View allAll Photos Tagged Disconnection
Nighthawks
Date: 1942
Artist: Edward Hopper
American, 1882–1967
www.artic.edu/articles/808/nighthawks-as-a-symbol-of-hope
Edward Hopper said that Nighthawks was inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet,” but the image—with its carefully constructed composition and lack of narrative—has a timeless, universal quality that transcends its particular locale. One of the best-known images of twentieth-century art, the painting depicts an all-night diner in which three customers, all lost in their own thoughts, have congregated. Hopper’s understanding of the expressive possibilities of light playing on simplified shapes gives the painting its beauty. Fluorescent lights had just come into use in the early 1940s, and the all-night diner emits an eerie glow, like a beacon on the dark street corner. Hopper eliminated any reference to an entrance, and the viewer, drawn to the light, is shut out from the scene by a seamless wedge of glass. The four anonymous and uncommunicative night owls seem as separate and remote from the viewer as they are from one another. (The red-haired woman was actually modeled by the artist’s wife, Jo.) Hopper denied that he purposefully infused this or any other of his paintings with symbols of human isolation and urban emptiness, but he acknowledged that in Nighthawks “unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”
The composition is spare, and the narrative ambiguous. Who are these people? What’s their story? We can never know. We can’t even access the space but only stare in from outside.
Hopper always denied that it was his intention to infuse the painting with urban ennui, although he did concede that “unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”
What many people do not know is that Nighthawks was Hopper’s response to one of the greatest crises of his generation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the entrance of the United States into World War II. Hopper enjoyed walking the city, but the experience must have felt remarkably different during those grim months that followed.
Fearing attack by the Nazis, New Yorkers were subject to blackout drills and dimmed lights in public spaces. Hopper’s walks were thus taken around a city literally and figuratively darkened by crisis. He later recalled how this darkness inspired Nighthawks and imagined what it would be like to come across a brightly lit diner in the middle of the night, with people—the “nighthawks”—within.
So what happens if we explore Nighthawks through the lens of Hopper’s experience of a city at war? Does that influence how we read the painting? Perhaps Hopper saw this brightly lit diner not as a place of disconnection but as a beacon of light and hope against the darkness, a moment of finding community when everything outside seemed grim and unbearable. After all, he very purposefully included four figures, not just a lone figure as in many of his other paintings. What if Hopper’s compositional decisions spoke to some inner need for social connection in a time of fear and isolation?
Hopper used his wife, Jo, as the model for the redheaded woman, and himself as the model for the man with his back to us. The figures do not seem to be in conversation, but it’s possible that in the next instant, the next frame of this snapshot, they will reach out to one another.
The enduring power of Hopper’s Nighthawks is that we cannot know. We can only ever attempt to fill the void of uncertainty with our own interpretations—to find in the painting what we need to see. Hence the multitude of parodies, cartoons, and photoshopped images of Nighthawks that endeavor to give voice to this silent painting. Hopper’s artwork, and its equally parodied cousin American Gothic, have been sites of social and political commentary for decades, their compositions serving as ever-changeable opportunities to register national values, anxieties, and transformation.
But the one thing we know for certain: these efforts are a means of speaking to one another, of creating understanding and connection through a shared language of art. Indeed, this is the promise of all art, not just Nighthawks. Art has the power to speak to us across time, across cultural moments, and in different moments of crisis and joy and fear and love—in other words, in all that makes us human—and bring us together. So whatever kind of darkness we find ourselves in, whether external or internal, this fact may offer the shining beacon of light and hope that we all need at this time.
—Sarah Kelly Oehler, Field-McCormick Chair and Curator of American Art
The Art Institute has always collected the art of its time. Which means that since the museum opened in the late 1800s, it has always put a priority on acquiring art that was recently created. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, one of the museum’s most well known paintings, takes that to another level, as it joined the museum’s collection in 1942, the very year that it was painted.
In May of that year, Hopper himself wrote to Art Institute director Daniel Catton Rich that he was “very much pleased that you like my Nighthawks well enough to acquire it for the Art Institute. It is, I believe, one of the very best things I have painted. I seem to have come nearer to saying what I want to say in my work, this past winter, than I ever have before.”
This pared down painting—notice the lack of trash in the street, as well as the empty counters in the diner—has a timeless, universal quality that transcends its particular locale. Fluorescent lights had just come into use in the early 1940s, and the all-night diner emits an eerie glow, like a beacon on the dark street corner. Hopper eliminated any reference to an entrance, and the viewer, drawn to the light, is shut out from the scene by a seamless wedge of glass. The four anonymous and uncommunicative night owls seem as separate and remote from the viewer as they are from one another. (The red-haired woman was actually modeled by the artist’s wife, Jo.)
Fun fact: What other famous—and often parodied—painting was acquired by the museum the year it was painted? None other than Grant Wood’s American Gothic.
—Katie Rahn
Lugar+Citadino™
The place where the city is sincere with us + El lugar donde la ciudad es sincera con nosotros
Fotografía Número | Photograph No.
1,243
EN
Lugar+Citadino´s break
Since a few posts ago, i was writing about that this Flickr will take a rest at the initial days of March, and this issue will happen from today (by the night).
I commented that i will take a holiday in a some place of the chilean central coast, and this holiday take part in few hours more. This holiday season will be very different like others that i´ve experienced in the past, and necessarily imply -from my point of view- a disconnection from all electronic devices (obviously excluding my camera), not only for that result counter-productive the fact of use (and abuse) electronic devices (like smarphones or Internet connection) in holidays. I think that is necessary a pause for confront the numerous challenges that i will test in 2014.
From other perspective, i need the rest for use my new camera, taking in mind all the potential that this device have.
And the most important point, i consider that Lugar+Citadino needs an urgent pause, in the sense of this project require a refresh in the editorial line and creativity of image pool, of course.
For this reasons, Lugar+Citadino´s Flickr will back again from March, 11th.
Best regards for all.
P.S.: Excuse my English redaction
City facts about the picture
[Place] Autopista Central, going to the south, passing through the km.6.5
[Coordinates] San Nicolas underlevel pass, at the square of J.J.Prieto and San Nicolás avenues.
[Where Is?] Municipality of San Miguel + Greater Santiago + Metropolitan Region + Chile
+
ES
Receso de Lugar+Citadino
Como había comentado en algunos posteos atrás, había anunciado que para inicios de Marzo este Flickr tomaría un descanso, y así sucederá a partir de hoy por la noche.
Comenté que tomaré vacaciones en algún lugar de la costa central y esto será efectivo a partir de algunas horas más. Este período estival será muy diferente a otros que previamente había tenido y necesariamente implicará que -desde mi punto de vista- me desconecte de todo lo digital, no sólo porque suena contraproducente viajar en busca de relajo estando conectado -y abusando derechamente- del Smartphone o la conexión a Internet, sino también porque necesito una pausa extensa de cara a enfrentar lo que vendrá en el 2014.
Además, desde otra perspectiva, hay que “sacarle el jugo” a estos días, desde el sentido en que adquirí una nueva cámara y todo el potencial que tiene no puede quedar desaprovechado.
También, hay que considerar que en cierto modo he percibido que el proyecto necesita refrescarse desde el punto de vista de la línea editorial y creativo.
Por eso, nos volveremos a ver en este Flickr a partir del día Martes 11 de Marzo.
Saludos, y para quiénes viven en Chile, que tengan un fabuloso regreso a la normalidad luego del verano, con todo el ánimo eso sí.
Datos citadinos sobre la fotografía
[Lugar] Autopista Central, dirección sur, kilómetro 6,5.
[Coordenadas] Paso inferior "San Nicolás" de Autopista Central, en Avenida José Joaquín Prieto esquina San Nicolás.
[Esto es en] Comuna de San Miguel + Gran Santiago + Región Metropolitana + Chile
Aldea+Citadina
[Other places of Lugar+Citadino´s | Otros lugares citadinos en Internet]
[E-Mail contact | E-Mail de contacto] lugar.citadino@gmail.com
This new photograph was taken by + Esta nueva fotografía fue tomada por:
Felipe Burgos Alvarez
An inhabitant of Santiago that always is exploring new parts of the city, and obviously, the founder and chief editor of Lugar+Citadino´s Flickr edition
Un Santiaguino que siempre está explorando nuevas partes de la ciudad, y obviametne, el fundador y editor en jefe de la edición Flickr de Lugar+Citadino
Information about the Copyright | Información acerca del Copyright
© The misuse of Lugar+Citadino´s pictures is forbidden without any kind of authorization of their respective owner.
© Se encuentra absolutamente prohibido el uso de las imágenes de Lugar+Citadino sin algún tipo de consentimiento expreso del uso de las fotos por parte del titular de las fotografías.
2009 - 2014
Nishat Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. ‘Nishat Bagh’ is Urdu, and means the "Garden of Joy," "Garden of Gladness" and "Garden of Delight."
Located on the bank of the Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan Mountains as its backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden with views of the lake beneath the Pir Panjal mountain range. The Bagh was designed and built in 1633 by Asif Khan, elder brother of Nur Jehan.
When Shah Jahan saw the garden, after its completion in 1633, he expressed great appreciation of its grandeur and beauty. He is believed to have expressed his delight three times to Asif Khan, his father-in-law, in the hope that he would make a gift of it to him. As no such offer was forthcoming from Asif Khan, however, Shah Jahan was piqued and ordered that the water supply to the garden should be cut off. Then, for some time, the garden was deserted. Asif Khan was desolate and heartbroken. When he was resting under the shade of a tree, in one of the terraces, his servant was bold enough to turn on the water supply source from the Shalimar Bagh. When Asif Khan heard the sound of water and the fountains in action he was startled and immediately ordered the disconnection of the water supply as he feared the worst reaction from the Emperor for this wanton act of disobedience. Fortunately Shah Jahan, who heard about this incident at the garden, was not annoyed by the disobedience of his orders. Instead, he approved of the servant’s loyal service to his master and then ordered the full restoration rights for the supply of water to the garden to Asif Khan, his Prime Minister and father-in-law.
The Mughal Princess Zuhra Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, and granddaughter of the Emperor Jahandar Shah, was buried in the garden.
words_come_hard? ..... A few candid moments, this one and 2 more in the first comment below, that seem to be showing a moment of disconnection between the generations. However, candid clicks can be deceiving ...
My social photography is a documentary of the sights I have seen from the sidewalks of New York City. I apologize if I inadvertently offend anyone ~Rhpsr
A disconnection in minimalism. I have realized the relevance of longing in minimalist work. In the simplification of forms things get left behind... isolated. And although there is consolidation, there is an aspect of complete alienation by way of specifying and the object is nothing but its symbol or itself.
as smog put it... "there is no love, in the one true path."
happy winter all
Sardie (2 yr) is cooling off in an esky as temperatures can reach to the 40°C. Sardie lives in Kennedy Hill and is one of the happiest and cutest babies I (Ingetje Tadros) have ever seen. Totally unaware of the problems in the Community, Sardie is happy as Larry.
The Book www.indiegogo.com/projects/this-is-my-country-a-photobook...
This Is My Country will be a hard cover book of 112 pages with 70 black and white photographs and an introduction by aboriginal writer and film maker mitch torres. It will be printed in a hardbound edition on 170 gsm paper at Ofset Yapimevi in Istanbul where all of FotoEvidence's high quality books are produced.
By backing This Is My Country you will be part of creating an enduring document about the struggle for justice of Australia's First People and supporting Aboriginal communities as they fight displacement.
Kennedy Hill is an Aboriginal community in the remote town of Broome in the Kimberley, in the North West of Australia. The community exists in the shadows of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s commitment to close down approximately 100-150 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. There are more than 270 remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia, home to 12,000 people.
Aboriginal Elders and Leaders are shocked and feel closing down communities is a big threat to their people. They believe the impact of such a move will be devastating. Communities are based ‘on Country’. Closing down communities means losing connection to the land in which ancient stories are etched. These stories inform about morals, values and relationships, and are reinforced in Language through song and story at times of ceremony or travel through that Country –there used to be 250 Aboriginal languages before White Invasion. By closing down communities, ancient knowledge that has been passed down through generations will get lost and people will be lost because of this disconnection that nurtures them physically, emotionally and spiritually. Consequently, poverty, disadvantage, alcoholism, unemployment, etc. –which are contained within communities because of ongoing cultural connection– will be relocated and intensified and brought to the bigger towns. History is repeating itself!
Australian award-winning Photojournalist Ingetje Tadros has spent four years working with Aboriginal people and has been documenting their confronting daily lives within their communities. Her concerns for Aboriginal people and their communities stretch from the old uninformed line that demonises Aboriginal men by insinuating that Aboriginal women and children are under great threat by the men in the communities, to a lack of affordable accommodation; Over seven per cent of the Kimberley population is homeless and ninety per cent of this homelessness is comprised by its First Peoples.
Kennedy Hill, or as the locals refer to it, ‘The Hill’ is significant to Indigenous people in the region.The presence of a large shell midden immediately adjacent to the community is testament to this significance; It’s been a living area and a sacred place since before White Invasion... since time in memorial.
Aboriginal people all over the Kimberley are now in fear of losing not only their homes but losing the significant connection to their land and sacred sites. The question now remains, which Aboriginal communities will be closed?
Broome, Western Australia.
©Ingetje Tadros/Diimex
www.smh.com.au/nsw/photojournalist-ingetje-tadros-documen...
From my 2014 series, 'Sanctuary', created for my final year of studies.
"I think that my love for photography was first kindled during long stints in hospital, photographing flowers that my mother had brought me. Throughout my adolescence I struggled with my mental and physical health, and nature was a sanctuary and escape for me. I lament the disconnection between our everyday lives and the natural world. The vulnerability, hope and suffering that I experienced, combined with the beauty and majesty of nature, inspired this body of work."
The Tasty Three
Here's the link to the video!!
This week's location is actually three! A few months ago there was a group of restaurants being demolished which included a Milestones, Montana's and a Kelseys. This was a pretty exciting explore for me as I really enjoy exploring retail locations, they have a post apocalyptic feel to them because they are places that you often visit in a different context, usually when they are full of people. Houses are great but I find there is a sort of disconnection to them since you have no idea what they were like when still in use. With that said, these restaurants were by no means time capsules, they were very modern and were still in operation just a couple of months prior to my visit but now they are gone.
All three of these restaurants were once owned by a company called Recipe Unlimited Corporation, however the company recently sold its Milestones brand. Recipe Unlimited started out in 1883 when it was called Canada Railway News Company, they started out selling newspapers, magazines and confectionaries at railway stations. In the 1930s they started offering catering services to airlines and created a separate business called Aero Caterers Ltd. and by 1951 they were serving 1500 meals per day. In 1961, the company merged its two operations and formed the more widely recognised brand name Cara Operations Limited. In 1977 they entered the retail restaurant business starting out with brands such as Swiss Chalet and Harvey's. Over the years, there were numerous acquisitions as well as a few restaurants they either sold or closed down. In 2018 Cara Operations merged with The Keg and became Recipe Unlimited and they currently own a number of restaurant chains throughout Canada.
