Back of Byker Part II

 It's a fact that many have noted in print, that it's your own doorstep that seems to be the unknown territory.

I thought I knew a bit about Byker, but I don't know it all. It's a thrill to be honest, that there are still places and histories to be explored. Like all really old districts, some of the evidence of past times is 'hiding in plain sight'. We walk past fragments of old walls or overgrown spaces without having their significance spelt out to us. The Lower Ouseburn is such a place. Here history exists in layers like some Roman or Greek city.

Why have I missed Ballast Hills? The sign says it was once the Non-Conformist burial ground. When did that cease and why are the gravestones, such marvels of the stone masons lettering craft, laid flat?

Ballast Hill in a time of drought.

Given the occupations carved on the gravestones, and clearly these were not paupers, I presume these were Quaker graves. Until over due reform, Christian burial grounds were reserved for mostly Anglicans well off enough to afford it. The rest, went into 'common graves' unmarked, forgotten.

For some reason, mostly the same one at the end of it, the consequence of industrial decline and 're-location', destroyed more than just employment and buildings. Along with the decay that followed, came the lack of care for the unknown dead; in the 60s and 70s cemeteries became just another abandoned haunt, one that suffered vandalism at scale. Many were also bulldozed by boorish councils. Additionally, the were accidents. Gravestones and monuments are solid and very heavy ... Councils with responsibility and therefore legal exposure, countered by levelling much. That was the way it was sadly; still is in some places.

Walk a few yards on from the summit of the hill and the view is worth it. Then look behind you.

I have heard it said that Lord Armstrong, the presiding genius of Newcastle's 'Golden Era' of such men, had this extraordinary building made to keep Japanese customers for his warships feel at home. Maybe.

Ouseburn. Will it ever be completely 'gentrified'?

It was remarkable how in such a short walk I found such a complexity. And that wasn't by any means all of it. Thank heavens, the chaos of comings and goings, big ideas and financial crashes, religious intolerance, pennilessness and ambition, dumb estate agents, smartening up and refusnic punks can mingle like this!

Back of Byker Part I

 There always seems to be a corner of this part of the city I don't know or never explored. Sometimes we just don't know what is on our doorstep.

I came across Ballast Hill by accident, looking for a parking spot with a friend. What I saw made me want to return with a camera. Luckily fine days are not infrequent this summer. So I wandered in from Byker Bridge, skipping across when there was lull in the early afternoon traffic.

Somehow everything was a bit unexpected from the beginning ...

Part of an allotment tucked away. This bit of Byker overlooking the Lower Ouseburn was once packed with small and dirty industries, with plenty of byways that didn't suit either motor vehicles or planners. I imagine I was on one such, now a walk way over grown with buddleia and brambles ...

Next surprise. Ponies.

Another reminder of the pre-internal combustion engine era when much was moved by 'horses' and cart.

The way afterwards was familiar. True, but increasingly smarter. It's easy to forget how 'left behind' this part of the inner city was until recently. Lots more apartments and with this, a natural anxiety amongst some that the character of the Lower Ouseburn will be lost.

As I predicted in these pages ages back, the arrival of white Porches tends to spell trouble.

The loss of industry left behind a lot of unwanted property. Some, like the Berger Paintworks, after brief spell as an alternative space, were levelled. The Cluny was saved, by an ad-hoc theatre company known as The Buvver's who went about in what must have been a barely legal van when I first walked down in to the Lower Ouseburn decades ago.

This effect where-by artist's, makers and performers, moved into often dingy and dodgy places in the older cities across the world is by now well understood. The newcomer's rarely made bad neighbours; they have learned to work co-operatively, and with imagination make what was grimy seem almost exotic. This happened in the Lower Ouseburn alongside larger enterprises in London's docks and slums and NewYork's meat packing district to mention two other places I saw this happen.

Trouble is, having shown the way, the artists are usually pushed out by money ...

To be continued

The Archive

 Together with what I hope are 'interested parties' I am exploring possible future-proofing for the site I called 'Battlefield' due to an accumulation of threats to 'develop' the site. 

