JULY 2024 · ROAM
DO NOT HESITATE HERE.
Grainger Town, Ouseburn and Gateshead · Tyneside
Grainger Town is Georgian at the centre and industrial at the edges. The covered passage with its ornate archway opens onto a sunlit Georgian square in one direction and a brick alley in the other. Both are the same city. A heritage railway station platform with red parking sign and arched stone architecture: the Victorian infrastructure still running, adapted rather than replaced.
The bridges over the Tyne are the real subject. The steel framework photographed from below shows dramatic structural geometry, the riveted ironwork a specific shade of green where it reflects in the water. The Swing Bridge in symmetry: weathered green panels, the reflection holding below. The Baltic Flour Mills reflected in the Tyne, its monumental arches doubled in the water. The bridges are monuments to a working city that made the things it still contains.
Down in Ouseburn, three fishing boats are beached at low tide, the mud visible beneath them. A derelict fishing boat is partially submerged further along, scattered debris on the waterfront behind it. The old wooden boat dock with metal railings. At Gateshead, an old fishing boat moored beside a derelict wharf and machinery — the machinery still there, the work gone.
Always showing you two eras simultaneously, neither one complete without the other.
Grainger Town, Ouseburn and Gateshead — July 2024
The walls hold history differently. Ancient stone steps with patina moss between red brick and sandstone. A stairwell with bold blue and red graffiti tags ascending the brickwork. A brick wall with dense graffiti tags below an elevated railway structure. A concrete underpass with a warning sign and the text ROSSALAMUS on a deteriorating blue panel. The surface has gone. The name hasn't.
An ornate Victorian building with a teal copper dome above the sandstone cornice. A modern glassy dome structure moored on the Tyne riverbank below an industrial steel frame. The new and old appearing in the same frame without reconciling.
A concrete stairwell creates a receding geometric tunnel of metal meshwork. A symmetrical underpass: repeating steel beams casting geometric shadows on the pavement. The architecture of crossing over and going under, everywhere.
The brick archway frames figures in a street scene. The modern apartment building above a historic brick workshop with bright yellow garage doors. Newcastle is always showing you two eras simultaneously, neither one complete without the other.
Symmetrical steel bridge framework with weathered green panels reflecting in water below
Grainger Town Victorian architecture street with historic buildings and distant Tyne Bridge
Industrial underpass with repeating steel beams casting geometric shadows on pavement
Concrete underpass with warning sign and weathered Rossalamus text on deteriorating blue panel
Brick wall with extensive layers of faded graffiti and weathered paint
Weathered brick wall with street sign and layered graffiti in muted earth tones
Stairwell with bold blue and red graffiti tags on brick walls ascending upward
Narrow alley with moss-covered stone walls and fire escape creating shadowed passage
Weathered brick and stone Victorian alley with moss growth and industrial infrastructure
Ancient stone steps with patina moss integration between red brick and sandstone walls
Grainger Town covered passage with ornate archway leading to sunlit Georgian square
Heritage railway station platform with red parking sign and arched stone architecture
Narrow street between terraced brick walls with yellow road markings and graffiti
Weathered wooden boat dock with metal railings and industrial waterfront structures
Modern metal staircase with graffiti beneath concrete brutalist underpass structure
Gateshead waterfront with old fishing boat moored beside derelict wharf and machinery
Underpass with repeated geometric pattern of metal railings creating perspective lines
Ornate Victorian building facade with teal dome and stone architectural detailing above
Steel bridge framework photographed from below with dramatic structural geometry
Modern glassy dome structure moored on Tyne riverbank below industrial steel frame
Historic stone chamber with weathered walls and two dark wooden doors
Railway platform canopy with ornate timber brackets and painted heritage infrastructure
Brutalist concrete structure with layered shadows beneath elevated highway overpass
Symmetrical concrete stairwell creating receding geometric tunnel of metal meshwork
Classical sandstone building cornice with teal copper piping against clear sky
Industrial bridge geometry showing layered steel supports and riveted framework detail
Ouseburn waterfront with three moored fishing boats beached at low tide
Red brick wall with extensive street art graffiti below elevated railway structure
Derelict fishing boat partially submerged in muddy waterfront with scattered debris
Underpass columns with industrial timber dwelling beneath multi-level bridge structure
Colorful sculptural installation with curved metal tubing in overgrown riverside setting
Multi-lane highway viaduct with concrete pillars and verdant vegetation below
Red brick industrial wall with dense graffiti tags and black refuse containers below
Modern apartment building above historic brick workshop with bright yellow garage doors
Brick archway framing figures in street scene with weathered walls and street art
Baltic Flour Mills landmark building with monumental arches reflected in Tyne water
Baltic Flour Mills landmark building with monumental arches reflected in Tyne water