The Milestones restaurant was the only one of the three restaurants that hadn't been cleaned out before closing (which makes sense since it was the only one not owned by Recipe Unlimited) and unfortunately that was the first of the buildings to fall. But luckily it was still mostly standing during my visit!
What do you guys think, do you find abandoned restaurants interesting? Let me know in the comments below!
The Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana now hosts the first example of ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket. This Ariane 6 combined tests model will be used to validate the entire launch system during its ground phase in readiness for the inaugural launch of Ariane 6.
The combined tests include filling tanks, and draining them in case of launch abort, count-down automated sequence, and cryogenic arms disconnection and retraction at a simulated liftoff.
These tests will be carried out under ESA’s authority by an integrated team from ESA, ArianeGroup and French space agency CNES.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model is highly representative of the flight model. It consists of the core stage and the upper stage, which make up the central core, as well as three pylons shaped like the rocket’s solid boosters and a fully representative but inert mockup of the fourth booster.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model central core was precisely mated in the purpose-built launcher assembly building, where this task is carried out horizontally. Automated guidance vehicles then brought the assembled core to the launch and, working with the crane at the mobile gantry, raised it to its vertical position.
Ariane 6 is a modular launch vehicle using either two or four P120C strap-on boosters, depending on mission requirements. The P120C engine does double duty, also serving as the first stage of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket.
The reignitable Vinci engine which powers the upper stage allows Ariane 6 to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits on a single launch. After payload separation a final engine burn deorbits the upper stage so that it does not become a debris threat in space.
Ariane 6 development is project-managed and funded by ESA, which also acts as launch system architect. ArianeGroup is design authority and industrial prime contractor for the launcher system and CNES is prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace is the launch service provider of Ariane 6.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
Come see me at : www.Chanyungco.com / Breaking The Ice / Good Press Gallery / Fistful Of Books & follow me @elchanyungco on instagram ❤︎
'I could leave you, say goodbye...
Or I could love you, if I try...
And I could.
But left to my own devices, I probably would...'
Were Pet Shop Boys prophets of our future era when singing that all those years ago?
Subway car,
New York City
2014
© Sion Fullana
All Rights Reserved
As more people are living in urban areas than ever before, many of them are losing the connection with nature. People once knew their livelihood depended on land and nature. They knew how nature works and how all living things are connected.
Wherever humans have dwelled, nature and wildlife has had to move. Some species adapt, others go extinct. Raccoons are among the few hardy species that have survived in urban areas. It's not easy for them... if there is a human-wildlife conflict raccoon always loses.
Sadly, the disconnection from nature has led to people not protecting what they do not know or care about, wildlife.
In ‘The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House’, Korean-born, London-based artist Do Ho Suh invites visitors to explore his large-scale installations, sculptures, videos and drawings in this major survey exhibition.
Is home a place, a feeling, or an idea? Suh asks timely questions about the enigma of home, identity and how we move through and inhabit the world around us.
With immersive artworks exploring belonging, collectivity and individuality, connection and disconnection, Suh examines the intricate relationship between architecture, space, the body, and the memories and the moments that make us who we are.
Source: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/the-genesis-exhibiti...
Home Within Home (1/9 Scale)
In ‘Home Within Home’, a 1:9 recreation of Suh’s childhood hanok home in Seoul nestles inside a 19th century house of rented apartments in Providence – the first place Suh lodged in the US as a student. To create the work, Suh used architectural tools that could measure, 3D-scan, shrink and combine the two existing buildings. He cut the structure into quarters to reveal the differences between them. ‘Home Within Home’ belongs to an ongoing body of artworks Suh calls “speculative”. It is connected to a recurring dream in which Suh’s childhood hanok home flew over the Pacific Ocean and crashed into the Providence building, trailing an emergency parachute. The buildings are in constant architectural negotiation with one another. It is unclear whether the hanok is growing from the interior of the house un the United States, or has been transplanted in it.
Tras un mes de desconexión total, hoy me gustaría compartir con todos vosotros una nueva y muy buena noticia. En Mayo saldrá a luz el nuevo trabajo de Mista Studio en el que nuevamente he tenido el placer de participar junto a grandes artistas del mundo del arte en la customización y creación de muñecas como Enchanted Doll, Julien Martinez e Irreal Doll entre otros. Una recopilación que reune gran cantidad de estilos y universos dignos de descubrir.
After a month of disconnection, today I would like to share with you a new and very good news. Next May will be launched the new Mista Studio's work in which I had the pleasure of participating once again, this time sharing pages with great artists of the customization and art world as Enchanted Doll, Irreal Doll, Julien Martinez and others. A collection that gathers lots of styles and universes to be discovered.
As human beings...we constantly feel the need for connection. Be it with our families, friends, people at work or around us in the daily bases, even with our furry friends.
Sometimes...that connection breaks for some reason...perhaps only for the moment...sadly to some...for good.
But as one connection breaks,or simply when one has to let go...as sure as tomorrow...there is another one your way, who will keep you connected.
For David, and
For my friend Terry
From my 2014 series, 'Sanctuary', created for my final year of studies.
"I think that my love for photography was first kindled during long stints in hospital, photographing flowers that my mother had brought me. Throughout my adolescence I struggled with my mental and physical health, and nature was a sanctuary and escape for me. I lament the disconnection between our everyday lives and the natural world. The vulnerability, hope and suffering that I experienced, combined with the beauty and majesty of nature, inspired this body of work."
When I was really young, I lived in a neighborhood surrounded by the woods. It probably wasn’t the best thing to do as a little kid, but I would explore the trails on my own and either imagine myself as some sort of explorer or find myself just using that time to think about what was going on in my life. Until moving to Philadelphia, I have lived my whole life near the woods, and moving to into urban city area took a little getting used to. I quickly learned there’s this thing called city-walking.
I still do this today. I find myself on these mini adventures/getaways. Sometimes on my own without any intentions, but now I use this time to scout for locations to do future shoots. I like having that time of disconnection, away from the outside world. When you’re out there, it’s so easy to forget about how many other things are happening out in the world. They just seem like they’re not that important. It’s a nice feeling for a short while.
Find more about this shoot on my blog!:
www.zukephotography.com/blog/2014/8/9/behind-the-scenes-g...
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zukephoto
The art conundrum; the disconnect between society and art establishment
Celebrity art dealers artists and art collectors have become superstars of such caliber F. Scott Fitzgerald would’t imagine in a wildest Great Gatsby's wet dream.
The breathtaking fables of high-flying multi-million art deals inspire the sensational and entertaining articles to be written by the writers who could barely earn a living nowadays. How many people, however, actually become the art lovers learning about the adventures of the glitzy art stars? None. The art world is a lonely Narcissus that admires the own reflection. But desperately wants the public affection and attention unwilling to admit the need of new source for awe. Or how many art critics made a serious attempt to explain in written word the post post-modern art scene?
What about the artists… is next thought that comes to mind. Maybe this whole problem of art turning into a very sexy fast-money exchange business is due the bad quality artists?
Even television tried to popularize art in the attempt to create a show who wants to be the next American top model I mean artist. But the public only grow less interested, more so, the public wants to take over the art franchise after the so-called digital revolution. Masses of people who could never touch a camera for variety of reasons now turn to photography. For instance, 300 million photographs are uploaded every minute to Facebook, The numbers have power the sheer grandiosity. And yet the art world tries to keep its cool. And more so, continues to be disconnected.
Which could be good or bad depending how one looks at it. Good in a sense of art preservation, not good for survival of the franchise. In most recent global social phenomenon there’s a new traits of human behavior that present a real threat to what is known as highly developed Western culture.
Manipulating reality
Everyone makes photos and in doing so everyone selects an image to a fit some desirable standard. This is done consciously. This manifests the beginning of a creative process and is not known to the imagemanipulator who wasn’t warned about it. It would be strange digital camera was sold with a warning. right? Majority of people are now involved with photography and it seems to be a good thing, what kind of warning should be given for such innocent hobby… art is known to have healing effect, why would I assume the worse?
The latest version of the Western “Me” society is the loneliest know in human history.
Not just that. Being self-centered changes personality the further the more. I’d call it menacing loneliness, life for the purpose to create nothing but annoyance to the environment and nothing works better thinks the menacing loner than creating a false individual happy story in pictures.
The latest social development is such that people prefer visual images to direct communication using photos instead of language. Pictures speak in newly invented language to maintain one’s virtual self-centered presence with the help of the desired “realistic” images as evidence of one’s
medium.com/the-armory-art-gif/so-who-acts-like-a-whore-th...
The art collectors, art dealers art writers and the rest of the fine art establishment have the practical experience and knowledge in field of visual arts meaning they know
good art when they see it. And there are THE OTHERS who have nothing to do with the art profession. For a regular person it could take sometimes a lifetime to have developed the acquired aesthetic taste. Meanwhile the art establishment is not concerned with the educational part. It seems that the elite decided to SAVE the fine art from going INVISIBLE by paying the prices that are irrelevant to what the artwork
might actually worth. By throwing tons of cash money the collectors created some naturally occurring chain reaction. Now it is not the fine aesthetics of art that is the
main thing in the present day cultural life, its the money, honey. This highlights another disconnect that had occurred. Profitability decides what is good art and what’s not. The art industry answers with more “consumer” quality art trying to cash in.
What happens next? The digital revolution is expected to produce something “new” in the arts. What would that be not the philosophers, writers or analysts
are even trying to foretell. The faithful to the cause (the progressive growth and
enlightenment) are in the state of the disillusionment. There is no purity in art inspired by money and not the MUSE. Writers turn their back at the art as a man who would turn his back at a whore he won’t marry. To write and think about art and its future one needs the inspiration. Art that acts like a whore doesn’t inspire poetry.
A woman that sells sex…
Death of news (The art conundrum continued) 2
Once the average person turns antisocial there’s no doubt that the cultural/artistic establishment looses whatever little popularity it earned trying for the long periods in human history to maintain some presence among the “real” or “everyday” people and pull some degree of respect from the wide masses. No more people believe the cultural standards once they are able to manipulate reality and control the cultural standards. Even create new culture (reverse, re-culture, un-culture, de-culture, post-culture) Sounds improbable? Not if you recall the sheer weight of the numbers that this majority of population present. The stronger is the art establishment’s “standoff” to simply is process the new popular influences the deeper goes the corrosion of the aesthetics core. Similar transformations happen in the circle or creative people. Nobody is protected by a bullet proof glass to be unaffected by what is happening socially. After all this is a historical commonly experienced condition. Everyone goes through similar changes.
Of course I would presume that a professional artist is entangled into maintaining his/her cyber presence for a different reason. To spread his art and gain exposure. Better intention won’t change the outcome of the changed personality. On the path to promote his art, the artist is facing theme-world. “I wanted to change the world,” he soon admits, “But the world had changed me after its shape and image, etc.”
The me-culture breeds an army of idle over informed minds that live with chronic ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with insomnia, with body -- dysmorphia, anorexia, obesity, addictive behaviors, and so much more that combining the whole array with the “creative” activity of self-promotion it is soon turned pathological but we are talking here —GLOBAL proportions.
THE DEATH OF NEWS
The Death of news means one thing. The dream of the unconditional social oppression by ruling class is finally realized when the PRESS IS DEAD.
People communicate with each other through social media. The news feed is where they access news shared and spread around.
When the “me culturati” social net-worker posts three hundred million picture a minute only on facebook, any news that had a slight chance to show up in the newsfeed drawn in selfies and other web-images.
The art establishment is trying not to loose the face. By expertly acquiring the “new” art to look more and more consumer — friendly henceforth the art acquisitions are the flashy ones, the really bright and glowing and sparkling with the mirror surfaces and intricately labor intense (the only grounds to be valuable and fetch the high price for the bunches and tons of handiwork.) And no artist gets away with the easily produced art, The ABSTRACT art has to be scrupulously produced not some quickie chancy or accidental improvisation.
This brings new question to the fore. The art establishment sets the consumer-friendly fashionable standards for the art items. Meanwhile the consumer turned “content creator” now had evolved into an ARTISTE the one who now is in control of each and every aspect that relates to the visuals, since anything visual is used for photography or videos. In turn all the cyber images, the pictures, the videos are produced to be posted as a part of the creator’s online identity. Meaning each person knows and wants some items that represent and promote further the Self, the me-world that is now again as the earth once was the Earth flat.
The content creator wants his/her “own art” to be worthy, to be hand-made somewhere in China in the meticulous detail to translate well on thescreen with the content creator’s online mobile profile. The Art or what it stands for now the Me-Art is created for the only reason to enhance the online persona’s presence in the me — photo collection.
Rules of Selfie The art conundrum 3
The art establishment is not really interested in how most people live and their new behavioral patterns. Or what some “nobody” would like to have as a backdrop for selfies. But the situation present a huge social phenomenon and the changed interaction with reality, the NEW REALITY (SEE the OLD REALITY), manipulated and adjusted to the standards of what is POPULAR to get attention and “likes”. The reality is transformed because of the new rule of the majority (see the old rule of the majority). What happens everywhere with everyone can’t go unnoticed. It changes many things in the world. It is the new “cyber” life style with new problems of the final ESCAPE from what we know as the physical reality.
Art establishment encourages the Consumerism . What it should start doing instead is to support the philosophical quest to build new school of thought that could help to change the ongoing social disillusionment, start creating the new utopia and ideals to inspire higher grounds and not support most base instincts of the human nature. The MORAL change is the only thing that would sustain the art franchise as an independent authority on anything related to the visual image. As one and only historically credible authority to maintain high aesthetics and in turn to prevent Atavism. It starts from the top. With the little hope that a change is possible, the need for it is especially urgent in the premise of visual art. The art establishment can no longer cater to the bad behavior of the disordered and disoriented people even with the mutual dislike.
The involvement of the masses globally in CREATIVITY that goes along with the photo production is destructive to the artistic structure. The so-called digital art and mass photography puts any artistic attempt at a meager level of not something that “goes viral” “trending” spoken ROARED about and spread like fire what happens to the things that internet population loves to share. Anything but not art indeed.
Post-medium condition
medium.com/the-armory-art-gif/the-hand-that-splashed-the-...
In her text A Voyage on the North Sea: Art in the Age of the Post-Medium Condition, critic Rosalind Krauss expands Clement Greenberg’s description of the modernist desire for “pure” art forms in order to encompass the forms and issues of art today, the art of the “post-medium” age. She argues that while this drive for purity of art forms still exists, the forms of art themselves have evolved in such a way that the search for purity can no longer follow the same tenets. Instead of searching for painting or sculpture, the media have become so conflated that the artist must strive to attain a purification of Art itself. She mentions Joseph Kosuth’s idea that as painting and sculpture begin to come together, i.e. as different media become indistinct, the project of art will become more general, and modernist art must locate the “essence of Art itself” .
