Otherworld North East Research Society Journal Volume II, 2008

OTHERWORLD NORTH EASTResearch Society Journal

VOLUME II, 2008

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LOCAL HISTORY VOLUME

Otherworld North East Research Society Journal

Volume II: 2008

This volume is a collection of website articles originally posted on the Otherworld NorthEast website between 2007-2008. This collection was produced in 2013. Edited by TonyLiddell.

http://www.otherworldnortheast.org.uk

Material found within this publication was previously published online as an e-book in2008, under the name North East Local History.

Otherworld North East Research Society Journal Volume II © Otherworld North East andSheila Convey 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced,stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior per-mission of Otherworld North East.

The Otherworld North East Research Society (OWNE) is a not-for-profit investigation andresearch association whose aim is to collate and examine the physical evidence for ghostsand other alleged supernatural occurrences with an objective eye. The Society is not anentertainment-based business, and do not run commercial ghost walks, nights or othersimilar events: we are not ghost-hunters, instead we simply seek to examine any physicalevidence brought forward that is commonly perceived to belong to alleged supernaturalphenomena. Otherworld North East was founded in August 2003 and is based in the NorthEast of England (though the Society has and will investigate outside of this area), withcurrent investigative members based in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durhamand Teesside.

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Volume II, Journal 2008

Contents

1. The Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne by Sheila Convey 3

2. The Keelmen of the Tyne by Sheila Convey 7

3. The Assembly Rooms, Newcastle by Sheila Convey 11

4. The Town Moor, Newcastle by Sheila Convey 15

5. Gibside Estate, County Durham by Sheila Convey 20

6. The Tyne Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne by Sheila Convey 27

7. The High Level Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne by Sheila Convey 34

8. Robert Hazlitt and the Highwayman by Sheila Convey 39

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Otherworld North East

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1. The Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon TyneBy Sheila Convey, 2007

THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE Theatre Royal was in Mosley Street, next to Drury Lane.It opened on 21st January 1788. The playbill advertised a comedy, "The Way To KeepHim", followed by a farce, "The Sultan". The takings on the opening night came to

the grand sum of £62 18s 0d. The final performance at this location was on 25th June 1836.

In the 18th and 19th centuries parts of Newcastle were very run-down. The opportunity tore-build the centre was given to Richard Grainger, a developer, John Dobson, an architectand John Clayton the Town Clerk.

The original theatre stood in the way of the grand plans so Grainger and the owners of thetheatre struck a deal. The owners got a large compensation fee and the promise of a newand much grander theatre and Richard Grainger could continue with his dream ofGrainger Town. This was to become an area that spreads over 90 acres of southern

The Theatre Royal, Carmichael, J.W., c.1840. Picture courtesy of the TynesideLife and Times website.

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Newcastle. Twenty per cent of the area is made up of Grade II listed buildings, comparedwith a national average of 2.5 per cent. This is truly an area of architectural significanceand not just in the UK but also in Europe.

The new theatre was designed by John and Benjamin Green and was built by Grainger onGrey Street. The street was named after Earl Grey, a Northumbrian by birth. He was thePrime Minister from 1834 until 1839 and was a great parliamentary reformer. The streetwas built of local stone in a Regency style. A monument to Charles Grey was erected at thetop of the street in 1838. He stands atop a 41-metre column. He saw passage of theReform Act, which brought about the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire.Amongst his other claims to fame is the fact that "Earl Grey" tea is named after him. Hestill had time to father seven daughters (1 illegitimate) and ten sons.

The street has had praise heaped upon it. It has been called one of England's mostbeautiful urban streets. In 1862 the Prime Minister, Gladstone described it as, "Our bestmodern street". Sir John Betjeman was more poetical when he said, "As for the curves ofGrey Street, I shall never forget seeing it, traffic-less, on a misty Sunday morning. Not evenRegent Street in London can compare with that subtle curve".

The Great Snow Storm of 1886, with the Theatre Royal in the background. Pic-ture courtesy of the Tyneside Life and Times website.

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Grainger laid out the plan and three groups of architects designed it. It took five years tobuild between 1834 and 1839.John Dobson did the eastern section between Mosley Streetand Shakespeare Street, John and Benjamin Green the block between Market Street andShakespeare Street and John Wardle and George Walker the remainder.

The "new" Theatre Royal stands at 100 Grey Street and was built at a time whenNewcastle was growing and thriving. The 1801 census showed a population of 28,000. Thisgrew rapidly to 53,000 in 1831 and it jumped to 87,000 in 1851. Huge numbers in the 19thcentury but in 2001 there were 259,000 inhabitants.

The new theatre was due to open on 1st February 1837 but this gave only six months forthe grand building to be completed. It proved to be too short a time and eventuallyopened its doors on 20th February 1837 accompanied by the ringing of the bells of StNicholas and St. John churches. Newcastle Chronicle commented on the "Dampness ofthe theatre" but said that the elegance of the house drew applause from the audience. Infact the interior paint was hardly dry and the front portico was incomplete.

The opening consisted of an overture and the National Anthem followed by a speciallywritten address by the actor Mr. Griffiths. The first performance was WilliamShakespeare's "Merchant of Venice". Quite fitting when you consider that the RoyalShakespeare Company celebrated its 25th anniversary of the annual residency in 2001.Newcastle has become the "Northern" home for them.

The opening came a year after a modern police force was formed and a railway built fromNewcastle to Carlisle. The following year Grey's Monument was erected and the firstdepartment store in the world, Bainbridges, opened and the Town Moor saw the firstrunning of the Northumberland Plate.

Fire destroyed the stage and auditorium in 1899. Little was left apart from the structuralwalls. It took two years for the famous theatre architect, Frank Macham to restore it. He'dbuilt 82 theatres as original architect (including the London Palladium) and was involvedin the minor and major re-building of 79 others between 1873 and 1913.

In the late 1980's the theatre was closed for 20 months in order to give it a completerefurbishment that cost £6.5 million. It is a Grade I listed building and regarded by many asthe finest theatres outside London. Sir Ian McKellen recently named it his favouritetheatre. It. It is certainly one, which has played a prominent role in the region's cultural lifefor nearly 170 years.

The largest expansion in its history was completed in August 2007 and until then the sizeand shape has been fairly constant. To quote the Theatre Royal pamphlet,” The RoyalHouse development has greatly increased the size of the theatre with the 1400 squaremeter development of the former Bank building on Market Street added to our space.This will enable us to offer much more to the city and wider region, helping us create newhorizons in a major new learning programme, for example, providing the best services for

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audiences and our increasing membership base. We’ll offer more to businesses andvisitors to Newcastle too, with new meeting and entertainment spaces and a superb newCaffe Teatro in the heart of the city centre.”

Of course no theatre's history would be complete without the story of a ghost.

It's said that a star struck young lady fell in love with an actor who had been starring in aplay. She would wait for him every night at the stage door and he was quite happy to seeher. He strung her along with tales of marriage, which she took seriously. So seriously thatshe packed her bags in readiness for his last night in Newcastle when they could run awaytogether. He had to confess he had no plans to do that and dismissed her.

She was very upset and not knowing what to do went to her usual place in the Gallery towatch him. When he came on stage she cried out and reached over the edge as if wantingto touch him. Unfortunately she leant too far and fell to her death. Her spirit haunts thebuilding and she is known as the "Grey Lady of the Gallery". She has allegedly been seenby many members of staff over the years.

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2. The Keelmen of the TyneBy Sheila Convey, 2007

THE QUAYSIDE IS THE OLDEST part of Newcastle and was a very important centre ofcommerce until the 19th century. Newcastle’s town wall had six main gateways - SandGate, West Gate, Pandon Gate, Pilgrim Gate and Close Gate. Sand Gate is at the westernend of the Quayside and this is where the keelmen lived and ruled. They were outside thetown wall and regarded themselves almost as residents of an entirely separate town.They were peculiar to the Tyne in the early years of the coal trade and were a verydistinctive community.

The keelman’s job was to take around 20 tons of coal at a time to the large vessels waitingat the mouth of the Tyne and then the ships would travel to London and beyond.Tyneside pits were among the first to be worked in England and Newcastle built a thrivingtrade from it during the 14th century. By 1377 the port was shipping about 15,000 tons ayear. As well as London there were substantial exports to places such as France, Flandersand Zeeland. In 1380-81 there were 118 foreign sailings of coal ships from Newcastle to 39different ports. It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s that countries like Germany produced theirown coal and even then British men sank the pits.

The keelmen took their name from the boats they rowed. The word keel is thought tocome from the Anglo-Saxon word “ceol” meaning a boat. The keels used on the Tyne

Keelboats. Picture courtesy of the Sunniside Local History Society.

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were about 40 feet long by 20 feet wide and quite clumsy with an oval, almost flatbottom. Each boat was generally crewed by four men; the “Skipper”, the “Haddrack” or“Keel Bully”, who steered the boat and one or two “Hillies” who poled the vessel along.They used a large oar at the stern, called a “swarpe” and a pole with an iron point for usein shallow water called a “pug” (on the Tyne). They would walk up and down the boatwielding these and pushing the boat along like a punt .The boats were propelled by asingle sail.

The keelmen were very skilled boatmen and had to be strong but the work was so hardmany were unfit by the age of 40. They were known, like the miners, for their militancyand held major strikes in 1809, 1819 and 1822.

During the great strike of 1822 notices were posted which read, “The Civil Authoritiesregret to find the deluded Keelmen still continue to insult His Majesty’s Boats, bythrowing Stones when protecting those that are willing to work; and finding Forbearanceany longer will endanger the Lives of those so employed, - This is to caution the peaceableInhabitants, and Women, and Children, to keep within their Houses during the Time theKeels are passing from the Staiths to Shields, as the Marines have Orders to fire on thefirst Man that shall dare to throw a Stone at them”.

