Newcastle Upon Tyne
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Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and metropolitan borough in
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...
, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is also the most populous city of North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called
Pons Aelius Pons Aelius (Latin for "Aelian Bridge"), or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior (northern England), situated on the north bank of the River Ty ...
and the settlement later took the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son,
Robert Curthose Robert Curthose, or Robert II of Normandy ( 1051 – 3 February 1134, french: Robert Courteheuse / Robert II de Normandie), was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. ...
. Historically, the city’s economy was dependent on its port and in particular, its status as one of the world's largest
ship building Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
and repair centres. Today, the city's economy is diverse with major economic output in science, finance, retail, education, tourism, and nightlife. Newcastle is one of the UK
Core Cities The Core Cities Group (also Core Cities UK) is a self-selected and self-financed collaborative advocacy group of large regional cities in the United Kingdom outside Greater London. The group was formed in 1995 and serves as a partnership of el ...
, as well as part of the
Eurocities Eurocities is a network of large cities in Europe, established in 1986 by the mayors of six large cities: Barcelona, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan and Rotterdam. Today, Eurocities members includes over 200 of Europe's major cities from 38 c ...
network. Famous landmarks in Newcastle include the
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
; the
Swing Bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
; Newcastle Castle; St Thomas’ Church;
Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...
including Grey's Monument and the Theatre Royal; the Millennium Bridge;
St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...
; and Chinatown. Culturally, Newcastle is famed for its
nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...
; bakery chain
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...
; television personalities
Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's ...
; the
Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...
half-marathon; and
Newcastle United Football Club Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
. Newcastle was historically part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county in its own right separate from Northumberland. Newcastle and the
North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered ...
area of Northumberland, along with some of County Durham south of the city, created the county of Tyne and Wear in 1974. Newcastle is locally governed by
Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
, part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.


History


Roman

The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was
Pons Aelius Pons Aelius (Latin for "Aelian Bridge"), or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior (northern England), situated on the north bank of the River Ty ...
(" Hadrian's bridge"), a Roman fort and bridge across the River Tyne. It was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain. The population of Pons Aelius then is estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrian's Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road. The course of the "Roman Wall" can be traced eastwards to the
Segedunum Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, North Tyneside in North East England. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use ...
Roman fort in Wallsend—the "wall's end"—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. The extent of Hadrian's Wall was , spanning the width of Britain; the Wall incorporated the
Vallum Vallum is either the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart (Agger) with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch (fossa). The name is derived from '' vallus'' (a ...
, a large rearward ditch with parallel mounds, and was built primarily for defence and to prevent the incursion of
Pict The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...
ish tribes from the north, not as a fighting line for a major invasion.


Anglo-Saxon and Norman

After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, and was known throughout this period as ''Munucceaster'' (sometimes modernised as ''Monkchester''). Conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the settlements along the River Tyne in ruins. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all but destroyed by Odo of Bayeux. Because of its strategic position,
Robert Curthose Robert Curthose, or Robert II of Normandy ( 1051 – 3 February 1134, french: Robert Courteheuse / Robert II de Normandie), was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. ...
, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was henceforth known as ''Novum Castellum'' or ''New Castle''. The wooden structure was replaced by a stone castle in 1087. The castle was rebuilt again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city today dates from this period.


Middle Ages

Throughout the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, Newcastle was England's northern fortress. In 1400 Newcastle was separated from Northumberland and made a county of itself by Henry IV. Newcastle was given the title of the county of the town of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town had a new charter granted by
Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
in 1589. A high stone wall was built around the town in the 13th century, to defend it from invaders during the Border war against Scotland. The Scots king
William the Lion William the Lion, sometimes styled William I and also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough"''Uilleam Garbh''; e.g. Annals of Ulster, s.a. 1214.6; Annals of Loch Cé, s.a. 1213.10. ( 1142 – 4 December 1214), reigned as King of Scots from 11 ...
was imprisoned in Newcastle in 1174, and Edward I brought the
Stone of Scone The Stone of Scone (; gd, An Lia Fàil; sco, Stane o Scuin)—also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that has been used for centuries in the coronati ...
and
William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...
south through the town. Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.


16th to 19th centuries

From 1530, a royal act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to
Newcastle Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks (quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy com ...
, giving a monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen. This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper and develop into a major town. The phrase '' taking coals to Newcastle'' was first recorded contextually in 1538. The phrase itself means a pointless pursuit. In the 18th century, the American entrepreneur Timothy Dexter, regarded as an eccentric, defied this idiom. He was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by merchants plotting to ruin him; however, his shipment arrived on the Tyne during a strike that had crippled local production, allowing him to turn a considerable profit. In the Sandgate area, to the east of the city, and beside the river, resided the close-knit community of
keelmen The Keelmen of Tyne and Wear were a group of men who worked on the keels, large boats that carried the coal from the banks of both rivers to the waiting collier ships. Because of the shallowness of both rivers, it was difficult for ships of any sig ...
and their families. They were so called because they worked on the keels, boats that were used to transfer coal from the river banks to the waiting colliers, for export to London and elsewhere. In the 1630s, about 7,000 out of 20,000 inhabitants of Newcastle died of plague, more than one-third of the population. Specifically within the year 1636, it is roughly estimated with evidence held by the Society of Antiquaries that 47% of the then population of Newcastle died from the epidemic; this may also have been the most devastating loss in any British city in this period. During the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the North declared for the King. In a bid to gain Newcastle and the Tyne, Cromwell's allies, the Scots, captured the town of
Newburn Newburn is a semi rural parish, former electoral ward and former urban district in western Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated ...
. In 1644, the Scots then captured the reinforced fortification on the Lawe in South Shields following a siege and the city was besieged for many months. It was eventually stormed ("with roaring drummes") and sacked by Cromwell's allies. The grateful King bestowed the motto "''Fortiter Defendit Triumphans''" ("Triumphing by a brave defence") upon the town. Charles I was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646–7. In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's fourth largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages, predated the London Library by half a century. Some founder members of the Literary and Philosophical Society were abolitionists. Newcastle also became a glass producer with a reputation for brilliant flint glass. A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of
Fenham Barracks Fenham Barracks is a military installation in Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne. History The site was acquired by the War Office from Newcastle Corporation in 1804 and, following the construction of three barrack blocks, became the home of units ...
in 1806. The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which a substantial amount of property in the two North East of England towns was destroyed in a series of fires and an explosion which killed 53 and injured hundreds. The status of city was granted to Newcastle on 3 June 1882. In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. This revolution resulted in the urbanisation of the city. In 1817 the Maling company, at one time the largest pottery company in the world, moved to the city. The Victorian industrial revolution brought industrial structures that included the Victoria Tunnel, built in 1842, which provided underground wagon ways to the
staithes Staithes is a seaside village in the borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Easington and Roxby Becks, two brooks that run into Staithes Beck, form the border between the Borough of Scarborough and Redcar and Cleveland. The area l ...
. On 3 February 1879, Mosley Street in the city, was the first public road in the world to be lit up by the
incandescent lightbulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxidat ...
. Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to be lit up by electric lighting. Innovations in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the development of safety lamps,
Stephenson's Rocket Stephenson's ''Rocket'' is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be mo ...
, Lord Armstrong's artillery,
Be-Ro Be-Ro is a food manufacturing business, formerly based in Newcastle upon Tyne. History The Company was founded by Thomas Bell as a grocery and tea company in Longhorsley north of Newcastle in 1875. Bell had experimented with rising agents on ...
flour,
Lucozade Lucozade is a British brand of soft drink manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W. Owen & Son), it ...
,
Joseph Swan Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914) was an English physicist, chemist, and inventor. He is known as an independent early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, and is the person responsible for develop ...
's
electric light An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
bulbs, and Charles Parsons' invention of the
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
, which led to the revolution of marine propulsion and the production of cheap electricity. In 1882, Newcastle became the seat of an Anglican diocese, with St. Nicholas' Church becoming its cathedral.