In order to progress the argument that the City Stadium, to give this green space its official title, should have stutory protection as green space and no longer just a place awaiting smart people to turn into a profit centre of some kind, I am going to post photographs taken over time to show how much this precious urban lung has grown and re-shaped entirely naturally.

A former photographic library I used has become too expensive to justify the outlay; I intend instead to re-publish a few images from time to time as part of 'the Archive'. This, I hope, will serve a purpose beyond nostalgia.

The 'main drag' connecting Portland Road to the Heaton district taken in 2007. 

This is before the cycle path that, despite my strong misgivings at the time, has proved a very interesting addition. Trees were felled, but the wild flower 'divider' between the cyclists and pedestrians has been a real gain in wildlife terms.

The path down to Stepney Bank 2007.

To be continued.

Transformers Part 2

 More on the wild flower 'meadows' gracing the 'Battlefield'.

What a stunning display!

Transformers

The flowerbeds created by Wild Intrigue have made a considerable difference to the City Stadium site, more so than most parks that are wedded to traditional ideas. 

Is it time for City Stadium to become a new 'park' – Lower Ouseburn Park? The status of the green space is uncertain. One wll informed  opinion I received long ago suggested it had no formal designation, hence plans to tarmac it for car parking were being advanced. That was then. Now, a whole raft of forces and actions make this 'nowhere' position unacceptable. Green Space is at a premium in all cities. In a period of global warming and subsequent impacts on our lives, preserving places such as the City Stadium are no luxury but a necessity for quality of life.

To be continued.

Bee Happy

 Flaming June – maybe!

The open space I call Battlefield (because that is what I felt suited it back when Newcastle City Council had plans to tarmac it) is blooming these days. Wild Intrigue has been making wild flower 'meadows' on site for the past two seasons. This year looks to be a bumper one for their far sighted work.

On a recent walk in sunshine (honest) I saw more bees than I have for sometime. These crucial creatures have been under the hammer in the wider landscape so a very welcome sight. A few photographs:

Sprung not Spring

 My posts on this blog continue to decline. As I explained, I'm old and besides, the panic over what our belovéd Council planned for the City Stadium (a.k.a. Battlefield) has faded without ever vanishing from view.

It seems a long time ago when the green space was to be covered with tarmac and used to park 1300 cars (!) next to a blander than bland set of office blocks. Or the time I was told by P.R. consultants for a following development that the woodland edge of the Stadium was 'threatening'.

Not only have offices as a means to rescue the local economy hit serious problems (and now, A.I. ...) the increasing public demand to have green space properly protected has greatly changed outlooks, if not convincingly, policy.

So, as the pressure on these precious spaces has (for now; who knows what lies ahead!?) decreased, the Stadium and Lower Ouseburn area has thrived. Trees are maturing, wildlife sightings and consequent public engagement has developed alongside at pace.

Below, some recent images taken on a walk to the orchard by Byker Farm, past the Portland Road site of a promised Lidl's store, and into the woodland leading under the 'bridges' to the orchard. Despite the unpromising prospect of attempting to grow fruit tees (or anything) in such poor soils, the trees are still there and still growing. I waited for sunshine but none came, alas.

Water company contractor's doing 'something' at the entrance (blocked) to the Ouseburn River tunnel

New Year – New Tricks

 Another year passes – but not like previous years when all kinds of 'threats' lingered over 'Battlefield'. This seems like a new time for this piece of unregistered public open space. The arrival of Wild Intrigue has been a boon; previous custodians Urban Green were not bad despite the aura of suspicion that greeted them. But Intrigue have really gone big on the Battlefield! Much that has been done this year will only cement the idea of Battlefield becoming a properly registered park, placed beyond the reach of the City's 'planners'.

It is all a far cry from the turn of the century when the green lung of Sandyford and Ouseburn might have been gobbled up by corporate interests.

I still haven't got around to fixing the issue of a blog photographic library that records Battlefield's recent history in the biological sense of growing and developing. I hope to do something, even if just a few images from various decades.

Meanwhile, thanks to Wild Intrigue and their volunteers for the great work they have done and will go on to do to this increasingly precious piece of urban green landscape.

Best Wishes for 2026

January 2016