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The Newcastle Gaol:“It is strange, but in one custom we are more barbarous than our ancestors in bygone days. It is the toll of the Felon’s Plot.”
Prison Burial: You might think that being executed would be punishment enough for an awful crime, but as late as the twentieth century in Britain there were what was known as post-mortem punishments. The most common two punishments were public dissection (anatomisation by surgeons) and gibbetting (the criminal’s body was encaged in iron and hung from a wooden mast, most commonly placed near the site of the crime or in a very prominent location as near to it as possible). Post-Mortem punishments have a long history, but arguably the longest lasting was the denial of a Christian burial and the refusal of the authorities to hand the convicted felons’ body over to their loved ones for burial. This punishment continued long after dissection and gibbeting were removed by the Anatomy Act (1832) and Hanging in Chains Act (1834) respectively.
We know from reports of executions in Newcastle that sometimes the fear of indecent burial was more potent than that of hanging itself in the minds of prisoners. In 1829 one broadside recorded Jane Jameson’s last moments before leaving the gaol on route to the gallows at the Town Moor. It noted that she asked the attendant Minister ‘a question about her body’, but was told that ‘she was not to care about her body but about her soul.’ Jane Jameson became the last executed felon in Newcastle to suffer the additional punishment of public dissection, but her body was not buried in the gaol grounds.
Burial within the prison walls
The first person to be buried within the walls of the Prison was Mark Sherwood in 1844. Although executed on Newcastle’s Town Moor his body was taken back to the prison via a carriage and interred within the boundaries of the prison. Like Jane Jameson before him Sherwood had raised concerns about what would happen to his body after death. Reports of his execution noted that one of his last requests was that “He expressed a wish that for interment of his bodily remains within the gaol-yard, the grave might be deep, and hoped his remains would not be allowed to be disturbed. He also desired, if not contrary to any legal regulation, that the burial service might be read when he was committed to the earth. In compliance with his wish the grave was made seven feet deep, as subsequently stated but the burial service was not read.”
Sherwood’s fears of being disturbed were not without justification as up until the Anatomy Act, 1832, the only bodies officially available for dissection, without consent, were those of executed criminals. This limited supply meant that across the country there were numerous instances of body-snatchers, sometimes known as resurrectionists, operating in churchyards and cemeteries. Newcastle was no exception. This illegal practice, arguably made most famous by William Burke and William Hare in Scotland, came about to meet the demands of a medical profession starved of body supply. Just 3 years prior to Sherwood’s execution Newcastle had been gripped by a body-snatching scandal very close to the prison. In 1840 Sophia Quin had died in the house of her daughter, Rosanna Rox, in Clogger’s Entry in Sandhill, Newcastle and was due to be buried at the dissenter’s burial ground at Ballast Hills, to the East of the city. Instead of going to the burial ground the coffin bearers took the body straight to the Surgeons’ Hall and refused Rox entry. She later gained entry by contacting the Mayor and found her mother’s coffin with the lid up and clothes were torn. On further investigation, they lifted the lid of what appeared to be a large chest and found her mother’s body standing upright in warm water up to her shoulders. At which point Rox fainted. The body was eventually recovered and successfully reburied but, it caused a great scandal in the region and was even reported on in the Medical Journal, The Lancet.
Until its closure in 1925, 15 executed criminals were buried within the walls of the prison and in most cases denied a Christian burial. After an execution it was customary for the body to hang for one hour, a centuries-old tradition, and then for an inquest to take place on the body to confirm both the cause of death and identity of the condemned. The burial would take place the same day, following the inquest over the body, and in the presence of the Prison Chaplain and a few officials.
Numerous reports from executions in the period note that there were markings made with the initials of the prisoners on stones in the boundary walls, relating to the position of their grave, but little else marked their presence. Indeed, such was the disdain for the recording or memorialising of criminal bodies in any way that a Home Office Circular in 1922 demanded that even these markings were to be removed as “such records are undesirable as they perpetuate the memory of the crime, cause unnecessary pain to relatives and rouse a morbid interest in the prisoners.” One proviso of this decision was that each prison was required to make a detailed map of the location of the bodies before destroying these remaining memorials.
