{"id":293,"date":"2019-11-14T08:37:36","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T08:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/?p=293"},"modified":"2019-11-14T08:37:37","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T08:37:37","slug":"a-walking-tour-of-newcastle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/2019\/11\/14\/a-walking-tour-of-newcastle\/","title":{"rendered":"A walking tour of Newcastle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the latest CRE blog, <\/em>Research Associate Beth Clark reflects on a recent walking tour of Newcastle and how walking will play a vital role in the upcoming social science research on the FIELD<\/a> project she is working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although using walking as a research tool is nothing new in the social sciences, it is not a method I have ever used before. However, it is something research colleagues and I plan to employ in an upcoming phase of data collection for the FIELD research project we are currently working on. We hope this creative means of capturing data will help us both experience first-hand the landscapes our participants live and work in, and learn about how their interactions between the ground, buildings and livestock influence animal diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walking method can add rich data to a study, but it can\nalso be a challenge to simultaneously observe your surroundings, make notes and\nask questions. I was therefore delighted when the opportunity to go on a\nwalking tour around Newcastle arose so I could practice walking and learning at\nthe same time. I have lived in the Newcastle for 30 years, so it was also a\ngreat chance to be a tourist in my home city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blackett Street in Newcastle \u2013 the old city walls are hidden underneath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


The walk started at Grey\u2019s Monument, where we learnt about the city walls that still sit underneath Blackett Street today, as well as about the history of the monument itself. This included several stories in relation to various body parts falling off the statue of Earl Grey due to activity nearby, such as the construction of the metro line. We also heard about how there use to be a large country house \u2013 including landscaped gardens \u2013 within the original city walls, which occupied a large chunk of land around the area we know as Grey Street and monument today. It\u2019s hard to believe that such a built-up area could previously have been such a grand estate, especially with no obvious signs of its presence still readily visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grey Street in Newcastle, which has changed considerably in appearance over the years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moving gradually down the hill, we then entered the\nbeautiful Central Arcade to hear more about its history, including, in\nparticular, its beautiful architecture and stunning tin glazed tiles (these\ntiles can also be spotted in various pubs around the city centre). We also\nheard several stories about the different shops that have been in the premises\nover the years, including a ghost story \u2013 very fitting given the time of year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tin-glazed tiles in the Central Arcade in the city centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heading back outside onto Grey Street we learnt how this\narea of the city was created by covering over the Lort Burn \u2013 a river which\nstill flows down to the Tyne today, albeit now underneath the city in a culvert.\nThis explains the names of the roads \u2018High Bridge Street\u2019 and \u2018Low Bridge\nStreet\u2019, as these were the actual crossings used to get over the river in years\ngone by. This hidden waterway is represented by a lovely array of paving near\nthe Old George pub off High Bridge Street, depicting the water flowing\nunderneath on its way down to the Tyne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The paving off High Bridge Street designed to mimic the water hidden underneath<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The decision to build upon this ground and over the river to\ncreate the beautiful buildings of Newcastle (in the famous Tyneside classical\nstyle) we know today, means that their foundations are pretty robust, being the\nsame size of the buildings themselves. It was also impressive to hear that the\nTheatre Royal was built in just a period of 7 months, something which seems unthinkable\ntoday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tour helped me better understand what has driven the\nchanges in the city and taught me more about the individuals behind these changes,\nsuch as Lord Eldon, Earl Grey and Richard Grainger. It really brought a human\nelement into the history and development of the city, which as a social\nscientist I found fascinating. It also highlighted to me the importance of\ntaking the time to understand the social elements involved in change, as well\nas the physical changes (in this case, buildings).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk really emphasised the importance of thinking about\nthe land beneath your feet and how its use has changed over time.  It also demonstrated the value of looking up and\nfully taking in your surroundings. For example, I have lived in Newcastle for\nthirty years and never noticed the vampire rabbit hidden behind the cathedral,\nperched high above a doorway. This really hit home how much you can fail to notice\nyour everyday surroundings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The vampire rabbit of Newcastle, behind the city\u2019s cathedral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This experience gave me numerous things to think about for my\nupcoming fieldwork,\nmany of which will help ensure I can maximise the farm walks I undertake. This\nincludes the importance of going with a fresh pair of eyes, and the\nvalue of using the visual prompt of your surroundings to stimulate discussion. This\ncan generate a wealth of information, which we hope will illuminate some\ninteresting new findings in the field of animal disease research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog was originally posted on the FIELD<\/a> project blog.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the latest CRE blog, Research Associate Beth Clark reflects on a recent walking tour of Newcastle and how walking will play a vital role in the upcoming social science research on the FIELD project she is working on. Although … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7447,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/cre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}