History on the Quayside
As you work out the maths on this trail, take a walk through history!
The numbers coincide with your maths trail route numbers.
1. Your starting point, the Guildhall, was an early version of our civic centre,
where leading members of the city’s guilds – groups representing all the
different trades – met to run the city’s affairs. The semicircle of columns on its east side were
built to support a portico giving shelter to a fish market. They were designed by Newcastle’s
famous 19th century architect, John Dobson.
2. Every so often you’ll see mooring rings and posts along the quayside. Right up until the 1960s
ships would regularly dock here, carrying goods and passengers in and out of the port. The
wharves that lined the quayside were named after ports trading with Newcastle. The names of
these ports, e.g. Aberdeen, Hull, Malmo, Rotterdam, are recorded further along the quayside
inside the Swirle Pavilion and also on an old shipping company signboard on the side of Sabatini’s
restaurant across the road.
3/4.Trinity Chambers now houses a law firm but it was built as Newcastle’s custom house,
collecting tax on behalf of the king from every foreign ship that docked here. That’s why the
royal coat of arms with all those lions is above the entrance.
4/5. Baltic Chambers looks as if it was built long ago, but it’s actually part of the redevelopment
scheme which has transformed the quayside, kick started by the opening of the red sandstone
Law Courts across the road in 1992. It stands at the corner of one of the oldest of our city
streets, Broad Chare. Chare is the Geordie name for a lane.
6/7. The yellow buses powered by electricity are a new feature of the quayside, linking
Newcastle and Gateshead. The opening of Gateshead Millennium Bridge to pedestrians in 2001
signalled a new era for the quayside, allowing people to enjoy attractions on both banks of the
river and showing that Newcastle and Gateshead are partners, not rivals as they’ve often seemed
to be in the past. Huge crowds watched the central arches of the bridge being towed into position
on a giant floating crane in November 2000, and again there were crowds to watch the Queen
officially unveil a plaque at the central point of the bridge in 2002.
7. With its shipping trade long gone, Newcastle Quayside was completely redeveloped in the
1990s. Some of the old buildings, like the Co-operative Society warehouse, were retained (it’s now
the Malmaison Hotel) but all the old go-downs, cranes and wharves disappeared. In their place
have come new office blocks and apartments and a series of art works, making the quayside a
fascinating place to wander along.
At the top of the Sandgate Steps between the river god and the river siren is a sandstone wall
carved with pictures of the keel boats, staithes and a collier – a type of ship especially made to
carry coal. Above them are the words, in Geordie dialect, of one of Tyneside’s most famous songs.
‘The keel row’ celebrates the sturdy keelmen whose job was to get coal from the wagons on the
river banks on to the ships waiting at the mouth of the Tyne. Sandgate was the area where the
keelmen used to do business with the collier owners. Above the steps you can see the Keelman’s
Hospital, an early version of an old folks’ home paid for by the keelmen themselves.
8. The Tyne Bridge looks like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is not surprising as both were
built by a north east company following the same blueprint. Our bridge was completed in 1929.
Nearby below it is the Swing Bridge. Built in 1876 by famous local engineer Lord Armstrong so
that ships could travel further up river to his factories, it replaced a series of older bridges …/
/…that had stood at this point since Roman times. Next upstream is the 1849 High Level Bridge,
designed by famous Victorian engineer Robert Stephenson and currently being extensively
repaired – one of two railway bridges crossing the river, it has a roadway running below the
railway line. The other railway bridge is the 1906 King Edward VII Bridge, which you can glimpse
upstream from the Metro Bridge, opened by the Queen in 1981 and beyond that is the modern
Redheugh Bridge, opened by Princess Diana in 1983.
9/10. Baltic Square is the gateway to the Gateshead Quays, which like the opposite side of the
river have been transformed from industrial to leisure use in recent years. BALTIC, the Centre
for Contemporary Art, was once a flour mill owned by the Rank company, which named all its mills
after a sea or river. BALTIC opened at midnight on July 2 nd 2002, when huge queues snaked
across Baltic Square, anxious for a first glimpse of the new building. Its exhibitions change
constantly so there’s always something new to see there.
11-13. The open land above BALTIC is the last part of Gateshead Quays to be developed, with
plans to build new housing and leisure facilities. The Sage Gateshead, opened in 2004, is a
regional music centre. The three concert halls inside its shimmering shell offer a huge range of
music to enjoy, and on the floor below are fantastic education facilities for schools and young
musicians. Its raised cark park behind the building was once a railway junction, where you could
catch a train from one of the earliest passenger stations in the world.
13/14. Your walk to the Swing Bridge is down the hillside where the great fire of Gateshead
and Newcastle started in 1854. One October night a small fire which began in a textile factory
here spread into a warehouse storing different chemicals. The gigantic explosion that followed
could be heard in Hartlepool! Flying stones and timbers went through the roof of St Mary’s
behind you and right across the river, setting streets ablaze.
Looking across from Gateshead you can see impressive Victorian buildings. These rose from the
ashes of the 1854 fire to accommodate wealthy banks, insurance and shipping companies whose
businesses depended on a thriving shipping trade. Now leisure and pleasure facilities have
replaced shipping firms on the quayside. The Guildhall now houses a Visitor Information Centre
and Gateshead’s ancient St Mary’s Church has been transformed into a heritage centre. The
Victorian office blocks are now used by hotels, shops and restaurants, and boats on this stretch
of the river carry day trippers or navy trainees. You might also spot the Clear Water and Eager
Beaver –two little boats that keep the Tyne clear of debris and litter. We do have one large ship
berthed here to remind us of our proud shipping past – it’s a permanently moored floating
nightclub. But it too may soon be moved on. Our quayside is constantly changing!
Postcript about Collingwood
Admiral Collingwood whose puzzle you’re invited to tackle, was the unsung hero of
the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar who led the navy to victory after Nelson’s death
during the battle. Gateshead’s own Trafalgar hero, a ship’s commander called
William Trotter, is honoured in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church across the river.
© Alison Stancliffe, Heritage Education Service, Newcastle Community Heritage Project 2007.
For information about how the Heritage Education Service can support visits to the Quayside and
Newcastle’s historic Ouseburn Valley (where you can also follow a maths trail), email
alison.stancliffe@newcastle.gov.uk or phone 0191 232 3698.
This website has interesting old photographs of the Quayside: www.riverfestivaleducation.org
(Click on the photo gallery tab in the left hand column. NB The site contains other useful information but is
now archived, so the downloadable links can’t always be accessed).