Despite the Home Office’s request the location of the bodies became a serious problem for the authorities on closure of the prison. In agreeing to allow Newcastle to demolish and repurpose the prison land, the Home Office stipulated that the bodies must be removed and reinterred. Numerous reports abounded that the authorities were struggling to locate the exact placing of each grave and indeed when it came to the operation to remove them a number of bodies weren’t found. Up until now the identity of these bodies has been unknown, but research seen by this project has uncovered the identity and number of the missing bodies at Newcastle Prison.
“In the darkness of the night and at an hour kept strictly secret the bodies of the murderers which lie in the precinct of Newcastle Gaol are to be taken up and reinterred in All Saints’ Cemetery.”
Removing the bodies: On the closure of the prison
On Monday 12th October, 1925 the Governor of Durham Prison along with Robert Stuart, the medical officer and prison surgeon was in attendance at the exhumation of the graves. Stuart made a detailed report of his findings that was sent on to the Home Office. In it he gave key details into how the bodies had been buried, including whether they were clothed or not and the state of decomposition. Amongst his recordings was the following extraordinary details.
· 1. Mark Sherwood – 1844 “At a depth of about 11 feet there was no trace of coffin or body”
· 2. Patrick Forbes – 1850 “At a depth of about 11 feet there was no trace of coffin or body”
· 6. William Rowe (sic) – 1890 “We found no trace of body or coffin in this grave”
· 7 Samuel G Emery – 1894 “At a depth of about 11 feet we found no trace of a body in his grave.”
So, not only were the bodies not found but also, in some cases the coffins weren’t even located. It would appear that Mark Sherwood’s fears weren’t so ill-founded. Despite only locating 11 of the 15 bodies, the remains were eventually buried in unmarked graves at All Saints Cemetery in Jesmond – such was the secrecy around their location, that it is still unknown to this day.
Reporting on the reinterment one newspaper carried a telling quote from an unnamed prison official at Newcastle Prison,
“It is strange, but in one custom we are more barbarous than our ancestors in bygone days. It is the toll of the Felon’s Plot….Prison Officials who have assisted in the last act of a murder drama will agree that it is a mournful business. The body lies in its plain shell- not naked and covered with quicklime as was the custom until quite recent years – it lies clad in the clothes worn at the trial, so that no sensation-monger may exhibit them….when the grave is filled in the ground is levelled with its extremities marked by small white stones. On the wall of the prison that is nearest to the plot will be cut the initials of the dead and the date of the execution.”
However, there is one final twist to the tale that has been uncovered in the research for this project. On September 1st, 1928 The Boston Guardian carried the following remarkable story,
“Remains of a man who had been executed were found during excavation work for an automatic telephone exchange on the site of the old Newcastle Gaol.”
This may well tally with one of the memories that was sent in to us from a member of the public, Marie McNichol. Marie McNichol’s grandfather John (Jack) Level was part of the demolition and excavation team working on the prison site. He was employed by Purdie, Lumsden & Co as a Derrick Crane operator. Marie remembers that the building work was severely delayed when a body was uncovered “wrapped in oilskins, like that of a sailor.” An investigation followed that delayed the excavation work considerably and on the 27th August the Yorkshire Post reported that the body had remained unidentified but “It is believed the remains are those of another executed man. The bones were reinterred at Jesmond on Saturday.”
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.
Official opening of the Kingscote water supply, 5 November 1938.
The Hon. Sir H.S. Hudd, former Commissioner of Public Works, addressing the crowd.
Book053pg056image136
A light was installed years ago in the tree's canopy at the Ala Moana Beach Park, Honolulu, Hawaii. This light still functions today.
