the Institution of Civil Engineers. The Willington Dene viaduct was built at an original cost of £25,000. Both bridges were rebuilt in iron between 1867 and 1869 to the designs of Thomas Elliot Harrison with great care being taken to replicate their original form. The Ouseburn viaduct was originally built with two tracks, in 1887 was expanded to four tracks with the the addition of a new viaduct alongside and to the north of the original) .
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Armstrong Bridge - Edge of Jesmond Dene, near Benton Bank Newcastle. Some info from the Heaton History Group:- When Lord Armstrong died on 27th November 1900, he also left us with the bridge bearing his name. The bridge was given as a gift to the citizens of Newcastle by Armstrong and opened on 30th April 1878. It is reported that, ‘the contractors for the masonry were Messrs W E and F Jackson. It is a lattice girder bridge, 550 feet in length with a 25 foot carriageway. Varying in height from 30 to 65 feet, it is supported on seven columns 70 feet apart – each end of the bridge rested on massive masonry abutments and, despite its solid construction, presents a light and ornamental appearance.’ The bridge was also notable as the first bridge in the world specially mounted to move in the heat.

October 2003, Newcastle Chronicle:- “The Strawberry is one of Newcastle’s oldest and finest pubs. A stone’s throw from St James’ Park, for decades it’s been the spiritual home for fans of Newcastle United who flock there for a match-day pint. There’s been a building here since 1840, and it’s been a pub since 1859.Allegedly, the pub’s name and the street name, Strawberry Place, derives from the nuns of near-by St Bartholomew’s who grew strawberries on plantations here and made strawberry wine.”

Saturday early morning clean - June 2008

Akenside House from the Tyne Bridge