Newcastle Quayside: Then and Now

National World - LocalTV

Newcastle’s Quayside has long been a place of transformation. Once the powerhouse of the city’s maritime and industrial dominance, the area has evolved over the centuries.

Transcript

00:00Newcastle's Kayside has long been a place of transformation.

00:04Once the powerhouse of the city's maritime and industrial dominance,

00:08the area has evolved over the centuries from a hub of shipbuilding and coal exports

00:13to one of the North East's most iconic leisure and cultural destinations.

00:18Historically, the Kayside was Newcastle's economic engine

00:21from medieval trade routes to the height of the Industrial Revolution.

00:25The riverfront was alive for the movement of goods, steamships and workers.

00:31Its warehouses, docks and merchant buildings bore witness to centuries of commerce and progress.

00:38But by the late 20th century, the decline of heavy industry left much of the Kayside derelict.

00:44It wasn't until major regeneration projects in the 1990s and 2000s

00:48that the area began to come back to life,

00:50this time with culture hospitality and community at its heart.

00:56Today, the Kayside is a striking blend of old and new.

00:59Historic architecture stands alongside glass-fronted apartment blocks,

01:04art galleries and music venues.

01:07But it's not just buildings that have been reinvented.

01:10Each summer, the riverside itself becomes a canvas.

01:14Anyone's annual transformation of the Kayside has added a vibrant creative dimension

01:19to the area in recent years.

01:20This summer, the centrepiece is a spectacular 90-metre hand-painted mural near Wesley Square,

01:29believed to be the largest piece of temporary street art in the UK.

01:33Installed by internationally renowned Portuguese artist Farf Studio,

01:37the colourful six-metre-wide mural offers a bold and joyful backdrop to Newcastle's riverside life.

01:44So we're delighted to be working with an international artist this year

01:48to really transform what used to be just a bus lane.

01:51It's the first year as well that we've ever used typography to to kind of transform that area

01:56and make it such a vibrant and beautiful space.

01:58That's also used as a brilliant backdrop for also in the city events as well.

02:03So the city's kind of founded around the river as well.

02:07So we're really proud to kind of showcase and show off the Kayside as it's such an iconic place in Newcastle.

02:13We're trying to add more vibrancy, make it a hub of activity and make it a really social place

02:19where people want to come down and spend time and just kind of increase that as well.

02:22So we've got a whole range of events happening down on the Kayside this year.

02:26So it's a great backdrop for all of that.

02:28It's a vibrant, colourful piece of art, which really well complements all of our really vibrant events

02:35that we've got going on down there.

02:36So we've got things like our Summer in the City programme, which is a range of fitness classes,

02:41art classes, crafts, kids clubs, all that type of thing.

02:44We've also got some larger events happening, like the Kayside Carnival, which it's perfect for,

02:48adding that vibrancy and colour down there for what's going to be a fantastic and fun event.

02:52And then also the Dog on the Tyre event, which is a real cool urban event,

02:56which, again, I think it complements really well with the kind of street art element.

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