20th and 21st centuries

Newcastle's public transport system was modernised in 1901 when
Newcastle Corporation Tramways Newcastle Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1901 and 1950. History Services began on 16 December 1901. A fleet of twenty ‘A- Class’ tramcars built in 1901 by Hurst Nelson and Co. Ltd. of Mothe ...
electric trams were introduced to the city's streets, though these were replaced gradually by trolley buses from 1935, with the tram service finally coming to an end in 1950. The city acquired its first art gallery, the
Laing Art Gallery The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...
in 1904, so named after its founder Alexander Laing, a Scottish wine and spirit merchant who wanted to give something back to the city in which he had made his fortune. Another art gallery, the
Hatton Gallery The Hatton Gallery is Newcastle University's art gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is based in the University's Fine Art Building. The Hatton Gallery briefly closed in February 2016 for a £3.8 million redevelopment and reopened i ...
(now part of
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
), opened in 1925. With the advent of the motor car, Newcastle's road network was improved in the early part of the 20th century, beginning with the opening of the Redheugh road bridge in 1901 and the
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
in 1928. Efforts to preserve the city's historic past were evident as long ago as 1934, when the Museum of Science and Industry opened, as did the John G Joicey Museum in the same year.
Council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
began to replace inner-city slums in the 1920s, and the process continued into the 1970s, along with substantial private house building and acquisitions. Unemployment hit record heights in Newcastle during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
of the 1930s. The city's last coal pit closed in 1956, though a temporary open cast mine was opened in 2013 The temporary open cast mine shifted 40,000 tonnes of coal, using modern techniques to reduce noise, on a part of the City undergoing redevelopment. The slow demise of the shipyards on the banks of the River Tyne happened in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. During the Second World War, the city and surrounding area were a target for air raids as heavy industry was involved in the production of ships and armaments. The raids caused 141 deaths and 587 injuries. A former French consul in Newcastle called Jacques Serre assisted the German war effort by describing important targets in the region to Admiral Raeder who was the head of the German Navy. The public sector in Newcastle began to expand in the 1960s. The federal structure of the
University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
was dissolved. That university's college in Newcastle, which had been known as King's College, became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (now known as
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
), which was founded in 1963, followed by Newcastle Polytechnic in 1969; the latter received university status in 1992 and became the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (now known as Northumbria University). Further efforts to preserve the city's historic past continued in the later 20th century, with the opening of Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum in 1983 and Stephenson Railway Museum in 1986. The Military Vehicle museum closed in 2006. New developments at the turn of the 21st century included the Life Science Centre in 2000 and Millennium Bridge in 2001. Based at
St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...
since 1886,
Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
became
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
members in 1893. They have won four top division titles (the first in 1905 and the most recent in 1927), six
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
s (the first in 1910 and the most recent in 1955) and the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...
in 1969. They broke the world transfer record in 1996 by paying £15 million for
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
striker
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
, one of the most prolific goalscorers of that era. In 2017, Newcastle was the venue for the 2017 Freedom City festival. The 2017 Freedom City festival commemorated the 50 years since Dr Martin Luther King's visit to Newcastle, where King received his honorary degree from
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
. In 2018 Newcastle hosted the Great Exhibition of the North, the largest event in England in 2018. The exhibition began on 22 June with an opening ceremony on the River Tyne, and ended on 9 September with the Great North Run weekend. The exhibition describes the story of the north of England through its innovators, artists, designers and businesses. In 2019, various travel sites named Newcastle to be the friendliest city in the UK.


Geography

Since 1974, Newcastle has been a part of the
metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...
of
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...
in North East England. The city is located on the north-western bank of the River Tyne, approximately south of the border with Scotland. The ground beneath the city is formed from
Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
of the Middle Pennine Coal Measures Group — a suite of
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
s,
mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...
s and
coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
s which generally dip moderately eastwards. To the west of the city are the Upper Pennine Coal Measures and further west again the sandstones and mudstones of the Stainmore Formation, the local equivalent of the Millstone Grit. In large parts, Newcastle still retains a
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
street layout. Narrow alleys or '
chare A chare, in the dialect of North-east England, is a narrow medieval street or alley. Newcastle upon Tyne Chares and much of the layout of Newcastle's Quayside date from medieval times. At one point, there were 20 chares in Newcastle. After the gre ...
s', most of which can only be traversed by foot, still exist in abundance, particularly around the
riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
. Stairs from the riverside to higher parts of the city centre and the extant
Castle Keep ''Castle Keep'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama war film combining surrealism with tragic realism. It was directed by Sydney Pollack and starred Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Bruce Dern, and Peter Falk. The film app ...
, originally recorded in the 14th century, remain intact in places. Close, Sandhill and
Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks ( quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy co ...
contain modern buildings as well as structures dating from the 15th–18th centuries, including Bessie Surtees House, the Cooperage and Lloyds Quayside Bars, Derwentwater House and House of Tides, a restaurant situated at a Grade I-listed 16th century merchant's house at 28–30 Close. The city has an extensive neoclassical centre referred to as Tyneside Classical, largely developed in the 1830s by
Richard Grainger Richard Grainger (9 October 17974 July 1861) was a builder in Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked with the architects John Dobson and Thomas Oliver, and with the town clerk, John Clayton, to redevelop the centre of Newcastle in the 19th century. G ...
and John Dobson. More recently, Newcastle architecture considered to be Tyneside classical has been extensively restored. Broadcaster and writer
Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...
described Newcastle as England's best-looking city and the German-born British scholar of architecture,
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
, describes Grey Street as one of the finest streets in England. In 1948 the poet
John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
said of Grey Street, “As for the curve of Grey Street, I shall never forget seeing it to perfection, traffic-less on a misty Sunday morning.” The street curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...
and was voted England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
listeners. In the Google Street View awards of 2010, Grey Street came 3rd in the British picturesque category. A portion of
Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...
was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the
Eldon Square Shopping Centre Eldon Square (stylised as EldonSq.) is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1976 and was built on the site of Old Eldon Square, a famous part of Georgian Newcastle designed by John Dobson in about 1824. This redevelo ...
, including all but one side of the original Eldon Square itself. Immediately to the north-west of the city centre is
Leazes Park Leazes Park is a Grade II listed park urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next t ...
, first opened to the public in 1873 after a petition by 3,000 working men of the city for "ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation". Just outside one corner of this is
St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...
, the stadium home of
Newcastle United FC Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
which dominates the view of the city from all directions. Another major green space in the city is the Town Moor, lying immediately north of the city centre. It is larger than London's
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
and
Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band o ...
put together and the freemen of the city have the right to graze cattle on it. The right extends to the pitch of St. James' Park, Newcastle United Football Club's ground; this is not exercised, although the Freemen do collect rent for the loss of privilege. Honorary freemen include
Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...
,
King Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...
of Norway,
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
,
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
, the late
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
and the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
.
The Hoppings The Hoppings is an annual travelling funfair held on the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, during the last week in June. It is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs. In recent years, over the course of the nine days it is held, it regularly ...
funfair, said to be the largest
travelling funfair A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...
in Europe, is held here annually in June. In the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor is Exhibition Park, which contains the only remaining pavilion from the North East Coast Exhibition of 1929. From the 1970s until 2006 this housed the Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum; which closed in 2006. The pavilion is now being used as a
microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
and concert venue for
Wylam Brewery Exhibition Park is a public park connected to the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The park is home to numerous facilities including sports areas, a boating lake, playgrounds and a skatepark. History The ...
.


Ouseburn

The wooded gorge of the
Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city of Newcastle upon Tyne into the River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn electoral ward for Newcastle City Council elections ...
in the east of the city is known as
Jesmond Dene Jesmond Dene, a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small river known as the Ouseburn, flowing south to join the River Tyne: in north-east England, such valleys are commonly ...
and forms another recreation area, linked by Armstrong Park and Heaton Park to the
Ouseburn Valley The Ouseburn Valley is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn, a small tributary of the River Tyne, running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by thr ...
, where the river finally reaches the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...
. The springtime dawn chorus at 55 degrees latitude has been described as one of the best in the world. The dawn chorus of the
Jesmond Dene Jesmond Dene, a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small river known as the Ouseburn, flowing south to join the River Tyne: in north-east England, such valleys are commonly ...
green space has been professionally recorded and has been used in various workplace and hospital rehabilitation facilities.


Quayside

The area around the Tyne Gorge, between Newcastle on the north bank and
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
on the south bank, is the famous Newcastle-Gateshead
Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks ( quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy co ...
. It is famed for its series of dramatic bridges, including the
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
of 1928 which was built by
Dorman Long Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired ''West Marsh ...
of
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
,
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
's High Level Bridge of 1849, the first road/rail bridge in the world, and the
Swing Bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...
of 1876. Large-scale
regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...
efforts have led to the replacement of former shipping premises with modern new office developments; an innovative tilting bridge - the
Gateshead Millennium Bridge The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever t ...
- integrated the Quayside more closely with the Gateshead Quayside, home to the
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...
(the venue for the
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...
2011) and the
Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
-designed
The Sage Gateshead Sage Gateshead is a concert venue and musical education centre in Gateshead on the south side of the River Tyne in North East England. Opened in 2004 and occupied by North Music Trust it is part of the Gateshead Quays development which include ...
music centre. The Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides are now a thriving, cosmopolitan area with bars, restaurants, hotels and public spaces.