They also defended the interests of others. The winter of 1739-40 was very hard andpeople were dying of hunger. The keelmen went on a march to the Guildhall where theybroke open the chest where the money was kept and distributed the contents of £1,200among the needy.

They spoke their own language and wore distinctive clothing consisting of blue jackets,yellow waistcoats, belled-bottom trousers and black silk hats with a ribbon. They even hadtheir own tailors. They inter- married and were feared for their “fierce moodiness withstrangers”. In the 17th century many keelmen came from the Scottish and Northumbrianborder valleys and were descendants of the Border Reiver families such as the Dodds,Robsons and Armstrongs.

The keelmen were employed by the fitters of the collieries and were “bound” for oneyear. Prior to the great strike they were given a guinea and a supper on Binding day, whichwas at Christmas and part of their pay was in beer.

The prohibitive cost of land transport meant the riverside mines of Newcastle, with seatransport to London, became the main source of coal.

The year 1305 is the first recorded shipment to London. Thomas Migg took wine fromLondon to Berwick on the “Welfare”, and returned with coals from Newcastle. Theearliest reference to “Taking coals to Newcastle” dates back to 1538…A term for doingsomething absolutely unnecessary.

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The keelmen were the largest occupational group in Newcastle, famed for their heavydrinking, muscular build and toughness. They were first recorded as a fraternity in 1539. In1697 they established a charitable fund, (agreeing to one penny a week deduction fromtheir wages) and erected the Keelman’s Hospital on City road in 1701. The hospital wasbuilt to ensure that they and their widows would be looked after when sick or old. It wasbased on the medieval idea of a hospital as it provided housing and care. As it was aworking-class charity they were not allowed by law to run it themselves; the coal-ownersassumed this right.

At the start of the 18th century it is estimated there were 1,600 Keelmen working the Tyne(400 Keels). By 1800 it had doubled to 3,200 (800 Keels). “As lang as Keels gan doon theTyne” was a metaphor for eternity.

From the start of the 1600’s wooden waggonways took coal from the pits to the river.Prior to this pack animals had to do the job. In 1669 Lord Ravensworth built the“Ravensworth Way”. This was the first waggonway to take coal from Whickham Collieryto Dunston. By 1690 it was transporting over 600 tons every day.

In recent times the river is navigable for about 10 miles up to Newcastle but in the lastcentury and before that the big ships couldn’t get up the river, as it was too shallow; that’swhere the keelmen came in. The big collier ships would lie at the river mouth waiting forthe Keels. The men rowed on the ebb tide assisted by the sail if the wind was favourable

Keelboats. Picture courtesy of the Sunniside Local History Society.

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and then they would off-load the coal through the fore hatch of the collier, into the hold,before rowing back to Newcastle on the flood tide. A collier carried about 580 tons so ittook about 23 Keels to load a ship.

Life was very hard for them as it was for the men who dug the coal; the river was a goodfriend but a cruel enemy. One saving grace in the times of the feared Press Gangs was thatthey were exempt during peacetime due to the importance of the industry they served.However in times of war they were in great demand as they are reputed to have made finesailors.

The Industrial Revolution and the development of coal staithes provided an alternativeway of loading directly onto the collier ships. The different levels enabled coal to beloaded at different states of the tide. They had protested about them since Charles I hadpassed down the river from Newcastle to Shields when they had presented a petition tohim and when they were built they weren’t adverse to the odd spot of vandalism in aneffort to retain their livelihoods. Work levels had already dropped off though as shippersused mechanical spouts to load the Keels. The introduction of the railway to Tynesidecaused a great decline and the opening of the Swing Bridge in 1856 opened up the higherreaches of the river to large ships. The yearly binding ended in 1872 and by the end of thecentury the community of Sandgate, once the most populated part of “the toon”, diedoff.

The only thing left to mark the life of this strong community are the Sandgate folk songs.The best known is “The Keel Row”. Rudyard Kipling wrote about this whilst in India. “Theman who has never heard “The Keel Row” rising high and shrill above the sound of theregiment…has something to hear and understand”. The song was first printed inEdinburgh about 1770 as “a favourite Scots tune” but it is definitely a Tyneside song.Perhaps this came about because of the keelmen’s border origins.

One keelman who is remembered, (by his “funeral” in 1757), is Thomas Matfield (orMatfin) who was 14 at the time. Alan Morgan in his book, “Beyond the Grave”-Tyne BridgePublishing- tells his story.

“As the pallbearers carried the coffin down the aisle Thomas’s fellow pupils from St.John’scharity school started to sing the funeral hymn. As their shrill voices reverberated round thechurch, the pallbearers felt something move inside the coffin. Terrified, they demanded thatthe coffin be opened, and they discovered young Thomas was beginning to stir from a coma.He was taken home, given a glass of cherry brandy and put to bed. He did die, but not untilhe was 77, after a long life as a keelman. He was buried in All Saints churchyard.”

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3. The Assembly Rooms, NewcastleBy Sheila Convey, 2008

THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS HAD THEIR origins at the beginning of the 18th century.They were purpose built as centres for entertainment, which included balls,concerts, and card games for men as well as tearooms for the ladies. There were no

dedicated concert halls at the time so the ballrooms usually doubled as places wheremusicians could perform.

They were popular with the upper classes throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries andwere usually funded by private subscription.

The Hearth Tax Returns show Newcastle as the fourth largest provincial town in 1663-65and from the late 17th century was a regional centre with a commercial infrastructure. Itsimportance is illustrated by the fact that an Assay Office opened in 1702 and Ralph Carr,the prominent merchant, started the oldest provincial bank, after Nottingham, in 1755. Infact Carr lived at the intersection of Westgate Street and Fenkle Street. His home was a17th century mansion, which was the original Cross House.

Assembly rooms have been a feature of Newcastle life from about 1716. The firstgatherings were held in a house on the opposite side of the road to where the AssemblyRooms now stand, 55/57 Westgate Road. When the gatherings first started theyencountered a great deal of opposition on moral grounds as dancing and card playingwere seen as rather risqué. The house was used until about 1736 when assemblies weremoved to a new building in the Groat Market. This served the people for forty years.

The Old Assembly Rooms, 1776 by Brand. Picture courtesy of theTyneside Life and Times website.

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William Newton (1735-1790), the most successful Newcastle architect of his day, built thepresent Assembly Rooms, which were started in 1774 and opened in 1776. Prior to this,between 1764-1768, he was commissioned by Newcastle Corporation to re-build St. Ann’schurch, City Road and he used stone taken from the city wall. In 1769 he was probablyresponsible for a country house built on the south side of Craster Tower, Northumberlandand then went on to do Charlotte Square in 1770, where he went to live after moving fromhis home in Westgate Street. It was the first London style housing development with agarden square to be built in Newcastle. It’s thought he could also have been responsiblefor Close House, Heddon on the Wall in 1779 for the Bewicke family. He then built HowickHall, between Longhoughton and Craster, in 1782, which was home to the Greys. The mostfamous member, Earl Grey, the parliamentarian, inherited the house from his bacheloruncle.

The Assembly Rooms were built on what was known at the time as Westgate Street,which got its name from the West Gate in the 13th century town walls. It was a verydesirable residential area during the 18th and early 19th centuries with large houses andorchards in the spacious grounds. According to a newspaper article in 1827 it was “totallycomposed of the residences of the important and well to do”. The fine brick houses ranup one side of the street. Opposite them was the Vicarage garden.

It was probably an area well known to Charles Dickens. His mistress, Ellen Ternan oncelived with her parents and sister at 53 Westgate Street. The family were closely connectedand respected in the theatrical life of the city. Ellen is said to have been his model forEstella in “Great Expectations”. Dickens was in Newcastle in December 1836 for the firstperformance of “The Village Coquettes”. He also acted in a bill of three plays at theAssembly Rooms on 27th August 1852.

In later years the building became part of the extended Fenkle Street, which was namedafter a wealthy Newcastle merchant, Nicholas Fenkell who lived in the city in 1577. JohnForster the close friend and biographer of Charles Dickens was born here. He wasimmortalised as Mr.Podsnap in “Our Mutual Friend” and his London house was describedas Mr Tulkingham’s residence in “Bleak House”.

The Assembly Rooms were built in the Vicarage gardens of St.Nicholas Church, (later acathedral) and an Act of Parliament had to be brought in so the vicar, Reverend RichardFawcet, D.D. could grant a lease on it. It was given for nine hundred and ninety nine yearsat an annual rent of £20.

The foundation stone has a copper plate fixed to it, which shows the pride in theperceived progress of the time. It reads:

“In an age when the polite arts,By general encouragement and emulation,Have advanced to a state of perfectionUnknown in any former period,The first stone of this edifice,

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Dedicated to the most elegant recreation,Was laid by William Lowes, Esq;On the 16th day of March 1774”.

£6,700 was raised by public subscription with 129 shareholders holding 234 shares at £25each. The Corporation donated £200.

Newton used the popular Georgian design and the ballroom is said to contain the finestplasterwork in the city. He put in seven massive Rococo chandeliers, which was a veryfashionable style between 1730 and 1780. They comprised of 10,000 pieces of Newcastlehand-cut crystal and were made locally in the Closegate Crystal works of Sir MathewWhite Ridley. The central chandelier is reputed to have cost 600 guineas. It is interestingthat they have been lit by candle, gas and electricity.