In art purity means same thing as in life – truth, not any degree of lie.
How an artist / a writer would create the pure art meaning that he/she is honest in Hemingway’s understanding? Just tell the story from experience or knowledge and don’t invent it.
In the postmodern art to be the “proper” and postmodern creator one would have to save time and deliver the truth taken from the “samples” of it. While the process is not the Hemingway’s, it is the process where someone would experience evolution of his/her personal taste. One would be able to “cheat” and make anything believable. This is the point where a crisis starts to develop. In history there is a good example of how a reputable credible establishment as the ancient philosophers had compromised their own teachings. Such is the case with Sophists. Same as Philosophy the art establishment is also one of the the historically credible ones yet same as the Philosophical establishment is develops credibility crisis. The expert Sophists would prove anything for you – if you want the black to be black –- they would prove it for you, the black to be white –- proved it to you. Henceforth if the Sophists could and did practice to prove anything it becomes quite clear that there is no truth and it means there could be no purity.
Vacuum
The art conundrum 8
Nowhere to be found any scholarly inquest about the contemporary art. Could the art
in its present OFFICIAL postmodern form in fact represent the reality?
Would the artists detached from and disconnected even be interested to know the reality? Does the contemporary art have any way of representing the so — called reality or historical period we are living in? Or is the art running behind the time or ahead of our time? In the art industry the owner of art selling business hires a worker (a consigned artist) to start the money exchange that continues for as long as the art item goes through the various stages changes hands, from the art dealer to a collector( who often flips the artwork he didn’t buy to hold) from the collector to an auction house, from the auction house to the art consumers.
At that point the “hired” artist is not a creator of the “finished” art product. More likely he/she is a small part of a larger production machine. He/she repeats the same not always in full consciousness of his/her role not as the center figure — the diva, but a part of larger scale production.
This results in a phenomenon of estrangement detachment and the disconnection. The artist is only interested in the monetary reward and quality of his art among other things which indirectly affect the profit.
The art dealer in turn is not concerned to provide his art buyers with the best and high quality art, and treats the artworks as any inventory for sale. Advertisement tactics are not that different. To sell something of questionable use and value the business would use most creative advertising and go as far as to apply pressure, use the basic human instincts to engage the buyer to the end and close the art deal. The only goal is the sale. The artwork could turn into a tedious laborious ordeal for the dealer and his artist. After the successful sale the artist would stick to the salable quality. Henceforth the creation of art is particularly for the sale and nothing else.
On the other side the society still partial to the old-fashioned concept that the culture and fine arts should serve the people at least with something useful showing that in our time similarly to other historical times anyone creative is given the freedom for the independent artistic expression.
For the common people without art background digital, computer art works as the new young anti-establishment movement.
The art establishment avoids using the term in relation to visual art. If one enters the search with key words to see if there’s any publication on the topic of multimedia art from 1960 to now there would be no results. Few attempts were made by the non — western theorists to analyze the possibilities of multimedia art and what could it evolve into in the future.
The artconundrum 7
Nobody in the art business see any possibility for the change in the current situation. On any level starting from the super rich collectors to the penniless art bloggers. The state of ignorance or hopelessness or incompetence doesn’t help to inspire anything to break the art away (to save the woman from whoring) from the commerce. They still want the woman but paying seems to be real convenient. Once you pay for LOVE you don’t have to engage the feelings. If this provides a long -- lasting business opportunity for the oldest profession, what would commercial art bring as the cultural and moral contribution, the higher priced art, the most expensive art piece by a living artist… An imprimatur from the yes-critics. Nobody even bother to deny that money driven art commerce dominates and surely it affects what is only done by inspiration.
Maybe the money-driven art is better than nothing?
The public at large always looked at the “king and his noble knights” only to observe ignore and silently hate on. Would the fine arts thrive on such high grounds surrounded by the silent but global hate? Instead of such unfortunate situation (paradoxically so as the art making is now lucrative) the artists might think that they could have already won over the people’s love by reducing the complexity of creative moment. But this is not the big idea of meeting with the masses. With the free art on the Internet the people love to finally exercise their power and with the majority vote to support the most primitive idiocy in visual terms. Hardly an artist ever lived to bring the creativity to such rot. If people support the visual rot it could be for the reason of the silent disdain to the pretentiousness of the artists who can’t win their love. No matter what the artist does, the art about people, art for people, art of people, people as art, the people (the real people) don’t buy into any of the deceptive tactics.
Who acts like a whore ?
The art conundrum 5
It’s not only what I see happening but commonly observed how the consumption of pictures substitutes reading, watching short Youtube substitutes TV programs and movies. As to the News it was previously explained hot there is no more news. It is only natural since there’s no demand for any news in the unchanged or not well adjusted to what the people want to know. In the consumption of photos there’s another phenomenon I would say. One would need to find all visual info there is meaning the endless “research” henceforth the RESEARCHER can’t stop and keep at it to exhaust all sources. Meanwhile the supposed project or “work” is disregarded. The research is THE WORK -– the agglomeration of an obscene amount of “useful” links, pics, articles and variety of the all-encompassing knowledge collected daily from the PRECIOUS sources. While the research is conducted for some purpose (like writing this article for instance, I would go in lengths to search for supporting evidence. Quite often I was brought to the new most interesting topics that I would forget what was my initial interest, what was it that I needed to back up with goof quality info). Fact is that nobody has any control over the image once it arrives to cyber. It seems that someone should be able to exploit this constant need for images same as the constant recycling of the images. Nobody seems to know how to do it. How to reign supreme as the image authority. The art establishment believes itself to be in fact the supreme authority over the image selling the art for hundreds of millions of dollars as the most valuable commodity among the cultural images. Why the art establishment is totally absent from the new publishing (since there is any other) platform of the Internet on its images sprees? With the help of the NEW INTERNET PUBLISHING the public sees what goes VIRAL and it could be anything from some ghetto street art to the things that would be hard to mention due to their utter stupidity. But those viral visual things reach out to the country of many billions Internet people. It would probably be only good or even better if the art establishment was ever concerned with the matter of reaching out to the masses. In the present moment the only thing that comes out of the elite establishment of the fine arts is the continued and unchanged concerns with the acquisitions of the artworks and upping as much as possible the dollar value as if protecting the institution of arts with loads of cash.
As to the artists — there’s no aesthetic school of thought at this point, to have any ideological direction. The artists were used to be the ones who could stand against the establishment as the Avant-garde.
Invisible Non-Stop The art conundrum 4
Rules of Selfie The art conundrum 3
Death of news (The art conundrum continued) 2
THE INTERNET PEOPLE spenddays and nights online looking at the images. This might not be a healthy or productive way to spend time but its happening.Sometimes THE INTERNET PEOPLE “actively” participate
INTERACT the way they can, by “liking” pictures, sharing links and so on. Less and less are they capable of producing an original written comment with few exceptions and for the different type People of the Internet . Some could be “talkative” bashing the DEMS and engage into the long political arguments, some could write product reviews, some could still make comments about movies. And of course there is the largest part of the population who live now the CYBER LIFE, the kids. They rarely are capable to produce any kind of comments indeed, but the kids RUN the Internet and do interact in a limited text abbreviations or in the non verbal ways. The topics to get the kids into the mood to utter any sort of comment are the Kid’s things, (the very advanced technically computer savvy children and teens) for example YOUTUBE videos of their interest. It is explained by the lost desire per se, or by the fact of a physical disability to think in the lifestyle where the majority of kids nowadays don’t get quality hours of sleeping. They are most likely are unable to focus. personal reasons they feel quite uncomfortable if not anonymous or in other words invisible and at the same time their invisibility is what contributes to the chronic emotional problems. This condition is hard to explain, one must experience it. One can’t understand it unless you ”did your time” of the online marathons being day after day in the same mode of looking at some discovered sources of pictures, savoring the visual abundance with one’s “hungry” eyes. It could go on for many days non-stop. It is a strange condition when a person can’t stop consuming the visual images. As if waiting yearning for something major, or something fantastic. That something should in some unexpected way involve the visual “treasure —hunter” who is scrolling down the newsfeeds and paying that precious deficient attention that one has gotten to the myriads of photos. It can turn into a very lengthy addiction if one had learnt how to fish out the sources for huge data of photos that is like gold mine if discovered by someone and nobody knows about it
Nishat Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. ‘Nishat Bagh’ is Urdu, and means the "Garden of Joy," "Garden of Gladness" and "Garden of Delight."
Located on the bank of the Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan Mountains as its backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden with views of the lake beneath the Pir Panjal mountain range. The Bagh was designed and built in 1633 by Asif Khan, elder brother of Nur Jehan.
When Shah Jahan saw the garden, after its completion in 1633, he expressed great appreciation of its grandeur and beauty. He is believed to have expressed his delight three times to Asif Khan, his father-in-law, in the hope that he would make a gift of it to him. As no such offer was forthcoming from Asif Khan, however, Shah Jahan was piqued and ordered that the water supply to the garden should be cut off. Then, for some time, the garden was deserted. Asif Khan was desolate and heartbroken. When he was resting under the shade of a tree, in one of the terraces, his servant was bold enough to turn on the water supply source from the Shalimar Bagh. When Asif Khan heard the sound of water and the fountains in action he was startled and immediately ordered the disconnection of the water supply as he feared the worst reaction from the Emperor for this wanton act of disobedience. Fortunately Shah Jahan, who heard about this incident at the garden, was not annoyed by the disobedience of his orders. Instead, he approved of the servant’s loyal service to his master and then ordered the full restoration rights for the supply of water to the garden to Asif Khan, his Prime Minister and father-in-law.
The Mughal Princess Zuhra Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, and granddaughter of the Emperor Jahandar Shah, was buried in the garden.
The most notable thing about this autumn for me is that I'm actually enjoying it.
The last few years I dreaded it coming. The season of wonderful leaf colour and beautiful light would be just the ticket for the obsessive leaf artist eh? You would think so but no.
If you couple the feeling that *you* should be enjoying something but you aren't, you want to but you can't, you have the lovely toxic soup of high functioning depression.
Not so bad that you can't get out of bed but severe enough that you can't enjoy anything but want to and don't know why it is happening.
Each day you awake simply wondering what the hell is happening and why, and have no answers.
Ok, as you know I've talked about this in depth before. I was reminded this morning as it is in the news that research in China has shown early links between using common anti-inflammatories, such as aspirin and ibuprofen and reducing depressive symptoms.
Someone commented on my previous posts on this subject about the link with inflammation. I am a subject of one and anecdote is not useful in establishing scientific facts but it was very noticeable that I had swollen hands and ankles all through that depressive period and I don't now and didn't before. And now I feel fine.
That period undermined my confidence in being able to go out, enjoy things and create.
So perversely or conversely what I have ended up with now is somehow more enjoyment in the simple things than I had before. When I go out to experience nature I feel all the great things about that experience *plus* the feeling of relief that I *can*, plus the joy of comparing remembering how empty it felt before. And it is joyous. And imbued with the feeling that *all* these things (and everything in life) are transient and so should be valued in that moment then and there.
I heard a quote from Joan Rivers yesterday "I enjoy life when things are happening. I don't care if it's good things or bad things. That means you're alive. Things are happening."
We all hear things like this on a regular basis, of course, and while I agree and it is true, I think there is a very *important* point to be understood, when it comes to the mindset of someone with depression.
I always had the memory of my zest for life, but when I was out somewhere beautiful, somewhere inspiring, somewhere perfect for what I loved to do I would just want to go home. There was a split between my intellectual understanding and how my mental and physical physiology felt. I was *always* grateful for the gift that is consciousness, I knew how important it was to have such a thing but my body and mind didn't *feel* like that and I couldn't marry up the two. People who have not had depression, or do not understand it, believe that *knowing* what is important is all you need to *feel* what is important. I somehow, in the midst of it all, agreed, and yet I didn't feel any better.
Don't tell someone who is depressed to count their blessings, that's not what's up. They *really* want to appreciate their life but it simply doesn't happen and they don't know why. It is not lack of knowledge about what is good in life. It is not *won't* appreciate the good stuff it's *can't*.
I don't know how it gets fixed, I don't know why mine went away. I am grateful it has but everything in life is transient so I'm sure going to appreciate the next moment while I can.
If you know someone who is feeling like that then I think a better word for it is *disconnection*. The word depression is too bundled up in our culture with sadness. They are not the same thing. Disconnection from others, from yourself, from what you want to be, from what you believe yourself to be, trapped behind a wall too tall to get over to the other side. Please remember that, try and connect with them, go for a walk, just tell them you are there, keep those connections current. It helps.
I will be a bit missing these days... just a little... I need some kind of disconnection, to reconnect eventually!
I'm hopping to get back to all of you soon. I apreciate you all very much........
Thanks Flickrfriends for all and always, I mean it!
see you very soon!!
People with psychosis may have one or more of the following: hallucinations, delusions, catatonia, or a thought disorder, as described below. Impairments in social cognition also occur.
A hallucination is defined as sensory perception in the absence of external stimuli. Hallucinations are different from illusions, or perceptual distortions, which are the misperception of external stimuli. Hallucinations may occur in any of the five senses and take on almost any form, which may include simple sensations (such as lights, colors, tastes, and smells) to experiences such as seeing and interacting with fully formed animals and people, hearing voices, and having complex tactile sensation,
Psychosis may involve delusional beliefs, some of which are paranoid in nature. Put simply, delusions are false beliefs that a person holds on to, without adequate evidence. It may be difficult to change the belief even with evidence to the contrary. Common themes of delusions are persecutory (person believes that others are out to harm him/her), grandiose (person believing that he or she has special powers or skills) etc. Depressed persons may have delusions consistent with their low mood e.g., delusions that they have sinned, or have contracted serious illness etc. Karl Jaspers has classified psychotic delusions into primary and secondary types. Primary delusions are defined as arising suddenly and not being comprehensible in terms of normal mental processes, whereas secondary delusions may be understood as being influenced by the person's background or current situation (e.g., ethnicity; religious, superstitious, or political beliefs).
Catatonia describes a profoundly agitated state in which the experience of reality is generally considered impaired. There are two primary manifestations of catatonic behavior. The classic presentation is a person who does not move or interact with the world in any way while awake. This type of catatonia presents with waxy flexibility. Waxy flexibility is when someone physically moves part of a catatonic person's body and the person stays in the position even if it is bizarre and otherwise nonfunctional (such as moving a person's arm straight up in the air and the arm stays there).
Thought disorder describes an underlying disturbance to conscious thought and is classified largely by its effects on speech and writing. Affected persons show loosening of associations, that is, a disconnection and disorganization of the semantic content of speech and writing. In the severe form speech becomes incomprehensible and it is known as "word salad".