Grainger Town

The historic heart of Newcastle is the Grainger Town area. Established on classical streets built by
Richard Grainger Richard Grainger (9 October 17974 July 1861) was a builder in Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked with the architects John Dobson and Thomas Oliver, and with the town clerk, John Clayton, to redevelop the centre of Newcastle in the 19th century. G ...
, a builder and developer, between 1835 and 1842, some of Newcastle upon Tyne's finest buildings and streets lie within this area of the city centre including
Grainger Market Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie wi ...
, Theatre Royal,
Grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street. These buildings are predominantly four stories high, with vertical dormers, domes, turrets and spikes. Richard Grainger was said to 'have found Newcastle of bricks and timber and left it in stone'. Of Grainger Town's 450 buildings, 244 are
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
, of which 29 are grade I and 49 are grade II*. Grey's Monument, which commemorates Prime Minister
Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...
and his
Reform Act of 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
, stands above Monument Metro Station and was designed and built by
Edward Hodges Baily Edward Hodges Baily (10 March 1788 – 22 May 1867; sometimes misspelled ''Bailey'') was a prolific English sculptor responsible for numerous public monuments, portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces as well as works in silver. He carved ...
and Benjamin Green. Hodges, who also built Nelson's Column, designed and built the statue, and the monument plinth was designed and built by Benjamin Green. The Grainger Market replaced an earlier market originally built in 1808 called the Butcher Market. The Grainger Market itself, was opened in 1835 and was Newcastle's first indoor market. At the time of its opening in 1835 it was said to be one of the largest and most beautiful markets in Europe. The opening was celebrated with a grand dinner attended by 2000 guests, and the Laing Art Gallery has a painting of this event. With the exception of the timber roof which was destroyed by a fire in 1901 and replaced by latticed-steel arches the Market is largely in its original condition. The Grainger Market architecture, like most in Grainger Town, which are either grade I or II listed, was listed grade I in 1954 by English Heritage. The development of the city in the 1960s saw the demolition of part of
Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...
as a prelude to the modernist rebuilding initiatives of
T. Dan Smith Thomas Daniel Smith (11 May 1915 – 27 July 1993), also known by his nickname “Mr Newcastle”,"Southern Discomfort" (leading article), ''The Times'', 3 August 1993. was a high-profile British Labour Party politician who served as chairman of ...
, the leader of
Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
. A corruption scandal was uncovered involving Smith and
John Poulson John Garlick Llewellyn Poulson (14 April 1910 – 31 January 1993) was a British architectural designer and businessman who caused a major political scandal when his use of bribery was disclosed in 1972. The highest-ranking figure to be forced ...
, a
property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
from
Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...
, West Yorkshire, and both were imprisoned. Echoes of the scandal were revisited in the late 1990s in the
BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
mini-series, ''
Our Friends in the North ''Our Friends in the North'' is a British television drama serial produced by the BBC. It was originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC2 in early 1996. Written by Peter Flannery, it tells the story of four friends from Newcastle upon Tyne ...
''.


Chinatown

Newcastle's thriving Chinatown lies in the north-west of
Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...
, centred on Stowell Street. A new Chinese arch, or ''
paifang A ''paifang'', also known as a ''pailou'', is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure. Evolved from the Indian subcontinent's ''torana'' through the introduction of Buddhism to China, it has developed many styles ...
'', providing a landmark entrance, was handed over to the city with a ceremony in 2005. Newcastle's Chinatown is one of five Chinatowns in the UK.


Housing

The
Tyneside flat Tyneside flats are a form of UK domestic housing found primarily on Tyneside, including in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside and North Tyneside. The first known example of this type was constructed in the 1860s. They are pairs of s ...
was the dominant housing form constructed at the time when the industrial centres on Tyneside were growing most rapidly. They can still be found in areas such as South Heaton in Newcastle but once dominated the streetscape on both sides of the Tyne. Tyneside flats were built as terraces, one of each pair of doors led to an upstairs flat while the other led into the ground-floor flat, each of two or three rooms. A new development in the Ouseburn valley has recreated them; Architects Cany Ash and Robert Sakula were attracted by the possibilities of high density without building high and getting rid of common areas. In terms of housing stock, the authority is one of few authorities to see the proportion of detached homes rise in the 2010 Census (to 7.8%), in this instance this was coupled with a similar rise in flats and waterside apartments to 25.6%, and the proportion of converted or shared houses in 2011 renders this dwelling type within the highest of the five colour-coded brackets at 5.9%, and on a par with Oxford and
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, greater than
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and below a handful of historic densely occupied, arguably overinflated markets in the local authorities:
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
,
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
, Bath, inner London,
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
,
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and
Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...
. Significant Newcastle
housing developments A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...
include Ralph Erskine's the Byker Wall designed in the 1960s, and now
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It is on
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's list of outstanding 20th-century buildings.


Climate

Newcastle has an
oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: '' Cfb''). Data in Newcastle was first collected in 1802 by the solicitor
James Losh James Losh (1763–1833) was an English lawyer, reformer and Unitarian in Newcastle upon Tyne. In politics, he was a significant contact in the North East for the national Whig leadership. William Wordsworth the poet called Losh in a letter of 182 ...
. Situated in the
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...
of the
North Pennines The North Pennines is the northernmost section of the Pennine range of hills which runs north–south through northern England. It lies between Carlisle to the west and Darlington to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Tyne Valley and ...
, Newcastle is amongst the driest cities in the UK. Temperature extremes recorded at Newcastle Weather Centre include on 3 August 1990 down to on 29 December 1995. Newcastle can have cool to cold winters, though usually warmer than the rural areas around it, and the winters are often compensated for by warm summers, with very long daylight hours in the summer months, longer than all other major English Cities. Newcastle upon Tyne shares the same latitude as
Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and southern Sweden. The nearest weather station to provide sunshine statistics is at Durham, about south of
Newcastle City Centre Newcastle City Centre is the city centre district of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the historical heart of the city and serves as the main cultural and commercial centre of the North East England region. The city centre forms the core o ...
. Durham's inland, less urbanised setting results in night-time temperature data about 1 degree cooler than Newcastle proper throughout the year.


Environment

The city is located within the centre of the North East Green Belt, also known as the Tyne and Wear Green Belt. The green belts stated aims are to: * ''Prevent the merging of settlements'' * ''Safeguard the countryside from encroachment'' * ''Check unrestricted urban sprawl'' * ''Assist in urban regeneration in the city-region by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land'' The green belt surrounds
Brunswick Village Brunswick Village is a village split between North Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. It is situated approximately 6 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and borders Hazlerigg, Dinnington and Wideopen. It was formerly kn ...
, Dinnington, Callerton,
Hazlerigg Hazlerigg (often misspelled Hazelrigg) is a village and civil parish north of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It is about north of the city centre, on the A1. It is split between Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tynesi ...
, Throckley, Walbottle, and Woolsington. Popular locations such as Ryton Island, Tyne Riverside Country Park, the city's golf courses, Newcastle Racecourse, and Newcastle International Airport fall inside the green belt. The city has been recognised for its commitment to environmental issues, with a programme planned for Newcastle to become "the first carbon neutrality, carbon neutral city" however, those plans have been revised and they now hope to be carbon neutral by 2050.


Culture


Nightlife

''The Rough Guides, Rough Guide to Britain'' placed Newcastle upon Tyne's nightlife as Great Britain's no. 1 tourist attraction. In the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Destination Awards for Nightlife destinations, Newcastle was awarded third place in Europe (behind London and Berlin) and seventh place in the world. There are many bars on the Bigg Market and its adjoining streets. Other areas popular for nightlife include Collingwood Street (commonly referred to as the 'Diamond Strip' due to its concentration of high-end bars). Neville Street, the Newcastle railway station, Central Station area, Osborne Road in Jesmond and the wider
Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city of Newcastle upon Tyne into the River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn electoral ward for Newcastle City Council elections ...
area are home to a variety of younger metropolitan bars. “The Gate, Newcastle, The Gate", located on Newgate Street, has become a popular venue for late-night entertainment in the past decade and a half. Newcastle's Gay community, ‘pink triangle’ is concentrated on Times Square, surrounded by the Centre for Life.


Food

Bakery chain,
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...
, was founded and is headquartered in Newcastle and has the greatest number of Greggs stores per capita in the world. Local delicacies include pease pudding and stottie cake. In 1967, London based The Smith's Snackfood Company, Smith's Crisps created Salt & Vinegar flavour crisps which were first produced by their Newcastle based subsidiary Tudor Crisps and tested in Tudor's home market of north-east England before being launched nationally. In 2010, Osborne Road in Jesmond was awarded fourth place in the UK Google Street View awards for the "foodie" category. Newcastle is one of the seven UK cities with its own Chinatown, appropriately containing many Chinese food, Chinese restaurants. Additionally, the city has a wide variety of cuisines available including Greek food, Greek, Mexican food, Mexican, Spanish food, Spanish, Indian food, Indian, Italian food, Italian, Persian food, Persian, Japanese food, Japanese, Malaysian food, Malaysian, French food, French, American food, American, Mongolian cuisine, Mongolian, Moroccan food, Moroccan, Thai cuisine, Thai, Polish food, Polish, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese and Lebanese cuisine, Lebanese. There has also been a noticeable growth in Newcastle's gourmet restaurant industry in recent years.