The opening of the grand building was celebrated in Newcastle Race Week. A ball washeld on the evening of 24th June 1776.

The rooms have hosted many fine events and entertained, amongst others, the Duke ofWellington, Edward VIII and George V.

Robert Stephenson was guest of honour at a special dinner in January 1818. The coalowner C.J.Brandling presented him with a gift of £1,000 and a special silver tankard for hiswork on the miners’ safety lamp. He had tried it out at Killingworth Colliery in October1815. A month later Humphrey Davy told the Royal Society of his plans for a lamp. Bothmen had been working on the same idea and a row broke out when Davy was hailed asthe inventor and some insinuated that Stephenson had stolen the idea. The North-Eastcoal owners were behind Stephenson and in 1817 a committee of enquiry made up of thewealthy and influential met at the Assembly Rooms where witnesses told of the timing ofStephenson’s invention. George was publicly cleared and William Losh who owned anironworks in Newcastle and worked with Stephenson, together with the Grand Allies, acartel of wealthy coal owners, went on to show their appreciation.

In September 1827 a ball was held for the Duke of Wellington who was visiting.

Johann Strauss Snr. performed there on 21st October 1838 and returned the followingmonth to conduct the orchestra for a ball. Franz Liszt also gave a concert on 25th January1841.

It was seen as a very smart and elegant place. In 1868 a local publication, “The NationalGazetteer” reported, “A public building of note stands in Westgate Street. It has aballroom 95 feet long by 36 wide and two sets of public baths and wash houses”.

R.J.Charleton’s book, “A History of Newcastle” (about 1880) says, “The semi-rural streetof olden times was, however sometimes roused from its wonted quietude, and becamethe scene of much stir and bustle. Periodically a fit of dissipation seized it and instead ofthe usual sleepy repose, there was clattering of carriages, and flaring of links, and soundsof music and revelry upon the midnight air. The occasions when these outbreaks occurredwere during the races and during the assizes, when the town was full of country gentry

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and their families. Then the Assembly Rooms were opened, and after the business of theday, horse racing or trying of criminals, as the case may be-was over, the business of theevening and night commenced”.

It went on to comment, “How many brilliant companies have gathered in the spaciousrooms, and how many happy hours have glided away to the magic sound of the gay dancemusic, since the time when Sir William Loraine with Mrs Bell and Sir Mathew White Ridleywith Miss Aliwood opened the first assembly in the good old times when George the Thirdwas king! Periwigs, powder and patches; full skirted coats, ample hoops and silverbuckles, have given way to other fashions, and these, in their turn, have changed over andover again; yet still on occasions the black façade lightens up at the sight of the gracefulforms which emerge from the carriages as they pause before the door, and the old roomsare still sometimes gay with music and dance”.

King Edward VII came to Newcastle in July 1906 to open the King Edward Railway Bridgeand the RVI. He was entertained here and knighted the Mayor in the Assembly Rooms. In1910 Newcastle United held a grand dinner to celebrate winning the English Championship.

The building lost its glamour in the First World War when the army requisitioned it but theWar Ministry covered the cost of the refurbishment before handing it back. At this timethe descendants of the original subscribers redeemed the lease held by the ChurchCommissioners for £500.

It played host to royalty again in October 1928 when King George V and Queen Mary cameto open the Tyne Bridge and in 1939 to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth when thebattleship “HMS King George V” was launched.

The building was eventually sold by auction to a company calling themselves the“Newcastle Old Assembly Rooms and Crown Hotel Ltd.” They ran it until the end of 1967when they went out of business. The liquidators wanted to sell the building for £150,000but it was too run-down internally for anyone to take the risk. The City Council wasapproached several times but wouldn’t take it on either.

It stood empty and vandalised until it was offered for demolition in the hope that the sitewould be developed but instead two brothers from the Michaelides family bought it in1974 and refurbished it at a cost to themselves of a quarter of a million pounds. Four yearslater in 1978 the “Casino Royale” took over the Lower Ballroom and ran successfully until1999.

Fashions have “changed over and over again” but the Old Assembly Rooms still serve thesame purpose now as they ever did, albeit with much less formality. The rooms see over1,000 events a year.

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4. The Town Moor, NewcastleBy Sheila Convey, 2008

THE CITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON Tyne has almost 1,000 acres of moor, larger thanHampstead Heath at 708 acres and Hyde Park at 363 acres. It lies to the north of thecity centre.

It was once divided into three parts; the Town Moor, the Castle Leazes and Nuns Moor butthe dividing boundaries have long since disappeared.

The Town Moor or Castle Moor, known as ‘Castelfeld’ covered an area of about 141 acresand is said to have been a gift from King John (c1200). In 1357 King Edward III confirmedownership by granting a charter to the town of Newcastle upon Tyne confirmingpossessio

The Leazes was cultivated for part of the year and handed over to the Freemen for therest of the time. ‘Leazes’ means ‘to gather or harvest crops’. These rights were introducedduring the 1600’s when 100 acres were enclosed every seven years. The site of St. James,home to Newcastle United was part of the ‘intake’.

Today the moor is under joint control of Newcastle City Council and the Freemen of thecity who have grazing rights. Every event held on the land requires consent of bothparties. The current Town Moor Act (1988) states, “It is confirmed that the town moorand the soil belong to the City Council, and that the greater part of the moor is availableto the public for air and exercise.” The Freemen and their widows have the right to applyfor a ‘stint ticket’ that allows them to graze cows on the moor (herbage rights).” No morethan 800 cows may graze in any year.”

Today the city’s 1,000 acres includes Nuns Moor, Duke’s Moor and Little Benton. Thesection known as the Town Moor which lies next to Grandstand Road covers 349 acres.

During medieval times mining was carried out on the moor and it was also the site for thegallows. It is one of the oldest sites although there were quite a few others around the cityfrom the 1300’s.

Many unfortunate people met a gruesome death on the moor. In 1592 a Catholic priestwas hanged, drawn and quartered and the gallows burned so that pieces could not besaved as holy relics of a martyr. The same fate befell Edward Waterson the following yearwhose bowels were cut out and his head removed and placed on a pole. His body was cutinto three pieces and displayed across town. His crime? Attempted escape fromNewcastle Gaol by burning his cell door.

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Hanging was the main form of execution and the mid to late 1600’s saw ‘witches’ amongsttheir number.

Thousands would gather to watch the spectacle and it was considered greatentertainment. Prisoners would be taken from Newgate Gaol, along Gallows Gate Roadto Gallows Hole, site of the city gallows, which is thought to have been near the car parkof the National Blood Transfusion Service. By 1868 public hanging was banned.

An annual horse race meeting was transferred from Northumberland to the Town Moorin 1721 and changed from Whitsun to coincide with Midsummer Day. Horse as well as dogracing was enjoyed here for nearly 150 years until the event was transferred to GosforthPark.

John Hunter Rutherford (1826-1890) was an educational reformer. He was born inJedburgh but spent many years living in Newcastle upon Tyne until his death. In the 1870’she began the practice of providing free breakfasts for poor children in the Bath LaneSchool on Sunday mornings. He was a pioneer of free secondary education in Newcastleand the school which became Rutherford College was inspired by his wish to establish aneducational ladder from elementary education to university. Northumbria University’sEllison Building has a stained glass window dedicated to him.

He was a member of the Temperance Society, which had started in 1832 in Preston byseven workmen signing a pledge that they would never drink again. Other groups of menfollowed and by 1835 the British Association for the Promotion of Temperance was formed.

At first this was a promise not to drink spirits but beer and wine were allowed. By the1840’s temperance societies began advocating teetotalism.

It was estimated that on average a quarter of the daily earnings of the poorest sector ofsociety was spent in the gin-palaces of the day. If they didn’t have work some would pawnanything they owned whilst children starved.

Ironical that a man so prominent in the movement had a monument erected to him in theBigg Market area of the city, which is well known for its alcohol fuelledentertainment…One panel states, ‘Water is Best’.

Rutherford started the Temperance Festival on the moor. He extended the charity to thepoor children of the city and one of the two-day event was for them. Wednesday wasset-aside for them and he gave them a free tea.

Fairs had always been seen as places of ill repute and Rutherford was making a point bynot allowing drink on site. He chose the same time as Race Week as a contrast to what heconsidered the drunken, bawdy behaviour at the races. The Illustrated London Newsreported in 1882 that, “A Temperance Festival was held on the same day on the TownMoor, Newcastle upon Tyne, where the races have been held for 150 years. The removalof the races to Gosforth Park, where the admission fee was a shilling, leads to the counter

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attraction in the way of public amusements. A band contest, football, cricket, foot-racing,and other sports were organised, for which good prizes were given, and addresses weredelivered. The people present were estimated at 150,000. No intoxicating drinks wereallowed to be sold.”

The Temperance Festival was held annually until 1912 but in 1913 there was a disputebetween the organisers and the Freemen over the letting of the site. The Freemen wereangry that their permission hadn’t been sought and claimed that their grazing had beendamaged during the wet weather of the previous year. Money had been handed over forrepairs but that didn’t satisfy the freemen. The council were keen to continue as theyearned £1,000 in rent for the site. However the Freemen were granted an injunction andthere was no festival that year or for the rest of the war years

The fair returned in 1919 in order to celebrate a victory festival and that is when it becamesimilar to what we know today as ‘The Hoppings’, which is held in the last week of Juneeach year and coincides with the Northumberland Plate Festival at Gosforth ParkRacecourse. The name is said to be a derivation of ‘hoppen’ – the Anglo-Saxon word forfair.

