I was recently reading a post on Mike Cherim’s site entitled My Hometown: Nottingham, New Hampshire where he pointed out that a lot of us bloggers will probably have visited each others online homes regularly, but have little or no idea what the place is like where we actually live.

Well, I’m a Gateshead boy. I was born in Gateshead, and for all but about six years of my life (three as a child and three as a student), I’ve lived in Gateshead.

Gateshead is both a town and a borough. The boundaries shown on the map (approximately) indicate the boundaries of the Tyne & Wear Councils, but one of the things to remember about Gateshead is that the town of Gateshead lies within the borough of Gateshead. For example, I live in an area of Gateshead’s borough called Whickham, which lies on the edge of the urban area (near the ‘s’ in Gateshead) which is an area in its own right — either a village or a town depending on where you draw the boundary in terms of size.

However, most of Gateshead borough‘s residents use the term “Gateshead” to indicate where they come from irrespective of whether they come from original town of Gateshead from the centre of the village which has expanded in size to swallow many outlying villages.

The rural areas of Gateshead (the south and west of the borough) are a series of small communities (frequently based around the historical locations of coal mines), farms and the like. The urban Gateshead (the original town, if you like) has a primarily industrial heritage, with associations with heavy engineering, coal mining, shipbuilding on the River Tyne, chemical manufacture, and went through rapid expansion during through Victorian times, although the impacts of the industries which employed the towns residents did lead to the place not always being well received:

Dr Johnson passing through with James Boswell described it as “a dirty little back lane out of Newcastle” while JB Priestley, writing in his “An English Journey” (1934) said that “no true civilisation could have produced such a town”, adding that it appeared to have been designed “by an enemy of the human race”.Wikipedia [1]

I image that these were referring to what we would think of as the town of Gateshead, which quite probably used to deserve that sort of remark. Indeed some of the architecture in the town centre is … well… the Trinity Centre Multi-Storey Car Park dominates the centre of Gateshead and while it has been described as a “prime example of Brutalist architecture”, it has also been described as a “rotting concrete monstrosity” (by me).

It’s also of interest to some Michael Caine fans, as part of the film “Get Carter” was filmed there, and when the idea of it being demolished (yaaay!) was first mooted, some Get Carter fans objected, although even a Get Carter fansite is prepared to admit that it isn’t really at its best:

5. It is in some what of a dilapidated state now with some of the concrete starting to flake away and the Restaurant banned now even for the toursGet Carter Tour

Incidentally, if you follow that reference there is quite a good photo of the car park, which demonstrates not only how it dominates the skyline of central Gateshead, but also precisely why Gateshead residents can’t wait for it to be demolished (scheduled I believe for early 2008!).

However, both the borough and the town of Gateshead have seen significant regeneration in recent years, driven by local councils, and so we’ve had quite a lot to shout about recently.

Instead of simply being famous for being a dirty backwater on the way to Newcastle, Gateshead’s regeneration has been nothing short of astonishing during my lifetime, to the extent that if I mention that I’m from Gateshead, people aren’t likely to think of the region’s previous history, but will think of some of the things for which I am rightfully proud of my region.

Firstly, there was the Metro Centre:

MetroCentre is the largest shopping and leisure centre in the EU…It is located at Dunston, Gateshead, UK on a former industrial site, close to the River Tyne.Wikipedia [2]

Okay, don’t get me wrong, the MetroCentre, which opened in 1986, helped put Gateshead on the map. People travel on coach trips from all round the country to come shopping here. This was the first thing in my lifetime that people from outside the North East got to know Gateshead for. I still go shopping at the MetroCentre regularly (it’s not far from me), but as far as “things to be proud of” stand, a shopping mall just doesn’t cut it for me, no matter how big it is.

In 1987 the Tyne was chosen for one of the legs of the Tall Ships Race and I was able to sit on the banks of the Tyne and watch the beautiful sailing ships glide by. (The Tyne has gone on to host a stage of the Tall Ships Race twice more — in 1993 and 2005).

In 1990, hosted the UK National Garden Festival, which was held every two years between 1984 and 1992 as a way to help regenerate otherwise derelict land in the country’s industrial districts. As I was at school at the time, I can attest to the fact that Gateshead’s school children were all seemingly taken to visit the Garden Festival on at least one occasion (I’ve found a photoset of it, if you’re interested). Maybe this wasn’t something which would last (the Garden Festival site is now used for housing) but it did have a lasting impact; transforming an area of derelict, unused and ugly land — via the Garden Festival — into a nice looking housing estate of benefit to Gateshead residents.

By this time I also started to become more aware of the Public Art program, which had been launched in the early 1980s, with sculpture, mosaics and the like being used to decorate the town centre, transport interchanges and local municipal buildings.

They weren’t always well received: I’ve certainly heard people being critical of Sports Day, which recreates the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare, but for the most part I think Gateshead residents appreciate having this sort of thing. Things don’t have to be specifically serving a purpose to benefit the local community. Sometimes it’s enough for them to just be there to look at.

In 1998, the Angel of the North was installed alongside Durham Road in Gateshead, near where I was living at the time. A 65 foot high and 175 foot wide stylised sculpture of an angel made out of rusting steel was bound to provoke some debate, and while I didn’t like it at first (too square and blocky for me), it’s grown on me and I love it now. It’s also such an iconic image that represents Gateshead and helped put us on the map nationally and internationally.

In 2001, the Gateshead Millenium Bridge was opened to the public after having been installed the year before. As I’ve already described this as artitecture in a previous post (architecture which should also qualify as art), you can probably surmise I’m quite fond of it. This is a pedestrian bridge across the River Tyne which is again simply breathtaking in its beauty and elegance.

In 2002, BALTIC, Gateshead’s centre for contemporary art, opened in a former grain warehouse, providing the opportunity to bring artworks, sculptures and installations to the residents of Gateshead that previously would have not tended to be available to view in the area. One of the great things about BALTIC is that the content is a series of exhibitions (effectively, it’s “art on tour”) so that if you return later, you will usually be looking at entirely different and new artworks.

In 2004, a purpose built music centre was opened in Gateshead on the banks of the Tyne. The Sage Gateshead is in itself another beautiful building, made from curved glass and stainless steel (there are some excellent photographs with the Wikipedia entry). Inside, the building has been designed specifically for musical performance: the three halls are separated by acoustical isolation joints, and the acoustics for each hall were specifically designed with acoustic specialists to give each hall a “unique sound personality”.

In 2005, the £10 million restoration of historic Saltwell Park in central Gateshead (first opened as “The People’s Park in 1876″) was completed, restoring it to prime condition, restoring the fairytale castle style “Saltwell Towers” in the centre of the park, and leading to it winning the award of “Britain’s Best Park” in 2005, and winning a Green Flag award in 2006. Saltwell Park also sums up the regeneration of Gateshead in my lifetime: as a child I remember the park run down, dirty, and full of litter. Now — well let’s just say you don’t win the award of Britain’s Best Park for nothing, eh?

In January 2008, the Gateshead Quays regeneration will continue with the opening of a purpose built £37 million Baltic Campus on Gateshead Quayside which will house the revitalised Gateshead College.

Frankly, I would have been proud to be from Gateshead regardless. It’s my town. But for it to have so revitalised itself, to have transformed itself from a dirty backwater to a cultural and educational centre of excellence? I think I’ve got good reason to be proud…