Celestial steel
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday August 8, 2009
Under the eye of an angel, Richard Jinman finds new life to match the Geordie warmth of Newcastle. British writer J.B. Priestley was appalled by Gateshead, the town that sits facing Newcastle from the southern bank of the River Tyne. On a visit in 1933, he took in the uniform rows of small, red-brick terraces and declared it a "working-class dormitory town designed by an enemy of the human race".History does not record what Gateshead thought of Priestley but it has had the last laugh. Since 1998, when the artist Antony Gormley erected a 20-metre-high, 200-tonne steel sculpture of an angel here €“ the renowned Angel of the North €“ the town's transformation has been a symbol of the rejuvenation of Newcastle and the north-east in general.With its 54-metre wingspan, the angel is one of Britain's most popular works of public art.Looming over the main rail and road arteries connecting London to Edinburgh, it is seen by an estimated 100,000 people a day. I have seen it from the train on previous visits but my heart still skips when it appears, framed by the window against a clear sky. A giant steel angel seems the perfect emblem for Newcastle and the north €“ a place shaped by heavy industry, which has remade itself through imagination, creativity and hard-headed resolve.It's worth getting a close-up view of the angel. A crowd gathers at her feet, gazes up at her wings and takes photographs. A pink ice-cream van does a roaring trade despite the chill.A sign tries to explain the work. "Why an angel?" Gormley writes. "The only response I can give is that no one has ever seen one and we need to keep imagining them."Since the angel's arrival, there have been enormous changes in Gateshead and Newcastle. National lottery money has been funnelled into new infrastructure, some of which is visible from the train as it creeps into the city across the High Level Bridge, an iron span designed by Robert Stephenson in 1847. On the northern side is old Newcastle, with its 12th-century castle keep and precinct of handsome, neoclassical buildings.Facing it from the south are Gateshead's three modern architectural icons: Baltic, a contemporary art gallery housed in a converted flour mill; the Sage, a $140 million performance hall resembling a giant steel slug; and the Millennium Bridge, a harp-shaped pedestrian and bicycle crossing billed as the world's only tilting bridge. These structures dominate an area known as Quayside. Ringed by some of Newcastle's seven bridges, including the Tyne Bridge (a smaller version of Sydney's Harbour Bridge), it's a compact precinct best explored on foot. In 15 minutes you can walk from Baltic €“ where the view of the river from the level 5 terrace is a must-see €“ over the Millennium Bridge and up into the old city, which retains its medieval street layout.It's easy to get lost in the twisting alleys locals still call "chares". Many of them lead to Grey Street, a broad sweep of Georgian buildings Sir John Betjeman reckoned to be Britain's finest street.For shopping, the Eldon Square Shopping Centre €“ Britain's largest indoor shopping complex when it opened in 1976 €“ is worth a visit. But for sheer atmosphere, it's hard to beat the Grainger Market.A panoply of colourful stalls beneath a curved, glass roof, it sells everything from ox, lamb and pig's liver, glistening on trays outside Oliver and Eden Butchers, to chewing nuts, black bullets and Tyne Mints, at Pat's Kandy Box.For those younger than 30, Newcastle is renowned as a party mecca; a city with a fast-changing line-up of clubs and late-night bars with names such as Kiss, Sam Jacks, Sinners and Flares. For a more sedate experience, try one of the 200 or so pubs. Bob Trollop, at the bottom of Dean Street, sounds like a character from a Dickens novel and it looks the part, too. If you tire of Bob's crepuscular interior and dizzying selection of ales, walk down the corridor that connects it to the Red House pub next door. Newcastle Brown Ale is still a favourite tipple here, although the brewery €“ much to the chagrin of locals €“ has relocated from Newcastle to Gateshead.An evening in a Newcastle pub confirms the axiom: northerners are more friendly than their southern cousins. The Geordie accent can be hard to understand but there's no mistaking the warmth. A taxi driver put it this way: "In London, it seems like people need to be where they're going by yesterday €“ they'll run right over you. In Newcastle, if someone bumped you I reckon they'd take you straight to a pub and buy you a pint."Quayside, like most urban regeneration zones, is dotted with smart new restaurants, bars and hotels. The Hotel du Vin on City Road is a good example. A boutique establishment in the former headquarters of the Tyne Tees Steam Shipping Company, it has one of the best hotel rooms I've stayed in €“ a two-level suite with wooden floors and curved floor-to-ceiling windows. Its views of the ever-changing Tyne are spectacular.Five minutes' walk from the hotel is an area called Ouseburn. This has been the frontline of Newcastle's rebirth since the 1970s, when local artists began turning the old industrial buildings into studios and workshops. It's become a trendy place to live but retains its edge; a tangible sense of possibility.At its heart is the Cluny, a no-frills pub where Newcastle's creative community drink, eat and listen to klezmer, krautrock and everything in between. I spent an evening here watching paint-smeared artists and musicians with mop-tops, punks and rockabilly kids dancing to the Cramps. Angels of the north, come out to play.Richard Jinman travelled courtesy of Visit Britain and Etihad Airways.Fast FactsGetting there Etihad flies to London for about $1974 from Melbourne and Sydney, via Abu Dhabi (low-season return including taxes). There are regular express trains taking three hours from London's King's Cross railway station to Newcastle. It's possible to fly to Newcastle from several European cities; for example, KLM allows you to fly a partner airline to Asia, then Amsterdam and Newcastle. Flying KLM also allows you to fly back from a different British city for the same fare.Staying there The Hotel du Vin is a luxury boutique hotel in the former headquarters of the Tyne -Tees Steam Shipping Company. Rooms from 160 ($319). See www.hotelduvin.com/newcastle.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald