RALPH HEDLEY

Art   Shipley Art Gallery
Posted by administrator on April 5, 2013     Permalink     Comments (2)

There’s a special exhibition of Ralph Hedley’s paintings at the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, until 2 November 2013, but here’s some stuff about the famous Tyneside artist you won’t find in the exhibition.

First of all Ralph Hedley’s not from Tyneside. He was born in the north Yorkshire village Gilling West , and, though he lived in Newcastle from about 18 months old until he died in 1913, he said that he always thought of himself as a Yorkshireman.

The Farrier’s Arms in Gilling West was the first house he lived in. The last was in Bellegrove Terrace, Spital Tongues, Newcastle, and on 14 June 2013 it will be 100 years since Ralph Hedley died there.

The house in Bellegrove Terrace has a blue plaque commemorating Hedley, but it is empty now and starting to fall to bits. Years ago the house was taken over by the Bellegrove Hotel next door, and now both buildings have been abandoned.

Ralph Hedley’s grand-daughter remembered him at Bellegrove Terrace.

“I stayed at Belle Grove Terrace quite often and went with RH on what he called his “constitutional” before breakfast, a walk up the terrace and through the iron gates at the top. I can remember very clearly that he wore knee breeches and fine black stockings and red morocco slippers. I was knee high to a gnat then and very close to the flapping slippers which had no backs on them.”

Do we have historic aerial photographs of your neighbourhood?

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Local History   The Archives
Posted by administrator on April 2, 2013     Permalink     Comments (5)

Tyne & Wear Archives holds thousands of fascinating collections covering an amazing variety of subjects. There are so many interesting collections that it would be very difficult to pick a favourite. Two kinds of documents do have a special place in my heart, though – old maps and aerial photographs. I’m lucky that the Archives is blessed with many fine examples of both.

The extent of these was brought home to me after I recently discovered a register of aerial photographs in one of our strong rooms. The register belonged to the photographic firm Turners Ltd and documents their aerial photography work between 1957 and 1980.

Page from Turners aerial photography register (TWAM ref. DT.TUR/9)

Turners was based in Pink Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne and we hold hundreds of boxes of negatives kept by the firm from 1947 to 1990. These include a large quantity of aerial photographs commissioned by businesses and organisations showing their premises and major building projects. There are also many aerial views of ships on their sea trials, taken on behalf of shipyards in the North East. These are fascinating but those that really capture my imagination are the aerial photographs that Turners took on their own account of cities, towns and villages throughout the North of England.

A lovely example of one of these is this image of Newcastle upon Tyne dating from March 1948.

Aerial photograph of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, 1948 (TWAM ref. 3396/1384G)

For comparison here is a very similar view taken by Turners in June 1970.

Aerial photograph of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, 1970 (TWAM ref. DT.TUR/7/20)

It’s interesting to see a few changes such as the addition of a tower block behind St Mary’s Church, Gateshead. It’s also noticeable that the Gateshead side has really been redeveloped since 1970.

Just as good is this view of the River Wear taken in May 1965 showing amongst other things the shipyards of William Doxford and Sons Ltd at Pallion and Austin & Pickersgill Ltd at Southwick.

View of the River Wear, 1965 (TWAM ref. 3396/36078)

The Turners collection doesn’t just cover the major cities of the North East but also documents their suburbs as well as towns, villages and historic sites. One of the historic sites photographed by Turners was Hadrian’s Wall. Here’s an image of Housteads Roman Fort, one of 38 photos of the Wall taken on 8 October 1963.

Aerial view of Housteads Roman Fort, 1963 (DT.TUR/7/5)

Given all the snow that’s fallen this year, I thought it would also be nice to show this lovely image of Warkworth Castle, taken in January 1959.

Aerial view of Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, January 1959 (TWAM ref. 3396/21259E)

The images are fantastic evidence of how the Region’s landscape has (and hasn’t) changed since the 1950s. They can be great sources for tracing the development of your neighbourhood or your house. Aerial photographs can even help in resolving boundary disputes. This next view shows the Grange Park estate in Gosforth as it was on 15 June 1965. It’s one of seventeen aerial shots taken of Gosforth and Fawdon on that day.