Theatre

The city has a proud history of theatre. Stephen Kemble of the well-known Kemble family managed the original Theatre Royal, Newcastle for fifteen years (1791–1806). He brought members of his famous acting family such as Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble, John Kemble out of London to Newcastle. Stephen Kemble guided the theatre through many celebrated seasons. The original Theatre Royal in Newcastle was opened on 21 January 1788 and was located on Mosley Street. It was demolished to make way for Grey Street, where its replacement was built. The city still contains many theatres. The largest, the Theatre Royal on Grey Street, first opened in 1837, designed by John and Benjamin Green. It has hosted a season of performances from the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
for over 25 years, as well as touring productions of West End musicals. The Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre hosts smaller touring productions, whilst other venues feature local talent. Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northern Stage, formally known as the Newcastle Playhouse and Gulbenkian Studio, hosts various local, national and international productions in addition to those produced by the Northern Stage company. Other theatres in the city include the Live Theatre Company, Live Theatre, the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, People's Theatre, Gosforth Civic Theatre, and the Jubilee Theatre. NewcastleGateshead was voted in 2006 as the arts capital of the UK in a survey conducted by the Artsworld TV channel.


Literature and libraries

Newcastle has a strong reputation as a poetry centre. The Morden Tower, run by poet Tom Pickard, is a major venue for poetry readings in the North East, being the place where Basil Bunting gave the first reading of ''Briggflatts'' in 1965. The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (popularly known as the 'Lit & Phil') is the largest independent library outside London, housing more than 150,000 books. Its music library contains 8,000 CDs and 10,000 LPs. The current Lit and Phil premises were built in 1825 and the building was designed by John and Benjamin Green. Operating since 1793 and founded as a 'conversation club,' its lecture theatre was the first public building to be lit by electric light, during a lecture by
Joseph Swan Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914) was an English physicist, chemist, and inventor. He is known as an independent early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, and is the person responsible for develop ...
on 20 October 1880. The old City library designed by Basil Spence, was demolished in 2006 and replaced. The new building opened on 21 June 2009 and was named after 18th century composer Charles Avison; the building was opened by Herbert Loebl, Dr Herbert Loebl. Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books, opened in 2005 in the
Ouseburn Valley The Ouseburn Valley is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn, a small tributary of the River Tyne, running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by thr ...
.


Festivals and fairs

In either January or February, Chinatown, Newcastle, Newcastle's Chinatown becomes the focus point of celebrations for the Chinese New Year with carnivals and parades. The Newcastle Science Festival, now called Newcastle ScienceFest, returns annually in early March. The Newcastle Beer Festival, organised by Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA takes place in April each year. Evolution Festival, a music festival that attracted tens of thousands of attendees, took place in May from 2002 until 2013 and was described as "the biggest festival Tyneside has ever staged". The This Is Tomorrow festival now takes place over the spring bank holiday and is in the same location. The biennial AV Festival of international electronic art, featuring exhibitions, concerts, conferences and film screenings, is held in March. The North East Art Expo, a festival of art and design from the regions professional artists, is held in late May.
The Hoppings The Hoppings is an annual travelling funfair held on the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, during the last week in June. It is one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs. In recent years, over the course of the nine days it is held, it regularly ...
, the largest annual collection of travelling fairs in Europe, comes together on Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle Town Moor every June. The event has its origins in the Temperance movement in the United Kingdom, Temperance Movement during the early 1880s, and coincides with the annual Horse racing, race week at High Gosforth Park. Newcastle Community Green Festival, which claims to be the UK's biggest free community Environmental science, environmental festival, also takes place every June, in
Leazes Park Leazes Park is a Grade II listed park urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next t ...
. The Cyclone Festival of Cycling takes place within, or starting from, Newcastle in June. The Northern Pride Festival and Parade is held in
Leazes Park Leazes Park is a Grade II listed park urban park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the city's oldest park, opened in 1873, and lies to the west of the city centre. The park contains a lake above the course of the Lort Burn. It is next t ...
and in the city's Gay Community in mid July. The Ouseburn Festival, a family oriented weekend festival near the city centre, incorporating a "Family Fun Day" and "Carnival Day", is held in late July. Newcastle Mela, held on the late August Bank Holiday weekend, is an annual two-day multicultural event that blends drama, music and food from Punjabi culture#Modern Punjabi Culture, Punjabi, Culture of Pakistan, Pakistani, Bengal#Culture, Bengali and Hindu cultures. NewcastleGateshead also holds an annual International Arts Fair. The 2009 event will be in the
Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
designed Sage Gateshead Music and Arts Centre in September. In October, there is the Design Event festival—an annual festival providing the public with an opportunity to see work by regional, national and international designers. The SAMA Festival, an East Asian cultural festival is also held in early October.


Music

Newcastle's vernacular music was a mixture of Music of Northumbria, Northumbrian folk music and nineteenth-century songs with dialect lyrics, by writers such as George "Geordie" Ridley, whose songs include one which became an unofficial Tyneside national anthem, "Blaydon Races". The 1960s saw the internationally successful rock group The Animals emerge from Newcastle night spots such as Club A-Go-Go on Percy Street. Other well-known acts with connections to the city include Sting (musician), Sting, Bryan Ferry, Dire Straits and more recently Maxïmo Park. There is also a thriving underground music scene that encompasses a variety of styles, including drum and bass, doom metal and post-rock. Lindisfarne (band), Lindisfarne are a folk-rock group with a strong Tyneside connection. Their most famous song, "Fog on the Tyne" (1971), was covered by Geordie ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne in 1990. Venom (band), Venom, reckoned by many to be the originators of black metal and extremely influential to the extreme metal scene as a whole, formed in Newcastle in 1979. Folk metal band Skyclad (band), Skyclad, often regarded as the first folk metal band, also formed in Newcastle after the break-up of Martin Walkyier thrash metal band, Sabbat (English band), Sabbat. Andy Taylor (guitarist), Andy Taylor, former lead guitarist of Duran Duran was born here in 1961. Brian Johnson was a member of local rock band Geordie (band), Geordie before becoming the lead vocalist for Australian band AC/DC. Newcastle is the home of Kitchenware Records (c. 1982), previously home to acclaimed bands such as Prefab Sprout, Martin Stephenson and the Daintees and The Fatima Mansions. The members of Lighthouse Family met at Newcastle University; the music video for their hit single "High (Lighthouse Family song), High" features the city's
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
. The 1990s boom in progressive house music saw the city's Global Underground record label publish mix CDs by the likes of Sasha (DJ), Sasha, Paul Oakenfold, James Lavelle, and Danny Howells recording mix compilations. The label is still going strong today with offices in London and New York, and new releases from Deep Dish (band), Deep Dish and Adam Freeland. Newcastle's leading classical music ensemble is the Royal Northern Sinfonia, which was founded in 1958 and performed regularly at Newcastle City Hall until 2004. Nowadays it is based at The Sage Gateshead, The Sage, Gateshead. ICMuS,
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
's music department, has been a driving force for music in the region, producing innovative work, organising concerts and festivals, instigating the first degree programme in folk music in the British Isles, and engaging creatively with communities in the region.


Concert venues

The largest venue used for music concerts is St James Park, home of Newcastle United, which has also previously been used for Rugby League games and the Olympic Games. The second largest music venue in Newcastle is the 11,000-seat Metro Radio Arena Newcastle, Utilita Arena Newcastle, which opened in 1995 and hosts major pop and rock concerts. Newcastle City Hall is one of the oldest venues in the region and "attracts big names who are often legends of the past". Both of the city's universities have venues that mainly host indie music, indie and Alternative rock, alternative bands. On 14 October 2005, the 2,000 capacity O2 Academy Newcastle opened. It had previously been a music venue in the 1960s, hosting concerts by The Beatles and The Who. The new venue was headlined by The Futureheads on the opening night and known as the Carling Academy for a number of years. Since opening the venue has hosted performances by major bands and solo musicians including Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Katy Perry, The Libertines, Blondie (band), Blondie and Amy Winehouse. The Riverside (music venue), Riverside music venue on Melbourne Street, open from 1985 until 1999, notably hosted Nirvana (band), Nirvana's first European show in 1989. The venue also welcomed Oasis (band), Oasis, David Bowie and The Stone Roses and was named Best Regional Venue by New Musical Express, NME in 1993. Riverside has also been the subject of a book, ''Riverside: Newcastle's Legendary Alternative Music Venue''. In 2016 open-air concerts took place at Times Square for the first time, including performances from Maxïmo Park, Ocean Colour Scene and Catfish and the Bottlemen. The small music venue Think Tank? was a nominee for Best Small Venue in NME in 2015. The Cluny in
Ouseburn Valley The Ouseburn Valley is the name of the valley of the Ouseburn, a small tributary of the River Tyne, running southwards through the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The name refers particularly to the urbanised lower valley, spanned by thr ...
is "one of the most important venues for breaking bands in the region". Trillians Rock Bar is well-noted for its rock and metal music, metal shows, and The Head of Steam is a 90-capacity basement venue described as "one of Newcastle's staple venues".