The travelling showmen have a long history stretching back to medieval times when theywould show off their skills or wares in market places. They gradually became known as‘showmen’.

Even before the Temperance Festival of 1882 there were many well-known showmen whofrequently visited the fairs held in the Haymarket and Jesmond Park.

Newcastle Town Moor Temperance Festival (still the official title) doesn’t have thehistoric pedigree of some others in Great Britain but it has been said that it probably hadthe most unusual beginnings given the perception of fairs in the nineteenth century.

It has grown to be the biggest travelling fair in Europe but it is still one of the fairs wherethe showmen with the ‘side stuff’ don’t have a set position. This gives them all a goodchance at a fair year. They draw lots for their position.

The first shows would have been marionette shows and ghost illusion booths but fromthe late nineteenth century people would have probably seen their first glimpse ofmoving pictures with the cinematograph booths. By 1914 there were bioscope shows.With the onset of the 1920’s they had dancing girls, boxing booths and novelty booths.

During the 1950’s the Hoppings opened Saturday-to-Saturday as Sundays had become atime for Speakers Corner. By 1971 they were allowed to open on Friday evenings so theywere able to cover increased site fees for car parking and litter collection. By 1975 Sundayopening was allowed between 2pm and 8pm.

Times changed but the famous show families such as the Chadwicks, Shufflebottoms,Pattersons and Taylors continued to bring the shows to the moor. By the 1970’s freak

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shows and boxing booths had largely disappeared to be replaced by ghost trains, funhouses and other different kinds of exhibitions as well as ‘white knuckle’ rides.

The moor is a traditional meet and part of the way of life for large numbers of itinerant fairpeople from the United Kingdom and abroad. Most spend eight or nine months travellingand the UK interests are looked after by the Showman’s Guild, which was formed in1889/9 at Salford. They became a trade union in 1917.

They have a policy of regarding all members as having equal status, regardless of thescope of their operation. They have disciplinary tribunals as the orderly running of fairsand the good conduct of its members are seen as important. The Guild represents theinterests of all the members and act as ‘go-betweens’ with local authorities. A few yearsago they successfully lobbied to have mobile classroom on the moor.

Simple pleasures and steam driven amusements have given way to computer controlled‘white knuckle’ rides that, as someone once cracked, “try their best to rearrange yourinternal organs” but some old favourites have survived such as the ghost train, albeittrailer mounted triple decker varieties. The largest display of attractions in its 113 yearhistory was seen in 1995 and Europe’s largest travelling wheel opened for the first time atthe Hoppings. It was the 127-foot Liberty Wheel made that year for the French VE Daycelebrations and weighed 250 tonnes. By 2006 there were over 60 rides and around 120sideshows.

Two things never seem to change though. One is the weather that usually greets the funfair. It is all supposed to be down to one trouble making old gypsy woman who wasthrown off the moor in the dim and distant past. It’s said that she laid a curse that all thefairs would have bad weather after that. The other is the showmanship. A famousYorkshire showman called Tippler White always presented his novelty shows atNewcastle. One year he was let down and had nothing to exhibit. Using his wits he foundthe solution. He advertised ‘an unusual rare sight’, only seen once a year in Newcastle.People queued to see this when they heard all the laughter coming from within the tentsand business was brisk. As customers filed in Tippler simply lifted the back flap of thebooth and showed them what they had paid for: Newcastle Town Moor at night! In caseanyone complained he promised the customers half the entrance fee back if they didn’ttell anybody the secret.

So there are tricks in all tradesExcept in your and mine

And even showmen, sometimesCome rather near the line

We paid to see a marvel-A cherry-coloured cat;

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Whatever else we passed byWe thought we must see that.

The thing was quite a “take-in,”We claimed our money back;But we were then reminded

Cherries are sometimes “black.”

W.K. Burford.

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5. The Gibside Estate, County DurhamBy Sheila Convey, 2008

GIBSIDE IS SIX MILES SOUTHWEST of Gateshead. It lies in the valley of the riverDerwent at the north side of the county of Durham. George Bowes (1701-1760) isthe 4th great grandfather of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. He was

the creator of the fine landscaping and buildings at Gibside and although he styled himselfGeorge Bowes of Streatlam it was Gibside, forty miles from Streatlam that he gave mostof his time to. He was a good businessman and at the age of twenty-five was one of theoriginal ‘Grand Alliance’, a cartel of coal owners formed to end cut-throat competitionamongst themselves and to speak with a united voice when dealing with the middlemen,the shipmasters and London agents. His fortune enabled him to create his ‘forest garden’set in fifteen miles of woodland. It is regarded as one of the finest examples of 18th centurylandscaping. It is thought that Bowes planned all the walks, avenues and vistas influencedby the ‘new school of gardening’, which involved working with the landscape rather thanagainst it by moulding it to a pre-conceived plan.

The Gibside Chapel and the ‘follies’, which he originated, all add to the picture. He had lessinfluence on the house, (thought to date from 1603) but he enlarged it and added a hugekitchen block in the first half of the 18th century. He employed Daniel Garrett to design thestable block in 1746 and the banqueting house in 1752. This enabled him to cater on thescale expected of a member of the ‘Grand Alliance’ and as an MP. He represented theCounty of Durham in successive Parliaments from 1727 to 1760.

The first recorded owners of this stretch of forest were the Marley family who held it from1200 until 1540 when the estate passed to Roger Blakiston of Coxhoe. It was the home ofhis descendants until Sir Francis Blakiston, second baronet, was succeeded by his onlydaughter and sole heir Elizabeth. She married Sir William Bowes of Streatlam Castle in 1691adding the estate to the Bowes possessions. He died in 1706.

George Bowes older brothers William and Thomas died within a short time of each otherin 1721.The estates passed to the third son George in 1722. He was well liked and peoplecalled him ‘Handsome George’ or ‘The Count’.

In 1724 George Bowes married the young and beautiful daughter of Sir Thomas Verney.She died three months later at the young age of fourteen. He spent nineteen years as awidower before marrying Mary, the only child of Edward Gilbert of St.Paul’s Walden inHertfordshire.

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Bowes led a busy life as an MP where he was a good lobbyist. He was nine times Chairmanof the Grand Jury and in 1745 he took an active part in raising troops to oppose the YoungPretender.

He still found time for his sport and like his father he owned and bred racehorses. The firsttime that the King’s Purse at Newcastle was run he won it with a horse called Cato. He gotone hundred guineas as prize money but gave it to the Mayor and Corporation so thatthey could buy a piece of plate for the Mansion House.

The Great Walk at Gibside stretches for over half a mile and is lined by ancient trees.George Bowes considered this an excellent place to race his horses. He dubbed it ‘theracecourse’. The Column of British Liberty, designed by James Paine stands at the northend of the walk. The statue by Christopher Richardson was done insitu in 1756-7.It wasoriginally gilt and is said to have taken 66 books of gold leaf costing £5 15s 6d and £8 16s0d of copper. The total cost was £2,000. It stands 140 feet high and is slightly higher thanNelson’s Column.

James Paine also designed the Orangery and the Chapel which George Bowescommissioned stating that it was a mausoleum, which he wanted to be built within six

The ruins of Gibside Hall. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

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years of his death. It was begun in 1760, the year he died, but was left unfinished internallyuntil 1812.

It is said that George Bowes was one of the most popular men of his time. He died atGibside in 1760 and was buried at Whickham but was moved to the mausoleum at Gibsideon its completion.

George Bowes had a daughter who was born in 1749 called Mary Eleanor. She becameCountess of Strathmore and is the present Queen’s great-great-great grandmother. Herfather was keen that she be well read and from four years old was ‘kept tight to it’. Shewas eleven when her father died. She grew up a learned woman, a linguist and a botanist.She specialised in growing exotic plants from the Cape at Gibside. She was also a writerand had ‘a poetic drama in five acts’ published. It was called, The Siege of Jerusalem. Herfortune was estimated at £600,000 but some said it was nearer a million. She was never abeauty but she was highly intelligent and witty. She was married on her eighteenthbirthday, the 24th February 1767 to John Lyon, the ninth Earl of Strathmore; he was thirty.In order to comply with George Bowes will, the ninth Earl and his Countess, by an Act ofParliament, took the surname of Bowes, to be used ‘next before and in addition to theirtitles of honour’. They had five children; Maria Jane was born in 1768, John in 1769, AnnaMaria in 1770, George in 1771, and Thomas in 1773. Despite this it was an unhappy marriageand only lasted nine years. The Countess favoured her daughters and disliked her eldestson, John. Many had a high regard for the Earl but his intellect did not seem to match thatof the Countess who was generally regarded as having ‘weak judgement and unboundedprejudice’.

Lord Strathmore developed consumption and in an effort to restore his health set sail forLisbon. He died en route on 7th March 1776. He was thirty-eight years old. The Countesswas untroubled by his death and began a relationship with a Mr George Grey. She gavebirth to his child, a daughter named Mary, who was born in August 1777. It was expectedthat she would marry Grey but before the child was born she suddenly married a mandescribed as, ‘a romantic Irish desperado’. He was Andrew Robinson Stoney who changedhis name to Bowes in accordance with George Bowes’s will. She bore him a son, WilliamJohnstone Bowes (1782-1807).

