Home    Essays                                                                                                  July 2006

Newcastle upon Tyne

I remember in the months before relocating to this area of England, the horrified comments of friends and co workers in Mid Sussex regarding the north eastern city of Newcastle upon Tyne. Grim, filthy, crime ridden; England’s answer to the Bronx or 1980’s Beirut. The truth however is rather different, and more complex. The problem stems from out-dated information, misconceptions, of some truths and outright lies.

Having moved to the Durham area, and partly because of this reputation, it was over three months before I went to Newcastle. When I finally did venture in I discovered that it was far better than I expected though I wasn’t too enamoured as yet. It took a while to become familiar with the city and what it has to offer and furthermore, to become used to the fact that the major city in the area that I live was no longer London.

Even in the four years that I have now been here the Newcastle area has developed greatly. In the first few months of visiting the city I found many impressive features. Spectacular neo classical architecture in the city centre, as impressive as anything in London or Edinburgh, and which includes a grand columned theatre. The range of the city’s heritage encompasses impressive memorials, medieval churches and stretches of the ancient city wall. A unique survival in Britain is that of a complex of medieval friary buildings (albeit minus the church); which now accommodates a range of shops, galleries and cafe’s. The castle for which the city is named is a strangely situated survivor; the intact keep and the main gatehouse, bizarrely separated from each other by a Victorian stone and iron railway bridge. There are many bars, cafe’s and restaurants' to cater for all tastes (even vegans, and those with a hankering for Mongolian cuisine). There is an art gallery, the recently refurbished ‘Laing’ which houses various examples of 18th and 19th century painting. It also has regular exhibitions of the work of local and nationally important artists. Additionally it is often the venue for touring themed exhibitions of significant works from the national collections which have included paintings by Titian, Degas, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Bacon, Monet and many others. There are several other museums and galleries in the city including the Hancock and the small but interesting Museum of Antiquities, located in the University. The city also has it’s own Chinatown with a range of restaurants', a few shops and a cultural centre, and also an area of gay/mixed clubs and bars near the Central Station.

Other entertainments and facilities include two cinemas, including the important and popular Tyneside Cinema; an art deco structure with two main screens, bars and educational facilities which shows a variety of indie, alternative and foreign language films. A well recommended regular haunt of mine. There is also a football stadium and an arena for concerts.

Many other developments have commenced or been completed in my time here. The truly awful Odeon Cinema was relocated and re-established as a multiplex cinema as part of a new entertainment complex known as The Gate; a modern steel and glass centre which now houses a great range of bars and restaurants and even a casino, and was inspired by similar developments in London (the Trocadero) and the Sony Metreon in San Francisco.

The Life Centre is a new complex of science related facilities and an exhibition. There are also offices and more bars including the unusual ‘Baron & Baroness’ with it’s gothic furnishings, candelabra and paintings of Napoleon amongst others.

The riverside area has also been extensively redeveloped, both on the city and on the Gateshead side. On both there has been much refurbishment with new bars, hotels and apartments and with a new link; the landmark Millennium Bridge (not to everyone’s taste). On the Gateshead side there is now a major gallery of contemporary art, ‘The Baltic.’ This prominent structure is a converted flour mill, the North’s answer to the redeveloped power station which now houses London’s ‘Tate Modern.’ The Baltic features changing exhibitions of the product of various internationally renowned artists. The other significant landmark, virtually adjacent to this is the very distinctive ‘Sage’ centre for the arts. This has so far included various performances from such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright.

Gateshead town centre however... That rather more embodied what my former colleagues thought of the area. I have never seen such a wretched, awful place in all my life and it is fortunately at a reasonable distance from the waterfront. To be fair, efforts are apparently being made to improve the town centre so don’t just judge it by my account.

Returning to the main subject of Newcastle, as I have just mentioned that of Gateshead, it should be pointed out that Newcastle, like any significant city, does have it’s flaws. There is crime; problems with drugs, muggings, the occasional assaults and so forth but not at levels that would render visions of hell! Mostly it is a matter of being sensible and avoiding obvious problems and as I’ve already stated, it’s no worse than you would find in any city nowadays. You do see a perhaps a slightly higher number of yobbish looking people around but then perhaps I’m a bit stuck up at times? The city’s main failing from what I have seen however is it’s depressing outlying areas, many of which are truly grim, ugly and dilapidated such as that of Byker. Still there should be no reason for the vast majority of visitors to stray into these. I just wish something was done for the sake of those that have to live in such areas as much as anything else.

To conclude on a more positive note, Newcastle, at least at it’s heart, is amongst the best of Britain's cities; vibrant, modern and ever changing, and with an array of cultural and entertainment facilities to cater for a wide range of tastes. Of course there is still plenty of scope for further developments and improvements, some of which are already in progress. Hopefully it can only become even better.