Independent cinema

Newcastle has multiple independent cinemas, including the famous Tyneside Cinema, located on Pilgrim Street. It originally opened as the 'Bijou News-Reel Cinema' in 1937, and was designed and built by Dixon Scott, great-uncle of film directors Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. The Pilgrim Street building was refurbished between November 2006 and May 2008; during the refurbishment works, the cinema relocated to the Old Town Hall, Gateshead. In May 2008 the Tyneside Cinema reopened in the restored and refurbished original building. The site currently houses three cinemas, including the restored Classic —the United Kingdom's last surviving news cinema still in full-time operation—alongside two new screens, and dedicated education and teaching suites. As well as this, the city is home to The Side Cinema and Star and Shadow Cinema which are both small venues which have built up cult audiences of film fans.


Museums and galleries

There are several museums and galleries in Newcastle, including the Centre for Life with its Science Village; the Discovery Museum a museum highlighting life on Tyneside, including Tyneside's shipbuilding heritage, and inventions which changed the world; the Great North Museum; in 2009 the Museum of Antiquities, Newcastle on Tyne Museum of Antiquities merged with the Great North Museum (Hancock Museum); Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books; the Side Gallery with historical and contemporary photography from around the world and Northern England; and the Newburn Motor Museum. The
Laing Art Gallery The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...
, similarly to other art galleries and museums around the world, has collections digitised on the Google Cultural Institute, an initiative that makes important cultural material accessible online.


Media


TV and film

The earliest known film featuring some exterior scenes filmed in the city is ''On the Night of the Fire'' (1939), though by and large the action is studio-bound. Later came ''The Clouded Yellow'' (1951) and ''Payroll (film), Payroll'' (1961), both of which feature more extensive scenes filmed in the city. The gangster thriller ''Get Carter'' (1971) was shot on location in and around Newcastle and offers an opportunity to see what Newcastle looked like in the early 1970s. The city was also backdrop to another gangster film, the film noir ''Stormy Monday (film), Stormy Monday'' (1988), directed by Mike Figgis and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Melanie Griffith, Sting (musician), Sting and Sean Bean. As well as this, Newcastle was used as the location for I, Daniel Blake (2016) which won the Palme d'Or award at Cannes Film Festival as well as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA for BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film, Outstanding British Film. The city has been the setting for films based around football; films such as ''Purely Belter'' (2000), ''The One and Only (2002 film), The One and Only'' (2002) and ''Goal! (film), Goal!'' have all been focused around Tyneside. The comedy ''School for Seduction'' (2004), starring Kelly Brook was also filmed in Newcastle. The Bollywood film ''Hum Tum Aur Ghost'' (2010) was shot on location in Newcastle's city centre and features key scenes in and around
Grainger Town Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie w ...
. The film ''Public Sex (film), Public Sex'' (2009) was shot in and around Newcastle, and features several scenes under and around the
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
. Crime drama ''Harrigan (film), Harrigan'' (2013) was filmed in the city as well as
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
and Teesside.


Print media

Local newspapers that are printed in Newcastle include Trinity Mirror's ''Evening Chronicle'' and ''The Journal (Newcastle upon Tyne newspaper), The Journal'', the ''Sunday Sun'' as well as the ''Metro (British newspaper), Metro'' freesheet. ''The Crack (magazine), The Crack'' is a monthly style and listings magazine similar to London's ''Time Out (magazine), Time Out''. The adult comic ''Viz (comic), Viz'' originated in Jesmond and includes many references to Newcastle, and ''The Mag'' is a fanzine for Newcastle United supporters.


Television

BBC North East and Cumbria is based to the north of the city on Barrack Road, Spital Tongues, in a building known as the Pink Palace. It is from here that the BBC, Corporation broadcasts the ''BBC Look North (North East and Cumbria), Look North'' television regional news programme and BBC Local Radio, local radio station BBC Radio Newcastle. ITV Tyne Tees was based at City Road for over 40 years after its launch in January 1959. In 2005 it moved to a new facility on The Watermark business park next to the MetroCentre in Gateshead. The entrance to studio 5 at the City Road complex gave its name to the 1980s music television programme, ''The Tube (TV series), The Tube''.


Radio

Independent Local Radio stations include Metro Radio and sister station Greatest Hits Radio North East, which are both based on the north side of the Tyne Bridge. Capital North East broadcasts across Newcastle and the North East England region from its studios in Wallsend. Heart North East and Smooth North East also broadcast from studios in the city. NE1fm launched on 8 June 2007, the first full-time community radio station in the area. Newcastle Student Radio is run by students from both of the city's universities, broadcasting from
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
's Newcastle University Union Society, students' union building during term time. Radio Tyneside has been the voluntary hospital radio service for most hospitals across Newcastle and Gateshead since 1951, broadcasting on Hospedia online, and also on 93.6 FM since July 2018 also under a community radio licence. The city also has a Radio Lollipop station based at the Great North Children's Hospital in the Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.


Public City WiFi

Newcastle was one of the first cities in the UK to have its city centre covered by free Wi-Fi, wireless internet access. It was developed and installed at the end of 2006 and went active in March 2007.


Economy

Newcastle played a major role during the 19th-century
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, and was a leading centre for coal mining, shipbuilding, engineering, munitions and manufacturing. Heavy industry, Heavy industries in Newcastle declined in the second half of the 20th century; with office, service and retail employment now becoming the city's staples. Newcastle is the commercial, educational and the cultural hub of North East England. Today, Newcastle's economy contributes around £13 billion to the UK Gross value added, GVA. This figure is mostly produced by corporate activity in Newcastle's Central Business District, located in the Newcastle upon Tyne City Centre, centre of the city (bounded by the Newcastle Haymarket, Haymarket, Newcastle railway station, Central Station and the
Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks ( quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy co ...
areas). The city's thriving nightlife is estimated to be worth £340 million per year, and consequently is seen as a major contributor to Newcastle's economy. The UK's first biotechnology village, the Centre for Life, is located by Newcastle railway station, Central Station. The village is the first step in the City Council's plans to transform Newcastle into a science city.


Retail

In 2010, Newcastle was positioned ninth in the retail centre expenditure league of the UK. There are several major shopping areas in
Newcastle City Centre Newcastle City Centre is the city centre district of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the historical heart of the city and serves as the main cultural and commercial centre of the North East England region. The city centre forms the core o ...
. The largest of these is the
Eldon Square Shopping Centre Eldon Square (stylised as EldonSq.) is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1976 and was built on the site of Old Eldon Square, a famous part of Georgian Newcastle designed by John Dobson in about 1824. This redevelo ...
, one of the largest city centre shopping complexes in the UK. It has one of the largest John Lewis & Partners stores in the UK. This John Lewis branch was formerly known as Bainbridge's, Bainbridge, established in 1838, often cited as the world's first department store. Emerson Bainbridge (1817–1892),Anne Pimlott Baker, 'Bainbridge, Emerson Muschamp (1817–1892)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 201
accessed 29 April 2011
/ref> a pioneer and the founder of Bainbridge, sold goods via department, a new arrangement of trade for that time. The Bainbridge official ledgers reported revenue by department, giving birth to the name department store. Eldon Square is currently undergoing a full redevelopment. A new bus station, replacing the old underground bus station, was officially opened in March 2007. The wing of the centre, including the undercover Green Market, near Grainger Street was demolished in 2007 so that the area could be redeveloped. This was completed in February 2010 with the opening of a Debenhams department store as well as other major stores including Apple store, Apple, Hollister Co., Hollister and Guess (clothing), Guess. The main shopping street in the city is Northumberland Street. In a 2004 report, it was ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the UK for rent, outside London. It is home to two major department stores including the first and largest Fenwick (department store), Fenwick department store, which houses some of the most luxurious designer labels, and one of the largest Marks and Spencer stores outside London. Both stores have entrances into Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Other shopping destinations in Newcastle include Grainger Street and the area around Grey's Monument, the relatively modern Eldon Garden and Monument Mall complexes, Central Arcade and the traditional
Grainger Market Grainger Town is the historic commercial centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Incorporating classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1824 and 1841, some of Newcastle's finest buildings and streets lie wi ...
. On Blackett Street can be found the silversmith Reid & Sons which was established in the city in 1788. Outside the city centre, the largest suburban shopping areas are Gosforth and Byker. The largest Tesco store in the United Kingdom is located in Kingston Park on the edge of Newcastle. Close to Newcastle, the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe, the MetroCentre (shopping centre), MetroCentre, is located in
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
.


Population

According to the ONS, Newcastle had a population of 293,000 in 2015. Tyneside (made up of Newcastle and the surrounding metropolitan boroughs of Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Gateshead,
North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered ...
and South Tyneside) has a population of approximately 880,000, making it the eighth most populous urban area in the UK. The wider metropolitan area of Tyneside-Wearside has a population of approximately 1,122,000. Additionally, Newcastle is home to a large temporary population of students from Newcastle University, Newcastle and Northumbria University, Northumbria universities. Areas of suburban Newcastle with significant student populations include Jesmond, Shieldfield, Gosforth, Sandyford, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sandyford, Spital Tongues and Heaton, Newcastle, Heaton.


Demographics


Age

According to the same statistics, the average age of people living in Newcastle is 37.8 years, compared to the national average being of 38.6 years.