Andrew Robinson Bowes tried to claim Mary’s fortune using physical and mental cruelty.He was extravagant and sought money wherever he could. He sold his wife’s house inChelsea with its conservatories full of her plants and helped himself to all the plate. Heplundered the Gibside Estate felling more trees than he could sell and many were left torot on the ground. In 1780 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Newcastle uponTyne and gained office as High Sheriff of Northumberland. This meant more spending, ashe was fond of entertaining the circuit judges at Gibside. The years of cruelty were hardto bear and the Countess divorced her husband in 1789. He died in 1810 detained for debt.He had taken delight in making his wife suffer in public and she was dubbed the ‘Unhappy

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Countess of Strathmore’. The couple were the talk of society and William Thackeray basedhis novel Barry Lyndon on the story in 1841 after hearing it on a visit to Streatlam.

The Unhappy Countess became reconciled with her Lyon relations and drew closer to hereldest son, John. She died in 1800 after living quietly in Hampshire and was buried inWestminster Abbey.

The tenth Earl of Strathmore was seven years old when his father died and he succeededto the title. He had been sent away to boarding school with his younger brother whentheir father died and never visited by their mother. He came into his father’s estate in 1790at the age of twenty-one when he purchased his mother’s interest in Streatlam andGibside. It was at this time that he met Sarah Hussey Delaval, Lady Tyrconnel. She was thedaughter of the first Lord Delaval and wife of the second Lord Tyrconnel. The Delavalswere a wild and daring family and she fascinated John. He was very keen on the theatreand met her at Seaton Delaval Hall where amateur theatricals were staged. The affairlasted for almost ten years until her death in 1800 from consumption. She lived in thehouse at Gibside with John, Earl of Strathmore in what was described at the time as,‘rather too intimate terms’. Her funeral was so lavish that it was claimed by some to havenearly crippled the estate but the Delaval family were renowned for funerals full of pompand a disregard for expense. Her face was painted and she was decked out in all her jewelsdressed from head to foot in Brussels lace. She was to be buried in London and he stoppedat every town on the way so that she could lie in state before being buried in WestminsterAbbey in a private vault that Lord Delaval had constructed.

After his lover’s death Lord Strathmore developed as great an interest in Gibside as hisgrandfather had shown and he found that it helped him with his grief. He set aboutreplanting and making good the damage caused by his step-father Stoney Bowes twentyyears earlier. He also completed the Chapel in 1812. George Bowes had wanted services tobe held there and had left £40 in his will as help ‘towards the Minister’. The Chapel wasdedicated in 1812 and George Bowes was finally laid to rest there.

The tenth Earl of Strathmore had many interests. He was involved in the Streatlam Studstarted by his grandfather and he was chosen as representative of the Scottish peerageat the general elections in 1796, 1802 and 1807. During the Napoleonic war he raised atroop known as the ‘Derwent and Gibside yeomanry’. They used a room at Gibside Hall fortheir armoury.

Whilst at Streatlam John, the tenth Earl met Mary Milner of Staindrop. There are variousversions of their story but The Auckland Chronicle published a series on the Bowes familyin 1881 and this is how they reported it: About the year 1810, there were working in thewoods of Streatlam two young women-at the laborious occupation of stripping the barkoff the trees which had been felled by the woodmen, one of the women, Mary Milner ofStaindrop, was possessed of a considerable amount of beauty, and who attracted thenotice of the earl, who still remained unmarried, and who entered into a liaison with her,

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the result of which was the birth of the child, the present John Bowes,Esq; of Streatlam.After the birth of the child she became the companion of the earl, over whom sheeventually exercised a considerable influence. On Sunday, the 30th of July 1820, the dayprevious to his death, he went through the marriage ceremony with her in the presenceof the last Lord Darlington, afterwards the first Duke of Cleveland.

The Earl had married Mary in a bid to legitimise their son so that he could inherit the estatebut John Bowes had a younger brother Thomas who claimed the title and estates. Theclaim of the Hon. Thomas Bowes was based on the assertion that the domicile of thedeceased Earl was in England, and not in Scotland. He also claimed that the marriagecould not be regarded as a marriage at all given his brothers state of health. After alengthy legal battle it was decided that the wills and codicils of the tenth Earl were wellproven, and John was allowed to adopt and use the name and arms of the family ofBowes. John Milner Bowes inherited all the English property and Thomas Bowes Lyoninherited the title of the eleventh Earl and given all the Scottish property.

John Milner Bowes didn’t live at Gibside but handed it over it to his mother and her secondhusband, William Hutt, to use as a country residence, but he regularly stayed there whenin the north. He split his time between London, France and Streatlam Castle aftermarrying a French woman called Josephine Benoite in 1852. He brought her to Streatlamand Gibside in 1858 to be introduced to the tenants. They arrived in Gibside on 25th Mayand stayed there for two months exploring the house and grounds, going for trips on theTyne and visiting ‘cousin Susan ‘ at Ridley Hall. In August Lady Strathmore, Hutt, Bowesand Josephine left Gibside for Carlisle and Scotland.

By 1859/60 some of the trees at Gibside needed felling so they were drastically thinned.The timber was expected to fetch from eight to ten thousand pounds and Bowes neededthis to cover debts.

By 1864 Bowes began the purchasing of some fields at Barnard Castle to build a museumto house the Bowes collection of art that he and Josephine owned. By the beginning of1865 it was theirs for £2,300.

Josephine died in 1874 and John Bowes married for a second time in 1877. She was AmelieBasset, the daughter of his old dealer friend who had died the same year as Josephine. Hehad known her since she was twelve years old.

John Bowes died in 1885. On the 16th October his body was taken from the entrance ofStreatlam Castle by his tenants and placed on a hearse drawn by four black horses.Fourteen mourning coaches were needed to accommodate those wishing to pay theirrespects and many people walked through driving rain from Barnard Castle. Staff of the3rd Durham Light Infantry Militia carried the coffin to a special train from Barnard Castle inorder to convey it to Rowlands Gill where a funeral procession was formed. Crowds oftenants watched from the high ground at Gibside as it made its way towards the Hall and

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the avenue leading to the Chapel. The Earl of Ravensworth had driven to Gibside to jointhe procession. The Gibside Chaplain, the Vicar of Barnard Castle, the Rector ofWhickham, the Vicar of Marley Hill and the Rev. Gilbert Vane, conducted the sevice. Thecoffin was placed in the vault where Josephine lay. He left £3,000 in his will to GibsideChapel. Josephine’s wish was that they be buried in the chapel, which she intended to bebuilt in the Museum Park at Barnard Castle but this didn’t happen until 1928.

Gibside was never occupied again by members of the family and as John Bowes diedchildless everything reverted to the Scottish side.

The woodland at Gibside went in to decline during the 1940s as many trees were felled tohelp the war effort. The National Trust began restoration work in 1965 on the Palladianchapel.

The Forestry Commission and the National Trust have joined forces and embarked on a50-year strategy that will bring back the woodland’s character. Fast growing conifers hadbeen planted after the war. These now number 40,000 and they need to be removed.

The designers have had to turn to paintings by William Turner, (1817) that werecommissioned by the tenth Earl, to help recreate the ‘forest gardens’. These are housedat Bowes Museum. They have also studied work by Martha Helen Davidson (1827) to helpthem produce plans which will see the grand vistas and classical planting patterns broughtback to life. They have also found historical evidence in 19th century maps.

Neville Geddes, from the Forestry Commission said: “Gibside was a mixed woodland andwe must carefully balance historical accuracy with conservation needs. It’s been a majorchallenge peering through the 20th century plantations to rediscover the woodland’soriginal character. But the long term results should be spectacular.”

Gibside is also a very valuable wildlife sanctuary. It is the United Kingdom’s most northerlylocation for a breeding colony of grass snakes and a lot of the land is designated as a Siteof Special Scientific Interest.

Harry Beamish, National Trust Archaeologist, said: “The 18th century grounds reallycomprised three elements: a pleasure garden at its core, a carefully laid out forest gardenarea and a more natural looking outer zone. This was no accident and Gibside representsa transition in style from the grand formality of European gardens like Versailles to themore natural style that followed. Drawing up the design plan has taken a lot of effort andour aim is to recreate the play of light, space and colour that inspired the original architectof this stunning landscape.”

The woodland restoration will add to the work in progress that will enable us to see it asif through George Bowes’s eyes and experience the inspired design. The National Trustnow own most of the historic core of the estate and the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded

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£1.5m to them to purchase and restore the Gibside Stables, stabilise the Orangery andreinstate the Green Close.

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6. The Tyne Bridge, Newcastle upon TyneBy Sheila Convey, 2008

THE ROMANS BUILT A BRIDGE over the Tyne in about AD120. It was called PonsAelius and the name was transferred to the nearby fort, built to control the rivercrossing. Pons means bridge and Aelius was the family name of Emperor Hadrian.

His full name was, Publius Aelius Hadrianus. The bridge stood on a similar site to where thepresent Swing Bridge stands. The Romans had good reason to place it here, as Newcastleis the lowest point downstream where the River Tyne could be bridged. It was built fromtimber on stone piers with a foundation of oak piles.

There is no evidence that there was a bridge at Newcastle during the Anglo-Saxon timesbut there is reason to believe that the bridge was re-built about 1080 when William theConqueror’s son erected the “New Castle.”

Fire destroyed the bridge in 1248. It was rebuilt on the same site and stood until 1771. Thecost of this bridge was shared between Newcastle Corporation and the Bishopric ofDurham. The Bishop of Durham owned the southern third. The boundary was marked bytwo blue marble stones, -“St. Cuthbert’s stones”- and later, by one blue stone.

In 1339 a heavy flood caused a great deal of damage. The narrow arches, caused by thesize of the numerous piers, could not handle the amount and force of the water .Itresulted in the loss of one hundred and forty houses and more than one hundred peopledied from drowning in and near Pandon Dene.