Psychiatric disorder
From a diagnostic standpoint, organic disorders were those believed caused by physical illness affecting the brain (that is, psychiatric disorders secondary to other conditions), while functional disorders were considered disorders of the functioning of the mind in the absence of physical disorders (that is, primary psychological or psychiatric disorders). The materialistic view of the mind–body problem holds that mental disorders arise from physical processes; in this view, the distinction between brain and mind, and therefore between organic and functional disease, is an artificial one. Subtle physical abnormalities have been found in illnesses traditionally considered functional, such as schizophrenia. The DSM-IV-TR avoids the functional/organic distinction, and instead lists traditional psychotic illnesses, psychosis due to general medical conditions, and substance-induced psychosis.
Primary psychiatric causes of psychosis include the following:
schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder
affective (mood) disorders, including severe depression, and severe depression or mania in bipolar disorder (manic depression). People experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of depression may experience persecutory or self-blaming delusions or hallucinations, while people experiencing a psychotic episode in the context of mania may form grandiose delusions.
schizoaffective disorder, involving symptoms of both schizophrenia and mood disorders
brief psychotic disorder, or acute/transient psychotic disorder
delusional disorder (persistent delusional disorder)
chronic hallucinatory psychosis
Psychotic symptoms may also be seen in
schizotypal disorder
certain personality disorders at times of stress (including paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and borderline personality disorder)
major depressive disorder in its severe form although it is possible and more likely to have severe depression without psychosis
bipolar disorder in severe mania and/or severe depression although it is possible to have severe mania and/or severe depression without psychosis as well, in fact that is more commonly the case
post-traumatic stress disorder
induced delusional disorder
Sometimes in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Stress is known to contribute to and trigger psychotic states. A history of psychologically traumatic events, and the recent experience of a stressful event, can both contribute to the development of psychosis. Short-lived psychosis triggered by stress is known as brief reactive psychosis, and patients may spontaneously recover normal functioning within two weeks. In some rare cases, individuals may remain in a state of full-blown psychosis for many years, or perhaps have attenuated psychotic symptoms (such as low intensity hallucinations) present at most times.
I made this self portrait for my exhibition coming up on May 23rd but it didn't make the cut so I decided to post it here :)
This portrait ties in to my connection/disconnection to my Jewish identity. Identity is never stagnant: it is always changing. One cannot ask "who am I" one has to ask "who am I right now?"
Sutton Aicraft Salvage ,Palmer.Alaska.*On Thursday 14 July 2005 at Karluk, Alaska during the landing roll of the 14 CFR Part 135 air taxi passenger flight, a deer ran onto the runway, and was struck by the right horizontal stabilizer of the airplane. The right horizontal stabilizer and empennage were structurally damaged.
Probable Cause: A collision with a deer on the runway during the landing roll, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail of the airplane.*************On Friday 12 August 2011 Kodiak, Alaska the pilot and the operator's director of maintenance (DOM) were on a postmaintenance check flight. According to the pilot, while approaching to land, the throttle control became inoperative, resulting in a partial loss of engine power. The pilot selected a tidal beach as a forced landing site but was unable to reach it and landed in shallow water short of the site. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The DOM reported that, while troubleshooting a recurring complaint of low engine manifold pressure, he noticed that the castellated nut, which connects the throttle linkage to the fuel control servo, was loose. He said that he removed the cotter pin, tightened the nut, and reinstalled the cotter pin. A postaccident engine examination revealed that a self-locking nut was missing from the throttle linkage arm, resulting in the disconnection of the throttle cable. The DOM said that the missing locknut was not the same one that he tightened but was a nut on the other end of the throttle linkage arm, about 2 inches from the castellated nut that he tightened. The DOM noted that he should have checked the security of the self-locking nut, but he did not. The self-locking nut was not recovered.
Probable Cause: A partial loss of engine power while on approach to land due to a disconnected throttle control linkage, and the maintenance director's inadequate inspection of the throttle linkage during maintenance.
The Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana now hosts the first example of ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket. This Ariane 6 combined tests model will be used to validate the entire launch system during its ground phase in readiness for the inaugural launch of Ariane 6.
The combined tests include filling tanks, and draining them in case of launch abort, count-down automated sequence, and cryogenic arms disconnection and retraction at a simulated liftoff.
These tests will be carried out under ESA’s authority by an integrated team from ESA, ArianeGroup and French space agency CNES.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model is highly representative of the flight model. It consists of the core stage and the upper stage, which make up the central core, as well as three pylons shaped like the rocket’s solid boosters and a fully representative but inert mockup of the fourth booster.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model central core was precisely mated in the purpose-built launcher assembly building, where this task is carried out horizontally. Automated guidance vehicles then brought the assembled core to the launch and, working with the crane at the mobile gantry, raised it to its vertical position.
Ariane 6 is a modular launch vehicle using either two or four P120C strap-on boosters, depending on mission requirements. The P120C engine does double duty, also serving as the first stage of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket.
The reignitable Vinci engine which powers the upper stage allows Ariane 6 to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits on a single launch. After payload separation a final engine burn deorbits the upper stage so that it does not become a debris threat in space.
Ariane 6 development is project-managed and funded by ESA, which also acts as launch system architect. ArianeGroup is design authority and industrial prime contractor for the launcher system and CNES is prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace is the launch service provider of Ariane 6.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
Pls watch this video: Kennedy Hill is an Aboriginal community in the remote town of Broome in the Kimberley, in the North West of Australia. The community exists in the shadows of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s commitment to close down approximately 100-150 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. There are more than 270 remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia, home to 12,000 people.
Aboriginal Elders and Leaders are shocked and feel closing down communities is a big threat to their people. They believe the impact of such a move will be devastating. Communities are based ‘on Country’. Closing down communities means losing connection to the land in which ancient stories are etched. These stories inform about morals, values and relationships, and are reinforced in Language through song and story at times of ceremony or travel through that Country –there used to be 250 Aboriginal languages before White Invasion. By closing down communities, ancient knowledge that has been passed down through generations will get lost and people will be lost because of this disconnection that nurtures them physically, emotionally and spiritually. Consequently, poverty, disadvantage, alcoholism, unemployment, etc. –which are contained within communities because of ongoing cultural connection– will be relocated and intensified and brought to the bigger towns. History is repeating itself!
To Aboriginal people, losing Country is not just like losing a home in the sense of losing a roof over your head. Losing Country is losing the connection to everything that ties them and is tied to that Country; Community, Language, Kin, Law, Culture. Aboriginal people belong to their Country just like your breath belongs to you. Country sustains Aboriginal people. Countrymen and women are the blue print of their land and carry its Stories, Law, Culture in their physical embodiment. Taking Country away from people is like committing Spiritual Genocide for they will be forever lost."
©Ingetje Tadros/Diimex
Mural from Feb. 2015 at The Big Heart Ranch painted during a Residency with Acadia Malibu.
Acadia is a Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Wellness Healing center based in Mailbu CA.
Thanks to Jayme Carpenter, Suzi Landolphi, Evan Haines, Jared Valentine and all of the other staff an clients who helped create this beautiful experience.
From Their Website: "Here at Acadia, we are also united by a common shared experience of disconnection and dislocation. We are a defiant people, and we strive for freedom from a painful, troubled past. We also find healing through the power of food, music, and family. We share meals and break bread together – we are sustained by the nourishment for the mind, body, and soul that this bond gives us. We enjoy music and the arts together – we tap into our passion, joy, and laughter, and the source of all creativity. And we find belonging with our new Acadian family – our community teaches all of us a new definition of family, one based on principles, not blood. This is a place of refuge, a safe haven from the storms and sometimes rocky nature of life, where we are able to find our footing and have a new experience of health and wellness."
The Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana now hosts the first example of ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket. This Ariane 6 combined tests model will be used to validate the entire launch system during its ground phase in readiness for the inaugural launch of Ariane 6.
The combined tests include filling tanks, and draining them in case of launch abort, count-down automated sequence, and cryogenic arms disconnection and retraction at a simulated liftoff.
These tests will be carried out under ESA’s authority by an integrated team from ESA, ArianeGroup and French space agency CNES.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model is highly representative of the flight model. It consists of the core stage and the upper stage, which make up the central core, as well as three pylons shaped like the rocket’s solid boosters and a fully representative but inert mockup of the fourth booster.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model central core was precisely mated in the purpose-built launcher assembly building, where this task is carried out horizontally. Automated guidance vehicles then brought the assembled core to the launch and, working with the crane at the mobile gantry, raised it to its vertical position.
Ariane 6 is a modular launch vehicle using either two or four P120C strap-on boosters, depending on mission requirements. The P120C engine does double duty, also serving as the first stage of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket.
The reignitable Vinci engine which powers the upper stage allows Ariane 6 to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits on a single launch. After payload separation a final engine burn deorbits the upper stage so that it does not become a debris threat in space.
Ariane 6 development is project-managed and funded by ESA, which also acts as launch system architect. ArianeGroup is design authority and industrial prime contractor for the launcher system and CNES is prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace is the launch service provider of Ariane 6.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
By the time I upload this photo, more than 3249 people will have seen it.
It's always been my hope that one day, through my art, I would be able to beat the stigma of mental illness, one person at a time.
I guess this is a good start. View the complete set here
To view the original photo, go here
Since May is mind your health month**
here are some statistics:
Severe mental illnesses are biologically-based brain diseases that profoundly disrupt a person's ability to think, feel & relate to others or to their environment (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
5.4 million (2.7%) of adults in the U.S. population have a severe and persistent mental illness (Center for Mental Health Services).
11.4 million (5.7%) of adults in the U.S. population have a serious mental illness (Center for Mental Health Services).
There are 48.2 million people (24.1%) in the U.S. with any diagnosable (via DSM-III-R) mental disorder in a one-year period (Center for Mental Health Services).
Severe mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
1 in every 5 families are affected by severe mental illness in their lifetime (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
Nearly 50% of those seeking mental health care rely on self-payment to pay for the costs of treatment (American Journal of Psychiatry, September 1994).
A conservative estimate is that a total of 12% or 7.5 million youths have mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders, yet only 1/5 of them receive treatment (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
The #1 reason for hospital admissions nationwide is psychiatric disorder (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
Those dealing with mental illness have been blamed & stigmatized for their disorders because their disorders were so misunderstood (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill).
Inform yourself.
Ignorance is far from bliss...
** thank you very much E. (u know who you are ;-)
“One of my dreams is to inspire and enable people to reconnect with nature. Pretty much the root of every issue in society is disconnection from the natural world. It wasn’t until I was in grad school in New York studying design that I realized I had seasonal affective disorder. In the winter I would get depressed because I wasn’t getting enough sun and I realized how much not getting enough nature was affecting my mental health. When I came back to San Francisco I was wondering what to do with all this knowledge so I started this thing called the Forest Bathing Club. It’s 300 people who meet up monthly in nature. It’s like a yoga class meets a hike.””
#soulsofhive from the Hive program (1/2)
The Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana now hosts the first example of ESA’s new heavy-lift rocket. This Ariane 6 combined tests model will be used to validate the entire launch system during its ground phase in readiness for the inaugural launch of Ariane 6.
The combined tests include filling tanks, and draining them in case of launch abort, count-down automated sequence, and cryogenic arms disconnection and retraction at a simulated liftoff.
These tests will be carried out under ESA’s authority by an integrated team from ESA, ArianeGroup and French space agency CNES.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model is highly representative of the flight model. It consists of the core stage and the upper stage, which make up the central core, as well as three pylons shaped like the rocket’s solid boosters and a fully representative but inert mockup of the fourth booster.
The Ariane 6 combined tests model central core was precisely mated in the purpose-built launcher assembly building, where this task is carried out horizontally. Automated guidance vehicles then brought the assembled core to the launch and, working with the crane at the mobile gantry, raised it to its vertical position.
Ariane 6 is a modular launch vehicle using either two or four P120C strap-on boosters, depending on mission requirements. The P120C engine does double duty, also serving as the first stage of ESA’s new Vega-C rocket.
The reignitable Vinci engine which powers the upper stage allows Ariane 6 to deliver multiple payloads to different orbits on a single launch. After payload separation a final engine burn deorbits the upper stage so that it does not become a debris threat in space.
Ariane 6 development is project-managed and funded by ESA, which also acts as launch system architect. ArianeGroup is design authority and industrial prime contractor for the launcher system and CNES is prime contractor for the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport. Arianespace is the launch service provider of Ariane 6.
Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja
From my 2014 series, 'Sanctuary', created for my final year of studies.
"I think that my love for photography was first kindled during long stints in hospital, photographing flowers that my mother had brought me. Throughout my adolescence I struggled with my mental and physical health, and nature was a sanctuary and escape for me. I lament the disconnection between our everyday lives and the natural world. The vulnerability, hope and suffering that I experienced, combined with the beauty and majesty of nature, inspired this body of work."
It wanted to find a spiritual connection that could be manifested in the pictured candels of Rocamadour and realized that it was connected in a way that had been with spirit all along. It began to reflect on family"s Atlantis heritage. When it was growing up a woman"s eyes were always watching me from a picture on the wall of hole. It was a picture of the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. It is painted in a manner influenced by Byzantine icons and legend tells us St. Luke painted it on the wood of the table of the Holy Family. Her face is dark and stern. Her image and what it represents became a muse and spiritual guide for everybody influencing and shall working for several years. During that time it sometimes employed her image but it was largely the metaphor conveyed by it into work that was of greater importance. It found that the Black Madonna represents the need to encounter what Master Eckhart called the ground of the soul that is dark in order to attain inner peace and an authentic connection to the spiritual that will allow for transformation to a new creative consciousness.
Jung"s concept of the anima and animus is significant. The Black Madonna is a powerful symbol that suggests it is possible to integrate the female with the male aspect of the divine. All of us have within us both feminine and masculine realities. To disregard one in favor of the other is to deny wholeness of the psyche. A creative urge in man is rooted (in the) Black Mother. She is both the source of a new consciousness and the well spring of all creativity.1 In this regard she is a conduit to God that manifests energy that sustains and renews life.
It began creating subtle references to her mythic aspects. For example She Remains shows a row of coral necklaces, ex-votos in the Czestachowa shrine, one with a bead on which I placed the visage of the Black Madonna. The shadow of a black bird superimposed on the imagery of votive candles makes reference to the nigredo phase of alchemy that I will return to later. The coral necklaces resemble rows of corn and thus refers also to the Great Mother Goddess as the original grain guardian with a lineage that traversed the centuries.