Religion

From the 2011 Census, two significant religions could be identified in the city: Christians, Christian and Muslims, Muslim. 56.6% of Newcastle identified as Christian and 6.3% as Muslim. Over 28% stated they have Irreligion, no religious affiliation.


Ethnicity and nationality

According to the 2011 census, the metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne was predominately White people, white, representing 85.3% of the population (including non-British white). Asian people, Asians made up 9.8% of the population (2.3% Pakistani, 1.7% 'Bangladeshi', 1.8% 'Indian people, Indian', 2.2% 'Chinese people, Chinese', 1.8% 'Asian other'). Black people make up a small proportion of the population (1.7% 'Black African', 0.1% 'Black Caribbean' and 0.1% 'Black other'), as do mixed race groups at 1.6% (0.6% 'Asian and White', 0.3% 'White and Caribbean', 0.3% 'White and African', 0.4% 'White and Other'). The last significantly sized ethnic community in Newcastle is 'Arab' at 0.9%. The remainder of the population, 0.5%, represent other ethnicities. Large populations of ethnic minorities can be found in areas such as Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick, Wingrove, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wingrove and Arthurs Hill. According to the 2011 UK Census, those born outside the UK were mainly from India (3,315), China (3,272), Pakistan (2,644), Bangladesh (2,276), Poland (1,473), Germany (1,357), Nigeria (1,226), Iran (1,164), Hong Kong (1,038) and Ireland (942). In the North East, Newcastle was the most ethnically diverse district followed by Middlesbrough. There are also small but significant Chinese, Jewish and Eastern European populations. The International Organization for Migration states there are estimated to be between 500 and 2,000 Bolivians in the United Kingdom, Bolivians in Newcastle, one of the largest populations in any city in the UK.


Geordies

The regional nickname for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. The Latin term ''Novocastrian'' can equally be applied to residents of Newcastle (disambiguation), any place called Newcastle, although it is most commonly used for ex-pupils of the city's Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, Royal Grammar School.


Dialect

The dialect of Newcastle is also referred to as Geordie. It contains a large amount of vocabulary and distinctive words and pronunciations not used in other parts of the United Kingdom. The Geordie dialect has much of its origins in the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon populations who migrated to and conquered much of England after the end of Roman Imperial rule. This language was the forerunner of Modern English; but while the dialects of other English regions have been heavily altered by the influences of other foreign languages—particularly Latin and Norman language, Norman French—the Geordie dialect retains many elements of the old language. An example of this is the pronunciation of certain words: "dead", "cow", "house" and "strong" are pronounced "deed", "coo", "hoos" and "strang"—which is how they were pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon language. Other Geordie words with Anglo-Saxon origins include: "larn" (from the Anglo-Saxon "laeran", meaning "teach"), "burn" ("stream") and "gan" ("go"). According to the British Library, "Locals insist there are significant differences between Geordie and several other local dialects, such as Pitmatic and Mackem. Pitmatic is the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and around Ashington to the north of Newcastle upon Tyne, while Mackem is used locally to refer to the dialect of the city of Sunderland and the surrounding urban area of Wearside". "Bairn" and "hyem", meaning "child" and "home", respectively, are examples of Geordie words with origins in Scandinavia; ''barn'' and ''hjem'' are the corresponding modern Norwegian and Danish words. Some words used in the Geordie dialect are used elsewhere in the Northern United Kingdom. The words "bonny" (meaning "pretty") and "Stotting, stot" ("bounce") are used in Scots; "aye" ("yes") and "nowt" (IPA://naʊt/, rhymes with ''out'', "nothing") are used elsewhere in Northern England. Many words, however, appear to be used exclusively in Newcastle and the surrounding area, such as "canny" (a versatile word meaning "good", "nice" or "very"), "hacky" ("dirty"), "netty" ("toilet"), "hockle" ("spit").


Health

According to research from 2011, public health and levels of deprivation in Newcastle upon Tyne was generally worse than average in England. As levels of deprivation is considerably higher than the nationwide average, sociologists argue that as a result, the life expectancy for both men and women is lower than the nationwide average. There is significant discrepancy between life expectancies in wealthy areas and deprived areas, with life expectancy up to 14.3 years lower for men and 11.1 years lower for women in deprived areas than in wealthy areas. From 2015 to 2019 Newcastle became relatively more deprived according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. From 2001 to 2011, as with all UK cities all-cause mortality rates have fallen, life expectancy has increased. Early death rates from cancer and from heart disease and stroke have fallen but remain worse than the England average. Almost 21.9% of Year 6 children are clinically obese. In 2014/5, 35.9% of 10 to 11-year-olds were classified as overweight or obese, in comparison to a national average of 33.2%. 54.9% of pupils meet the recommendation of at least three hours each week on school sport. Levels of teenage pregnancy are higher than the nationwide average. In 2011, GCSE attainment amongst school children was worse than the England average. Estimated numbers of adults 'healthy eating' are lower than the England average. Rates of smoking-related deaths and hospital stays for alcohol-related harm are higher than average. Newcastle remains one of the few major cities in England to supply Water fluoridation, fluoridated water; this scheme is directed by Northumbrian Water Group, Northumbria Water plc. Newcastle has two large teaching hospitals: the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospital, which is also a pioneering centre for Organ transplant, transplant surgery. In a report, published in early February 2007 by the Ear Institute at the University College London and Widex, Newcastle was named as the noisiest city in the whole of the UK with an average noise level of 80.4 decibels. The report claimed that these noise levels would have a negative long-term impact on the health of the city's residents. The report was criticised, however, for attaching too much weight to readings at arbitrarily selected locations, which in Newcastle's case included a motorway underpass without pedestrian access. As well as numerous parks, open spaces, and extensive riverside areas, puzzlingly the report also overlooked the 1000-acre Town Moor at the heart of the city. Larger than London's Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath combined, and even larger than New York's Central Park, the town moor dates back to the 12th century, with the land tenure and its use being regulated by an Act of Parliament.


Sport

The city has a strong sporting tradition. Association football, Football club Newcastle United FC, Newcastle United has been based at
St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...
since the club was established in 1892, although any traces of the original structure are now long gone as the stadium now holds more than 52,000 seated spectators, being England's seventh largest football stadium. The city also has non-League football clubs, Newcastle Benfield FC, Newcastle Benfield, West Allotment Celtic F.C., West Allotment Celtic, Team Northumbria F.C., Team Northumbria and Heaton Stannington F.C., Heaton Stannington. There is a women's football team, Newcastle United Women's Football Club, founded in 1989. Newcastle United WFC currently has 40 ladies aged between 16 and 29 years signed or associated with the club, and plays in the FA Women's Premier League (North). The Newcastle Falcons are the only rugby union team in north-east England to have played in the Aviva Premiership. They play at Kingston Park Stadium in the northern suburb of Kingston Park. 1996 Pilkington Shield winners Medicals RFC are also based in Newcastle. Newcastle Thunder (formerly Newcastle Thunder, Gateshead Thunder) are a professional rugby league club based in the city who now also play at Kingston Park Stadium. They currently play in the League 1 (rugby league), Kingstone Press League 1. Since 2015, the Super League Magic Weekend has been played annually in the city at St James' Park. Newcastle has a Newcastle Racecourse, horse racing course at Gosforth Park. The city is also home to the Newcastle Eagles basketball team who play their home games at the new Sport Central complex at Northumbria University. The Eagles are the most successful team in the history of the British Basketball League, British Basketball League (BBL). The city's Motorcycle speedway, speedway team Newcastle Diamonds are based at Brough Park in Byker, a venue that is also home to greyhound racing. Newcastle also hosts the start of the annual
Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...
, the world's largest half marathon, half-marathon in which participants race over the
Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...
into
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
and then towards the finish line away on the coast at South Shields. Another athletic event is the Blaydon Race (a road race from Newcastle to Blaydon), which has taken place on 9 June annually since 1981, to commemorate the celebrated Blaydon Races horse racing. The 2012 London Olympic committee selected Newcastle as one of the UK host venue cities, with the stadium St James' Park hosting 9 matches in both the men's and women's football. The Newcastle Warriors were a professional ice hockey team that played the 1995–96 season in the British Hockey League. The Newcastle Vipers were also a professional ice hockey team in the British National League (1996–2005), British National League from 2002 and then the Elite Ice Hockey League between 2005 and 2011 (when the team folded). Newcastle upon Tyne was one of the 11 host cities for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. St James' Park hosted three matches; * South Africa v. Scotland (3 October 2015) * New Zealand v. Tonga (9 October 2015) * Samoa v. Scotland (10 October 2015)


Transport


Air

Newcastle International Airport is situated on the northern outskirts of the city at Woolsington, near to Ponteland. It is the largest and busiest airport in North East England and the second largest and busiest in Northern England (behind Manchester Airport, Manchester), handling over five million passengers per year. It is also the tenth-largest, and the fastest growing regional airport in the UK, expecting to reach 10 million passengers by 2016, and 15 million by 2030. , Newcastle Airport operates flights to 90 destinations worldwide. The airport is serviced by numerous airlines including British Airways, Jet2.com, Jet2, easyJet, Emirates (airline), Emirates, Ryanair, Air France, TUI Airways, Loganair, KLM and Eurowings. The airport is connected to Central Newcastle by the Tyne and Wear Metro, with an average journey between Central Station Metro station and Newcastle Airport Metro station taking approximately 20 minutes.