Aerial view of Grange Park estate, Gosforth, 1965 (TWAM ref. 3396/36304F)

I find it fascinating to look at an area and see how it’s changed over the course of nearly 50 years. The stadium to the right of the picture (then home to Northumberland Rugby Union and Gosforth Greyhound Stadium) has now been replaced by a supermarket.

Detailed view showing Gosforth Grammar School and Greyhound Stadium, 1965 (TWAM ref. 3396/36304F)

The railway line running close by is now part of the Tyne & Wear Metro system, although in 1965 there was no Regent Centre. It’s also interesting to see how the premises of Gosforth Academy have changed since then (when it was known as Gosforth Grammar School).

The newly discovered aerial photography register kept by Turners gives us an opportunity to really open up access to the thousands of aerial views we hold. You’re very welcome to come and take a look at the register in our public searchroom to see whether we have any aerial photographs of interest to you. Our location and opening times can be found on our website.

You may be interested to know that we sell high quality A3 prints of many of our aerial photographs. These can be sold on their own or alternatively can be mounted and framed by our professionally qualified conservators. Three historic aerial photographs for the Gosforth area (covering Brunton Park, Melton Park and Grange Park) are already available for sale in our Online Shop. We also sell high resolution digital copies of these and many other images from our collections. Please e-mail us (archives@twmuseums.org.uk) for further information.

In the long run the best way to widen access to these treasures will be to digitise the negatives and make them available online. One way to do this would be to add these images to our existing sets on Flickr Commons. Do historic aerial photographs interest you? If you would like us to make them available online please let me know – your advice and comments are important in helping us to improve our service.

 

A Roman Mobile Device, a 21st Century Chariot, some Snazzy Shoes and two Iconic Lumps

Archaeology   Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum   Fashion   Local History   Segedunum Roman Fort   Social History
Posted by administrator on March 22, 2013     Permalink     Leave a comment

I’ve been exploring TWAM’s collections and have found some interesting and surprising things.

This is one of the highlights of our Archaeology collection and is on display at Segedunum in Wallsend:-

It’s a portable Roman shrine about the same size as an ipod, made of lead with doors on the front which open to reveal a handy pocket-sized god (possibly Mercury) – perfect for the busy Roman on the go.  I wonder if Roman pedestrians ever got so engrossed in their shrines that they would step out in front of oncoming chariots?

Speaking of chariots…

This little beauty is our 2009 Nissan Micra, resplendent in “Pacific blue”.  We like to keep our collections up-to-date by “contemporary collecting”, so we acquired this to represent the continued importance of Nissan to the North East economy.  After being photographed in the factory, the car was delivered straight to our large objects store and is preserved for future generations to marvel at.

In 300 years’ time, the Micra will seem just as amazing as these brilliant leather mules are to us today:- 

They date from about 1670 and are a highlight of the Costume collection at Discovery Museum.  They are lavishly decorated with beads of black and white glass and orange coral.  Red heels were all the rage at court from the 1660s and mark out the wearer as being particularly…er…well heeled.  And of course, these were men’s shoes, from an age when men could sparkle too!  Well, rich men anyway…

Finally, here’s a couple of interesting lumps, one of reinforced concrete, the other of wood:-

The concrete lump is from Gateshead’s “Get Carter” car park.  When this iconic structure was being demolished in 2010 we arranged to “get car park”, as it were.  It’s currently on temporary display in the Saving History case next to Discovery Museum’s gift shop.

 

The wooden lump is part of a foundation pile from Newcastle’s earliest known bridge, Hadrian’s Pons Aelius of about AD120.  The Roman foundations were re-used for a new bridge in the late 13th century, a bridge which lasted until 1771 when parts of it were washed away in northern England’s Great Flood.  So, after carrying people across the Tyne for 1,650 years, this piece of wood was rescued and is now enjoying a well earned rest in store at Discovery Museum.