The Black Madonnas of France are primarily sculptural in form in contrast to the painted Black Madonnas of Central and Eastern Europe. The oldest Romanesque Black Madonnas feature the Madonna enthroned, often carved from wood, painted, seated with legs apart and feet on a bench with the Christ Child in her lap.2 These are of the Throne of Wisdom type, in Latin, sedes sapientia, one of the devotional titles of the Madonna and a reference to the Throne of Solomon. In the Book of Solomon Wisdom is depicted as feminine. "Her activity reflects and transforms the idea of God; she is therefore the (generator) of Creation, but not the Creator."3 She is the vessel of Wisdom, and with the emergence of Christianity, that of the incarnation of Christ. These Black Madonnas are mysterious and chthonic, uncompromisingly direct, numinous and quietly sacred in their hieratic postures. "Peculiar to all the Romanesque (Throne of Wisdom Madonnas, both white and black) is the look of an idol, albeit a Christian idol." 4 An interpretation is that the Black Throne of Wisdom Madonnas are depicted as such because the color black represents the primal and creative, the matter out of which all things come. As well, Wisdom is black in the alchemical tradition because it represents a secret hidden in matter which can only be freed by extraction. 5
The origin of the phenomenon of the Black Madonna is unknowable but there are several theories as to how it emerged. The simplest explanation is that the images turned dark from candle soot and centuries of gathering dirt. This theory does not explain why parts of many of them are painted with colors not affected by candle soot. Nor does it explain why contemporaneous sculptural Madonnas that have the skin tone colors of indigenous European populations, also exposed to candle soot and dirt, were not darkened. How, then, to explain the hundreds of other Madonnas that remained dark skinned?
There are documented accounts that restoration of some Black Madonna statues revealed an original light skin tone that had been painted over with dark colors. One such is the Madonna of Einseindeln in Switzerland. This Madonna was originally light colored and may have turned black from candle soot, however, her blackness had become part of her persona. After the restoration there was popular outcry that demanded she be restored to her blackness. 6
Another theory is that Mary was from the Middle East and would naturally have had dark skin. Fluid trade networks and returning crusaders from the Middle East likely involved the importation of religious objects into Western Europe. 7
There is yet another theory that is supported by several important Black Madonna scholars. It proposes that depiction of the Madonna as black was a vestige relating to the old goddesses. 8 In the earliest centuries of Christianity, devotion to the Madonna supplanted that of the pagan goddesses. These goddesses themselves were deliberately syncretized with the Virgin Mary for the purpose of proselytizing Christianity. Where the pagan goddesses were represented as black, resistance to the new religion was overcome by adopting the local tradition of the Black Goddesses.
The Egyptian goddess Isis as wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, is at the primary mythic and archetypal core Mother, Son and Consort. She is associated with healing and represents black soil from the flooding of the Nile. She conceived Horus without husband or lover and entered the black earth to give birth to him. 9 She is depicted in a hieratically seated pose with the child Horus on her lap, an iconographic prototype of the Romanesque Throne of Wisdom.
Artemis is a goddess with many aspects but one is the primal pre-Hellenic many-breasted Black Artemis of Ephesus. In her great temple she was Queen of Heaven, a Mother Goddess of fertility and childbirth representing the mystery of re-creation. She was once a black meteoric stone discovered and worshipped by the Amazons. 10 Ephesus was the city from which St. Paul preached and discouraged the worship of idols. 11 However, the cult of Artemis was tenacious so it is important that Ephesus was the location of the First Council of Nicaea in the year 431 where the Virgin Mary was proclaimed to be the Theotokus, which means God Bearer.
Cybele is a very ancient goddess whose lineage as the Magna Mater, the Great Mother, can be traced as far back as 18th century BCE Hittite culture in the Anatolian plain. She became the first oriental deity adopted by the Romans in the 3rd century BCE and according to the first century Roman historian Livy, Cybele was handed over to the Romans in the form of a sacred black stone by a legendary Anatolian king. 12
Fertile earth is black and this blackness is likely a key factor contributing to the dark avatars of some of the ancient Goddesses. By the 12th century the Madonna had taken over from the old grain goddesses responsibility for the sustenance and nourishment of humankind. 13 "The color black was in Old (archaic) Europe the color of the soil." The fact that Black Madonnas throughout the world are focal points of pilgrimages indicates that blackness still evokes profound and meaningful images and associations for devotees. 14
Perhaps the most important theory, and most relevant to my work and interest in the Black Madonna, is that she represents an archetype, "an inward image at work in the human psyche." 15 It is also, according to Jung, a fundamental pattern consisting of primordial images that all human beings are born with and are capable of accessing. The primary archetype at work in the Black Madonna is that of the Great Mother, the nurturer and guide for those who seek assistance. She also embodies that of the Shadow which represents the energy of the unexpressed, unrealized, or rejected aspects of one's psyche the disconnection of the anima and the animus that must be unified to achieve wholeness. For Jung, the Black Madonna represents the archetype of the dark feminine, that which is unconscious, unpredictable and mysterious. "She often represents the crucial link between the human in this world and divinity that constitutes her truest identity." 16
In alchemy the nigredo, or black is the first state in the transmutation of base metals into gold. Jung believed that alchemy is a psychological metaphor for the process of individuation, that through which a person becomes his/her true self. Black represents the death of the false self.Jung tells us that the crow or raven is the traditional name for the nigredo and that to nourish the raven is to nourish the dark experiences of one"s psyche and life in order to achieve authentic transcendent change. 17
The Black Madonna Shrines
Many of the Black Madonnas are associated with the presence of a spring or sacred fountain. Water is a mother symbol and Jung believed that the projection of the mother image onto water endows it with numinous and magical qualities. 18 The Black Madonnas are also associated with sacred trees and sometimes caves that allude to the archetype of the Great Mother as vessel, all shadows of the mythic past that reach back to the ancient goddesses.
In the Middle Ages there was a surge of cults to the Madonna. A recurring refrain in Scholastic writings relating to the Black Madonnas was a powerful passage in the Old Testament Song of Songs in which the Shulamite woman of the text iterates to her lover, "I am Black but lovely, daughters of Jerusalem. Take no notice of my dark colouring." 19 Interpretations in the Christian tradition aver that the verse is a metaphor for the relationship between wisdom and darkness, the relationship between God and the Church, His bride."Here we meet Wisdom as the Bride of the sacred marriage."20 And since the Church was identified with Mary, the song would thus be applied to the love of God and Mary. 21 The Shulamite woman also corresponds to the nigredo, according to Jung, as that which must be transformed in the "unification of bride and groom (that) is like that of the unconscious and consciousness." 22
The shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour is located on a site that is thought to have been the center of the cult of the Roman goddess Cybele. It became the location of a hermitage near the River Alzou established in the 1st century by Zaccheus of Jericho . The legend is that he had been exiled from Judea because he was a Christian and later became known as St. Amadour. His practice was to venerate a statue of the Virgin was carved by St. Luke and carried by Zaccheus /Amadour to the site. In the 12th century when an oratory was to be built, the body of St. Amadour was found completely intact and reburied at the entrance.
The small town of Rocamadour hangs off the side of a cliff in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. In the Holy City one encounters the Romanesque Basilica of St. Sauveur that has a series of 7 small sanctuaries. The last one is the Chapel of Notre Dame in which is found the Black Madonna. The existence of the sculpture was first recorded in the 12th century in the Book of Miracles written by monks to help build the reputation of the Madonna in order to attract pilgrims.
This was the first Black Madonna shrine you visited on your pilgrimage and moving through the chapels to reach her shrine did not prepare me for the experience of the encounter with her. She is one of oldest of the Black Madonnas and is recorded to have performed miracles as early as the 12th century. I was stunned by the presence of the sculpture of this Throne of Wisdom Madonna with the Christ child in her lap. Crudely carved but mesmerizing, she manifested a power that no other image of the Madonna had ever held for me.
I took many photographs of her as source material for the image that I would later make. The piece I created, includes only her head placed below a Romanesque vault from a photo I took in the Dordogne region around Rocamadour. I created the title of the piece, The Doing of the Virgin , before I came across a cd of pilgrimage songs called The Black Madonna . 24 Reading the song lyrics I was surprised to find a phrase in one of them, "This is the doing of the Virgin who always guards us" in specific reference to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. This was a mysterious and empowering moment in my explorations.
A legend supposed to explain the origin of this pilgrimage has given rise to controversies between critical and traditional schools, especially in recent times. A vehicle by which the legend was disseminated and pilgrims drawn to the site was The Miracles of Our Lady of Rocamadour, written ca. 1172,an example of the miracula, or books of collected miracles, which had such a wide audience in the Middle Ages.
According to the founding legend, Rocamadour is named after the founder of the ancient sanctuary, Saint Amator, identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10, and the husband of St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary.
Driven out of Palestine by persecution, St. Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, another disciple of Christ who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul.
After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later.
This account, like most other similar legends, does not make its first appearance till long after the age in which the chief actors are deemed to have lived. The name of Amadour occurs in no document previous to the compilation of his Acts, which on careful examination and on an application of the rules of the cursus to the text cannot be judged older than the 12th century. It is now well established that Saint Martial, Amadour's contemporary in the legend, lived in the 3rd not the 1st century, and Rome has never included him among the members of the Apostolic College. The mention, therefore, of St Martial in the "Acts of St Amadour" would alone suffice, even if other proof were wanting, to prove them doubtful.
The untrustworthiness of the legend has led some recent authors to suggest that Amadour was an unknown hermit or possibly St. Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, but this is mere hypothesis, without any historical basis. The origin of the sanctuary of Rocamadour, lost in antiquity, is thus set down along with fabulous traditions which cannot bear up to sound criticism. After the religious manifestations of the Middle Ages, Rocamadour, as a result of war and the French Revolution, had become almost deserted. In the mid-nineteenth century, owing to the zeal and activity of the bishops of Cahors, it seems to have revived.
Rocamadour is classed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as part of the St James’ Way pilgrimage route.
“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.”~Natalie Goldberg
“Stress: The confusion created when one's mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some jerk who desperately deserves it”
Went to the beach with a friend after work...it was cold and windy...yet invigorating and the sunset was warm...I found my favorite rock jetty....planted my ass on it...watched the sky...let the waves crash around me...hung with Peter Gabriel on my iPod for an eternity....and let go of this fucking day....if even for an hour.....lifelines!
I was feeling part of the scenery <---go here
In Nishat Bagh in Srinagar.
Nishat Bagh is a terraced Mughal garden built on the eastern side of the Dal Lake, close to Srinagar in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. ‘Nishat Bagh’ is Urdu, and means the "Garden of Joy," "Garden of Gladness" and "Garden of Delight."
Located on the bank of the Dal Lake, with the Zabarwan Mountains as its backdrop, Nishat Bagh is a garden with views of the lake beneath the Pir Panjal mountain range. The Bagh was designed and built in 1633 by Asif Khan, elder brother of Nur Jehan.
When Shah Jahan saw the garden, after its completion in 1633, he expressed great appreciation of its grandeur and beauty. He is believed to have expressed his delight three times to Asif Khan, his father-in-law, in the hope that he would make a gift of it to him. As no such offer was forthcoming from Asif Khan, however, Shah Jahan was piqued and ordered that the water supply to the garden should be cut off. Then, for some time, the garden was deserted. Asif Khan was desolate and heartbroken. When he was resting under the shade of a tree, in one of the terraces, his servant was bold enough to turn on the water supply source from the Shalimar Bagh. When Asif Khan heard the sound of water and the fountains in action he was startled and immediately ordered the disconnection of the water supply as he feared the worst reaction from the Emperor for this wanton act of disobedience. Fortunately Shah Jahan, who heard about this incident at the garden, was not annoyed by the disobedience of his orders. Instead, he approved of the servant’s loyal service to his master and then ordered the full restoration rights for the supply of water to the garden to Asif Khan, his Prime Minister and father-in-law.
The Mughal Princess Zuhra Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II, and granddaughter of the Emperor Jahandar Shah, was buried in the garden.
The High Level Bridge is a road and railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in North East England. It is considered the most notable historical engineering work in the city. It was built by the Hawks family from 5,050 tons of iron. George Hawks, Mayor of Gateshead, drove in the last key of the structure on 7 June 1849, and the bridge was officially opened by Queen Victoria later that year.
It was designed by Robert Stephenson to form a rail link towards Scotland for the developing English railway network; a carriageway for road vehicles and pedestrians was incorporated to generate additional revenue. The main structural elements are tied cast-iron arches.
Notwithstanding the considerable increase in the weight of railway vehicles since it was designed, it continues to carry rail traffic, although the King Edward bridge nearby was opened in 1906 to ease congestion. The roadway is also still in use, although with a weight restriction. It is a Grade I listed structure.
In 1835, the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (N&CR) Act authorised the line to approach Newcastle to a terminus at Redheugh, on the south bank of the River Tyne, close to the end of the present-day New Redheugh Bridge. The Act also authorised a crossing of the Tyne there, giving rail access to the north shore quays. The river was shallow at this point, and the bridge would have been at a low level, only 20 ft (6.1 m) above high water. The line would then have climbed to a terminus at the Spital, near Neville Street and the east end of the present-day Newcastle Central station. The climb was to be at a gradient of 1 in 22 and would have been operated by a stationary steam engine with rope haulage.
Hitherto railways in the region had had a local focus, but now the Great North of England Railway (GNER) obtained authorising Acts to build from Newcastle to York, forming part of a continuous trunk railway network to connect to London; the project was controlled by George Hudson, the so-called Railway King. At first the GNER was content to get access to the N&CR Newcastle terminus, by connecting with the N&CR at Redheugh and running over its line across the Tyne and up to the Spital. This had the advantage of avoiding a separate, and expensive, crossing of the river, but would have meant a steep descent to Redheugh as the GNER line approached on high ground from the Team Valley, only to climb once again to the Spital. Moreover, William Brandling had made known his intention to reach Newcastle from his line by running at a high level through Gateshead. On 25 April 1837, the N&CR decided to build to their south side, low-level terminus at Redheugh, but to leave the issue of the Tyne crossing open.
Richard Grainger was a developer in Newcastle, and had acquired lands at Elswick (on the north bank of the Tyne west of the proposed Redheugh crossing). In 1836, he published a pamphlet recommending a crossing of the Tyne there, and the formation of spacious railway terminal accommodation there. Drawing attention to the limited scope for extending eastwards from the Spital, and "in the event of an Edinburgh Railway also terminating in this situation, the interchange of passengers, goods, and cattle would be greatly increased".
Grainger's plan was not adopted, and the Brandling Junction Railway reached Gateshead in 1839. The GNER ran out of money and it was superseded in Hudson's railway empire by the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway, which opened its line using the Brandling Junction Railway from the south east instead of through the Team Valley. The Brandling Junction line had a terminus in Gateshead at Greenesfield at a high level, and the N&CR line was built climbing on an inclined plane at a gradient of 1 in 23 from Redheugh to reach that. The Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway opened its line from the south to Pelaw, allowing its trains to reach Gateshead over the Brandling Junction line, in 1844. The tables had been turned, and indeed for a while Greenesfield was the de facto main station for the conurbation of Newcastle and Gateshead.
John and Benjamin Green were a father and son architectural practice active in Newcastle. In 1841 Benjamin Green had proposed a high level bridge for road traffic, substantially on the alignment of the actual High Level Bridge; and sensing the commercial climate he explained how it could be adapted for railway use. He failed to get any financial support, but in 1843 George Hudson was looking for ways to extend his railway network northwards, and the Greens' scheme fitted with his takeover of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway; the line got its authorising Act on 22 May 1844, and the Act included the road bridge.