Rail

Newcastle railway station, Newcastle Central Station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line and Cross Country Route. It is one of the busiest stations in Britain. Train operator London North Eastern Railway provides a half-hourly frequency of trains to London King's Cross railway station, London King's Cross, with a variable journey time of between two and three hours, and north to Scotland with all trains calling at Edinburgh Waverley railway station, Edinburgh Waverley and a small number of trains extended to Glasgow Central railway station, Glasgow Central, Aberdeen railway station, Aberdeen and Inverness railway station, Inverness. CrossCountry links Newcastle with destinations in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South West England, South West. TransPennine Express operates services to the North West England, North West. Northern Trains provide local and regional services. Additionally, ScotRail offer an infrequent service to Glasgow Central station, Glasgow Central. In 2014, work was completed on the station's historic entrance. Glazing was placed over the historic arches and the Victorian architecture was enhanced; transforming the 19th century public portico. The station is one of only six Grade One listed railway stations in the UK. Opened in 1850 by Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria, it was the first covered railway station in the world and was much copied across the UK. It has a neoclassical architecture, neoclassical façade, originally designed by the architect John Dobson, and was constructed in collaboration with
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
. The station sightlines towards the Castle Keep, whilst showcasing the curvature of the station's arched roof. The first services were operated by the North Eastern Railway (UK), North Eastern Railway company. The other mainline station in Newcastle is Manors railway station, Manors, exclusively served by Northern Trains.


Metro

The city is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro, a system of suburban and underground railways covering much of Newcastle and the surrounding metropolitan boroughs. It was opened in five phases between 1980 and 1984, and was Britain's first urban light rail transit system. The network was developed from a combination of existing and newly built tracks and stations, with deep-level tunnels constructed through Central Newcastle. A Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge, bridge was built across the Tyne, between Newcastle and Gateshead, and opened by Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II in 1981. Extensions to the network were opened in 1991 and 2002. It is operated directly by Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, Nexus, carrying over 37 million passengers a year. In 2004, the company Marconi Company, Marconi designed and constructed the mobile radio system to the underground Metro system. The Metro system was the first in the UK to have mobile phone antennae installed in the tunnels. The Metro consists of two lines. The Green line begins at Newcastle Airport Metro station, Newcastle Airport, goes through Central Newcastle and into the City of Sunderland, terminating at South Hylton Metro station, South Hylton. The yellow line starts at St James Metro station, St James, runs north of the river alongside Byker towards Whitley Bay, before returning to Central Newcastle, then connecting to Gateshead Interchange before finally terminating at South Shields Metro station, South Shields. The system is currently undergoing a period of refurbishment and modernisation, entitled 'Tyne and Wear Metro#Current developments, Metro: All Change.' The programme has replaced all ticket machines and introduced ticket gates at the busiest stations – part of the transition to smart ticketing. All Metro trains are being completely refurbished and most stations are undergoing improvement works (or in some cases complete reconstruction, for example North Shields Metro station, North Shields). In addition; tracks, signalling and overhead wires are also being overhauled. Longer-term plans include the procurement of an entirely new fleet of trains and further extensions to the system. Proposed routes include to Newcastle's west end, to the Cobalt Business Park in North Tyneside, to the Metrocentre in Gateshead and to additional locations in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. Several of the proposed routes would require trams as opposed to the current light rail trains.


Road

Major roads in the area include the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 (Newcastle Gateshead Western Bypass), stretching north to Edinburgh and south to London; the A19 road, A19 heading south past Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland and
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
to York and Doncaster; the A69 road, A69 heading west to Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle; the A696 road, A696, which becomes the A68 road, A68 heads past Newcastle International Airport, Newcastle Airport and up through central Northumberland and central Scottish Borders, the A167 road, A167, the old "Great North Road", heading south to
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, Chester-le-Street, Durham, England, Durham and Darlington; and the A1058 road, A1058 "Coast Road", which runs from Jesmond to the east coast between Tynemouth and Cullercoats. Many of these designations are recent—upon completion of the Western Bypass, and its designation as the new line of the A1, the roads between this and the A1's former alignment through the Tyne Tunnel were Great Britain road numbering scheme, renumbered, with many city centre roads changing from a 6-prefix to their present 1-prefix numbers. In November 2011 the capacity of the Tyne Tunnel was increased when a project to build a second road tunnel and refurbish the first tunnel was completed. Bus Bus services in Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding boroughs part are coordinated by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive. Stagecoach North East is the primary bus operator in the city, running city services between both the West and East ends, with some services extending out to the MetroCentre (shopping centre), MetroCentre, Killingworth, Wallsend and Ponteland. Go North East provides the majority of services to and from the south of the Tyne, linking Newcastle with
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, Sunderland, and County Durham. Arriva North East runs numerous services to the north of city,
North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered ...
and Northumberland. Additionally, QuayLink connects Newcastle and Gateshead to the Quayside. Newcastle coach station, Newcastle Central coach station is the city's main hub for long-distance services, such as those operated by National Express Coaches, National Express. Other major bus departure points are Pilgrim Street (for buses running south of the Tyne via
Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
), and Blackett Street/Monument for services to the East and West of the city. Many bus services also pass Newcastle railway station, Newcastle Central Station, a major interchange for rail and metro services.


Cycling

Newcastle is accessible by several mostly traffic-free cycle routes that lead to the edges of the city centre, where cyclists can continue into the city by road, using Bus lane, no car lanes. The traffic-free Sea to Sea Cycle Route, C2C cycle route runs along the north bank of the River Tyne, enabling cyclists to travel off-road to North Shields and Tynemouth in the east, and westwards towards Hexham. Suburban cycle routes exist, which use converted trackbeds of former industrial wagonways and industrial railways. A network on Tyneside's suburban Victorian waggonways is being developed. A network of signed on-road cycle routes is being established, including some designated on-road cycle lanes that will lead from the city centre to the suburbs of Gosforth, Heaton, Newcastle, Heaton and Wallsend. Newcastle has a growing culture of bicycle usage. Newcastle is also home to a cycling campaign, called the 'Newcastle Cycling Campaign.' The ideal of the organisation is to model other European cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The aims of the organisation, within the constitution are: To raise the profile of cycling, especially utility cycling around the city; to educate decision makers over the benefits of cycling; to promote equality. Following guidelines set in the National Cycling strategy, Newcastle first developed its cycling strategy in 1998. , the city council's social aims and objectives for cycling include: highlighting the usage of cycling to cut city congestion and educating that cycling promotes healthy living The authority also has infrastructure aims and objectives which include: developing on road cycle networks on quieter streets; making safer routes on busier streets; innovating and implementing contraflows on one way streets; developing the existing off-road cycle route networks and improve signage; joining up routes that are partially or completely isolated; Increase the number of cycle parking facilities; working with employers to integrate cycling into workplace travel plans; link the local networks to national networks.


Water

DFDS, DFDS Seaways runs a ferry service to IJmuiden, near Amsterdam in The Netherlands, from Newcastle International Ferry Terminal (located in North Shields). The Newcastle–Bergen–Stavanger ferry, DFDS ferry service to Gothenburg, Sweden, ceased at the end of October 2006 and their service to Newcastle–Bergen–Stavanger ferry, Bergen and Stavanger, Norway was terminated in late 2008. The company cited high fuel prices and new competition from Low-cost carrier, low-cost air services as the cause. However, since summer 2007, Thomson cruise lines have included Newcastle as a departure port on its Norwegian and Fjords cruise.


Government and politics


UK Parliament

Newcastle is represented by three elected Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. All the current MPs are from the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, which is on the centre-left politics, centre-left of the British political spectrum. The United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituencies of Newcastle upon Tyne Central (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle Central, Newcastle upon Tyne East (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle East, and Newcastle upon Tyne North (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle North are all considered to be Labour safe seats.


