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Newcastle Upon Tyne is the nearest large town to Whitley Bay.
It has a population of around 280,000 and like its name says, it grew up
around the river Tyne. Newcastle is situated on the north bank of
a shallow gorge on the River Tyne. It is believed that the Romans first
built a bridge on this site. Newcastle was the lowest point downstream
at which the River Tyne could be bridged. Another bridge was built here
in 1250.
In the 17th century nearby coal deposits encouraged the development
of the glass industry. There were also local salt deposits and local
people were also involved in the manufacture of soap. Coal, salt, soap
and glass were transported from the town by coastal vessels and by the
beginning of the 18th century Newcastle was the most important town in
the North East. Newcastle-upon-Tyne was a commercial as well as an
industrial centre. The population grew steadily throughout the 19th
century, going from 33,000 in 1801 to 109,000 in 1861. The prosperity of
19th century Newcastle is reflected in the architecture of John Dobson
(1787-1865) and John Green (1787-1852).
The picture to the left (click to enlarge as usual!) shows how
Newcastle looked in 1875. The rest of this page, we'll show you
how it looks now! We took a special trip into Newcastle to show
Stanley a few of its delights - there are many old, impressive buildings
around Newcastle, but we decided on a trip to the Quayside. |
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Getting into Newcastle from Whitley Bay takes around 20 minutes by
road, but then car parking can be expensive. We like to take the
Metro, a train which travels from Whitley Bay and goes underground when
it reaches Newcastle. It takes about 30 minutes to Monument, the
station which is close to the Theatre Royal, most of the shops, and the
waterfront. Flat Stanley preferred the Metro to the car! |
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The quayside has had lots of work done since 2000, with a lot of
money spent on improving it. This building is the most recent
addition; it's called "The Sage" and it's a centre for music, with
concerts and exhibitions. It looks really weird and cool! We
haven't been in yet, but we will soon. |
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The Millennium Bridge was built to celebrate the Millennium
(obviously!). It's a great-looking bridge that you can walk or
cycle over. It's really good to walk over as you get a great view
up and down the river, and you can even see the river straight down
between your feet - a long way below! Our Dad is scared...
So ships can pass underneath, the whole bridge tilts - the top part in
the second photo moves to the right, lifting the footbridge at the
bottom of the cables up. You wouldn't want to be on the bridge
when that happens!
When the bridge tilts, it looks like a huge eye winking. |
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The Tyne Bridge is in the background here, and is a very famous
bridge. It is the thing that most people think of when they think
about Newcastle - it's even on the beer bottles! |
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The old Baltic Flour Mill has been a feature of the Quayside for
many years. Disused for ages, in recent years it has been
renovated and turned into a centre for modern art. It looks nicer and
cleaner now, and at least it's being used, but...we went around it last
year. We spent most of the time saying "Well, what's that meant to
be then?" and stuff like that. It's a great building and very
high, but the modern art they put in it doesn't do anything for us - we
saw it all in less than 45 minutes, and didn't see anything we liked! |
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