There was continual disagreement about boundaries and in 1383 Newcastle Corporationassumed ownership of the whole bridge. They started building a tower within thejurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham and moved the St.Cuthbert’s Stones. The Bishopclaimed damages and Newcastle had to pay a 40 Marks fine and replace the stones. Heregained his share in 1416 after appeals to the King. In 1454 Newcastle was grantedconservatorship of the Tyne, which it held for 400 years.

In his will dated 22nd December 1429 one community-minded citizen, Roger Thornton,(described as “the richest merchant to live in Newcastle”), left £66 13s 4d “towards therepair of Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge” plus “six fothers of lead to the chapel of St.Thomas onthe bridge”. A “fother” was a weight of 2,1001b-2,6001b.

The old Tyne Bridge served the great and the good. In 1503 crowds gathered whenMargaret, the daughter of Henry VII crossed it on her way north to marry James IV ofScotland. This led to the union of the crowns when James VI of Scotland headed southover the river to claim the English throne as James I.

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There was a wooden drawbridge on the south side until 1770 and by the end of the 18th

century it had acquired three towers and many shops and houses that hung over the river,as well as a prison tower and the chapel. Many bridges had a chapel on them as travellersliked to give thanks for a safe arrival in town. There was a lot of activity and business musthave been brisk. It was so built up that it had the appearance of a street, like LondonBridge. This made for a very narrow road.

A flood in 1771 overshadowed that of 1339. Very heavy rainfall on the 16th Novembercaused two arches on the Gateshead side to be washed away in the early hours and latera second on the north side suffered the same fate. The following day saw the remainingarches filled with water and the Quayside flooded. The Great Flood either totallydestroyed, or caused severe damage to all the bridges over the Tyne and many people losttheir lives. The only exception was at Corbridge. This makes the Northumbrian bridge theoldest over the river. It was built in 1674 to replace the derelict bridge of 1235.

A temporary bridge was constructed from timber after the disaster but it took ten yearsto replace it with a more permanent stone bridge. It was built by Stokoe and cost £30,000.It was opened in April 1781and became known as the ‘Georgian Bridge’. The roadway waswidened in 1810 but it was very low and the largest boat that could go upstream was theKeel, as its sail could be lowered. An 1860 report by the Tyne Commission said it wasobstructing vessels with tall masts and a bridge that opened was required. It was alsobecoming unsafe, due to dredging by the commission. The report was approved and itwas demolished during the years 1866 to 1873. It was replaced by the present SwingBridge, which was built by William Armstrong in 1876. It was the largest of its type at thetime and it took eight years to build. It swivels about its centre point on enormous rollerbearings operated by hydraulic pressure.

An arch of the old Tyne Bridge lies beneath Bridge Street in Gateshead, over which theSwing Bridge was built.

As the years passed the frequent opening of the Swing Bridge and the volume of trafficon the High Level Bridge (1849) created a great deal of congestion and by 1883 plans werebeing mooted for a new Tyne bridge. However it wasn’t until 1921 that the funding was inplace, allowing the plans to take shape. A joint committee was formed under thechairmanship of the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Alderman Stephen Easten.

Apart from the obvious need for a new bridge it was also seen as a way of helping to solvethe high unemployment at the time and this is why the British Government supplied mostof the funding.

Contracts were signed in December 1924 and work began in August 1925 on theGateshead side. It was another eight weeks before they started on the north bank.

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Mott Hay and Anderson were the design engineers but the Tyne ImprovementCommissioners were heavily involved. Until 1850 the management of the port and bridgeswere under the control of the Corporation of Newcastle. In that year it passed to the TyneImprovement Commission, set up by Parliament to take in hand the work of increasing thedepth of the river, and to foster its development as a port. They laid down some of thedesign and construction parameters. It was, and still is, a requirement that bridges overthe Tyne are without river piers and there must be full navigational clearance. They alsodeclared at the time that they “eventually hoped to have the Swing Bridge removed andthe High Level Bridge rebuilt with longer spans to ease the obstruction to river traffic atthis point”. Fortunately this did not happen.

Dorman Long and Company of Middlesbrough was the contractor. They also built theSydney Harbour Bridge. There is a lot of controversy regarding the two bridges – onebeing the model for the other, etcetera…the tender was accepted and contracts weresigned in March 1924 for the Sydney Harbour Bridge – December 1924 for the Tyne Bridge.Excavations for foundations of the Sydney Harbour Bridge started in January 1925 – theTyne Bridge site work commenced in August 1925. The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened inMarch 1932 – the Tyne Bridge in October 1928. The Tyne Bridge is a smaller version of theSydney Harbour Bridge at a length (including approaches) of 397.72 metres compared tothe 1,149 metres of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Tyne Bridge under construction, 1928. Picture courtesy of the Tyneside Lifeand Times website.

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Much of what remained of 18th century Gateshead was lost during preparations forbuilding the new bridge. Many were slums but several fine houses were cleared.Businesses such as the Goat Inn, the Earl of Durham, the Ridley Arms, Ray’s lodging house,a powder mill, a pickle factory and a bank were also demolished. The Queen ElizabethHotel also had to go to make way for the massive hinges at the Northern base of the arch.It had risen from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1854 and had previously been called theSteamboat Inn.

The Tyne Bridge is a steel, compression arch suspended deck bridge. The piers rest onsolid rock and are 84 feet long and 28 feet wide. They were sunk to 75 feet below quaylevel whilst the approach roads were being constructed.

The main arch span was a great feat of engineering. It is a perfect parabolic arch, which isconsidered the best for carrying a heavy load without producing too much strain. At eachside of the river the arch is supported at the bottom by two steel hinge–pins which rest inhorizontal half bearings on the massive pier. These pins are very large (12 inches indiameter) and made of the finest steel available at the time. These four pins ensure thatcrushing forces in the bridge arch always pass through two definite points – the centre ofthe pins. They have, between them, to carry 3,500 tons. The hinges allow the whole archto rotate when traffic changes the bridge’s shape.

There are two pairs of Cornish granite towers at each end and these were designed to bewarehouses with five floors, but these were never put in place. They also contained goodsand passenger lifts but these are no longer in use.

From the hinges near the foot of each of the land towers the first two panel sections ofthe arch were placed in position and were propped up by temporary timber works and asteel cradle. A 5-ton derrick crane was assembled on the second panel and this was usedto assemble a 20-ton erection crane. The whole thing was then tied back to the roaddecking by steel cables before the temporary works were removed. The arch wasconstructed simultaneously from each bank using the 20-ton crane, which had to bedismantled using the smaller crane and then re–erected further up the arch. The two sidesmet on 25th February 1928. Insertion of the final alignment pins was cause for greatcelebration.

Being built from the top down apparently gave the city’s costermongers cause forconcern. During construction and before the road deck was installed, they wrote a letterto the Lord Mayor expressing fears that their horses would not be able to climb the archas it was too steep!

Silent films and stark black and white images bear witness to the dangerous conditionsthe men worked under. Safety harnesses were unheard of and yet these men wouldsometimes be perched over 90 feet above the water, yet they worked with a speed andagility second to none. This earned many the nickname “Spider”.

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Despite the dangerous working conditions only one man died, compared to 16 on theSydney Harbour Bridge. Nathaniel Collins, aged 33, was a scaffold erector, which was oneof the most dangerous jobs. He was born in Scotland but brought up in South Shields afterhis father obtained work in the shipyards. In 1928 he fell a hundred feet and hit the water,fracturing his skull. He had survived the First World War and had worked as a ship’s plater,(like his father and older brother), before unemployment lured him into risking his lifehigh above the Tyne.

The arch was followed by suspension of the road deck, its surface, the footpaths andbalustrades. Overhead tram wiring was in place ready for use after the opening ceremonyand the trams ran from that day until March 15th 1950.

The final touch was a coat of specially developed green paint provided by J.Dampney andCo, of Gateshead, the original company of British Paints. Based in Cardiff they opened apigment factory in Tyneside in 1923 and began paint manufacture shortly afterwards.

The new Tyne Bridge was hailed as one of the modern miracles of its age and was thelargest single span bridge in Britain when completed. The total cost was £1,200,000, whichis £36m in today’s terms. The Government provided funding of 60%. It would cost £100mto build now.

King George V officially opened the bridge on 10th October 1928, one hundred years afterthe first use of steel in a bridge. This was over the Danube in 1828. Mr Anderson of MottHay and Anderson was introduced to the King and Queen and Sir Arthur Dorman, thechairman of Dorman Long, presented His Majesty with a gold key to open the barrier. Theroyal couple then crossed the bridge in their carriage.

The opening of the new bridge caused consternation amongst the police in Newcastle.The plan to build Market Street Police Station was sparked by concerns that it would floodNewcastle with criminals from Gateshead. Police and Town Elders were so worried theydecided a new station was needed.

The King’s speech was his first “talkie” and it was filmed by Movietone News and a specialradio programme “The Bridge of the Tyne, a Fantasy for Radio”, was aired. ColumbiaGrafonola Company Limited released a record to celebrate the event. It features thespeech made by King George V and on the reverse, a reply by the Mayor of Gateshead.What makes it so unique is that it has a picture of the bridge and the Royal and City coatof arms engraved on the face. Commemoration books were given to children and theywere given the day off school. The booklet is quite comprehensive in its detailing of theengineering of the bridge and proudly lists the dimensions:

Total length (including approaches): 1,275 ft.

Length of main arch span (pier to pier): 531 ft.

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Rise of Arch (above pins) : 180 ft.

Clear Height (above high water leveL): 84 ft.

Total Height (above high water level): 193 ft.

Width (bridge): 56 ft.

Width (approaches): 80 ft.

