Newcastle City Guides

Newcastle City Guides We aim to provide entertaining and fully researched walks in Newcastle, Gateshead and Tyneside We are all well trained guides who volunteer our services free.

Thank you for your interest in our activities

Newcastle City Guides was set up in 1963 by Newcastle Libraries following a request from a local councillor. All money raised goes to maintaining and developing our programme on a year by year basis

We deliver a wide range of walking tours as above as well as site tours eg Grey’s Monument, the Guildhall and All Saints Church. Come on one of our walks

and you could discover;
- Quayside to view exciting developments on both sides of the Tyne
- Grainger Town the first purpose-built town centre in the country.
- Tyne Bridges - our matchless collection of bridges.
- Gateshead and its heritage and hidden history
- Themed walking tours – each season we deliver a variety of Heritage Walks e.g.discover Newcastle in the C18, see where it was trendy to be seen in the swinging 1960s, the men and women who influenced this area and beyond, or come on one of our graveyard tours – not gloomy at all! We continue to look at how we can bring the history and culture of the area to the public (locals and visitors)

We also provide private tours as well as working with schools, Universities and the Port of Tyne Authority. We provide information to members of the public, journalists, researchers and to NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI). We promote our activities via the NGI website and our Facebook site. In consequence of Covid-19, this year we have been adding photographs and information on a daily basis on our Facebook site. This will continue even when we are able to return to walking tours.

Up at the 'top end' of Northumberland Street (the Haymarket end, near where Barclays Bank upstairs branch was until rece...
09/06/2026

Up at the 'top end' of Northumberland Street (the Haymarket end, near where Barclays Bank upstairs branch was until recently) was a shop selling radios, hi-fi systems, records and musical instruments.This was Alderson & Brentnall, where I bought my very first album, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, for the princely sum of £2 and 10/-! Does anyone else remember it?

Windows in the Central Arcade was its equivalent.

Why not join us on our next Grainger Market Tour, meeting at Grey’s Monument on Tuesday 30th June for a 2pm start and la...
09/06/2026

Why not join us on our next Grainger Market Tour, meeting at Grey’s Monument on Tuesday 30th June for a 2pm start and lasting an hour.
These tours have proved very popular and there will now be one each month!

Join us for an indoor tour of this extensive indoor market which dates back to 1835 and was designed by Richard Grainger. Learn more about some of the shops, their history and how the market has changed over the years as well as discovering some of the Grainger Market's secrets.
Meet at Grey's Monument.

Cost is £5.

Book on the link below.

Tickets are now available for Grainger Market Tour at Meet at Grey's Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne on Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 2:00PM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

Thanks to Paul Appleby Photography for this fantastic photo showing Grey's Monument and St.James' Park in the early morn...
08/06/2026

Thanks to Paul Appleby Photography for this fantastic photo showing Grey's Monument and St.James' Park in the early morning sunshine , taken in 2022.

Coal is inextricably linked with Newcastle and the surrounding area. Why not join us on our ‘From Coal to Culture’ guide...
08/06/2026

Coal is inextricably linked with Newcastle and the surrounding area. Why not join us on our ‘From Coal to Culture’ guided walk to learn more about the Tyne’s part in its history, its rise and decline as an industry and our city’s journey towards culture? Meet for a 7pm start on Wednesday 17th June at the Guildhall (river side). Finish at The Glasshouse, Gateshead.

The ‘Coaly Tyne’ is a phrase you may have heard in an old Tyneside folk song which celebrates the river that started the journey of coal exported to London and beyond. Take a walk with us around the Quayside which covers both Gateshead and Newcastle and their contribution to the coal industry of the 19th and 20th centuries. Hear about the decline of coal and the reinvention of NewcastleGateshead as a cultural capital.
This walk includes some steep slopes and steps to negotiate.

Adults:£7
Concessions :£5 ( over sixties)
Season Ticket holders free, but please bring your ticket along to show us.
Walk ups welcome on the day.

Book your place now on the link below.

Tickets are now available for Journey from Coal to Culture at Meet at Newcastle Guildhall (river side), Newcastle upon Tyne on Wednesday 17th June 2026. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

‘Aa went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;’Local songw...
08/06/2026

‘Aa went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,
Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;’

Local songwriter Geordie Ridley wrote our famous local anthem, and first performed it at Balmbra’s Music Hall in the Cloth Market on 5th June 1862, as part of a tribute event for local oarsman Harry Clasper.

And the date? Well, the 9th of June of course, and the day the annual Blaydon Road Race will set off from the quayside!

Why not join our ‘Gannin’ te Blaydon Races’ walk on the evening of June 10th, leaving from Grey’s Monument at 7pm?

All the details are in the link below.
Walk ups welcome on the day.

https://www.ticketsource.com/newcastle-city-guides/gannin-te-blaydon-races-wa/e-jzbrld

Do you remember the plane at Saltwell Park? A retired Vickers Viscount 701 was in the park, close to the boating lake, f...
08/06/2026

Do you remember the plane at Saltwell Park? A retired Vickers Viscount 701 was in the park, close to the boating lake, from 1982 to 1993 (Picture 1990). This was the same plane used at Lambton Lion Park beforehand.

The junction of Mosley Street (straight ahead) and Grey Street (to the left), Newcastle. The demolished building in the ...
07/06/2026

The junction of Mosley Street (straight ahead) and Grey Street (to the left), Newcastle. The demolished building in the background is the remains of the Royal Arcade, which dates the picture to 1963. Swan House has yet to be built. Dean Street is to the right.

A view of the lower part of Side taken in 1899. The photograph has been taken from Akenside Hill looking up Side. The ...
07/06/2026

A view of the lower part of Side taken in 1899.

The photograph has been taken from Akenside Hill looking up Side.

The buildings include the premises of James Frazer, W Hollingsworth and Bianchi's.

Rose and Crown Inn, Newgate Street, 1966. Prior to the building of the Newgate Shopping Centre and hotel to the right of...
07/06/2026

Rose and Crown Inn, Newgate Street, 1966. Prior to the building of the Newgate Shopping Centre and hotel to the right of the picture. Who has been a regular here?

Apollo Cinema, Shields Road, Byker
06/06/2026

Apollo Cinema, Shields Road, Byker

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