Hot water has a myriad of uses. It can heat a room. It can clean dishes. It can kill germs. It can provide a luxurious escape from reality when used to fill a tub. But unlike cold water, hot water doesn't simply fall from the sky. You need to make it. Guests of the Hollywood Tower Hotel have an ample supply thanks to this boiler in the basement.
In 1946 the administration building of the former Finsbury Munition Factory was taken over by the Dept of Supply’s Defence Research Laboratories; later known as Materials Research Laboratories and various names until transferred to a Division of CSIRO, closed 2007, sold, opening as school 2021.
Finsbury Munition Factory was built 1940, one of several WWII munition factories in South Australia. Production of cartridge cases & shell fuses began Feb 1941; these were sent by rail to the Salisbury Explosives Factory for filling & assembly. Women over 21 were paid £2/7/6 per week and men £4 per week. There were 20 major buildings & many smaller on the 50 hectare site. A spur railway was built from Woodville station for the transport of goods & workers. (The former Finsbury station closed 1979 and the site is now occupied by a mosque.) After the war many buildings were taken over by various manufacturing industries. The site of the factory was known at first as Cheltenham (as it was near the Cheltenham racecourse), then Finsbury; name of suburb changed 1967 to Woodville North.
“Sixty men will be working early next week clearing and grubbing boxthorn and on other preliminary work on a big area of vacant land just north of the Cheltenham Racecourse. The Commonwealth factory for the manufacture of brass cartridge cases and fuses will be erected here for the Ministry of Munitions. . . A branch railway from the Port line near Woodville is expected to be laid to the Cheltenham works, which will include foundries and rolling mills for melting and fabricating the brass.” [The Mail 3 Aug 1940]
“plans for the new £1,000,000 rolling mill and cartridge factory at Cheltenham would be completed soon. This and the other plant at Salisbury would be distinct from the Hendon works. . . The whole of the machinery had first to be made in Australia and the rolling mill would have to be established before the making of cartridges could begin.”[Advertiser 9 Aug 1940]
“Ten houses were included in the area which the Commonwealth Government was acquiring for the munition works at Cheltenham Park. . . Occupants had received notice to vacate these premises, one of which was being demolished. The others would have to be removed. It was assumed that no house would be destroyed unnecessarily.” [News 20 Aug 1940
“Women would be wanted in almost unlimited numbers for work in the Cheltenham munitions works. . . they should register for work at the Port Adelaide Labor Exchange, next to the Courthouse, in Commercial road.” [Advertiser 3 Sep 1940]
“South Australian munitions works. . . The base wage rate will be £2/7/6 per week for women over 21, and there will be increases according to promotion. The base wage for men will be £4 per week, with margins according to classification. The main munition works for South Australia are a small arms factory at Hendon, rolling mills, and foundry at Cheltenham, and a filling factory at Salisbury, with annexes at Islington and work undertaken by private firms.” [The Mail 21 Sep 1940]
“Advanced progress is reported from Finsbury Park, where a Commonwealth gun ammunition factory is being established for the manufacture and repair of gun cartridge cases and fuses for shell. Many of the buildings have now been completed.” [Advertiser 1 Jan 1941]
“Department of Munitions. . . The numbers to be employed at the three Government factories were given as between 6,000 and 8,000 at the explosives and filling factory at Salisbury, about 4,000 at Finsbury Park, gun ammunition factory, and 2,000 at the small arms ammunition factory at Hendon. To this should be added several thousands more at the Islington tool room and shell annexes and at the various other munition annexes.” [Advertiser 3 Jan 1941]
“Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Munitions. A Senior Draughtsman is required for the Fuse and Cartridge Factory. Finsbury. . . This is a temporary position for at least the duration of the war.” [News 5 Mar 1941 advert]
“The gun ammunition factory at Finsbury for the production of brass components for gun ammunition, such as cartridge cases and fuses, was being completed, and production in certain sections was beginning. Further additions had been authorised.” [Advertiser 21 May 1941]
“South Australian workmen since last August have constructed solid, well-ventilated, and naturally lit buildings on a large proportion of the site of more than 100 acres. Laid down miles of smooth-surfaced bituminised roads, service pipes, and rail tracks. Installed huge quantities of machinery, all of which has been designed and manufactured in Australia — a good proportion in South Australia. Recruited as raw laborers, South Australians have shown a ready adaptation to many phases of the work, particularly in the foundry and rolling mill. Skilled tradesmen have brought their expert knowledge to this particular type of war work with refreshing results.” [News 18 Jul 1941]
