Built by British artits Antony Gormely in 1998, the Angel of the North stands 20m high on a hill top overlooking the railway and main roads into Tynside. She spreads her horizontal 54m, red brown wings of rusted steel in a wide embrace of the area.
This statue is the UK’s largest sculpture and is a popular and iconic symbol of the area, built to mark its transition from industrial to information age.
Built by the Romans in AD 122-30 and commissioned for the Emperor Hadrian’s visit, this ancient defensive wall stretches across 84 miles of northern England. Running from Cumbria’s Bowness on the west coast, to north Sheild’s Wallsend on the east, it passes right through Newcastle city centre and along the banks of the river Tyne.
Quayside and Bridges
The Tyne’s Quayside is famous for a series of dramatic bridges, crossing the Tyne.
Largest of these is the Tyne Bridge, the tenth tallest structure in Newcastle. Built in 1928, it has imposing stone towers on each bank, joined by a single metal span of 161m long and 55m high. It is a defining symbol of Tyneside.
The High Level Bridge spans the valley a little further upriver, carrying both rail and road on split levels. Built in 1849, it has six 38m iron spans between masonry piers up to 40m high and is the worlds first major wrought iron tied bridge and the first road and rail split level bridge. Between the taller Tyne and High Level Bridges is the elegant, long single span of the hydraulic Swing Bridge of 1876. Crossing the Tyne with its 85m steel span, it can rotate through 360° on a central axis to allow boats to pass either side.
Ouseburn Trust / Victoria Tunnel
The wooded gorge of the Ouseburn Valley was the cradle of industrial development in this area. Initially in the 17th century this was based on ships ballast, river transport, local coal and water power. It was a precursor to the later mass industrialisation of Newcastle and Tyneside, in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Attractions include:
Victoria’s Tunnel Guided Tour, a tour of the 2.4 mile subterranean wagonway built under the city in 1842, to transport coal from collieries to the river side. (Awarded gold for small visitor attractions)
Guided walks and talks exploring the heritage of the area.
Local pubs with live music and real ales. Ouseburn trust provide a range of free and low-cost activities for the public.