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Newcastle upon Tyne

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City of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle
Geography
Status: Metropolitan borough, City (1882)
Region: North East England
Ceremonial County: Tyne and Wear
Area:
- Total		 Ranked 229th
113.44 km²
Admin. HQ: Newcastle upon Tyne
ONS code: 00CJ
Demographics
Population:
- Total (2002 est.)
- Density		 Ranked 31st
260,268
2,294 / km²
Ethnicity: 93.1% White
4.4% S.Asian
Politics
Arms of Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council
Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council
http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/
Leadership: Leader & Cabinet
Executive: Liberal Democrats
MPs: Nick Brown, David Clelland, Jim Cousins, Doug Henderson

Newcastle upon Tyne, often called just Newcastle, is a city in North East England in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The City has a relatively small population of around 259,000 (2001 census). However, the Metropolitan Boroughs of North Tyneside (population c.190,000), South Tyneside (population c. 150,000) and Gateshead(population c.200,000) are closely associated, and often considered part of the City. These four Tyneside Boroughs, together with the City of Sunderland (population c.270,000), form the Tyne & Wear metropolitan county.

History and development of the city

The new castle which gave the city its name was constructed by the Normans in 1080. Its keep and one of its gates still exist, though they are oddly separated from each other by the nineteenth-century railway tracks that the rest of the castle was demolished to make way for. In an odd way, for once, it is rather appropriate that the city fathers valued the railway above the castle.

Newcastle's development as a major city owed much to its central role in the export of coal from the Northumberland coalfield – the phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" proverbially describes a self-evidently pointless task. In the nineteenth century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the nation's prosperity. Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas includes:

  • George Stephenson and/or Humphry Davy's safety lamps, which made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
  • Stephenson's early work in railways, prior to The Rocket, including The Blucher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, leading to the railways and a step change in the economics of transportation.
  • Joseph Swan's first demonstration of his electric light bulb – like Davy's lamp, the subject of some controversy since Thomas Edison also laid claim to the invention.
  • Charles Parsons' invention and commercialisation of the steam turbine, leading to his Turbinia, a turbine-powered ship that literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
  • William Armstrong whose company was famous for the production of best-of-breed heavy armaments, used in the Crimean War, the American Civil War – by both sides – and the First World War
  • Mosley Street, in the centre of Newcastle, was the first in the world to have electric street lighting.

Heavy industries declined in the second half of the twentieth century; office and retail employment are now the city's staples; a short distance from the flourishing city centre there are impoverished inner-city estates, in areas whose original raison d'être was to provide working class housing for the shipyards or other heavy industries.

Architecture and urban development

Looking through Newcastle's bridges

The city has an extensive neoclassical centre, largely developed in the 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson, and recently extensively restored. Grey Street, which curves down from a monument to the parliamentary reformer Earl Grey towards the valley of the River Tyne, has a claim to be one of England's most beautiful urban streets.

Immediately to the northwest of the city centre is Leazes Park, a park established in 1873 after a petition by 3,000 working men of the city for 'ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation', and in one corner of which is St James' Park, the stadium home of Newcastle United F.C. which dominates the view of the city from the south.

Another green space in Newcastle is the vast Town Moor, lying immediately north of the city centre. The hereditary freemen of the city have held the right to graze cattle on the Town Moor since the Middle Ages – a reward for defending the town against the marauding Scots!

The wooded gorge of the Ouseburn in the east of the city is known as Jesmond Dene and forms another popular recreation area.

The development of the city in the 1960s and 1970s was marred by a corruption scandal involving, especially, T. Dan Smith, a local politician and John Poulson, a property developer. Echoes of the scandal were revisited in the late 1990s in the BBCTV mini-series, Our Friends in the North.

The tilting Millennium Bridge from the Baltic Art Gallery

The Tyne itself passes through a gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead (the administratively separate urban area south of the river), which is famous for a series of dramatic and notable bridges such as the Tyne Bridge and High Level Bridge. Large scale regeneration of the Tyne Gorge has replaced former shipping industries with imposing new office developments; an innovative tilting bridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge has integrated the Newcastle quayside more closely with major cultural developments on the Gateshead side of the river, including the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Norman Foster designed The Sage Gateshead music centre.

Communications

Newcastle has an international airport at Ponteland, some 15 minutes from the centre by car or metro. Itsrailway station has a fine classical frontage and is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line, providing a half-hourly service of trains to London (under 3 hours) operated by GNER as well as trains to Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Carlisle plus local services.