Total weight of steelwork (arch only): 3,500 tons

Total weight of steelwork (including approaches): 7,000 tons

The plan was to ease traffic but Newcastle and Gateshead saw the biggest traffic jams inhistory over the next few days as people rushed to use the new bridge. This was due, inno small part, to it being toll free. The widening of the railway arch over the road at theNewcastle end had not been completed so all traffic had to be diverted through twonarrow arches alongside which had difficulty coping with the volume. This was remediedwhen it was finally finished in 1929. Perhaps the initial jams were a rehearsal for the futureas today over 60,000 vehicles a day use the bridge compared to the High Level Bridge,which carries 8,000 a day.

In 1978 Golden Jubilee celebrations bore witness to the affection the bridge is held in.Vintage cars and period dress were paraded to recreate the opening day and 1,000balloons were released into the sky above.

Thanks to Newcastle City Council it is kept in good repair with regular maintenance andmajor works every fifteen years.

In 1999 the whole of the road was lifted, waterproofed and resurfaced with all thecorroded steel repaired. The contractors were only given eighteen weeks but managed tocomplete within one week of the deadline.

In 2000 it was repainted using the original colour created by Dampneys and now theoriginal lanterns have been replicated and function, unlike their predecessors that wereonly decorative. Higher-level street lighting provided the luminescence.

The Tyne Bridge was considered a miracle of technology when it was built. It may be takenfor granted by many now but it is still a famous landmark recognised the world over andmany regard it as an icon.

When the Millenium footbridge was opened John Knapton, Professor of StructuralEngineering at Newcastle University said: “The North is the world’s most important sitefor historic bridges. This is a result of the fact that our rivers are in deep gorges rather thanpuny dips-so we tend to get spectacular bridges.”

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Some think that the Angel of the North has replaced the Tyne Bridge as the symbol of theNorth East. Granted, the bridge is no longer the pre-eminent route to Scotland and over90,000 drivers pass the Angel every day, which is more than one a second, but manywould still argue that this isn’t the case. However both display why we have, (as a resultof the shipbuilding skills gained in iron and steel fabrication) have a worldwide reputationin engineering.

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7. The High Level Bridge, NewcastleBy Sheila Convey, 2008

THE HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE THAT spans the River Tyne is a combined railway and roadbridge with two decks and is Grade I listed. The brilliant engineer RobertStephenson assisted by Thomas Elliot Harrison built it in the 19th century. It is being

renovated at present but it is a testament to his expertise that the last major work wascarried out in the 1920’s.

It was built in conjunction with the railway station in order to provide an unbroken linebetween London and Edinburgh. It formed the junction between the York and Newcastleand the Newcastle and Berwick railways. R.W.Brandling, a friend of Stephenson, firstcame up with the idea of the bridge as it was eventually carried out but there had been atleast nineteen different proposals. The plan first came to light in 1841 and the followingyear Robert Stephenson was consulted on the best site. He was responsible for allstructures under and over the railway in his position as Engineer-in-Chief to the railwaycompanies.

The High Level Bridge Company was formed in 1843 naming Stephenson as the consultingengineer. The project was taken on by the Newcastle and Darlington Railway Companyand an Act obtained in 1845 for the construction.

The railway engineer has a more difficult job than the road engineer who could easilydivert a road. Rivers and roads have to be crossed by the railway and difficulties arisebecause of the limited headway. The level of the road generally needs to be preserved andthe railway is determined and fixed to a degree so it was necessary to modify the form andstructure of the bridge. Cast and wrought iron gave designers more options. Early castiron bridges relied on the arch and was dependant on compression but it was oftenimpractical to use the arch design when a railway went over it because of the limits to theheadway. Robert Stephenson’s father George solved this problem in 1829 whenconstructing the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. He used cast iron beams as anupright lintel with the pressure on the abutments purely vertical. This idea was furtherdeveloped by the use of arched beams or bowstring girders held together by ties to resistthe thrust. Robert Stephenson used this on the London and Birmingham Railway. “…Butby far the grander work of this kind-perfect as a specimen of modern construction skill-was the High Level Bridge, which we owe to the genius of the same engineer.” (Smiles,‘Lives of the Engineers’, Murray 1879).

It was no small task to put a railway bridge across the deep ravine between Newcastle andGateshead. The depth was so great and described by many as a “dark and gloomy gorge.”The story goes that the Duke of Cumberland, arriving late one night on his way to Culloden

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exclaimed, “For God’s sake don’t even think of taking me down that coal pit at this timeof night!”

Discussions had gone on for many years on ways to improve the passage betweenNewcastle and Gateshead but the coming of the railways solved the problem for thecouncils. They seized their chance and insisted on a road bridge under the railway, whichresulted in the double bridge consisting of 6 arches of 125 feet.

Building began in October 1846 and lasted until June 1849. Robert Stephenson was closeat hand to keep an eye on progress as he was working as the Managing Director at theForth Street Works that he had co-founded with his father George Stephenson as alocomotive factory.

It is 512 feet from Newcastle to Gateshead at the point where the bridge crosses the riverand there was the 1,337 feet of river valley to consider.

The High Level Bridge, 1928, by Jobling. Picture courtesy of the Tyneside Lifeand Times website.

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When work began the first enormous task was toprovide a solid foundation for the piers. The pileswere so large that a huge steam hammer wasneeded. A temporary staging was erected for theengine and hammer and this rested on two keels.The foundations were laid using cofferdams,which consists of enclosures made by ‘piling’round the space to be taken by the pier. Thisrenders it watertight and the water remaining ispumped out. The pier is then built inside. The firstpile was driven on 6th October 1846 and it onlytook four minutes for Nasmyth’s Titanic SteamHammer to take it to 32 feet. Two 30 cwt.hammers were in constant use and they workedat a blow a second. The method was an innovationat the time. The old method had been difficult andcostly. The hammer strokes created so much heatthat the head of the piles regularly burst intoflames. The foundations of the middle pier proved problematic and held up work formonths. The water beneath the quicksand forced its way through as fast as it was beingpumped out. Stephenson ordered large quantities of chalk to be thrown in but to no avail.Eventually he resorted to concrete and this solved the problem. Huge amounts of ashlar,rubble and concrete were used. There was 400,000 cubic feet worked up in the piers and450,000 cubic feet in the land arches and approaches.

“There are two roadways, one level with the Castle-garth, for carriages and footpassengers, and the other 22 feet above it. The carriage road is 1,380 feet in length. Thebridge is 112 feet 6 inches from high water line to the top of the parapet, and the roadwayis 80 feet above the water. Six arches, each of 125 feet span, form the bridge, - the piersupon which they rest being of masonry, and the arches, pillars, braces, and transversegirders of iron. The bridge- piers are nearly 50 feet by 16 in thickness; and in height are 131feet from the foundation, having an opening in the centre through each. The land archesof the bridge diminish in altitude corresponding with the steep bank of the river basin.

The roadway for vehicles beneath the line forms one of the most striking peculiarities ofthe work. This roadway is suspended from the great arches, which carry the line. Thepillars which carry the road add greatly to the picturesque effect; and the multiplicity ofcolumn- ribs transverse and vertical braces, produces a combination of beautiful linesseldom seen.” (Williams, ‘ Our Iron Roads’, Bemrose 1883).

According to ‘The National Gazetteer’ (1868) Newcastle upon Tyne the cast and wroughtiron used weighed in excess of 5,000 tons.

The High Level Bridge c.1860s. Picturecourtesy of the Tyneside Life and Timeswebsite.

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Unfortunately much of the ancient castle of Newcastle and a 12th century castle at BerwickStation were demolished to complete the line.

The London Illustrated News of 1st May 1847 carried an artists’ impression of the HighLevel Bridge and said: “ Messrs. Rush and Layton and Messrs. Wilson and Gibson arecontracted for the mason work for £192,500 at £97,000 for the bridge, £86,000 for theviaduct in Newcastle and £9,500 for the viaduct in Gateshead. Messrs.Hawks andCrawshaw are contracted for the ironwork. The length of the bridge is 1,380 feet. This isto be the first bridge in which the suspension and the ordinary principle of a viaduct willbe combined in one structure.” The total cost was £491,153, which included the purchaseof land and compensation for families who had to be relocated. These totalled 780, andwere made up of 650 families in Newcastle and 130 in Gateshead. Those in charge oftoday’s renovation have said that it would cost more than £30m now and “would not lookso good.”

It is worth noting that there was not one single death during its construction but one manhad a lucky escape on the 28th July 1849. He was a shipwright called John Smith who,whilst working on the bridge, stepped on a loose plank. He was thrown over the bridgebut the leg of his “fustian trousers” caught on a large nail, which had been driven into thetimber, just above the level of the lower roadway 90 feet above the river. Fellow workmenrescued him before he fell.

The first bridge in the world to carry road and rail traffic was opened to rail traffic on the15th August 1849 and brought into ordinary use on 4th February 1850. Queen Victoriaofficially opened it in September of that year. Prior to this, on 30th June 1850 a grandbanquet was held under the great roof of Newcastle Central Station to honour RobertStephenson and to celebrate “the line of iron between London and Edinburgh.”

The High Level Bridge was originally a toll bridge and the charges ranged from a halfpennyfor pedestrians, 3 pennies for horses and carriages and 10 pennies for a “score of cattle.”Tolls were lifted in 1937.

