Newcastle City Guides
City Tours 2015 Newcastle City Guides are a group of trained and qualified volunteers who work in association with NewcastleGateshead Initiative.
www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk
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*Note - arrangements for the City Highlights tour may differ during Bank Holidays and Heritage Open Days 10-13 September. Please check the website www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk
@NewcastleGuides
Heritage Walks programme 2015
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Sunday 12 April 2.30pm Free walk Riverside Ramble Meet at the Guildhall, Quayside. Finish at Sage Gateshead. The River Tyne has been the lifeblood of the region for almost 2000 years. Take a walk with us along the riverside to see panoramic and close-up views of both Gateshead and Newcastle, and hear how it has developed from a busy port to a vibrant and lively area on both sides of the river. • Some steep banks and steps included on this walk.
Newcastle City Guides
Heritage walks Tickets for all walks are £4, concession (over 60s only) £3. Accompanied children under 16 years are free. Most walks are on a ‘just turn up’ basis unless otherwise stated. All city walking tours and visits last no more than 2 hours unless otherwise stated and are non-smoking.
Sunday 19 April 2.30pm
Jesmond Old Cemetery (West)
Meet at Cemetery Gates, on the south side of Jesmond Road. Explore the west section of this 19th century private cemetery – the resting place for many of Newcastle’s eminent citizens. • Please wear suitable footwear as some areas of the cemetery are overgrown and can be slippery, especially in wet weather and the ground is uneven in places.
Season tickets are available from the website or ask your guide for details There are over 40 different walks. Season ticket price - £30, concession £25. Season tickets are non-transferable and must be presented at the beginning of each walk or the standard ticket price will apply.
Wednesday 22 April 10.30am
Shopping Spree
Daily Walking Tours City Highlights
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish on Market Street Take a look at famous retailers in Newcastle past and present, some of whom are still trading. Learn about local names, their history and their beginnings.
No advance booking required Come and learn about the history and culture of our wonderful city. Tours are every day from Monday 1 June until Wednesday 30 September and all Saturdays in October Tickets £4.00 (over 60s £3.00, accompanied under 16s free) Tours leave at 10.30am from outside JG Windows music shop, Central Arcade, Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5BQ This walk finishes on Newcastle’s historic Quayside at approximately 12 noon.
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Sunday 26 April 2.30pm
Wednesday 13 May 7.00pm
Meet at Cemetery Gates on the south side of Jesmond Road. Explore the east section of this 19th century private cemetery – the resting place for many of Newcastle’s eminent citizens. • Please wear suitable footwear as some areas of the cemetery are overgrown and can be slippery, especially in wet weather and the ground is uneven in places.
Meet and finish outside St. Teresa’s Church, Heaton Road. Enjoy a pleasant stroll through Heaton Park and the surrounding area. Recently revitalised, this is one of Newcastle’s best Victorian parks, with a surprising history and many intriguing features.
Jesmond Old Cemetery (East)
Heaton Highlights
Sunday 17 May 2.30pm
Graingertown
Sunday 3 May 2.30pm Art of the Town Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Central Square, behind Central Station. This is a walk to discover some of Newcastle’s artworks, mostly new, some conspicuous and some unnoticed under your feet.
Meet and finish at Grey’s Monument. A walk that encompasses all that is beautiful in classical architecture, from the curved lines of Grey Street with the majestic Theatre Royal to the imposing Central Station.
Wednesday 6 May 7.00pm
Dickensian Newcastle
Meet at the Royal Station Hotel. Finish at the Guildhall. What did Charles Dickens think of Newcastle? Find out on this literary tour and explore where his theatre group performed, where he carried out his celebrated readings and what he would have seen on his visits. Thursday 7 May 10.30am
Merchants Mansions
Meet at Alderman Fenwick’s House, Pilgrim Street. Finish at the Red House, Sandhill. Visit the remaining buildings where prosperous merchants conducted their businesses and family lives. Detailed inside visits to Alderman Fenwick’s house and Bessie Surtees house with an external study of the Cooperage and House of Tides, finishing at The Red House inside and out.
Wednesday 20 May 7.00pm
Is there a Doctor in the House?
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Broad Chare. From medieval alms houses to the beginnings of the medical school, join this walk to discover parts of the town that were, and still are, linked to the medical profession and the care of Newcastle’s residents.
Sunday 10 May 2.30pm
Gateshead’s Hidden History
Meet at the West door of Sage, St Mary’s Square, Gateshead Quays. Finish at Tesco, Trinity Square. A look at some of the hidden clues to Gateshead’s past including beehives, Old Father Time and Archimedes.
