2 September 2016 - The Croft Campsite, Warden Law, Houghton-le-Spring,Tyne & Wear

This morning we headed on the Metro back into Newcastle in an attempt to see the rest of the attractions on our list. After our forty minute trip, we emerged from the underground, today making an effort to examine the Central Railway Station which we had had occasion to visit before, but then in search of its conveniences rather than to admire the architecture.

Three men are credited with the order and pleasant design of 1800s development of Newcastle; architect John Dobson, builder Richard Grainger and a town clerk named John Clayton. According to one source I have to hand, Dobson’s masterpiece is the porticoed Central Station, apparently one of the great monuments to the railway age. It was opened by Queen Victoria in 1850 and when it was completed, covered an area of seventeen acres and had more than two miles of platforms. Today we examined the structure critically from laymen’s eyes. It is an impressive centre, however without the literary prompt, I probably would not have paid it too much more attention.

St Nicholas's Cathedral

We headed for St Nicholas’s Cathedral, a mainly 14^th century structure sporting a rare 15^th century “crown spire”. It is an impressive building however did not stand out above many others we have visited. The number of dead deacons and bishops were less than in most, a feature I found a positive. Effigies of past persons of influence or position are rather tasteless, but then I say that from a 2016 position, when the superstitions of myth and magic are placed in their correct perspective.

Just down the street we found the Castle of Newcastle, or rather the remains of the castle, because these days a rail line separates the Black Gate from the keep. Tickets are sold in the gatehouse and the keep is accessed a short distance away by passing under the rail viaduct built in more recent times.

The Black Gate was the last addition to the medieval castle defences, built between 1247 and 1250 and today is a Grade I Listed building, as so many of the buildings in this green and pleasant land are. 

Black Gate

In 1619 the castle was leased to Alexander Stephenson who added the top two floors, roof and additional arch. By the early 19^th century, the immediate neighbourhood around the Black Gate had become one of the poorest of the town and the building itself was a slum tenement. In 1856 there was a proposal to demolish the building on the grounds that it caused a great nuisance. The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne leased the Black Gate from the Corporation in 1883 to convert it into a museum. Over the next two years the Society restored the gatehouse and it served as a museum until 1959. From 1972 to 1987, it was used as the Bagpipe Museum which has subsequently been relocated to Morpeth.

Views from the Keep

However the area, a naturally defensible site with steep sides overlooking and running down to the River Tyne, has been occupied for nearly 2000 years. From the mid-second century the Roman fort of Pons Aelis stood there guarding the river crossing below until the beginning of the fifth century when Roman rule collapsed. From the late seventh century until the construction of the Castle in 1080, the site was used as an extensive Saxon cemetery.

The “New Castle” which gave the town its name, was founded in 1080 by the eldest son of William the Conqueror, Robert Curthouse and was built using earth and timber. Between 1168 and 1178 the castle was rebuilt in stone, the delay caused when it was besieged by the Scots.

The Castle’s keep had two main functions; it was the principal strongpoint of the castle and the living space for the commander of the garrison. Today one can see the late Norman chapel, the well with a depth of more than 100 feet and the Great Hall. And best of all, forward sloping stone steps take the tourist to the top of the keep from which there are absolutely marvellous views over the city.

We spent some time in the basement of the keep learning how it had for several centuries served as the Northumberland remand gaol, for those who waited for the circuit judge to rule over the next session of the assizes. In later years, the roof was no longer functional, and conditions were absolutely appalling for the inmates who were chained to the wall with no toilets and no division of age or gender. 

Escaping from the confines of the Castle, we found a sheltered spot nearby, albeit littered and with no pleasant aspect, where we dined before heading further up into the city. A little beyond the Central Station is the city’s other cathedral, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Mary, this built in Gothic style in 1844 by Augustus Pugin who also assisted with the design of the Houses of Parliament. This was altogether more pleasing, light, bright and welcoming; unlike most of the Anglican places of worship, the Catholic churches and cathedrals are more popular, the congregations still active, because regular attendance is more obligatory than those who pursue other brands of the Christian faith. 

Cathedral of St Mary

The day had brightened up and we soon divested ourselves of our rain jackets. We walked on to the Discovery Museum, this  the one museum that promised an overview of Newcastle’s own stories, and best of all, it was free. The museum was originally built as a Co-op warehouse and distribution centre for one hundred Co-op stores across the region in the 1890s. The building became the Museum of Science and Engineering in 1982 and then in 1998, it was re-launched as Discovery Museum. 

On arrival one is confronted by the 35 metre long Turbinia, the world’s first steam turbine powered ship, built by Charles Parsons. The galleries are spread over several floors that surround the central exhibition area and it was the Newcastle Story and another all about the River Tyne that caught our attention. It is very well curated, although I did find the many audio exhibitions rather differcult to sift through, but that is probably because my hearing is confused, a condition of maturity.

We did not see everything in the museum, but the remainder of the galleries suggested duplication of natural history and science seen elsewhere. We set off again, this time further up the hill, through the Chinatown arch and then down into the Intu Eldon Square, the biggest indoor shopping mall in Britain when it was opened in 1977. It has 150 stores set over a retail floor area of 130,100 square metres. I am sure we have visited larger shopping centres, but this should not detract from the fact that it did hold, for a while, the nation’s record. Apparently the Intu Metrocentre just across the river at Gateshead, opened in 1986, has a retail area of 190,000 square metres with more than 340 shops, so the record has been long broken and by such a near neighbour.

From here we walked back down Grainger Street to the station and caught the train home, today almost bursting at the seams, and with quite a few seamier types. The rain had stayed away all day, but according to our ever cheerful neighbour should return with a vengeance tomorrow.