The Tyne Bridge, opened in 1928 by King George V, is one of Britain’s most iconic structures, a Grade II* listed building. Linking Newcastle and Gateshead, this symbol of Tyneside and the region is also a monument to the Tyne’s industrial past. Paul Brown’s popular history explores what the bridge means to the people of North-East England, and its deep connection with their heritage. Brown recounts the story of the bridge’s predecessors, from the Roman Pons Aelius–the first crossing over the Tyne–to the Victorian era. He then brings to life the individuals who built the modern bridge: Ralph Freeman, the structural engineer who also designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge; Dorothy Buchanan, the first female member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who produced drawings and calculations; John Carr, the boatman who bravely rescued workers from the Tyne on dozens of occasions; and the scaffolder Nathaniel Collins, the only man not to survive construction of the arch, who fell from the bridge just weeks before its completion. This richly illustrated book charts the Tyne Bridge’s story right to the present, exploring how it remains a North-Eastern cultural emblem, in a region that has changed almost unrecognisably since its heyday in the late 1920s.

The Tyne's river crossings lie at the heart of the region, not only as pivotal parts of the road, rail, cycle and footpath networks which link our communities, but also as potent symbols of the North East, held in great affection by its inhabitants. Crossing the Tyne explores the history of the bridges, tunnels, ferries and fords on the tidal reaches of the Tyne, from Ryton to the river mouth. The research spans almost 2000 years of human ingenuity, from the Roman Pons Aelius, to the hi-tech, cutting-edge Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It records some of the more daring methods of crossing the river: intrepid journeys by hot air balloon and airship. Crossing the Tyne also describes some of the innovative schemes which never got past the planning stage, like the mighty bridge, 210ft high, intended to link North and South Shields. Illustrated with contemporary colour photography by Graeme Peacock and archive material, Crossing the Tyne is a celebration one of the North's great rivers and the people who live beside it.

For more than fifty years, two ruthless gangs have dominated the Tyneside underworld. Initially, the Conroy and the Sayers families lived side by side in relative harmony in the West End of Newcastle, but the birth of the drug-fuelled rave culture in the late 1980s changed everything. Drunk on power and with an intense desire to take complete control of the north-east, the families went to war with one another and with anyone else who stood in their way. What followed was an orgy of mindless violence. In Fog on the Tyne, bestselling true-crime author Bernard O'Mahoney explores the origins of this gangland war and reveals for the first time how and why it spiralled out of control, leaving many injured and others dead.

This fascinating journey takes readers down the iconic River Tyne

Whilst the early modern period has long been recognized as witnessing a growth in trade and consumerism, the majority of studies to date have tended to focus upon London and southern England. In order to provide a more balanced understanding of the dynamics at work on a national level, this book explores the local economy and waterborne trades of Newcastle and the River Tyne, in North East England. Drawing upon a variety of primary sources - including parish records, probate inventories, Newcastle Exchequer port books and the previously unpublished diary of an apprentice hostman - none of which have been examined previously in this context, the study adds significantly to our understanding of the growing community in North East England. In particular, it underlines the expansion of a thriving middling class with an associated culture of consumption driving a rapid increase in the import, and often re-export of a wide range of luxury items of food, clothing and soft furnishings. As the coal trade and a flourishing general trade with London and other home and overseas ports grew, the book highlights the major impact upon the size and variety of work in the port, and the subsequent increasing size and complexity of the water trades community and its associated business networks.