Sunday 24 May 2.30pm
Nostalgia in North Shields
Start and finish at North Shields Metro Station. From the origins of a small fishing port to the growth of a town, discover buildings and stories - why coal caused conflict, where a Hollywood legend spent his youth and how he is now remembered.
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Wednesday 27 May 7.00pm
Sunday 14 June 2.30pm
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish on Northumberland Street. An unexpectedly interesting tour which looks at part of the City not often seen, behind the shops and office blocks of Northumberland Street and beyond.
Meet at Cullercoats Metro Station. Finish at the Grand Hotel. A beautiful bay which started as a quay for the export of coal, then later a fishing village described as the best fish market in the North of England where an artists’ colony also lived and worked.
Burt and Erick
Cullercoats Promenade
Sunday 31 May 2.30pm
Wednesday 17 June 7.00pm
Discovering Bensham
Central Station, Old and New
Meet outside St Cuthbert’s Church, Bensham Road. Finish on Barrington Place, Bensham Road. Bensham was Gateshead’s first suburb but how did it begin and why? How has it changed? Roll back the years and discover something of Bensham’s unique but often very hidden history.
Meet at the Cardinal Hume statue outside St Mary’s Cathedral (opposite Central Station). This circular walk takes in the recent improvements to Central Station as well as exploring the development and early history of steam locomotives and railways in Newcastle.
Wednesday 3 June 7.00pm
Saints and Sinners
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at St John’s Church. A stroll around central Newcastle with stories of the real goodies and baddies who lived here - true historical gossip! Sunday 7 June 2.30pm
Park Life
Meet at the Bobby Robson Statue, St James’ Park. Finish at the Bobby Robson Garden, Gallowgate. St. James’ Park is the oldest football stadium in the North East and Leazes Park was Newcastle’s first public park, both originally part of the Town Moor. Walk around the outside of St James’ and inside Leazes parks and hear of the development of the two parks featuring intense local politics over the years.
Sunday 21 June 2.30pm
Spital Tongues
Meet and finish at the main entrance to Exhibition Park, Claremont Road. Visit a small village tucked away where coal mining, furniture making, brewing and a lunatic asylum sat cheek by jowl with upper class housing.
Wednesday 10 June 7.00pm
Gannin te Blaydon Races
Wednesday 24 June 7.00pm
Meet and finish at Grey’s Monument. Discover how race goers of 1862 would have seen Newcastle as they set off for Blaydon Races – see the sites on this walk and hear about the characters as they left Newcastle for their day out.
Industry and Invention
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Quayside. Industry and innovation flourished in Newcastle in the nineteenth century. Find out where Stephenson built locomotives, where Swan first demonstrated his electric light bulb and how Armstrong and Parsons established factories which eventually employed thousands of workers. The 1800s were described as the ‘Wonderful Century’ and Newcastle played a major part in it.
Did you know? Occasionally Newcastle City Guides arrange other tours outside of this programme. For details check the website www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk
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Sunday 12 July 2.00pm and 3.30pm
The Guildhall
Meet at the Guildhall Once the centre of administration and justice in the City, see the Mayor’s Parlour, Merchant Adventurers’ Room and the old courtroom where many a felon met his fate. • Limited spaces on these tours – arrive early to ensure your place. Wednesday 15 July 7.00pm
Gone but not quite forgotten
Meet at Haymarket Metro Station. Finish at St. Nicholas’ Cathedral. Discover some men of note who don’t always get the attention they deserve. On this walk we will try to redress the balance with a look at John Bruce, John Clayton, John Green, John and James Hall and others and associate them with places on the route.
Sunday 28 June 2.30pm
Saltwell Park Stroll
Meet and finish at the park entrance opposite the Little Theatre at the corner of Saltwell View and East Park Road, Gateshead. Walk around this beautiful Victorian park discovering stories of past and present. Find out the oddities of Saltwell Towers, the tale of the park’s oldest inhabitant and the story of the disappearing bandstands!
Sunday 19 July 2.30pm
Wonderful Newcastle Women
Meet at Haymarket Metro Station. Finish at Sandhill. Women with a pioneering spirit, women who were “the power behind the throne” and women who went against the tide and risked their lives in the process! Join us on a walk to celebrate womankind.
Wednesday 1 July 7.00pm
Lord Armstrong’s River Tyne
Meet at Newcastle Guildhall. Finish at the Business Park. Join us for a riverside walk from Lord Armstrong’s Swing Bridge to the site of his famous Elswick Works.