Local government

Newcastle is locally governed by
Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
, a member of the North of Tyne Combined Authority. The council operates using the Executive arrangements, leader and cabinet system. The Labour Party (UK), Labour Party has the most seats and therefore controls the council, with a large majority of fifty councillors. In opposition (politics), opposition, there are twenty Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats councillors, one Newcastle Independents councillor and three Independent politician, independent councillors. No other parties have any councillors, including the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives. For the purposes of City Council elections, Newcastle is divided into 26 Ward (electoral subdivision), electoral wards. Each ward elects three councillors. Following the boundary changes in 2016, the wards are as follows: * Arthur's Hill * Benwell and Scotswood * Blakelaw * Byker * Throckley, Callerton and Throckley * Castle, Newcastle upon Tyne, Castle * Chapel House Estate, Chapel * Jesmond Dene, Dene and South Gosforth * Denton and Westerhope * Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick * Fawdon and West Gosforth * Gosforth * Heaton, Newcastle, Heaton * Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Kenton * Kingston Park South and Newbiggin Hall * Lemington * Manor Park * Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne, Monument * North Jesmond *
Ouseburn The Ouseburn is a small river in Newcastle upon Tyne, England that flows through the city of Newcastle upon Tyne into the River Tyne. It gives its name to the Ouseburn Valley and the Ouseburn electoral ward for Newcastle City Council elections ...
* Parklands, Newcastle upon Tyne, Parklands * South Jesmond * Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, Walker * Walkergate * West Fenham * Wingrove, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wingrove


EU referendum

In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Newcastle voted for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union, with a ratio of 51:49 in favour of remain, compared to a national ratio of 48:52 in favour of leave.


Education


Schools and colleges

Newcastle has 74 primary schools and 20 secondary schools, of which 13 are Local education authority, LEA-funded and 7 are fee-paying independent schools. There are a number of critically acclaimed state school, state secondary schools, including Walker Riverside Academy, Gosforth Academy, Jesmond Park Academy, St Cuthbert's High School, St Mary's Catholic School, Newcastle upon Tyne, St Mary's Catholic School, Kenton School, Sacred Heart Catholic High School (Newcastle upon Tyne), Sacred Heart, Excelsior Academy, Walbottle Academy and Benfield School. The largest co-educational independent school is the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, Royal Grammar School. The largest girls' independent school is Newcastle High School for Girls. Both schools are located on the same street in Jesmond. Newcastle School for Boys is the only independent boys' only school in the city and is situated in Gosforth. Other independent schools include Dame Allan's School, Newcastle upon Tyne, Dame Allan's School. Newcastle College is the largest general further education (FE) college in North East England and is a Beacon Status college. There are also two smaller FE colleges in Newcastle.


Universities

The city has two major universities –
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
and Northumbria University. Newcastle University has its origins in the Durham University School of Medicine and Surgery, established in 1834. It became fully independent on 1 August 1963, forming the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (now simply Newcastle University). It is a red brick university and is a member of the Russell Group, an association of research-intensive UK universities, often considered to represent the best UK universities. It won the Sunday Times University of the Year, ''Sunday Times'' University of the Year award in 2000. It was awarded the Gold Award in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), one of only ten Russell Group universities to achieve the Gold TEF rating. Northumbria University has its origins in Newcastle Polytechnic, established in 1969 and becoming the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in 1992 as part of the UK-wide process in which polytechnics became new universities. Northumbria University was voted 'Best New University' by ''The Times'' Good University Guide 2005. It holds the Silver TEF Award.


Religious sites

Newcastle has three cathedrals, the Anglican Newcastle Cathedral, St Nicholas‘, with its elegant lantern tower of 1474, the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne, St Mary's designed by Augustus Welby Pugin and the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain and Ireland, Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Fenham. All three cathedrals began their lives as parish churches. St Mary's became a cathedral in 1850 and St Nicholas' in 1882. Another prominent church in the city centre is the Church of St Thomas the Martyr which is the only parish church in the Church of England without a parish and which is not a Royal Peculiar, peculiar. One of the largest Evangelicalism, evangelical Anglican churches in the UK is Jesmond Parish Church, situated a little to the north of the city centre. Newcastle is home to the only Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼí Centre in North East England; the centre has served the local Baháʼí community for over 25 years and is located close to the Civic Centre in Jesmond. Newcastle was a prominent centre of the Plymouth Brethren movement up to the 1950s, and some small congregations still function. Among these are at the Hall, Denmark Street and Gospel Hall, St Lawrence. St Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne, The Parish Church of St Andrew is traditionally recognised as 'the oldest church in this town'. The present building was begun in the 12th Century and the last addition to it, apart from the vestries, was the main porch in 1726. It is quite possible that there was an earlier church here dating from Saxon times. This older church would have been one of several churches along the River Tyne dedicated to St Andrew, including the Hexham Abbey, Priory church at Hexham. The building contains more old stonework than any other church in Newcastle. It is surrounded by the last of the ancient churchyards to retain its original character. Many key names associated with Newcastle's history worshipped and were buried here. The church tower received a battering during the History of Newcastle upon Tyne#Stuart period, Siege of Newcastle by the Scots who finally breached the Town Wall and forced surrender. Three of the cannonballs remain on site as testament to the siege.


Notable people

Charles Avison, the leading British composer of concertos in the 18th century, was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1709 and died there in 1770. Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster, was born in the city in 1923. Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, was born in the city. Ironmaster, metallurgist, and member of parliament Sir Lowthian Bell, 1st Baronet, Isaac Lowthian Bell was born in the city in 1816. Other notable people born in or associated with Newcastle include: engineer and industrialist William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, Lord Armstrong, engineer and father of the modern steam railways George Stephenson, his son, also an engineer,
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
, engineer and inventor of the steam turbine Sir Charles Parsons, inventor of the incandescent light bulb Sir Joseph Swan, actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson, industrial designer Jony Ive, Sir Jonathan Ive, who studied at Northumbria University, Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University), modernist poet Basil Bunting, and Lord Chief Justice Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth, Peter Taylor. Portuguese writer Eça de Queiroz was a diplomat in Newcastle from late 1874 until April 1879—his most productive literary period. Former Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva, was born in the city. Composer Agustín Fernández Sánchez, Agustín Fernández has been based in the city since 1995, teaching at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
and occasionally collaborating with Royal Northern Sinfonia. Musicians Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Eric Burdon, Sting (musician), Sting, Mark Knopfler, the Lighthouse Family, Jeffrey Dunn, Brian Johnson, Alan Hull, Sakima (singer), Sakima, and Neil Tennant lived in Newcastle. Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch were both former pupils of Rutherford Grammar School. Actors Charlie Hunnam and James Scott (actor), James Scott, entertainers
Ant & Dec Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (born 18 November 1975) and Declan Donnelly (born 25 September 1975), from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Formed after their meeting as child actors on CBBC's ...
and footballers Michael Carrick and
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
were also born in Newcastle. Multiple circumnavigator David Scott Cowper, List of Nobel laureates in Physics, Nobel Prize winning physicist Peter Higgs, who researched the mass of subatomic particles, and wrestler Adrian Neville, Neville were born in the city. John Dunn (bagpipe maker), John Dunn, inventor of the keyed Northumbrian smallpipes, lived and worked in the city. Kathryn Tickell, the celebrated Northumbrian piper and composer, has longstanding associations with Newcastle as a resident, frequent performer at Sage Gateshead and teacher at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
. Marc Smith (palaeographer), Marc Smith (born 1963), French palaeographer, was born in Newcastle. Freddy Shepherd, former chairman of
Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
for ten years, lived in Newcastle upon Tyne until his death in 2017.


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Newcastle upon Tyne is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia * Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. (1977) * Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands * Bergen, Norway, Bergen, Norway (1968) * Gelsenkirchen, Germany (1948) * Haifa, Israel * Nancy, France, Nancy, France (1954) * Taiyuan, China (1985, unilaterally terminated by Newcastle upon Tyne in 2022)


Other agreements

Newcastle has a "friendship agreement" with the American city of Little Rock, Arkansas. Since 2003, it has had a "special cooperation agreement" with the Swedish city of Malmö. Furthermore, Newcastle participated in the 1998 summit of worldwide Newcastle (disambiguation), cities named Newcastle, which led to friendship agreements with the following places: *Neuburg an der Donau, Germany *Neuchâtel, Switzerland *Neufchâteau, Vosges, France *New Castle, Delaware, United States *New Castle, Indiana, United States *New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States *Newcastle-under-Lyme, England *Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa *Shinshiro, Japan


Foreign consulates

The following countries have consulate, consular representation in Newcastle: Denmark, Finland, Romania, Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, and Sweden.


See also

* List of tallest buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne * List of public art in Newcastle upon Tyne * List of Freemen of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne * Duke of Newcastle


References


Citations


Sources

* ''Tyneside: A History of Newcastle and Gateshead from Earliest Times'', Alistair Moffat and George Rosie, Mainstream Publishing (10 November 2005), *
Tyneside Neighbourhoods: Deprivation, Social Life and Social Behaviour in One British City
', Daniel Nettle, Open Book Publishers, (2016), * ''History of Northumberland and Newcastle-upon-Tyne'', Leslie W. Hepple, Phillimore & Co Ltd (1976),


External links


City of Newcastle upon Tyne website
(Newcastle City Council)
Official NewcastleGateshead Tourism Site

BBC Tyne
BBC Local website {{DEFAULTSORT:Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, Cities in North East England Metropolitan boroughs of Tyne and Wear Populated places established in the 2nd century Port cities and towns in North East England Port cities and towns of the North Sea Ports and harbours of Tyne and Wear Staple ports County towns in England Towns in Tyne and Wear Trading posts of the Hanseatic League