I went back to England last week to attend my mother's 80th birthday. My home town of Newcastle is located about 300 miles north of London on the north-east coast, close to Scotland. It was one of the boom towns of the industrial revolution, with mighty coal mining and shipbuilding industries. The merchants who amassed great fortunes spent some of their wealth on public building, leaving a legacy of impressive architecture that looks better than ever these days, thanks to the clean-up that came along with the post-industrial urban renewal.
The above photo shows the roof of Newcastle Central Railway Station. It was built in 1850, and architect used an 'arch and nave' design supported by cast-iron columns and hoops. This kind of framing, with glass roof panes, is reflected at smaller stations all around Tyneside. The street entrance of the station is a classical design of arches and pavilions in sandstone. This is also the style of Newcastle's elegant Grey Street:
It was built in the 1830s by an architect named Grainger. At the top of the street is a column-monument to local aristocrat Earl Grey, and as the street curves downhill towards the River Tyne it passes by many fine Georgian and Victorian buildings. And once you get to the end of the street, you plunge into a winding maze that encompasses maritime buildings, medieval city walls, and a thirteenth century friary.
Altogether, there's a lot to like about this out-of-the-way place in the cold northern provinces of England.