“Mr. S. McGregor Reid. . . will take over offices at the Finsbury munitions works, from where he will control activities at other munition factories in the State.” [News 23 Jul 1941]
“A big program of alterations is in progress at the Woodville Railway Station, which will now become a junction of increasing importance. The Railways Commissioner (Mr. Anderson) said today that it was designed to provide the greater facilities needed in view of the new line to the Finsbury (or Cheltenham) Munition Works, and the generally heavier traffic. With a new track on the north side, the up platform would have a track on each side, making an island platform.” [News 7 Aug 1941]
“How Australian Industry Was Harnessed For War. . . Australia achieved an industrial miracle during the war in expanding munitions production from almost negligible proportions to an amazing variety of arms and equipment, costing hundreds of millions of pounds. It was an effort which raised Australia's industrial standards and status, and earned widespread gratitude and appreciation abroad. . . by the standards of modern warfare, the munitions industry in this country was virtually non-existent when war began.” [Advertiser 11 Aug 1945]
“employes at Finsbury munition factory will probably be kept employed until Christmas.” [Advertiser 12 Dec 1945]
“South Australia's first woman munition worker today said ‘good-bye’ to her job at Finsbury after a war effort which lasted almost six years. . . Miss Lorna Matthews. . . was a forewoman at Hendon before being transferred to Finsbury. . . She signed on at Hendon on April 15, 1940, after having trained in Melbourne for four months.” [News 6 Feb 1946]
“Vactric Electric Appliances, to be established at the former munitions plant at Finsbury, will have its first vacuum cleaners coming off the production line in three to four months.” [News 14 Mar 1946]
“The mammoth Finsbury factory is likely to become the headquarters of several new South Australian industries. Two companies have already decided to take over sections of the establishment, and other firms are negotiating with the Federal Government. Vactric Electrical Industries — one of the two firms which have already decided to establish their manufacturing plants at Finsbury — has taken over the big No. 2 fuse factory near the Torrens road entrance, and a boiler house. Preparatory work for beginning production has begun. Manufactures will be mainly vacuum cleaners and fractional horsepower motors. The other company — Firestone Rubber Co.— will occupy the main buildings in the stores section at Finsbury North, facing the Main Junction road.” [Advertiser 6 Apr 1946]
“Although it had been operating only since March, the Munitions Supply Laboratory at Finsbury had already carried out work for 16 of the State's largest industrial concerns. . . it was proposed to increase the present staff of 18 to about 50 experts and assistants, skilled in scientific and technological matters, particularly in the field of secondary metallurgy and industrial chemistry. . . the facilities to be provided would include complete equipment for carrying out metallurgical investigations. X-ray and radium examination of castings, weldments and bearings, pyrometric calibration and certification, and a general technical information service. Costing about £3,500 an X-ray plant, which would be used for detecting flaws in metal, would arrive probably next week. The laboratory would take over from the Adelaide University the calibration, certification, and checking of industrial pyrometric installation throughout South Australia. The University had been carrying out the service on behalf of the Mnnitions Supply laboratories since 1940.” [Advertiser 13 Jun 1947]
“Industry Takes Over At Finsbury. All available space at the big war-born munitions factories in South Australia has now been allotted to new or expanding secondary industries, or is held under option by interests which plan to come here. Radios, refrigerators, car parts and accessories, baths, sinks, vacuum cleaners, a range of electrical equipment and scores of other consumer goods are flowing from the sprawling saw-toothed buildings which were built to make the materials of war.” [Advertiser 6 Dec 1947]
“chief officer of the Commonwealth Defence Laboratory at Finsbury (Mr. J. S. McNeil)” [News 21 Oct 1949]
“A mobile X-ray camera, the only one of its kind in the State, and one of three in the British Empire, was used here for the first time yesterday in efforts to trace suspected internal cracks in a steam boiler at the Glenelg Knitting Mills. The machine, owned and operated by Defence Research Laboratories, Finsbury, is operated by remote control, so that the operator will not be affected by X-ray radiation.” [Advertiser 28 Apr 1950]
The Compressed Air Pumps in this house supplied tunnel ventilation, compressed air for rack drills, and fresh air for miners.