Wednesday 22 July 7.00pm
Newcastle Port
Meet at the Guildhall. Finish outside The Tyne Bar in the Ouseburn. Take a walk along Newcastle’s Quayside looking at how it has developed from an overcrowded slum area to a Victorian port and, most recently, an exciting place to live and work.
Sunday 5 July 2.30pm
Summerhill Sunday
Meet at Cardinal Hume Statue opposite Central Station. Finish at Discovery Museum. An early 19th century development, Summerhill is a delightful but little-known backwater. Come and explore this hidden area, home to some of Newcastle’s prominent Quaker families. Find out where Robert Stephenson lived and where the Victorian cricketer W G Grace played bowls.
Sunday 26 July 2.30pm
Lest We Forget
Meet at St Thomas Church, Haymarket. Finish at Grainger Market. This is a walk about Newcastle in time of conflict, not just in the Great War but throughout the centuries. Join us to remember the fallen as well as some of those who survived.
Wednesday 8 July 7.00pm
Pilgrims and Pandon
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Sandhill. From one of the City’s oldest streets, step into one of its oldest suburbs and then enjoy a walk along the Quayside, with memories of medieval fairs, friars, travellers, mariners and merchants.
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Sunday 16 August 2.30pm
Wednesday 29 July 7.00pm
Peacocks and Crows
Wallsend Walkabout
Meet and finish at Haymarket metro. Looking at the links between health and education, this walk follows the story of two great Newcastle institutions. We will find some old brewery offices, an Edwardian gem and Victorian tiles preserved in a 21st century building.
Meet at Wallsend Metro Station. Finish at The Green area. Memories of Wallsend with its name derived from the days of the Romans at Segedunum and remembering former industries such as shipbuilding and coal mining. We walk past the ‘Penny Wet’ on the way to the quite unexpected village green.
Sunday 2 August 2.30pm
Wednesday 19 August 7.00pm
Park Life
Unfinished Vision
Meet at the Bobby Robson Statue, St James’ Park. Finish at the Bobby Robson Garden, Gallowgate. See Sunday 7 June for details.
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Quayside. Hidden among the famed cityscapes of Newcastle is a lost city of the 1960s, scorned and forgotten. Explore walkways in the sky, deserted squares, subways, a bridge to nowhere and views from Newcastle’s 1st multi storey car park. This is a walk with a difference. • Please be aware there are many steps and stairs so this walk is not suitable for anyone with mobility issues.
Wednesday 5 August 7.00pm
Gorgeous Gosforth
Meet at the corner of High Street and Moor Road South. Finish at All Saints Church. Enjoy a stroll around Gosforth looking at many of the great houses, remembering when this was the place for the seriously rich to live. Sunday 9 August 2.30pm
Saints, Sailors and Sea Air Tynemouth
Meet and finish at Queen Victoria’s statue on the village green near Tynemouth Metro Station. Stroll down the centuries in this historic coastal village to hear the stories of seafarers and saints, inhabitants and invaders of old Tynemouth on this walk. • Please note, due to a steep incline this route is unsuitable for people with limited mobility. Wednesday 12 August 7.00pm
Secret Garden
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish opposite Central Station. This route via Chinatown covers familiar territory but there are unusual things to see including a banana warehouse and secret garden.
Sunday 23 August 2.30pm
Swinging 60s Newcastle
Meet under the Council Chamber, Civic Centre. Finish on Westgate Road. These boots are made for walking - are yours? This tour will recreate the social culture of the swinging 1960s. Visit the hip and trendy places of the day, see the modern buildings and recall your shopping sprees. Put on your miniskirts and flares and join us on a magical mystery tour of yesteryear, when man stepped on the moon, Strawberry Fields were forever and a pound in your pocket could last you all week.
Did you know? Newcastle City Guides sometimes open Grey’s Monument to the public. For details check the website www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk
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Heritage Open Days 10-13 September
Wednesday 26 August 6.30pm
Within the Walls
Meet at Guildhall, Quayside. Finish at St John’s Church, Grainger Street. A perambulation around today’s Newcastle to trace the town within the walls from the 1300s. We will trace the extent of the walled Newcastle East, West, North and South locating the churches, monasteries, markets, civic administration, walls, steps, streams and fairs. This is a good brisk walk with a surprising number of surviving buildings and spaces. • Some steps to negotiate on this walk.
A selection of walks will be offered as part of this event. Details will be posted on our website www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk and the Heritage Open Days website www.heritageopendays.org.uk Booklets will be available from libraries nearer the time. Sunday 20 September 2.30pm
Grass Roots Gosforth
Meet at the car park of the County Hotel, High Street. Finish at St Nicholas’ Church, opposite South Gosforth Metro station. A park, a pit and some prefabs. A look at the east side of the High Street and how ordinary people lived, worked and spent their leisure time.
