Quayside

 

Seven bridges across the Tyne link Newcastle and Gateshead. The area around the Millenium and the Tyne bridges is known as Quayside and was once industrial with a busy commercial dockside but nowadays it has been heavily redeveloped. The Gateshead side is sign-posted Gateshead Quays, and is the site for the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Sage, a music venue. The Newcastle side is full of restaurants, bars, night clubs and modern housing.

 

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge dominates the area. It opened in 2001, was designed by Wilkinson Eyre and is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge.

We started from Gateshead





and crossed over

to the Newcastle side.

 

From the bridge we had a good view of the Sage

and of the Baltic.

 

It was a very pleasant walk

 



 

affording good views of the bridge

and of the Baltic across the water.

We reached the Swirle Pavilion designed by Raf Fulcher.

It has the names of various cities carved on the inside, taken from a faded sign that advertised the major destinations of the Tyne-Tees Steam Shipping Company from Newcastle in the 19th century.

 

 

A bit further on we reached the Blacksmith's Needle designed and made by artists of the British Blacksmiths Association. It has six section: each section contains objects which relate to one of the senses, including the 'mysterious sixth'.

 



 

 

It was a short walk

 



 

 

but bracing as it was cold and windy.

 

 

We reached the point where the Ouseburn joins the Tyne. On the far side of the Ouseburn stood the River Police Station and the Dead House, where bodies found in the Tyne were laid out for identification. These buildings were demolished in 1906.

 

 

 

On the walk back we could see the Millennium bridge and arched below it, the Tyne bridge.

Following our walk we went to see the exhibitions at the Baltic and then had lunch at the Sage. It was starting to get dark by the time we had finished and Millennium bridge was lit up

 

It must look wonderful when it's dark.