Major Roads in the area include the A1(M), A19, A69, and A1058.

Newcastle also has an international Ferry Terminal, located at nearby North Shields, offering services to destinations including: Amsterdam, Kristiansand, Stavanger, and Bergen.

The North Eastern Railway built an electric suburban railway serving both banks of the Tyne, and the northern suburbs. This system has been transformed into the Tyneside Metro which extends as far as Newcastle Airport, Tynemouth and South Hylton. The Tyne & Wear Metro is one of only three underground systems in the United Kingdom.

Grey's Monument, above the Monument Tyne and Wear Metro station

The City

Newcastle is part of an area called Tyneside, whose people are commonly known as Geordies and famous for their distinctive accent and sense of humour.

Newcastle has a reputation of being a fun-loving city with many bars, restaurants and night clubs. The City also has a strong sporting tradition, with the City being home to Premiership football giants Newcastle United, and Zurich Premiership rugby union side Newcastle Falcons, for whom England's "(Rugby Union) World Cup winning hero" Jonny Wilkinson features. The city's Metro Radio Arena is home to Newcastle Vipers ice hockey team, and Newcastle Eaglesbasketball team. The City's Speedway team Newcastle Diamonds are based at Brough Park in Byker, a venue that is also home to Greyhound Racing. Newcastle Racecourse at High Gosforth Park holds regular meets, including the prestigious race for the Northumberland Plate, which takes place in June each year.

The city also hosts the annual Bupa Great North Run, the world's largest half Marathon in which partcipants famously race over the Tyne Bridge towards the finish line 13.1 miles away on the coast at neighbouring South Shields.

A growth in the Theatre Culture has taken place in recent years, centred on the impressive Theatre Royal on Grey Street, which for over 25 years has hosted a season of performances from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Other Theatres in the City include the Tyne Opera House, the Newcastle Playhouse, the Live Theatre, the Peoples Theatre and the Gulbenkian Studio. There are several other venues in and around Newcastle, such as: Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle Arena and The Sage Gateshead.

The city has two universities, the University of Newcastle, and Northumbria University.

The Hoppings, reputedly the largest travelling fair in Europe takes place on Newcastle Town Moor every June. The event had its origins in the Temperance movement during the early 1880s and coincides with the annual race week at High Gosforth Park.

The UK's first Biotechnology Village, the 'Centre for Life' is located in the City Centre.


Jewish Community in the City

No records exist of Jews resident in Newcastle before 1830 although there is a tradition that the community dates from 1775. It is thought, however, that over 500 years prior to this Jews resided in Silver Street (formerly known as Jew Gate).

On October 8th 1832, the congregation was formally established. The cathedral bells were rung when the first synagogue, in Temple Street, was officially opened on July 13 1838. The Newcastle Courant published a headline in Hebrew.

By 1845 the congregation had grown to 33 adults and 33 children. Through the course of time nearly all the original founders either died or had left the city, but the influx of Polish and Russian immigrants had more than replaced this loss.

An imposing stone building was erected in Leazes Park Road in 1880 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi. At that time the number of Jews in Newcastle was about 750. The congregation was in being until 1978.

There were many more developments and synagogues in Newcastle during the 20th century: Corporation Street Synagogue (1904-1924); Jesmond Synagogue (1914- 1986); Ravensworth Terrace Synagogue (1925-1969); Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew Congregation (1947-1984)

With the drift of population from the West End of Newcastle, Jesmond synagogue was consecrated in 1914 leaving the oldest, the Leazes Park Road Synagogue in the centre of the city. A third synagogue was built in Gosforth, the Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew congregation. Eventually the running of the three Orthodox Congregations was considered as being uneconomical and with a declining population in other parts of the town a new purpose built Community Centre and Synagogue was built in Gosforth at Culzean Park in an area in which the majority of Jews resided. A new Reform movement Synagogue was bult in 1986 nearby and continues to flourish.


Gay Community in Newcastle

Newcastle is renowned as having the largest gay 'scene' in the North East of England. Focused on the Times Square area near the Centre for Life, the 'Pink Triangle' hosts approximiately 12-14 bars and pubs, and two clubs, Powerhouse and The Loft. The community has seen much expansion in the past five years, with further growth planned in the future.

Twin Cities

Museums & Places of Interest

See also

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