The bridge closed for renovation in February 2005. It was intended to replace 833 softwood timbers that are laid across the road bridge with hard wood expected to last for atleast another hundred years. The original £10 million project has proved difficult andNetwork Rail, the owners of the bridge, have had to consult with English Heritage, theSecretary of State and two councils because of the bridge’s status. And because of thistraditional methods used by Stephenson had to be employed. One of the conditions isthat engineers could not remove anything from the structure. For example, rivets had tobe replaced with rivets and cast iron with cast iron. The work was expected to last eightmonths but severe structural defects were discovered and the road deck had to becompletely replaced. It has cost £30 million to make it safe for traffic and also prolong itslife.

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The High Level Bridge is due to open again in May 2008 but only in a southbound directionas the installation of crash barriers has left it too narrow for traffic running in bothdirections. The bridge only carries 6% of daily cross-river traffic but is the busiest for publictransport and accounts for over half of cross-river bus passengers. It will be closed to carsbut buses will be allowed to use it. Speed is to be restricted to 20 mph. The footpaths willbe open to pedestrians and cyclists can cross it.

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8. Robert Hazlitt and the HighwaymanBy Sheila Convey, 2008

CRIME ON THE ROADS OF Britain is recorded as far back as Roman times. We had thehighest incidence of robbery in the so-called ‘civilised world’ during the eighteenthcentury but it was actually seen as something to be proud of and considered a

demonstration of how tough we were compared with the rest of Europe.The mid-seventeenth century saw the rise of the highwayman although the word hadentered the English language by 1617. By the middle of the reign of Elizabeth I there wasa sharp increase in the use of pistols. With a smaller population there was plenty of quietand lonely stretches of countryside and travellers were easy game. The wealthy had onlyfour banks to deposit their valuables so tended to carry them around when travelling fromhome.

The English Civil War (1642-1651) probably contributed in no small part to the rise of thehighwayman. Those who had fought for the King found themselves stripped of all theirwealth and property. They had riding and shooting skills so decided to attack rich figuresof authority. It was seen as a ‘gentleman’s crime’. They had the mantle of a Robin Hoodtype figure. If they were young men of ‘breeding’, stripped of wealth, they were seen ascourageous, something inherited from their ancestors. If they were poor and attracted bylife as a highwayman many saw it as a way of rising in the world by becoming a ‘knight ofthe road’.

The victims of highway robbery and crime in general tended to be the rich and influentialso it was only a matter of time before the government had to take action. It was duringthe reign of William and Mary (1689-1702) that a Royal Act was passed. It stated thatanyone who caught a robber and it led to a conviction then that man would receive £40and be entitled to any property which the robber owned. This excluded any that had beengained from crime.

This led to the era of the thief-takers. There were substantial rewards for those guilty ofspecific crimes such as highway robbery and coining. Thief-takers negotiated betweenthieves and victims to return stolen goods for a fee and they also informed on criminals tocollect the rewards. Some blackmailed the perpetrators using the threat of getting themprosecuted if they didn’t pay protection money. Individual victims of crime placedadvertisements in newspapers, which facilitated the thief-takers practices.

History depicts the highwaymen as dashing, romantic heroes but this couldn’t be furtherfrom the truth because they were nothing more than common criminals. The lowest ofthese was the ‘footpads’. They didn’t have a horse but, as the name suggests, robbed onfoot. They didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with a coach or carriage if the man in

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charge of the horses decided to escape. However they weren’t fussy about whom theyaccosted on the roadside.

Innkeepers were often suspected of being in the pay of highwaymen and accused ofgiving information to them about wealthy travellers.

Until the improved road surfaces brought about by the turnpikes travel was slow anddifficult on Britain’s roads and repairs depended on statute labour. All parishioners wereexpected to contribute to the upkeep until the early part of the eighteenth century. Theywere in a dreadful condition, if in existence at all. They were impassable in winter and agreat many couldn’t be used for wheeled traffic. The coaches travelled very slowly andcomplaints about robbers abounded despite the early efforts of the turnpike men. Theywould sit in their tollhouses and be provided with ‘speaking trumpets’ to warn ofapproaching robbers. Rewards were good for the arrest of a highwayman. It stood at £40for one who attacked a stagecoach, £200 for the apprehension of one attempting to robthe mail and £300 if the attack was made within five miles of London.

In 1700 York was a week distant from London by coach and London to Edinburgh (as lateas 1763) could take a fortnight. Travel was hazardous apart from the threat of robbers. Ifpeople could afford it they hired escorts and many wrote their will before setting out.

The first name that springs to mind when the highwayman is mentioned is probably DickTurpin (1705-1739) but the stories surrounding him are little more than the stuff of mythand legend. He lived a sordid life. He was born in the Essex village of Hempstead to a smallfarmer called John Turpin. He received some education before becoming apprenticed toa butcher for five years. He then started his own business and married one Hester Palmerwho was an innkeeper’s daughter. He stole animals for his shop but when he was caughtred-handed in the act of stealing two oxen he escaped to the depths of the Essexcountryside. He made money by robbing smugglers on the East Anglia coast andsometimes posed as a Revenue Officer thereby making enemies of both the smugglersand the authorities. Far from being a lonely highwayman most of his criminal life wasspent as a member of the Gregory Gang, also known as the Essex Gang. They poached andsmuggled venison into London, burgled houses and tortured their victims. They dispersedwhen some members were caught and hanged and others had large sums of money ontheir head. That is when Turpin turned to highway robbery. His confidence grew until 1737when he murdered a forest keeper in Epping. A reward of £200 was offered for hiscapture. After wandering the countryside he eventually settled in Brough, a village inYorkshire where he lived under the name of John Palmer. He was eventually arrested inYork for stealing horses but the authorities didn’t know he was actually Dick Turpin. Hewas sentenced to death in March 1739.

Our image of the romantic highwayman is personified in a French man named ClaudeDuval. He was known as a ‘true gentleman of the road’. During the 1660’s wealthytravellers would go through his favourite haunts hoping to be stopped by him. He was

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born in Normandy in 1643 and by the age of fourteen was working as a stable boy. EnglishRoyalists employed him to tend their horses and when Charles II was restored to thethrone Claude Duval travelled to England as the footman to a nobleman and learned tospeak like one. The ladies loved him. He was an elegant man, fashionably dressed and henever used violence if charm would serve. His patch was the northern approaches toLondon. He was captured at Mother Maberley’s tavern in London’s Strand and sent toNewgate. He had many supporters, including the King who tried to get the judge SirWilliam Morton to be lenient with him. It wasn’t to be and Duval was hanged at Tyburn inJanuary 1670, aged 27.

The North East had a notorious character called Robert Drummond who was known asthe ‘Sunderland Highwayman’. He was born about 1680 and became a hardware dealer inSunderland. He had a decent reputation and nobody imagined that he was a robber. Hebecame greedy and was soon under suspicion from the authorities. The result was a trialand transportation. It didn’t take him long to get back to England though and continue hislife of crime. He was said to be vicious and cruel. He joined forces with a man calledShrimpton and talked his younger brother James into joining him one night when Jameswas drunk. The first robbery was successful but the second man they attacked defendedhimself, noticed one of the robbers (James) was on foot and followed him causing such acommotion by shouting for the return of his goods that others joined him and grabbedJames Drummond and took him prisoner. Robert Drummond abandoned him and rode offas fast as he could. James had lived an honest life spending years at sea as a navigator andcoxswain before settling down. He travelled round the country selling china and smallgoods and had a wife and five small children. He was found guilty of both offences at theOld Bailey and sentenced to death. He died in December 1729 at the age of forty. Hisbrother and Shrimpton were hung at Tyburn in February 1730.

The incidence of highway robbery began to decline in the second half of the eighteenthcentury and the last recorded robbery of this kind was in 1831. However, two majorrobberies of bank notes had taken place within two years. In 1814 the Stroud Mail suffereda loss of £2,800 and the following year the Buckingham stagecoach lost a considerableamount. The Royal Mail and stagecoaches began to carry guards who were usually armed.

Although many claim that it was the railways that saw an end to this type of crime themajor factor was the expansion of the turnpikes. The manned and gated toll roads madeit almost impossible for the highwayman to escape without being noticed. Banks werebecoming more commonplace and banknotes were more easily traced than coins. Untilthe middle of the nineteenth century privately owned banks in the United Kingdom andIreland were free to issue their own notes.

Many years have passed since the era of the highwayman but Washington in the NorthEast still lays claim to one. Robert Hazlitt is said to frequent the Old Hall Smithy. It wasbuilt in the mid to late eighteenth century and was used to service Washington Old Hall.

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The smithy was used for a variety of businesses over the years. There are records of itbeing a pottery in the 1950’s, a health food shop and a cafe but it has been a restaurantfor the last twenty years.

Highway robbery was fairly common in the area known as Gateshead Fell. It was adesolate stretch of land covering more than 600 acres with few inhabitants until the earlypart of the nineteenth century. The Long Bank at Wrekenton was a favourite spot forcriminals. Robert Hazlitt robbed a mail coach here in 1770. The local post-boy saw thehighwayman galloping off on a “fine grey mare”. A few days later he noticed the samehorse being shod whilst he was watering his own horse at the Washington Smithy andinformed the authorities. Hazlitt was caught when he returned to pick up his horse andwas taken to Durham to be tried. He confessed and was hanged there. His body was hungin chains on a gibbet at the foot of Long Bank to serve as a warning to other highwaymen.

The blacksmith in Washington had allowed the post-boy to hide in the smithy whilst theywaited for the authorities to arrive. Hazlitt is said to have loudly cursed the man forcontributing to his downfall and some say this is why he can’t rest but seems forevercommitted to regular visits to the building.

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Otherworld North East Research Society Journal Volume II, 2008

Documents

Transcript of Otherworld North East Research Society Journal Volume II, 2008