The Argo Gold Mine and Mill, at 2350 Riverside Dr, is a former mine and gold that opened on April 1, 1913 at the entrance of the 4.6-mile Newhouse Tunnel, later called the Argo Tunnel. The Tunnel was built between 1893 and 1910 to drain the gold mines in Virginia Canyon, Gilpin Gulch, Russell Gulch, Quartz Hill, Nevadaville, and Central City. The mill, one of the largest and most modern in Colorado, was built by R.E. Shimer to strip the valuable metals like gold, silver, copper and lead from the ore extracted from the tunnel. Following a flooding accident in 1943 that left four miners dead, the tunnel was closed, and Argo Mill ceased operations.
The five-story mill sat abandoned until 1976 when it was purchased by James N. Maxwell, who renovated it and opened it to the public as a museum. The bottom level of the mill serves as a museum displaying mining and milling artifacts, old payroll records, milling receipts, and old photographs. After touring the Dougle Eagle mine, and the Argo Mill, visitors can pan for gold and gems.
National Register #78000836 (1978)
Bend, Ore. -- A group of 45 federal snow surveyors gathered in Bend Jan. 10 - 15, 2016 to train on measuring mountain snowpack and cold-weather survival. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) hosts the Westwide Snow Survey training every year to support snow surveyors across 13 Western states.
“Often times our snow survey crews must traverse difficult mountain terrains to manually measure the snowpack in remote areas,” said Tony Tolsdorf, one of the organizers for this year’s training. “The Westwide Snow Survey training is absolutely essential to sustain our snow survey program. We ensure our people are prepared in the event of an emergency and keep them up-to-speed on the methods for measuring.”
Training topics included outdoor survival, mountain medicine, avalanche preparedness, a history of snow survey, shelter construction, methods of measurement, and more. Guest instructors included Brian Horner of Learn to Return Training based in Anchorage, Alaska and Nancy Pfeiffer of the Alaska Avalanche School also based in Anchorage.
Since its inception in 1935, USDA’s Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program has grown into a network of 1,185 manually-measured snow courses and 858 automated snow telemetry stations across 13 Western states, including Alaska. The program provides streamflow forecasts at 673 stream gages in the West. Data from the automated snow sites are available near real-time through an extensive web delivery system.
NRCS photos.
This Series 1 Land Rover is one of only 47 built as a fire tender for the Ministry of Supply; this was prior to the outsourcing of such conversions, built in-house at the Solihull factory. The vehicle is fitted with the 2.0-litre petrol engine, PTO overdrive gearbox and standard road transmission. Then sold off as government surplus and then may have gone to a works brigade.
The conversion included a 40 gall water tank onto which was mounted a hose reel. There was a hose carrying container along each side and of course mounting of the Pegson pump on the back along with a control panel.
These early LR pumps used the standard factory PTO offering, intended for agricultural implements. This was a rear mounted PTO, which explains the low slung off center pump location...
A better solution, adopted not much later, was a crankshaft-driven front mounted pump. This was more practical, as the low mounted rear pump was not ideal on an off-road vehicle.
www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number41901.asp
Pegson pumps had flooded impeller (water ring primer) and speed increasing intermediate gearbox followed by Godiva on later Land Rovers.
