The Shields Ferry

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The Shields Ferry passenger service operates on the River Tyne between North Shields and South Shields. There are two vessels, The Pride of the Tyne , pictured here, was built in 1993, and the The Spirit of the Tyne which was built in 2007. Between them they make around
25,000 journeys , and carry nearly 400,000 passengers, a year. Each trip is about 0.48miles (0.77km) across the river. Currently a return ticket costs £2.

Mela faces

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Mela dancers

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amongst the international artists at the Mela some local people also performed , of which these are two.

the Newcastle Mela

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The Newcastle Mela ( http://www.newcastlemela.co.uk/ ) is an annual free event celebrating mainly Punjabi, Pakistani, Bengali and Hindi cultures.

ths Newcastle Mela

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Mela means 'gathering' and can describe such events as a festival, a market, or a religious gathering . The Newcastle Mela ( http://www.newcastlemela.co.uk/ ) is an annual free event celebrating mainly Punjabi, Pakistani, Bengali and Hindi cultures. It is being held this weekend in the Exhibition Park in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Graffitti

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this is some of the officially sanctioned street art on the hoardings around a building site for new halls of residence for Northumbria University in Shieldfield.

The Evening Chronicle

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The Evening Chronicle is a daily, evening newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was founded in 1885 by Joseph Cowen who succeeded his father as a Member of Parliament for Newcastle. This advert for the Chronicle is on a BT telephone kiosk on Forth Street.

picnic at the quayside

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where freighters once unloaded their cargo, more humble vessels such as this dinghy, occasionally frequent the Newcastle quayside. Commercial ships now ply their trade further downstream.

Red Arrows above Newcastle

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The Red Arrows of the RAF grace Newcastle with their presence every year for The Great North Run which took place on Sunday. This shot was taken into the sun causing silhouettes. Old Saints Church can be seen to the left and the top of the Tyne Bridge can just be seen above the skyline in the middle of the picture.

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Dere Street at Vinovia ( Bishop Auckland)

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Dere Street , sometimes called Watling Street, was a Roman Road which ran between Eboracum ( modern day York) to the Eastern end of the Antonine Wall in Scotland.

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Dere Street crossed the River Wear in County Durham at the Roman fort of Vinovia near present-day Bishop Auckland. Part of the original road, now over 1800 years old, is still visible and can be seen in this photo behind the sign.

The Great North Run 2009

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The Great North Run , which took place on Tyneside today, is one of the biggest running events in the world and is also the world's most popular half-marathon event. The first Great North Run took place on the 28 June 1981 with 12,000 runners . Around 54,000 people entered today's race which was started by the local musician Sting. The race begins in Newcastle upon Tyne and ends 13 miles later in South Shields. Entrants raise millions of pounds for charity.
The photo below shows some of the fleet of buses . which take entrants belongings to the finishing 'village', travelling south across the Tyne Bridge. Behind the Bridge can be seen the Moot Hall, which dates from 1812 , the Castle Keep ( 12th century), the roof of the Central Station, 1850s, and the Vermont Hotel (converted 1930's block).

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the netty

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Netty is an old Geordie word for a toilet; for its' possible derivation see: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/netty
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This example is an outdoor netty at an old pitman's cottage at Beamish Museum

water lily

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The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, should be a must see for any visitors to London. The gardens were created in 1759 and celebrated their 250th anniversary this year.

1913 Daimler double decker

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This bus at Beamish Museum is an exact replica of a 1913 Daimler double decker, it is built on a Dodge minibus chassis.

Signal Box at Beamish Station

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this is a view of the interior of the signals box at the Station at Beamish Museum

St Gregory the Great Church, Kirknewton, Northumberland

A place of Christian worship since the eleventh century the church in its present form was restored by by John Dobson of Newcastle in 1860. The churchyard contains the grave of social reformer Josephine Butler (1828 – 1906) and this new stained glass window commemorates the centenary of her death with the epitaph, “she loved, she prayed, she endured”.

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The churchyard also contains war graves of 12 servicemen, mainly Canadian aircrew, who died flying out of the nearby Milfield airbase during the Second World War.

The Military Road, Northumberland

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The Military Road is the name given to part of the B6318 road in Northumberland which runs from Heddon on the Wall in the east to Greenhead in the West. It was built in 1746 by the Hanoverian forces, commanded by General Wade, in order to speed the movement of troops to suppress the Jacobite forces in Scotland. Sadly for the Roman Wall built 1600 years earlier some parts of the road are actually built on the foundation stones for the wall. and much of the walls material was used to construct other parts of the road.

Police van circa 1973

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this vinatge poice van dates from around 1973 and was see in Front Street, Tynemouth recently.

Belford Hall, Northumberland

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Belford Hall is a an 18th century mansion house situated in Belford in Northumberland. It was designed by architect James Paine and built in 1752. Two wings were added in 1818 designed by John Dobson. It was requisitioned by the army during the Second World war and then became neglected and fell into disrepair. It was acquired by the Northern heritage Trust in the 1980s and was converted to residential apartments.

Sycamore Tree, Hadrian's Wall

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Sinks at Beamish Board School

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these sinks (wash basins ) are in the the Beamish Board School which was relocated onto the museum site from nearby East Stanley. The building was first opened in 1892 and has been faithfully restored on the Beamish site.

Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall

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This tree is located on Hadrian's Wall , a World Heritage Site. The Wall's construction began in AD122 under the instructions of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It stretched for 74 miles across the North of England from Segedunum ( Wallsend) on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness and Maryport, in the west. It marked the point furthest north in the Roman Empire.

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Petroleum Dispenser, early 20th Century

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The town area of Beamish Museum shows Victorian buildings as they would have been in around 1913. This petrol dispenser is within the Town Garage; it has a separate nozzle for Pints, Quarts and Gallons.

Columbian Printing Press

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A Columbian press, early 19th century, at Beamish Museum, County Durham.

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No. 10 Tram, Beamish Museum

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10 is s single-deck tram car built in the 1920s by the Gateshead and District Tramways Co. at its Sunderland Road works. It is 42' 8'' in length and has seating for 48 passengers.

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Window , the Great Shed, Beamish Museum

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The Great Shed at Beamish , is based upon the lost buildings of Timothy Hackworth’s works at Shildon, County Durham. Incorporated in the structure is original ironwork from George Stephenson’s Forth Banks locomotive works in Newcastle upon Tyne.

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Beamish Museum and Puffing Billy

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Beamish (www.beamish.org.uk/ ) is an open air museum, set in 300 acres of countryside in County Durham. It tells the story of the people of North East England in around 1825 when the area was still mainly agricultural but about to witness the great upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, and later in 1913 when the heavy industries of the region, particularly coal mining, were at their peak.

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Shown in the first photo is a working replica of Puffing Billy which was an early steam locomotive named after, and built by , William Hedley, in 1813-1814 for use at Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne where Hedley was the resident engineer. The original is on display at the National Railway Museum in York.

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Carnival Face

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from the Notting Hill carnival, August Bank Holiday in London.

( see my other blog for more carnival pictures : http://toothecrossroads.blogspot.com/ )

Notting Hill Carnival

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Phoenix Carnival Costume Band. theme: "Indians of the Plains"
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Notting Hill Carnival

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Notting Hill is about 280 miles south of Newcastle and the Carnival is held every year on August Bank Holiday weekend; it is the largest festival of its kind in Europe.

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