What is it about the Tyne Bridge?

The Tyne Bridge 

A friend of mine once told me that his dad had a ritual every time they drove back over the Tyne Bridge. As they crossed the river in the family car, he would let out a huge sigh of relief and say “Aaahhhh…. that’s better!”. Having survived the ordeal of a visit to London, Liverpool or even, God forbid, Gateshead (where I live), the family had managed to return safely to civilisation and could now breathe easy. Even though they lived some way north in Gosforth, I think, the Tyne Bridge marked the point of return to the place his dad called ‘home’. It's this deep emotional connection that makes Tyne Bridge imagery so meaningful to Geordie gift-givers and collectors alike.

Maybe you could find something comparable elsewhere – the Liver Building maybe? The Grimsby Dock Tower, obviously. There are places that we all cherish and associate with the idea of home, but it’s probably no exaggeration to say that there is no other landmark in the UK that has such a unique association with its location, to the point where the Tyne Bridge is inarguably a symbol of Newcastle itself. Back in 1928, the significance of the bridge certainly appealed to the local Newcastle Breweries. When they redesigned the label for Newcastle Brown Ale, which was launched the previous year, it featured the newly-built Tyne Bridge, rather than the hulking 12th century castle which gave the city its name. To many, as author Paul Brown suggests, the Tyne Bridge has become ‘a symbol of the ingenuity, industry and soot-blackened graft that has made Tyneside great’.

If the bridge is something of a gateway to Newcastle it has also been bound up with the fortunes of the city in other ways. I remember standing in the crowds on the quayside back in 1993 at an event to mark the restoration and lighting of the bridge. A helicopter circled in the night sky overhead containing the then Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan, whose job it was to switch on the lights. Given that Newcastle had just achieved promotion from the Championship, it wasn’t hard to guess what he was about to say: “Well folks, let’s hope we light up the Premier League next year like I’m about to light up the Tyne Bridge”. Cue massive cheers and applause. And of course Kevin was right – Newcastle dazzled the Premier League that season and the next, then came a heartbeat away from winning the league in 1995-6.

Maybe the bridge is emblematic because unlike, say, St Paul’s Cathedral or the London Eye, it actually marks the point of arrival in the city. Yet if it represents the place of entry to Newcastle, it’s also the way out. I’ve known so many people who really think of ‘south of the river’ as a foreign land. It’s a feeling you can find at the end of the classic series Our Friends in the North. At the point that he realises he has no future in the North-East, Daniel Craig’s Geordie Peacock heads south over the Tyne Bridge, to the sounds of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, the bridge a bittersweet reminder of everything he has to leave behind. 

Apart from whatever it might mean to people, what I like most about the bridge is the beautiful simplicity of the design and the way it looms powerfully over the river when viewed from the Newcastle quayside around Sandhill and the Guildhall. It’s really here that you get a fuller sense of the majesty of the Tyne Bridge and the genius of its designer Ralph Freeman. The photograph below was taken thirty years ago when I lived in Phoenix House, a block of apartments near the quayside which looked very desirable but, without central heating, was never very pleasant to actually live in. There were rumours that the landlord, a shady figure called Eric, had once thrown a party there which involved a donkey. I have no idea what that was about. My friend David and I went out in the early hours one morning to take pictures as a mist descended on the river. Rounding the corner of Lombard Street we were met by this sight. I’ve always thought that it makes the Tyne Bridge seem mysterious and otherworldly. There is something cinematic about this picture, moody and atmospheric like a still from a film noir.It reminds me that no matter how familiar the city feels,there are times when it magically reveals itself in a new light. 

Jim Ward

Iconic landmarks like the Tyne Bridge inspire the Newcastle collectables we create at Powder Butterfly. 2028 is its 100th birthday and Corinne is already thinking about what she can create to commemorate this giant of the north. 

Explore products that feature the Tyne Bridge

Here you will find our products that feature the Tyne Bridge. These gifts are perfect for people who love Newcastle, Engineering, bridges, history and local landmarks.

The inspiration behind the new Powder Butterfly Journal 

Over the last two years, I’ve spent every Sunday on the Newcastle Quayside market. One of the great joys of doing this is that I get to meet locals and visitors from all over the world, and I’m always interested to hear their stories, find out why they came to Newcastle and ask where else they’re going during their stay. People are often curious about what I do and, on occasion, I’ve had to explain how someone with a London accent came to be selling Newcastle-themed gifts which actually celebrate the North.

The top and bottom of it is that since I moved here in 1998, I fell in love with the area, met my husband, had kids, and am now firmly planted here. So I wanted to explore my own journey, and some of the thinking behind Powder Butterfly, through a series of journal entries. Some of these are written by me, some are ghostwritten by my husband or by him alone, and others are by my daughter Jess, who was born in Newcastle but has also lived in Manchester. 

These pieces of writing are designed to inform, entertain and either remind you of the place you call home, or spark enough curiosity to visit the places we share with you. Others explore the history of the landmarks and structures that I use in my designs. Most of all, though, I wanted to give a sense of why I love doing what I do, and why it’s about more than selling baubles, notebooks and mugs.

Think of them as a series of diary entries that follow my journey and share my family's experiences and perspectives too.  

I hope you enjoy them. 

Corinne x

Would you like your writing featured on our blog?

We are also interested in hearing from guest writers who would like to contribute to our series of blog posts. We are looking for writers who specialise in the following fields: local history, hospitality, independent business, creative small businesses, and community-focused initiatives. We would like to hear from you, especially if you focus on the cities and locations that Corinne has designed collections for. All blog posts will be promoted across social platforms and in our newsletter. We have a combined reach of the following:

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