PGK965 ended up at Cranfield and is preserved too, as is PGK960. A similar machine NLR936 served Windsor Castle and ended up in the USA.
Netley Marsh rally 2011. Note nice brass standpipie.
Copyright Malcolm Batten. Used with permission.
Supply's *RIVENDELL* joe appaloosa
Spec
Frame:*RIVENDELL* joe appaloosa (51)
Handle:*NITTO* B356 M's bar
Stem: *NITTO* tecnomic 225
Grip: *DIMENSION* cork mountain grip
Brake: *AVID*
Brake Lever: *SHIMANO*
Shifter: *SHIMANO*
RD: *SHIMANO* LX
FD: *SHIMANO* claris
Crankset: *SUGINO*
Tire: *SCHWALBE* marathon 27.5×1.65
Saddle: *BROOKS* 150th b67
Rack: *PLETSCHER*
Bascket: *WALD* 137
Stand:*PLETSCHER*
Pedal: *MKS* RMX pedal
Head light:*BUSCH+MULLER* lumotec dyno headlight
Fender:*SKS*
This is a scene on Hedong Road in the city of Hangzhou that really asked for a shot. The store on the left is labeled Hangzhou Zhang Xu Animal Clinic (杭州张旭动物诊所) while the Sichuan restaurant next door advertises dog meat (狗肉砂锅) =P This is what I call practical thinking.
Utilising a single 12v source this unit is able to split the power output to supply 12v / 6v / 7.4v or Mount / Autoguider / DSLR. A 12v 7ah sealed lead acid battery provides enough grunt to last a whole nights imaging with the Astrotrac, its also pretty portable too.
Parts list includes Dynamic Engineering SWADJ3 voltage regulator / UBEC RC voltage regulator / Canon 550d Mains Adaptor / bit of strip board / wire / solder / heatshrink / velcro / time / effort.
Suffered a few burns and drilled into my thumb during construction.
Addendum:- I've added a 0.5a / 0.5a / 1.5a(accessible from the outside for quick replacement or swapping out between Astrotrac and HEQ5 Pro) fastblow fuses to each MOUNT/AG/CAM output, best be safe than be sorry.
To be supplied by Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, this is one of the new generation of near-infrared detectors that will be used in the forthcoming MOONS spectrograph on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. These are the largest such detectors currently produced.
More information: www.eso.org/public/images/ann16036a/
Credit:
ESO/M. Zamani
Governor Murphy, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Deputy Director of Port Department Bethann Rooney, Senator Joe Cryan, Port Newark Container Terminal CEO Jim Pelliccio visit the Port of Newark today to highlight New Jersey’s supply chain infrastructure and steps that the State, the PANYNJ, and other key stakeholders have taken to battle global supply chain issues on Friday, December 17th, 2021(Edwin J. Torres/NJ Governor’s Office).
Information supplied by our friend GZL 307.....
Commercial Road Vehicles(CRV)Ltd. of Dundalk assembled AEC TG4R Mandator with CRV built flatbed body hauling a CRV built drawbar trailer in the Harp Lager fleet.XZI 346 is a June 1966 Dublin registration number which makes this an early Irish tiltcab Mandator.CRV mounted the mirror arms to the front of the doors to lessen the amount of spray coming up from the front wheels in wet conditions, which in Ireland's climate means almost every day!If you study the photo close enough you can see that 3/8th UNF bolts have been used to fill the holes in the doors for the factory position of early Ergomatic cab mirror bracket locations!The location is at St.Stephen's Green in Dublin on the ocasion of the 1968 annual St.Patrick's Day Parade held on the 17th of March each year.Harp Lager is a subsidary of Guinness and was a very popular lager in both the UK and Ireland during the 1960s and 1970s but with the introduction of foreign brands it no longer enjoys the market share that it once had.Guinness's own fleet was predominantly of Leyland models in the heavier weiht category but Harp's fleet consisted more of AECs.The tanks on both the lorry and trailer could carry 504 gallons of product,they weighed 10cwt when empty and 3tons when full.The tanks were developed by Guinness engineers and were used to transport Guinness,Harp and Irish Ale Breweries products to Bottlers around Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as transporting beer to Liverpool and Manchester by the Guinness ships.These transportable tanks came in to use in the late 1950s with over 2000 being in use and were superseded by the use of ISO tanks from the early 1970s.