The Newcastle and North Shields Railway had opened in 1839 from its own terminus at Carliol Square, on the north-east edge of Newcastle. As a purely local concern, the disconnection was not important, but interest gathered in a railway to central Scotland; the "Edinburgh Railway" foreseen by Grainger. A Scottish concern, the North British Railway, had got its Act of Parliament the previous year to build as far south as Berwick (later known as Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Now Hudson was intent on capturing the line to Edinburgh for his empire, and he encouraged the development of railway plans to get there; the route such a line might take continued to generate considerable controversy. There was still ambiguity about Hudson's intentions for the bridge—an easier crossing point at Bill Quay, two miles downstream had been considered—and Newcastle Town Council sought undertakings from him. In addition, he promised a footway crossing; this was apparently not a sweetener to the Town Council, but a commercial decision, expected to bring in £250 a week. The footway crossing was later extended to include horse-drawn vehicles.
Finally, the Newcastle and Berwick Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament of 31 July 1845. The line would cross the Greens' high level bridge, starting from the Gateshead Greenesfield station, and commitments made to the building of a bridge by the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway were transferred to the Newcastle and Berwick Railway.
The bridge was to be designed by Robert Stephenson; T E Harrison did the detailed design work.
The height of the railway, at about 120 ft (37 m) above high water, was determined by the level of the Brandling Junction line in Gateshead. A double-deck configuration was selected because of road levels on the approaches, and to avoid the excess width of foundations which a side-by-side arrangement would require. The deck width was determined by the useful roadway width plus the width of structural members, which gave the railway deck the width for three tracks.
The foundations were to be difficult because of the poor ground conditions in the river, and this ruled out an all-masonry structure, so cast iron or wrought iron was inevitable for the superstructure. A tied arch (or bow-string) design was favoured because the outward thrust imposed by an arch is contained by the tie; no abutments capable of resisting the thrust could be provided here.
Stephenson had used this configuration before; he recorded that, "The earliest railway bridge on the bowstring principle is that over the Regent's Canal, near Chalk Farm, on the London and Birmingham Railway".
The arch would consist of iron ribs. Fawcett says, "The reasons for not using wrought iron was due to some engineers' distrust of rivetting, the relatively small size of wrought iron plates then available, and the higher cost… On 1 October 1845 when the Newcastle and Berwick Board instructed T E Harrison for their bridges, none of the uses of wrought iron had been developed far enough to be considered as an alternative to cast iron for the High Level Bridge. A tubular bridge might have been considered by Robert Stephenson but the distance between solid and reasonably shallow foundations would have given a span much larger than the Britannia Bridge."
The depth of rock in the riverbed resulted in a height of 140 ft (43 m) from there to the superstructure. Three river piers were permitted by the Tyne Improvement Commissioners, and therefore four river spans of 125 ft (38 m) were decided on; there were additional subsidiary spans on the shore.
The cast iron arch ribs are 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) deep at the crown, increasing to 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) at the springing, with 12-inch (30 cm) flanges; the flanges and webs were three inches thick; in the case of the inner ribs, and two inches for the outer ribs. The rise was 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m), determined by the desired geometry to confine the horizontal thrust within bounds. Each arch was cast in five sections, bolted together.
Stephenson described the tie bars:
The ties consist of flat wrought-iron bars, 7 inches by 1 inch of best scrap iron, with eyes of 3½ inches diameter, bored out of the solid, and pins turned and fitted closely. Each external rib is tied by four of these bars, and each internal rib by eight. The sectional area of each external tie is 28 [square] inches, and of each internal tie 56 [square] inches, giving a total area of 168 square inches. These bars were all tested to 9 tons on the square inch.
The rail deck is supported above the arches by twelve 14-inch (360 mm) square columns at 9 feet 11 inches (3.02 m) centres. Suspension rods supported the road deck, and both decks had two layers of diagonally laid three-inch deck timbers on suitable wrought iron cross girders (and rail-bearers in the case of the rail deck).
The main contractors for the ironwork were Hawks, Crawshay, and Sons, who were assisted by John Abbot and Co., of Gateshead Park Works, and Losh Wilson and Bell, of Walker Ironworks, in the production of the castings. The tender was accepted at £112,000. The contract for the bridge piers and land arches and for the Newcastle Viaduct were won by John Rush and Benjamin Lawton of York for £94,000 and £82,500 respectively. The total cost of the contracts at 1999 prices would be over £30 million.
The first masonry was laid on 12 January 1847. A temporary timber viaduct on the east side was ready on 20 August 1848.
Timber coffer dams were constructed; they were 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m) by 29 ft (8.8 m) with two skins, the space between being filled with puddle clay. James Nasmyth had a novel design of steam pile driver; it had first been used in Devonport Docks in 1845; it could deliver 60 to 70 blows a minute; the cycle time with the hand-operated pile drivers formerly in use was four minutes. The drop weight was 1½ tons and its stroke was 2 ft 9 in (0.84 m); one was purchased from Nasmyth.
The ground gave considerable trouble during construction; Stephenson recorded:
Many difficulties occurred in driving the piles which considerably retarded the progress of the work, and, among others, the peculiar effect of ebb and flow during this operation is worthy of note. At flood-tide, the sand became so hard as almost totally to resist the utmost efforts of driving, while at ebb the sand was quite loose, and allowed of doing so with facility. It was therefore found necessary to abandon the driving on many occasions during high water. The difference between high and low water is 11 feet 6 inches. Another difficulty arose from the quicksands beneath the foundations. Although the piles were driven to the rock bottom, the water forced its way up, baffling the attempts to fill in between them; this, however, was remedied by using a concrete made of broken stone and Roman cement, which was continually thrown in until the bottom was found to be secure.
The arch ribs were erected in section by travelling crane; each arch was temporarily erected at the contractor’s works. The first was placed on 10 July 1848, and the erection of the ironwork was quick.
Already on 29 August 1848, it was possible to pass a special train over the first arch, and over a temporary structure for the rest of the crossing:
The High Level Bridge Over the Tyne: This important junction between the York and Newcastle and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway has been completed, and the event was celebrated on Tuesday last. In the afternoon of that day, a train of [specially invited] passengers passed along the temporary timber viaduct from the station at Gateshead to the station at Newcastle. Mr Hudson and several other Directors of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick line, who had been visiting Sunderland ... proceeded in a special train from that town to Gateshead... Several carriages were then added to the special train, and an open truck placed at each end, in which bands of music were stationed. The shrill sound of the whistle gave the signal for a royal salute, under the booming of which the train passed along the line, the band playing, and the thousands assembled to witness the event, rending the air with joyous acclamation Upon reaching the bridge, the bands struck up the well-known local air of "The Keel Row" which they continued till the train had reached the solid ground on the northern side of the river... The train proceeded to the Newcastle and Berwick station, where the company alighted and walked in procession to the Queen’s Head Inn, where a magnificent entertainment had been provided for the Directors and their friends, by the Mayor of Newcastle.
[From the south abutment of the High Level Bridge] and the river pier on the south side, the cast iron arch and road-way are nearly completed, and the second arch will be in progress in the course of a few weeks. From the middle of the first arch, the line curves to a temporary timber viaduct erected along the west side of the intended bridge. The height of this viaduct is one hundred and twenty feet to the level of the rails; it is built upon piles, which are driven between thirty and forty feet into the bed of the river. Its stability was sufficiently tested on Monday, when Captain Leffan (sic), the Government Inspector of Railways, examined it preparatory to the opening. On that day, two powerful engines weighing upwards of seventy tons, traversed it at different degrees of speed for between two and three hours; the weight would be about one ton to a foot, being four or five times greater than the temporary structure will ever be required to bear, and the result was, in the highest degree, satisfactory.
Among the company in the train were four ladies, who are deserving of honourable mention, from the courage they displayed in accompanying it, namely, Mrs Nichs. Wood, and Miss F. Wood, Mrs I. L. Bell, and her sister, Miss Pattinson of Washington. As the train passed steadily over the bridge the anxiety of the immense multitude seemed intense, and the scene was truly exciting, yet fearful—not only from the lofty eminence occupied by the train but, from the apparent narrowness and nakedness of the platform on which it rolled along. It seemed from its noiselessness, rather an aerial flight, than the rattling sweep of the iron horse.
Ordinary traffic appears to have used the temporary single line structure after this date.
The eastern track was ready for an inspection by Captain Laffan, Inspecting Office for the Board of Trade, when he visited on 11 August 1849; a load test with four tender locomotives and eighteen wagons loaded with ballast, a total weight of 200 tons. Laffan approved the bridge:
I believe all the works of the bridge are completed, and that I believe it to be perfectly secure and safe. The Company have as yet only laid one line of rails over this structure, and I beg to recommend that permission be given to open that one line.
The first passenger train crossed the completed structure on the morning of 15 August 1849.
Queen Victoria formally inaugurated the bridge on passing through by train on 28 September 1849.
The Queen at Newcastle: Her Majesty yesterday honoured this ancient borough with her presence. The event was one of universal and all-engrossing interest... The morning, unfortunately, was dull and the weather unsettled, giving forebodings of a wet and uncomfortable day... Notwithstanding, however, the unfavourable weather dense crowds assembled at every spot in this locality, where a view of the royal carriage could be obtained, and many remained for hours exposed to the weather in order that they might retain the places which at an earlier period of the morning they had secured. The bridge was densely lined with people, and the platform was well covered, though not inconveniently crowded. A profusion of banners were displayed on this elegant and substantial structure, and from nearly all the public and many of the private buildings both in Newcastle and Gateshead. The vessels in the river hoisted their flags mast-high on the occasion, and the church bells of the two towns rung many a merry peal in honour of the royal visit... Pursuant to a request issued by the Mayor, most of the shops were closed about 11 o’clock, and the manufacturers were desired by our worthy chief magistrate "not to produce smoke between that hour and one," with which we believe, they generally complied... At precisely twenty minutes past twelve, the royal carriage appeared in sight, and when it reached the Spital, a splendid locomotive, built by the celebrated house of Stephenson and Co., gaily decorated and bearing on its front "God save the Queen" surmounted by a crown, and a suitable inscription encircling the boiler, was attached to the train. It then slowly proceeded to the centre of the colossal fabric, amidst bursts of loud and rapturous cheering from the assembled thousands, her Majesty repeatedly acknowledging these marked demonstrations of loyalty and affection from her faithful and attached subjects.
The Mayors of Newcastle and Gateshead presented a formal address. The queen travelled in the royal carriage belonging to the London and North Western Railway.
In other carriages were members of her Majesty’s suite and the directors of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway. The engine drawing the royal train was under the direction of Mr T. E. Harrison, the resident engineer, and driven by Mr Thos. Carr... After staying altogether from five to ten minutes, the train was again put in motion, and amidst firing of artillery and rapturous plaudits from the dense throng, proceeded en route to Darlington.
The bridge and its immediate approaches had cost £243,000.
The road deck was re-opened only in a southbound (towards Gateshead) direction and carries only buses and taxis; the one-way operation is required because of width considerations after protection to the structural members was inserted. Pedestrians and cyclists use the bridge freely. Railway traffic continues in full use of the bridge, although the majority of mainline trains use the King Edward VII bridge for reasons of convenience
Gateshead is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The town shares the Millennium Bridge, Tyne Bridge and multiple other bridges with Newcastle upon Tyne.
Historically part of County Durham, under the Local Government Act 1888 the town was made a county borough, meaning it was administered independently of the county council.
In the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 120,046 while the wider borough had 200,214.
History
Gateshead is first mentioned in Latin translation in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People as ad caput caprae ("at the goat's head"). This interpretation is consistent with the later English attestations of the name, among them Gatesheued (c. 1190), literally "goat's head" but in the context of a place-name meaning 'headland or hill frequented by (wild) goats'. Although other derivations have been mooted, it is this that is given by the standard authorities.
A Brittonic predecessor, named with the element *gabro-, 'goat' (c.f. Welsh gafr), may underlie the name. Gateshead might have been the Roman-British fort of Gabrosentum.
Early
There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the Swing Bridge now stands, since Roman times.
The first recorded mention of Gateshead is in the writings of the Venerable Bede who referred to an Abbot of Gateshead called Utta in 623. In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated the forces of Edgar the Ætheling and Malcolm king of Scotland (Shakespeare's Malcolm) on Gateshead Fell (now Low Fell and Sheriff Hill).
During medieval times Gateshead was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham. At this time the area was largely forest with some agricultural land. The forest was the subject of Gateshead's first charter, granted in the 12th century by Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham. An alternative spelling may be "Gatishevede", as seen in a legal record, dated 1430.
Industrial revolution
Throughout the Industrial Revolution the population of Gateshead expanded rapidly; between 1801 and 1901 the increase was over 100,000. This expansion resulted in the spread southwards of the town.
In 1854, a catastrophic explosion on the quayside destroyed most of Gateshead's medieval heritage, and caused widespread damage on the Newcastle side of the river.
Sir Joseph Swan lived at Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead from 1869 to 1883, where his experiments led to the invention of the electric light bulb. The house was the first in the world to be wired for domestic electric light.
In the 1889 one of the largest employers (Hawks, Crawshay and Company) closed down and unemployment has since been a burden. Up to the Second World War there were repeated newspaper reports of the unemployed sending deputations to the council to provide work. The depression years of the 1920s and 1930s created even more joblessness and the Team Valley Trading Estate was built in the mid-1930s to alleviate the situation.
Regeneration
In the late noughties, Gateshead Council started to regenerate the town, with the long-term aim of making Gateshead a city. The most extensive transformation occurred in the Quayside, with almost all the structures there being constructed or refurbished in this time.
In the early 2010s, regeneration refocused on the town centre. The £150 million Trinity Square development opened in May 2013, it incorporates student accommodation, a cinema, health centre and shops. It was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup in September 2014. The cup was however awarded to another development which involved Tesco, Woolwich Central.
Governance
In 1835, Gateshead was established as a municipal borough and in 1889 it was made a county borough, independent from Durham County Council.
In 1870, the Old Town Hall was built, designed by John Johnstone who also designed the previously built Newcastle Town Hall. The ornamental clock in front of the old town hall was presented to Gateshead in 1892 by the mayor, Walter de Lancey Willson, on the occasion of him being elected for a third time. He was also one of the founders of Walter Willson's, a chain of grocers in the North East and Cumbria. The old town hall also served as a magistrate's court and one of Gateshead's police stations.
Current
In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, the County Borough of Gateshead was merged with the urban districts of Felling, Whickham, Blaydon and Ryton and part of the rural district of Chester-le-Street to create the much larger Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.