With over half a million objects in our collections there’s always something new (or old) to discover!

society of antiquaries library tours

Books   Collections & Objects   Great North Museum: Hancock   Local History
Posted by administrator on March 18, 2013     Permalink     Leave a comment

 

As you may know the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Upon Tyne is celebrating its Bicentenary in 2013.  During its 200 years the Society has built up a large and fascinating library of regional and national importance. As part of the celebrations the Great North

Society of Antiquaries Books

Society of Antiquaries Books

Museum:Hancock Library, where the collection is housed is providing free tours of the SANT collection.

These will take place on the last Tuesday of each month during 2013 at 11.00. The tours will last approximately 40 minutes. The first event takes place on 26 March.

If you would like to come along and join in you would be very welcome. Booking is essential, to do this please telephone 0191 222 5121, or email gnmlibrary@twmuseums.org.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

rk

Shoes Glorious Shoes

Collections & Objects   Discovery Museum
Posted by administrator on March 15, 2013     Permalink     Comments (5)

Originally acting as a protector of the feet, the shoe has since developed into an expression of personal identity. The decoration and design of shoes has varied dramatically through time and from culture to culture. One of the most notable design features of the shoe is the elevated heel, which in western fashion has been used to enhance stature, status and sex appeal.

In Europe from the 16th and 17th centuries, chopines stand out as the most extravagant examples of early elevated shoes. The Venetians made the chopine into a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing for women. Tourists to Venice often remarked on the outrageously high chopines, claiming that they were “invented by husbands who hoped the cumbersome movement that entailed would make illicit liaisons difficult” (McDowell 1989). Not only were these types of shoe aesthetically pleasing but they also considerably reduced movement, much like the lotus shoes of China.

Brown silk lotus shoe, 1700-1899

Heels were an indicator of wealth and status for both men and women throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In France, wearing heels even became a regulated expression of political privilege. In the court of King Louis XIV (reign 1643-1715) only those granted access to his court were allowed to wear red coloured heels and no heels were allowed to be higher than his own!

Female shoe with 'Louis' style heel of the time.

For almost forty years, heels were nowhere to be seen in fashionable Western footwear. With the increase of wide paved boulevards in cities such as Paris and New York, a new age of promenading, café culture, and window shopping developed in the mid 1800’s. As wealthy women indulged in these new pastimes, fashionable footwear became sturdier. The high heel reappeared and was now seen as a distinctly feminine form of footwear.

By the turn of the 20th century, the social and political opportunities for women increased dramatically and women began to participate in what had previously been considered masculine privileges. They did so wearing heels. As clear signifiers of female gender, high heels helped to counter arguments that new freedoms could only be gained at the loss of femininity

Black satin bar shoe, 1914

Despite the deprivations of a wartime economy, high heels were very fashionable in the 1940s. Using materials that were not rationed, such as wood straw, and snakeskin, shoemakers were able to create shoes that were literally and metaphorically uplifting during the darker years of the forties.

Brown leather court shoe, 1942-1949

Once World War II ended, the platform quickly went out of style. As men reclaimed their civilian jobs, a renewed emphasis on domesticity encouraged women to return to the house and homemaking. Fashion stressed femininity and the vogue for the stiletto enhanced the stylish hourglass figure by repositioning the stance of the body causing the chest and hips to jut out. The iconic stiletto, with its high needle-like heel, pointy toe and elegant contour, has remained a fashion staple for over half a century.

1945-1960

The youth of the 1970s continued to explore the new opportunities opened up by 1960s counter culture. The challenges to proscribed modes of gender ushered in a fashion for androgyny and unisex style. For the first time since the aristocratic age, men wore elevating shoes. Male rock stars popularized the fashion by wearing extremely high platforms and their fans soon followed in these footsteps!

Brown two tone leather platform shoes, 1974

Today, the catwalks are over flowing with high heels. Celebrated shoe designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin conjure images of luxury, style and lavishness. After five hundred years and an ever increasing shoe obsessed society, it’s safe to say high heels act as an enduring expression of personal style, identity and individuality and will probably continue to do so!