Kit-supplied wheel and tyre at the front, a set from a later 1:20 Skyline kit I also have at the back. I will probably use the latter, the standard ones look too skinny. The black wheels will get painted with silver rims and maybe gold or gunmetal centres.
Italian C-130 Hercules 46-42 arriving into RAF Fairford, bringing supplies and equipment in for the RIAT weekend
Lots Road Power Station (Also known as the Chelsea monster) is a disused coal and later oil-fired power station on the River Thames at Lots Road in Chelsea, London in the south-west of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which supplied electricity to the London Underground system. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as Fulham Power Station, a name properly applied to another former station a mile upriver.
History
A power station at Lots Road was originally planned by the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (B&PCR, now part of the Piccadilly line) in 1897.[1] The B&PCR was controlled by the District Railway (DR, now the District line) from 1898, and was sold in 1901 to Charles Yerkes' Metropolitan District Electric Traction Company, which built the station to provide power to the DR. The station allowed the District line trains to change from steam haulage to electric. At around the same time the Metropolitan Railway built its power station at Neasden.
The station was built end-on to the Thames, on the north bank of the tidal Chelsea Creek. Construction started in 1902 and was completed in December 1904, the station becoming operational in February 1905.[2] The station burned 700 tonnes of coal a day and had a generating capacity of 50,000 kW.[3] At the time it was claimed to be the largest power station ever built, and it eventually powered most of the railways and tramways in the Underground Group.
The station was re-equipped and improved several times. During the early 1920s a sump & hopper system for more efficient fuel handling was installed. It was designed by The Underfeed Stoker Company and constructed under their stewardship by Peter Lind & Company, who still trade in London today. The modernisation undertaken in the 1960s converted the station to 50 Hz generation and from coal burning to heavy fuel oil. The number of chimneys was reduced from the original four to two. Between 1974 and 1977, with the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea, the boilers were converted to burn gas, with the option of oil firing if required. The station later worked in conjunction with the ex-London County Council Tramways power station at Greenwich to supply the London Underground network.
The station played a part in the birth of commercial radio in the UK. When the first two radio stations, LBC and Capital Radio, opened in October 1973, the site for their medium wave transmitters was not complete. As a result, a temporary 'Tee' antenna was strung up between the two chimneys (transmitting LBC on 417 m (719 kHz), and Capital Radio on 539 m (557 kHz)), until the permanent site at Saffron Green was ready in 1975. Some years later the site was used again, on 720 kHz (for a low power MW relay of BBC Radio 4's LW service) which was in use until 2001 when the radio transmitter was moved to Crystal Palace.
In the 1990s, it was decided not to re-equip Lots Road again; rather it was to continue to operate only until the machinery's life was expired. It was finally shut down on 21 October 2002, and since then all power for the tube system has been supplied from the National Grid.
Redevelopment
The property company that now owns the site wishes to convert the station into shops, restaurants and apartments, and to construct additional buildings, including two skyscrapers, on the adjoining vacant land. The scheme was delayed because Kensington and Chelsea Council refused planning permission for one of the towers. The other, Lots Road South Tower, actually the taller of the two, was granted permission by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, but the developer was unwilling to proceed without permission for the other one as well. On 30 January 2006 the Secretary of State granted planning permission for the development.[4] In 2007 the developer hoped to complete the scheme by 2013.[5] It has since been delayed by the economic downturn, and no revised date is yet available.