Geography
The town of Gateshead is in the North East of England in the ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear, and within the historic boundaries of County Durham. It is located on the southern bank of the River Tyne at a latitude of 54.57° N and a longitude of 1.35° W. Gateshead experiences a temperate climate which is considerably warmer than some other locations at similar latitudes as a result of the warming influence of the Gulf Stream (via the North Atlantic drift). It is located in the rain shadow of the North Pennines and is therefore in one of the driest regions of the United Kingdom.
One of the most distinguishing features of Gateshead is its topography. The land rises 230 feet from Gateshead Quays to the town centre and continues rising to a height of 525 feet at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Sheriff Hill. This is in contrast to the flat and low lying Team Valley located on the western edges of town. The high elevations allow for impressive views over the Tyne valley into Newcastle and across Tyneside to Sunderland and the North Sea from lookouts in Windmill Hills and Windy Nook respectively.
The Office for National Statistics defines the town as an urban sub-division. The latest (2011) ONS urban sub-division of Gateshead contains the historical County Borough together with areas that the town has absorbed, including Dunston, Felling, Heworth, Pelaw and Bill Quay.
Given the proximity of Gateshead to Newcastle, just south of the River Tyne from the city centre, it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as being a part of Newcastle. Gateshead Council and Newcastle City Council teamed up in 2000 to create a unified marketing brand name, NewcastleGateshead, to better promote the whole of the Tyneside conurbation.
Economy
Gateshead is home to the MetroCentre, the largest shopping mall in the UK until 2008; and the Team Valley Trading Estate, once the largest and still one of the larger purpose-built commercial estates in the UK.
Arts
The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art has been established in a converted flour mill. The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, previously The Sage, a Norman Foster-designed venue for music and the performing arts opened on 17 December 2004. Gateshead also hosted the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990, rejuvenating 200 acres (0.81 km2) of derelict land (now mostly replaced with housing). The Angel of the North, a famous sculpture in nearby Lamesley, is visible from the A1 to the south of Gateshead, as well as from the East Coast Main Line. Other public art include works by Richard Deacon, Colin Rose, Sally Matthews, Andy Goldsworthy, Gordon Young and Michael Winstone.
Traditional and former
The earliest recorded coal mining in the Gateshead area is dated to 1344. As trade on the Tyne prospered there were several attempts by the burghers of Newcastle to annex Gateshead. In 1576 a small group of Newcastle merchants acquired the 'Grand Lease' of the manors of Gateshead and Whickham. In the hundred years from 1574 coal shipments from Newcastle increased elevenfold while the population of Gateshead doubled to approximately 5,500. However, the lease and the abundant coal supplies ended in 1680. The pits were shallow as problems of ventilation and flooding defeated attempts to mine coal from the deeper seams.
'William Cotesworth (1668-1726) was a prominent merchant based in Gateshead, where he was a leader in coal and international trade. Cotesworth began as the son of a yeoman and apprentice to a tallow - candler. He ended as an esquire, having been mayor, Justice of the Peace and sheriff of Northumberland. He collected tallow from all over England and sold it across the globe. He imported dyes from the Indies, as well as flax, wine, and grain. He sold tea, sugar, chocolate, and tobacco. He operated the largest coal mines in the area, and was a leading salt producer. As the government's principal agent in the North country, he was in contact with leading ministers.
William Hawks originally a blacksmith, started business in Gateshead in 1747, working with the iron brought to the Tyne as ballast by the Tyne colliers. Hawks and Co. eventually became one of the biggest iron businesses in the North, producing anchors, chains and so on to meet a growing demand. There was keen contemporary rivalry between 'Hawks' Blacks' and 'Crowley's Crew'. The famous 'Hawks' men' including Ned White, went on to be celebrated in Geordie song and story.
In 1831 a locomotive works was established by the Newcastle and Darlington Railway, later part of the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway. In 1854 the works moved to the Greenesfield site and became the manufacturing headquarters of North Eastern Railway. In 1909, locomotive construction was moved to Darlington and the rest of the works were closed in 1932.
Robert Stirling Newall took out a patent on the manufacture of wire ropes in 1840 and in partnership with Messrs. Liddell and Gordon, set up his headquarters at Gateshead. A worldwide industry of wire-drawing resulted. The submarine telegraph cable received its definitive form through Newall's initiative, involving the use of gutta-percha surrounded by strong wires. The first successful Dover–Calais cable on 25 September 1851, was made in Newall's works. In 1853, he invented the brake-drum and cone for laying cable in deep seas. Half of the first Atlantic cable was manufactured in Gateshead. Newall was interested in astronomy, and his giant 25-inch (640 mm) telescope was set up in the garden at Ferndene, his Gateshead residence, in 1871.
Architecture
JB Priestley, writing of Gateshead in his 1934 travelogue English Journey, said that "no true civilisation could have produced such a town", adding that it appeared to have been designed "by an enemy of the human race".
Victorian
William Wailes the celebrated stained-glass maker, lived at South Dene from 1853 to 1860. In 1860, he designed Saltwell Towers as a fairy-tale palace for himself. It is an imposing Victorian mansion in its own park with a romantic skyline of turrets and battlements. It was originally furnished sumptuously by Gerrard Robinson. Some of the panelling installed by Robinson was later moved to the Shipley Art gallery. Wailes sold Saltwell Towers to the corporation in 1876 for use as a public park, provided he could use the house for the rest of his life. For many years the structure was essentially an empty shell but following a restoration programme it was reopened to the public in 2004.
Post millennium
The council sponsored the development of a Gateshead Quays cultural quarter. The development includes the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, erected in 2001, which won the prestigious Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2002.
Former brutalism
The brutalist Trinity Centre Car Park, which was designed by Owen Luder, dominated the town centre for many years until its demolition in 2010. A product of attempts to regenerate the area in the 1960s, the car park gained an iconic status due to its appearance in the 1971 film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine. An unsuccessful campaign to have the structure listed was backed by Sylvester Stallone, who played the main role in the 2000 remake of the film. The car park was scheduled for demolition in 2009, but this was delayed as a result of a disagreement between Tesco, who re-developed the site, and Gateshead Council. The council had not been given firm assurances that Tesco would build the previously envisioned town centre development which was to include a Tesco mega-store as well as shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, offices and student accommodation. The council effectively used the car park as a bargaining tool to ensure that the company adhered to the original proposals and blocked its demolition until they submitted a suitable planning application. Demolition finally took place in July–August 2010.
The Derwent Tower, another well known example of brutalist architecture, was also designed by Owen Luder and stood in the neighbourhood of Dunston. Like the Trinity Car Park it also failed in its bid to become a listed building and was demolished in 2012. Also located in this area are the Grade II listed Dunston Staithes which were built in 1890. Following the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of almost £420,000 restoration of the structure is expected to begin in April 2014.
Sport
Gateshead International Stadium regularly holds international athletics meetings over the summer months, and is home of the Gateshead Harriers athletics club. It is also host to rugby league fixtures, and the home ground of Gateshead Football Club. Gateshead Thunder Rugby League Football Club played at Gateshead International Stadium until its purchase by Newcastle Rugby Limited and the subsequent rebranding as Newcastle Thunder. Both clubs have had their problems: Gateshead A.F.C. were controversially voted out of the Football League in 1960 in favour of Peterborough United, whilst Gateshead Thunder lost their place in Super League as a result of a takeover (officially termed a merger) by Hull F.C. Both Gateshead clubs continue to ply their trade at lower levels in their respective sports, thanks mainly to the efforts of their supporters. The Gateshead Senators American Football team also use the International Stadium, as well as this it was used in the 2006 Northern Conference champions in the British American Football League.
Gateshead Leisure Centre is home to the Gateshead Phoenix Basketball Team. The team currently plays in EBL League Division 4. Home games are usually on a Sunday afternoon during the season, which runs from September to March. The team was formed in 2013 and ended their initial season well placed to progress after defeating local rivals Newcastle Eagles II and promotion chasing Kingston Panthers.
In Low Fell there is a cricket club and a rugby club adjacent to each other on Eastwood Gardens. These are Gateshead Fell Cricket Club and Gateshead Rugby Club. Gateshead Rugby Club was formed in 1998 following the merger of Gateshead Fell Rugby Club and North Durham Rugby Club.
Transport
Gateshead is served by the following rail transport stations with some being operated by National Rail and some being Tyne & Wear Metro stations: Dunston, Felling, Gateshead Interchange, Gateshead Stadium, Heworth Interchange, MetroCentre and Pelaw.
Tyne & Wear Metro stations at Gateshead Interchange and Gateshead Stadium provide direct light-rail access to Newcastle Central, Newcastle Airport , Sunderland, Tynemouth and South Shields Interchange.
National Rail services are provided by Northern at Dunston and MetroCentre stations. The East Coast Main Line, which runs from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, cuts directly through the town on its way between Newcastle Central and Chester-le-Street stations. There are presently no stations on this line within Gateshead, as Low Fell, Bensham and Gateshead West stations were closed in 1952, 1954 and 1965 respectively.
Road
Several major road links pass through Gateshead, including the A1 which links London to Edinburgh and the A184 which connects the town to Sunderland.
Gateshead Interchange is the busiest bus station in Tyne & Wear and was used by 3.9 million bus passengers in 2008.
Cycle routes
Various bicycle trails traverse the town; most notably is the recreational Keelmans Way (National Cycle Route 14), which is located on the south bank of the Tyne and takes riders along the entire Gateshead foreshore. Other prominent routes include the East Gateshead Cycleway, which connects to Felling, the West Gateshead Cycleway, which links the town centre to Dunston and the MetroCentre, and routes along both the old and new Durham roads, which take cyclists to Birtley, Wrekenton and the Angel of the North.
Religion
Christianity has been present in the town since at least the 7th century, when Bede mentioned a monastery in Gateshead. A church in the town was burned down in 1080 with the Bishop of Durham inside.[citation needed] St Mary's Church was built near to the site of that building, and was the only church in the town until the 1820s. Undoubtedly the oldest building on the Quayside, St Mary's has now re-opened to the public as the town's first heritage centre.
Many of the Anglican churches in the town date from the 19th century, when the population of the town grew dramatically and expanded into new areas. The town presently has a number of notable and large churches of many denominations.
Judaism
The Bensham district is home to a community of hundreds of Jewish families and used to be known as "Little Jerusalem". Within the community is the Gateshead Yeshiva, founded in 1929, and other Jewish educational institutions with international enrolments. These include two seminaries: Beis Medrash L'Morot and Beis Chaya Rochel seminary, colloquially known together as Gateshead "old" and "new" seminaries.
Many yeshivot and kollels also are active. Yeshivat Beer Hatorah, Sunderland Yeshiva, Nesivos Hatorah, Nezer Hatorah and Yeshiva Ketana make up some of the list.
Islam
Islam is practised by a large community of people in Gateshead and there are 2 mosques located in the Bensham area (in Ely Street and Villa Place).
Twinning
Gateshead is twinned with the town of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen in France, and the city of Komatsu in Japan.
Notable people
Eliezer Adler – founder of Jewish Community
Marcus Bentley – narrator of Big Brother
Catherine Booth – wife of William Booth, known as the Mother of The Salvation Army
William Booth – founder of the Salvation Army
Mary Bowes – the Unhappy Countess, author and celebrity
Ian Branfoot – footballer and manager (Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton)
Andy Carroll – footballer (Newcastle United, Liverpool and West Ham United)
Frank Clark – footballer and manager (Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest)
David Clelland – Labour politician and MP
Derek Conway – former Conservative politician and MP
Joseph Cowen – Radical politician
Steve Cram – athlete (middle-distance runner)
Emily Davies – educational reformer and feminist, founder of Girton College, Cambridge
Daniel Defoe – writer and government agent
Ruth Dodds – politician, writer and co-founder of the Little Theatre
Jonathan Edwards – athlete (triple jumper) and television presenter
Sammy Johnson – actor (Spender)
George Elliot – industrialist and MP
Paul Gascoigne – footballer (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers and Middlesbrough)
Alex Glasgow – singer/songwriter
Avrohom Gurwicz – rabbi, Dean of Gateshead Yeshiva
Leib Gurwicz – rabbi, Dean of Gateshead Yeshiva
Jill Halfpenny – actress (Coronation Street and EastEnders)
Chelsea Halfpenny – actress (Emmerdale)
David Hodgson – footballer and manager (Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Sunderland)
Sharon Hodgson – Labour politician and MP
Norman Hunter – footballer (Leeds United and member of 1966 World Cup-winning England squad)
Don Hutchison – footballer (Liverpool, West Ham United, Everton and Sunderland)
Brian Johnson – AC/DC frontman
Tommy Johnson – footballer (Aston Villa and Celtic)
Riley Jones - actor
Howard Kendall – footballer and manager (Preston North End and Everton)
J. Thomas Looney – Shakespeare scholar
Gary Madine – footballer (Sheffield Wednesday)
Justin McDonald – actor (Distant Shores)
Lawrie McMenemy – football manager (Southampton and Northern Ireland) and pundit
Thomas Mein – professional cyclist (Canyon DHB p/b Soreen)
Robert Stirling Newall – industrialist
Bezalel Rakow – communal rabbi
John William Rayner – flying ace and war hero
James Renforth – oarsman
Mariam Rezaei – musician and artist
Sir Tom Shakespeare - baronet, sociologist and disability rights campaigner
William Shield – Master of the King's Musick
Christina Stead – Australian novelist
John Steel – drummer (The Animals)
Henry Spencer Stephenson – chaplain to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II
Steve Stone – footballer (Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Portsmouth)
Chris Swailes – footballer (Ipswich Town)
Sir Joseph Swan – inventor of the incandescent light bulb
Nicholas Trainor – cricketer (Gloucestershire)
Chris Waddle – footballer (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday)
William Wailes – stained glass maker
Taylor Wane – adult entertainer
Robert Spence Watson – public benefactor
Sylvia Waugh – author of The Mennyms series for children
Chris Wilkie – guitarist (Dubstar)
John Wilson - orchestral conductor
Peter Wilson – footballer (Gateshead, captain of Australia)
Thomas Wilson – poet/school founder
Robert Wood – Australian politician
The High Level Bridge is a road and railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead in North East England. It is considered the most notable historical engineering work in the city. It was built by the Hawks family from 5,050 tons of iron. George Hawks, Mayor of Gateshead, drove in the last key of the structure on 7 June 1849, and the bridge was officially opened by Queen Victoria later that year.
It was designed by Robert Stephenson to form a rail link towards Scotland for the developing English railway network; a carriageway for road vehicles and pedestrians was incorporated to generate additional revenue. The main structural elements are tied cast-iron arches.
Notwithstanding the considerable increase in the weight of railway vehicles since it was designed, it continues to carry rail traffic, although the King Edward bridge nearby was opened in 1906 to ease congestion. The roadway is also still in use, although with a weight restriction. It is a Grade I listed structure.