Sunday 30 August 2.30pm
North Shields Quayside and Surrounds Meet at North Shields Metro Station. Finish at end of Fish Quay. See where Industry and fishing once thrived. Discover a hidden WW2 structure, the notorious ‘Jungle’ and a famous ‘Wooden Dolly’. • Some steps to negotiate on this walk. Wednesday 2 September 6.30pm
Treading the Boards
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Live Theatre, Broad Chare, Quayside. From Newcastle’s oldest theatre, discover other places where plays were performed, where actors hung out with rogues and vagabonds and follow the history of theatre back to the Guilds’ Mystery plays. We finish at the Live Theatre, a new venue in an historic building. Sunday 6 September 2.30pm
Sunday 27 September 2.30pm
Meet and finish outside Whitley Bay Metro station entrance on the town centre/coast side. See how the little village of Whitley grew into the major seaside resort of Whitley Bay. Hear how the famous Spanish City developed into a landmark tourist attraction, how its popularity declined and what the present plans are to restore it to its former glory. Walk along the Promenade, see the Giant Sandcastles, historic street lamps that burned sewer gas and discover one of the rarest telephone boxes in the country.
Meet and finish at St George’s Church, junction of Osborne Road and Lindisfarne Road. Nearest Metro station – West Jesmond. This tour goes through North Jesmond and part of Jesmond Dene and visits the sites of some of the magnificent mansions and grand houses in the area including those of shipbuilder Charles Mitchell and industrialist Sir William Armstrong. After this 2 hour walk there will be a guided tour of the exceptional Grade 1 listed St George’s Church with optional refreshments available afterwards. • Some uphill walking and a flight of steps included on this walk.
Jesmond and St George’s
Whitley Bay Wander
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Enjoy exploring NewcastleGateshead by joining one of the walks with Newcastle City Guides www.newcastlecityguides.org.uk Sunday 4 October 2.30pm
Wednesday 28 October 7.00pm
Meet and finish at Barclays Bank, Durham Road, Low Fell. Discover how a pitman, an enterprising publican and the development of a new road changed Low Fell from an area of desolate waste to a prosperous Victorian suburb.
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at Quayside. Do you dare join us at Halloween? Who will we bump into on this walk around haunted Newcastle?
A Walk on the Dark Side
Lovely Low Fell
Tuesday 29 December 2.00pm
Winter Warmer Wander 1 Doon the Quay
Sunday 11 October 2.30pm
Railways and Riverside
Meet at the Guildhall. Finish at St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Gateshead Quays. One hour informal walk crossing the Millennium Bridge with seasonal refreshments at St Mary’s Heritage Centre. No concessions or season tickets for this walk. Tickets £4 to include walk and refreshments. This walk must be pre-booked tel 0191 433 6965 or email heritage@gateshead.gov.uk
Meet at the west door of Sage Gateshead. Finish at the Swing Bridge (Gateshead end). Discover how early railways, industries and bridges have now been joined by modern art and find out just what the Sage Gateshead’s car park was originally used for! Wednesday 14 October 7.00pm
Ghostly and Grisly Quayside Tales
Meet and finish at the Guildhall. A circular walk with ghost stories, witches, bodies fished out of the river and murders on both sides of the Tyne. Sunday 18 October 2.30pm
Deeds Not Words
Meet at Haymarket Metro Station. Finish at Central Station. This is a walk to celebrate the life of the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison. Find out where she was arrested in Newcastle and how Newcastle women met, marched, and behaved badly, in order to win the vote. Wednesday 21 October 7.00pm
Wednesday 30 December 2.00pm
Grisly Tales
Winter Warmer Wander 2 Along the Riverside
Meet at Grey’s Monument. Finish at the Castle Keep. Enjoy some historical gossip about some of the grisly goings on in Newcastle in centuries past.
Meet at the Guildhall. Finish at St Mary’s Heritage Centre, Gateshead Quays. Enjoy a short tour along The Close and Newcastle and Gateshead’s historic riverside with seasonal refreshments at St Mary’s Heritage Centre. This is a different walk to Tuesday’’s. No concessions or season tickets for this walk. Tickets £4 to include walk and refreshments. This walk must be pre-booked tel 0191 433 6965 or email heritage@gateshead.gov.uk
Sunday 25 October 2.30pm
Ouseburn Valley
Meet and finish at the Ship Inn, bottom of Stepney Bank. See a kaleidoscope of old and new with bridges towering above the Ouseburn. Today the old industrial buildings are reborn and include art studios, music venues and the like.
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