Brek-E

Jesmond Dene

Jesmond · 1.2 miles

A narrow, steep-sided valley carved by the Ouseburn river runs through the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, forming the public park known as Jesmond Dene. The valley’s name, meaning “mouth of the Ouseburn”, reflects its geographical setting. Laid out in the 1860s by Lord Armstrong and his wife, the design intentionally mimics a rural landscape, incorporating woodland, crags, waterfalls and a series of pools. After Armstrong presented the park and his Banqueting Hall to the city in 1883, it opened to the public the following year and remains under the ownership of Newcastle City Council following its return to council control on 1 March 2025. Visitors can wander the wooded paths, view the ruins of St Mary’s Chapel – Newcastle’s oldest religious building – and cross the iron-constructed Armstrong Bridge, now closed to road traffic but used for the Jesmond Food Market on the first and third Saturday of each month. A free-entry petting zoo, Pets’ Corner, has attracted families since the 1960s, while the nearby Jesmond Dene House operates as a luxury hotel. The park benefits from the Friends of Jesmond Dene and Volunteer Rangers, who fund small improvements and maintain paths, shrubbery and litter. Recent developments include a 2011 redevelopment of the field area and Pets’ Corner, adding a new road and bridge over the Ouseburn, and the removal of graffiti from the Old Mill after a 2014 incident. Access is via the suburb of Jesmond, and admission to the park and its petting zoo is free.

The Response

Haymarket · 1.2 miles

Set within the public gardens north of St Thomas the Martyr church and to the west of the Civic Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, The Response 1914 occupies a visible spot near the Haymarket district. The monument rests on a substantial Shap granite base that rises in three steps to a rusticated plinth and a screen wall. A large black bronze group, cast at the Thames Ditton Foundry, measures about three metres in height and ten metres across and portrays a crowd of figures – two young drummers, men parting from loved ones, and an allegorical angel sounding a trumpet. On the reverse side of the stonework, a carving of St George is flanked by two soldiers, one representing the regiment’s founding in 1674 and the other its First World War service. Commissioned by Sir George Renwick, 1st Baronet, and executed by sculptor Sir William Goscombe John, the work was presented to the city on 5 July 1923 in a ceremony that included the Prince of Wales. It commemorates the Territorial Army “Pals” battalions of the Northumberland Fusiliers raised in 1914 – the “Commercials” – as well as the safe return of Renwick’s five sons and his half-century of ship-owning activity. Latin inscriptions on the front read “Non sibi sed patriae” followed by the title, while the rear bears the Fusiliers’ motto “Quo fata vocant” and a dedication to the battalions raised by the Newcastle and Gateshead Chamber of Commerce. The monument received listed status in 1971, was upgraded to Grade I in October 2014, and after restoration was rededicated on 25 October 2007 in the presence of Prince Philip.

Grey's Monument

Newcastle upon Tyne · 1.2 miles

A prominent column stands at the intersection of Grey, Grainger and Blackett Streets, forming a focal point in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. The structure reaches 133 ft (41 m) and is listed at Grade I by Historic England. Constructed in 1838, the monument consists of a Roman Doric column designed by Benjamin Green, surmounted by a statue of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, executed by sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. Erected to commemorate Grey’s premiership and the passage of the Great Reform Act of 1832, the monument was financed through public subscription. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1837, and a time capsule containing contemporary coins, medals and a list of subscribers was interred. The column was completed on 11 August 1838, followed by the placement of the statue on 24 August. Although contemporary critics questioned the site’s suitability within the city’s tram network, the surrounding pedestrianised area has since become a popular meeting spot and speakers’ corner. In 1981 the adjacent Tyne and Wear Metro station was named after the monument, reinforcing its role as a landmark for both residents and visitors. Access to the monument is straightforward from the city centre, with the nearby metro station providing a convenient public-transport link. The monument occupies an open, car-free zone and does not appear to have a charge for entry or on-site facilities beyond the surrounding public space.

Mining Institute

Grainger Town · 1.2 miles

The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers – frequently referred to as the Mining Institute – occupies a prominent position in Grainger Town, Newcastle upon Tyne. Established in 1852 and granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1876, the institute was created to unite mining professionals, improve safety, and promote technical knowledge. Its library, named after the first President Nicholas Wood, holds more than twenty-thousand volumes covering mining, geology, mechanical engineering, government reports, mine rescue, mineralogy, law and related subjects, forming one of the world’s most extensive mining collections. OpenStreetMap records the site as a museum, reflecting the public display of the institute’s historic archives and technical literature. In 2019 the building, known as Neville Hall, entered a period of refurbishment and its assets – the structure, library and archive collections – were transferred to the charity The Common Room of the Great North, which aims to celebrate regional engineering history. Despite the hand-over, the institute continues as an independent professional membership organisation, drawing members chiefly from local industry and the academic communities of Durham and Newcastle universities, and is currently formulating a new strategic plan to broaden its activities. The venue therefore offers visitors insight into the development of mining engineering and the broader industrial heritage of the North of England.

Exhibition Park

Haymarket · 1.2 miles

Connected to the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, Exhibition Park provides a variety of recreational amenities within a historic environment. The Town Moor Improvement Act of 1870 set aside two 35-acre parcels for public use; one became Leazes Park and the other developed into the present park. Initially designated as Bull Park, the site later hosted the Royal Mining Engineering Jubilee Exhibition of 1887, after which the name Exhibition Park entered common usage. A surviving grade II-listed bandstand dating from 1875 remains from that period. The most visible legacy of the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art is the Palace of Arts, the sole building left from the event, which subsequently housed a science museum, a military vehicle collection and, since 2016, the Wylam Brewery. Current facilities include two croquet lawns, a pair of tennis courts, a basketball court, a fenced playground with safety surfacing, a lake that has been re-engineered for wildlife, a café, a skatepark at the main entrance and a miniature railway operated by the Tyneside Society of Model and Experimental Engineers. The park is fully step-free, providing wheelchair access throughout. Public transport is served by Haymarket Metro and bus stations, and a taxi rank sits on Park Terrace close to the entrance. Visitors can also attend events such as the annual mela in August and the Northern Pride festival each July.

Site of Kings Meadow Island

Teams · 3.1 miles

A former flat island once stretched across the River Tyne between Elswick on the north bank and Dunston on the south, close to Gateshead. In the 17th-century siege of Newcastle, Scottish sentries were stationed on the island and recorded at least one fatal shooting of a man attempting to pass. By the 18th century the site supported a public house called the Countess of Coventry, and it later hosted an annual regatta and horse racing programme until 1850, with occasional greyhound racing as well. Nearby, the smaller Little Annie island lay to the south-west and the Clarenee Islands were situated to the north of its eastern end. The island disappeared from the river surface after dredging work carried out by the Tyne Improvement Commission between 1862 and 1887, intended to improve navigation. Today the location is marked as the “Site of Kings Meadow Island”, classified as ruins, with the nearest town identified as Teams. No specific visitor facilities or admission charges are recorded for the ruin site. The name survives locally through Kingsmeadow Community Comprehensive School, which lies close to the former island’s position. Access routes, parking provisions or opening hours are not detailed in the available material.