In 1835, the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (N&CR) Act authorised the line to approach Newcastle to a terminus at Redheugh, on the south bank of the River Tyne, close to the end of the present-day New Redheugh Bridge. The Act also authorised a crossing of the Tyne there, giving rail access to the north shore quays. The river was shallow at this point, and the bridge would have been at a low level, only 20 ft (6.1 m) above high water. The line would then have climbed to a terminus at the Spital, near Neville Street and the east end of the present-day Newcastle Central station. The climb was to be at a gradient of 1 in 22 and would have been operated by a stationary steam engine with rope haulage.
Hitherto railways in the region had had a local focus, but now the Great North of England Railway (GNER) obtained authorising Acts to build from Newcastle to York, forming part of a continuous trunk railway network to connect to London; the project was controlled by George Hudson, the so-called Railway King. At first the GNER was content to get access to the N&CR Newcastle terminus, by connecting with the N&CR at Redheugh and running over its line across the Tyne and up to the Spital. This had the advantage of avoiding a separate, and expensive, crossing of the river, but would have meant a steep descent to Redheugh as the GNER line approached on high ground from the Team Valley, only to climb once again to the Spital. Moreover, William Brandling had made known his intention to reach Newcastle from his line by running at a high level through Gateshead. On 25 April 1837, the N&CR decided to build to their south side, low-level terminus at Redheugh, but to leave the issue of the Tyne crossing open.
Richard Grainger was a developer in Newcastle, and had acquired lands at Elswick (on the north bank of the Tyne west of the proposed Redheugh crossing). In 1836, he published a pamphlet recommending a crossing of the Tyne there, and the formation of spacious railway terminal accommodation there. Drawing attention to the limited scope for extending eastwards from the Spital, and "in the event of an Edinburgh Railway also terminating in this situation, the interchange of passengers, goods, and cattle would be greatly increased".
Grainger's plan was not adopted, and the Brandling Junction Railway reached Gateshead in 1839. The GNER ran out of money and it was superseded in Hudson's railway empire by the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway, which opened its line using the Brandling Junction Railway from the south east instead of through the Team Valley. The Brandling Junction line had a terminus in Gateshead at Greenesfield at a high level, and the N&CR line was built climbing on an inclined plane at a gradient of 1 in 23 from Redheugh to reach that. The Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway opened its line from the south to Pelaw, allowing its trains to reach Gateshead over the Brandling Junction line, in 1844. The tables had been turned, and indeed for a while Greenesfield was the de facto main station for the conurbation of Newcastle and Gateshead.
John and Benjamin Green were a father and son architectural practice active in Newcastle. In 1841 Benjamin Green had proposed a high level bridge for road traffic, substantially on the alignment of the actual High Level Bridge; and sensing the commercial climate he explained how it could be adapted for railway use. He failed to get any financial support, but in 1843 George Hudson was looking for ways to extend his railway network northwards, and the Greens' scheme fitted with his takeover of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway; the line got its authorising Act on 22 May 1844, and the Act included the road bridge.
The Newcastle and North Shields Railway had opened in 1839 from its own terminus at Carliol Square, on the north-east edge of Newcastle. As a purely local concern, the disconnection was not important, but interest gathered in a railway to central Scotland; the "Edinburgh Railway" foreseen by Grainger. A Scottish concern, the North British Railway, had got its Act of Parliament the previous year to build as far south as Berwick (later known as Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Now Hudson was intent on capturing the line to Edinburgh for his empire, and he encouraged the development of railway plans to get there; the route such a line might take continued to generate considerable controversy. There was still ambiguity about Hudson's intentions for the bridge—an easier crossing point at Bill Quay, two miles downstream had been considered—and Newcastle Town Council sought undertakings from him. In addition, he promised a footway crossing; this was apparently not a sweetener to the Town Council, but a commercial decision, expected to bring in £250 a week. The footway crossing was later extended to include horse-drawn vehicles.
Finally, the Newcastle and Berwick Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament of 31 July 1845. The line would cross the Greens' high level bridge, starting from the Gateshead Greenesfield station, and commitments made to the building of a bridge by the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway were transferred to the Newcastle and Berwick Railway.
The bridge was to be designed by Robert Stephenson; T E Harrison did the detailed design work.
The height of the railway, at about 120 ft (37 m) above high water, was determined by the level of the Brandling Junction line in Gateshead. A double-deck configuration was selected because of road levels on the approaches, and to avoid the excess width of foundations which a side-by-side arrangement would require. The deck width was determined by the useful roadway width plus the width of structural members, which gave the railway deck the width for three tracks.
The foundations were to be difficult because of the poor ground conditions in the river, and this ruled out an all-masonry structure, so cast iron or wrought iron was inevitable for the superstructure. A tied arch (or bow-string) design was favoured because the outward thrust imposed by an arch is contained by the tie; no abutments capable of resisting the thrust could be provided here.
Stephenson had used this configuration before; he recorded that, "The earliest railway bridge on the bowstring principle is that over the Regent's Canal, near Chalk Farm, on the London and Birmingham Railway".
The arch would consist of iron ribs. Fawcett says, "The reasons for not using wrought iron was due to some engineers' distrust of rivetting, the relatively small size of wrought iron plates then available, and the higher cost… On 1 October 1845 when the Newcastle and Berwick Board instructed T E Harrison for their bridges, none of the uses of wrought iron had been developed far enough to be considered as an alternative to cast iron for the High Level Bridge. A tubular bridge might have been considered by Robert Stephenson but the distance between solid and reasonably shallow foundations would have given a span much larger than the Britannia Bridge."
The depth of rock in the riverbed resulted in a height of 140 ft (43 m) from there to the superstructure. Three river piers were permitted by the Tyne Improvement Commissioners, and therefore four river spans of 125 ft (38 m) were decided on; there were additional subsidiary spans on the shore.
The cast iron arch ribs are 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) deep at the crown, increasing to 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) at the springing, with 12-inch (30 cm) flanges; the flanges and webs were three inches thick; in the case of the inner ribs, and two inches for the outer ribs. The rise was 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m), determined by the desired geometry to confine the horizontal thrust within bounds. Each arch was cast in five sections, bolted together.
Stephenson described the tie bars:
The ties consist of flat wrought-iron bars, 7 inches by 1 inch of best scrap iron, with eyes of 3½ inches diameter, bored out of the solid, and pins turned and fitted closely. Each external rib is tied by four of these bars, and each internal rib by eight. The sectional area of each external tie is 28 [square] inches, and of each internal tie 56 [square] inches, giving a total area of 168 square inches. These bars were all tested to 9 tons on the square inch.
The rail deck is supported above the arches by twelve 14-inch (360 mm) square columns at 9 feet 11 inches (3.02 m) centres. Suspension rods supported the road deck, and both decks had two layers of diagonally laid three-inch deck timbers on suitable wrought iron cross girders (and rail-bearers in the case of the rail deck).
The main contractors for the ironwork were Hawks, Crawshay, and Sons, who were assisted by John Abbot and Co., of Gateshead Park Works, and Losh Wilson and Bell, of Walker Ironworks, in the production of the castings. The tender was accepted at £112,000. The contract for the bridge piers and land arches and for the Newcastle Viaduct were won by John Rush and Benjamin Lawton of York for £94,000 and £82,500 respectively. The total cost of the contracts at 1999 prices would be over £30 million.
The first masonry was laid on 12 January 1847. A temporary timber viaduct on the east side was ready on 20 August 1848.
Timber coffer dams were constructed; they were 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m) by 29 ft (8.8 m) with two skins, the space between being filled with puddle clay. James Nasmyth had a novel design of steam pile driver; it had first been used in Devonport Docks in 1845; it could deliver 60 to 70 blows a minute; the cycle time with the hand-operated pile drivers formerly in use was four minutes. The drop weight was 1½ tons and its stroke was 2 ft 9 in (0.84 m); one was purchased from Nasmyth.
The ground gave considerable trouble during construction; Stephenson recorded:
Many difficulties occurred in driving the piles which considerably retarded the progress of the work, and, among others, the peculiar effect of ebb and flow during this operation is worthy of note. At flood-tide, the sand became so hard as almost totally to resist the utmost efforts of driving, while at ebb the sand was quite loose, and allowed of doing so with facility. It was therefore found necessary to abandon the driving on many occasions during high water. The difference between high and low water is 11 feet 6 inches. Another difficulty arose from the quicksands beneath the foundations. Although the piles were driven to the rock bottom, the water forced its way up, baffling the attempts to fill in between them; this, however, was remedied by using a concrete made of broken stone and Roman cement, which was continually thrown in until the bottom was found to be secure.
The arch ribs were erected in section by travelling crane; each arch was temporarily erected at the contractor’s works. The first was placed on 10 July 1848, and the erection of the ironwork was quick.
Already on 29 August 1848, it was possible to pass a special train over the first arch, and over a temporary structure for the rest of the crossing:
The High Level Bridge Over the Tyne: This important junction between the York and Newcastle and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway has been completed, and the event was celebrated on Tuesday last. In the afternoon of that day, a train of [specially invited] passengers passed along the temporary timber viaduct from the station at Gateshead to the station at Newcastle. Mr Hudson and several other Directors of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick line, who had been visiting Sunderland ... proceeded in a special train from that town to Gateshead... Several carriages were then added to the special train, and an open truck placed at each end, in which bands of music were stationed. The shrill sound of the whistle gave the signal for a royal salute, under the booming of which the train passed along the line, the band playing, and the thousands assembled to witness the event, rending the air with joyous acclamation Upon reaching the bridge, the bands struck up the well-known local air of "The Keel Row" which they continued till the train had reached the solid ground on the northern side of the river... The train proceeded to the Newcastle and Berwick station, where the company alighted and walked in procession to the Queen’s Head Inn, where a magnificent entertainment had been provided for the Directors and their friends, by the Mayor of Newcastle.
[From the south abutment of the High Level Bridge] and the river pier on the south side, the cast iron arch and road-way are nearly completed, and the second arch will be in progress in the course of a few weeks. From the middle of the first arch, the line curves to a temporary timber viaduct erected along the west side of the intended bridge. The height of this viaduct is one hundred and twenty feet to the level of the rails; it is built upon piles, which are driven between thirty and forty feet into the bed of the river. Its stability was sufficiently tested on Monday, when Captain Leffan (sic), the Government Inspector of Railways, examined it preparatory to the opening. On that day, two powerful engines weighing upwards of seventy tons, traversed it at different degrees of speed for between two and three hours; the weight would be about one ton to a foot, being four or five times greater than the temporary structure will ever be required to bear, and the result was, in the highest degree, satisfactory.
Among the company in the train were four ladies, who are deserving of honourable mention, from the courage they displayed in accompanying it, namely, Mrs Nichs. Wood, and Miss F. Wood, Mrs I. L. Bell, and her sister, Miss Pattinson of Washington. As the train passed steadily over the bridge the anxiety of the immense multitude seemed intense, and the scene was truly exciting, yet fearful—not only from the lofty eminence occupied by the train but, from the apparent narrowness and nakedness of the platform on which it rolled along. It seemed from its noiselessness, rather an aerial flight, than the rattling sweep of the iron horse.
Ordinary traffic appears to have used the temporary single line structure after this date.
The eastern track was ready for an inspection by Captain Laffan, Inspecting Office for the Board of Trade, when he visited on 11 August 1849; a load test with four tender locomotives and eighteen wagons loaded with ballast, a total weight of 200 tons. Laffan approved the bridge:
I believe all the works of the bridge are completed, and that I believe it to be perfectly secure and safe. The Company have as yet only laid one line of rails over this structure, and I beg to recommend that permission be given to open that one line.
The first passenger train crossed the completed structure on the morning of 15 August 1849.
Queen Victoria formally inaugurated the bridge on passing through by train on 28 September 1849.
The Queen at Newcastle: Her Majesty yesterday honoured this ancient borough with her presence. The event was one of universal and all-engrossing interest... The morning, unfortunately, was dull and the weather unsettled, giving forebodings of a wet and uncomfortable day... Notwithstanding, however, the unfavourable weather dense crowds assembled at every spot in this locality, where a view of the royal carriage could be obtained, and many remained for hours exposed to the weather in order that they might retain the places which at an earlier period of the morning they had secured. The bridge was densely lined with people, and the platform was well covered, though not inconveniently crowded. A profusion of banners were displayed on this elegant and substantial structure, and from nearly all the public and many of the private buildings both in Newcastle and Gateshead. The vessels in the river hoisted their flags mast-high on the occasion, and the church bells of the two towns rung many a merry peal in honour of the royal visit... Pursuant to a request issued by the Mayor, most of the shops were closed about 11 o’clock, and the manufacturers were desired by our worthy chief magistrate "not to produce smoke between that hour and one," with which we believe, they generally complied... At precisely twenty minutes past twelve, the royal carriage appeared in sight, and when it reached the Spital, a splendid locomotive, built by the celebrated house of Stephenson and Co., gaily decorated and bearing on its front "God save the Queen" surmounted by a crown, and a suitable inscription encircling the boiler, was attached to the train. It then slowly proceeded to the centre of the colossal fabric, amidst bursts of loud and rapturous cheering from the assembled thousands, her Majesty repeatedly acknowledging these marked demonstrations of loyalty and affection from her faithful and attached subjects.
The Mayors of Newcastle and Gateshead presented a formal address. The queen travelled in the royal carriage belonging to the London and North Western Railway.
In other carriages were members of her Majesty’s suite and the directors of the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway. The engine drawing the royal train was under the direction of Mr T. E. Harrison, the resident engineer, and driven by Mr Thos. Carr... After staying altogether from five to ten minutes, the train was again put in motion, and amidst firing of artillery and rapturous plaudits from the dense throng, proceeded en route to Darlington.
The bridge and its immediate approaches had cost £243,000.
The road deck was re-opened only in a southbound (towards Gateshead) direction and carries only buses and taxis; the one-way operation is required because of width considerations after protection to the structural members was inserted. Pedestrians and cyclists use the bridge freely. Railway traffic continues in full use of the bridge, although the majority of mainline trains use the King Edward VII bridge for reasons of convenience.
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.
Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.
Roman settlement
The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.
Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.
Anglo-Saxon development
The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.
Norman period
After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.
In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.
Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.
Middle Ages
Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.
The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.
Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.
In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.
In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.
Religious houses
During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.
The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.
The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.
The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.
The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.
The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.
All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.
An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.
Tudor period
The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.
During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).
With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.
Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.
The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.
In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.
Stuart period
In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.
In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.
In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.
In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.
In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.
A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.
Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.
In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.
In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's 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.
In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.
In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.
Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.
The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.
In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.
Victorian period
Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.
In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.
In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.
In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.
In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.
Industrialisation
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. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.
Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:
George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.
George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.
Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.
William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.
The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:
Glassmaking
A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Locomotive manufacture
In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.
Shipbuilding
In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.
Armaments
In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.
Steam turbines
Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.
Pottery
In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.
Expansion of the city
Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.
Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.
Twentieth century
In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.
During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.
In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.
Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.
As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.
In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.
As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.
Recent developments
Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.