On 13 September 2010, Thames Water announced that they would be building their Thames Tideway super sewer. One of their preferred access sites adjoins the proposed Lots Road development site as shown on the Thames Water Website under Cremorne Wharf Foreshore. The consultation period ended in Autumn 2010.[6]
On 26 September 2013, developer Hutchison Whampoa Properties broke ground on the eight-acre site, rebranding it as "Chelsea Waterfront", with Mayor of London Boris Johnson speaking at the ceremony. The £1bn scheme will be "the biggest riverside development on the north bank [of the Thames] for over 100 years", and will create 706 homes. New planning and design details were conceived between 2010 and 2012. The construction for Phase One (100 apartments) is expected to be completed in 2015/16, and phase two, which includes the power station itself, in 2017/8.
Rutland Heights State Hospital, Rutland MA
Some enterprising person from physical plant had filled this Civil Devense drinking water bucket with concrete and stuck a sign post in it.
It had been too long since I'd stopped by one of Houston's most important historical sites. Chartered in 1875, Olivewood Cemetery is one of Houston's oldest and the first for Houston's freedmen after the Civil War.
Since I was last there, in 2010, there is good news. Kroger and the City of Houston have provided a fence, and volunteers have made progress in the daunting task of clearing the vegetation that still covers so much of the cemetery.
The bad news is very bad.
Erosion had clearly been a problem when I was there in 2010, had claimed an unknown number of graves. Most of the runoff comes from the huge paved area belonging to Grocers Supply, on the east side of Olivewood.
More graves have fallen victim to erosion, despite the efforts that are being made to prevent it.
These photos are from an album given to my Grandad by his uncle who served with the 81st West African Division as an officer. The troops were mostly West Africans who served under British officers.
''The Badge of this unit was a Black Tarantula Spider on a Yellow Circular background (in West African folklore the Spider always comes out on top).
This Formation was the first Division ever to be formed from units of the West African Frontier Force, it was made up of the Troops from each of the Four African Colonies, it was assembled in Nigeria in March 1943, & was dispatched to India in August 1943, one Brigade was sent to help form part of Wingate's Chindits in Long Range Penetration.
In December 1943 the Division crossed the hills into the Kaladah Valley & Operated on the Left Flank of the Main Force, thereby becoming part of the Biggest Formation to be supplied wholly by Air.
In the following year it again Advanced down the Kaladah Valley & took part in the successful assault on Myowaung, & helping the "Fourteenth Army" in it's hard fought Battles that led to the Liberation of Burma.''
Loved testing this pattern for Sara from
sewsweetness which will be available in July. I wanted to try something different (dye sublimation) so I printed the image instead. I think it came out great for a practice round.
The image is also on the back so it looks cool all around. :-) I used a zipper I had on hand (okay, I'm lying, I did have to buy the zipper) but the one I had on hand was too short. I didn't have a double pull zipper but I actually like the single pull anyway.
I'm not too keen on the fabric selection on the inside but again, I wanted to use fabrics I had on hand.
WHAT I DID:
>Replaced elastic for clear vinyl to hold the pencils and added a snap to close to avoid the pencils falling out.
>Added a 6-ring binder spine (6-3/4" x 1/2" SIX RING SPINE 11535-00 Tandy Leather Binder Notebook Organizer) that I purchased from Tandy Leather a while back and thought this was a great use for it (not sure why I bought it....but hey, I had it).
Okay, so I made a mistake and put the pockets/mesh on the wrong side but oh well...you would not have known it was a mistake unless I just mentioned it....so I actually meant to do it! yep....that's it!
The first sewing round is always slow for me but I feel these are super fun to make and easy to change up to fit your needs.
CREDITS: Images by AndreaslilPixels and Prettygrafikdesign on Etsy.
An agricultural supply store in Kenscoff provides farmers with easily accessible production inputs at a reasonable price. Photo by Steve Goertz/USAID