In pictures: Six iconic buildings that make us proud of our industrial past; Hiding between the new builds are bridges to towers and factories to shipyards that stamped industry on our region.
Byline: Lisa HutchinsonThe North East is proud of its industrial past, and as you drive through the region glimmers of our heritage are still to be seen.
Between the trendy new buildings that have popped up in recent years poke industrial relics that our region can boast about.
In their heyday they oozed pride as they stood tall and strong against their working backdrop.
But nowadays many of them have been forgotten about as they fall into disrepair.
Everything from bridges to towers and factories to the shipyards that stamped industry on our region.
Wipe away their dust and they show both skill and history.
Our industrial past is something to be proud of, so ChronicleLive has dug into its archives to show you some examples.
Here are our favourites but if you have any others please tell us in the comments:
Scotswood Railway Bridge
ScotswoodRailway Bridge is a pipeline bridge and former railway bridge crossing the River Tyne. It previously carried theNewcastleand Carlisle Railway between Scotswood andBlaydonstations.
The first railway bridge across the River Tyne at this location was a timber bridge completed in 1839. This was destroyed by fire caused by hot ash from a passing train in 1860. A wooden replacement opened in 1861 which was then replaced by a temporary single-track bridge in 1865.
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The fourth bridge on the site was opened in 1871 and cost [pounds sterling]20,000 to build. It is a six-span wrought-iron hog-back bridge on five cast-iron cylinder piers. It was set at an angle to the river so that trains could approach the bridge at speed, as there was no sharp curve onto the bridge. It required strengthening in 1943. It was taken out of use permanently on 4 October 1982, when the trains on the Tyne Valley line were re-routed across the King Edward VII Bridge and throughDunston.
The bridge is still used to carry water and gas mains over the river, but the railway tracks have been removed.
Robert Sinclair Tobacco Factory
John Sinclair and Robert Sinclair were brothers who went into the tobacco trade.
John had a tobacco factory in Bath Lane in Newcastle, while the Robert Sinclair premises still stand in Blenheim Street, facing St James's Boulevard in the city, near the junction with Westgate Road. The sign can still be seen.
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In 1956, Sinclair's celebrated a century in the tobacco trade in Newcastle.
Almost 200 dinner guests were told that the company had made enough Golden Brown Twist tobacco to reach the moon.
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Sinclair's Ladies Twist chewing tobacco was a favourite with pitmen and policemen who were not allowed to smoke on duty.
The dinner heard that in the snuff making department of the company, where temperatures could reach 128A[degrees]F, nobody had ever suffered from a cold. A 19th Century Tyneside trade directory shows that Robert and John started business in Dean Street in Newcastle in 1856, with the partnership being dissolved in 1885.
The Blenheim Street factory, which made products like Navy Plug, employed 30 women in its raw tobacco department while a single tobacco spinner could process up to 800lbs of the material in a week.
Old warehouses/mill at the Ouseburn
The lowerOuseburnwas the cradle of the industrial revolution in Newcastle. There was a cluster of heavy crafts and industries in the area and the warehouses that once housed them still stand strong.
Coal was brought from the Town Moor along the Victoria Tunnel, where the tidal nature of the Ouseburn allowed wherries -- the local barges -- to be loaded at low tide.
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The lower Ouseburn Valley had fallen into disuse and dereliction by the mid-twentieth century, but its industrial heritage had left many large buildings which, since the 1970s, have increasingly been utilised as creative workspaces by artists, musicians and performers.
The area has now become a cultural hotspot, making it a great place to live and offering trendy places to go to drink and eat.
Brett Oils at Gateshead Quayside
The business, at the foot of the High Level Bridge, supplied lubricants and fuels to the industrial, agricultural and domestic sectors since 1877 from its prominent site onGatesheadQuays. It was founded by Richard Freeman Brett to supply and service the needs of oil lighting.
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Although it closed some years ago, it remains derelict as a reminder of your industrial past.
However, there are plans to build on the former site to create around 200 one and two-bedroom flats.
Ship yards at Wallsend
When we talk about industrial heritage, shipbuilding on the Tyne was a huge game player.
Swan Hunter was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century, most famously RMS Mauretania which held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, and RMS Carpathia which rescued survivors from RMS Titanic.
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It was a major employer on Tyneside.
In 2006, Swan Hunter ceased vessel construction on Tyneside, but continues to provide design engineering services.
The cranes we see now inWallsendare just a reminder of what it once was.
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Tower at the Cluny, Ouseburn
The Lime Street chimney was built in the late 1840s originally as part of the original steam operated flax mill designed by John Dobson - now known as the Cluny. The huge, brick-arched flue leading from the chimney to the mill was revealed under the road during works by Transco in the 1990s.
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After the chimney went out of use around 1900, the base was converted into a blacksmith's workshop, accessed via a door originally provided for cleaning and maintenance. The chimney was originally taller thanByker Bridge but the top was removed prior to World War II and the chimney void filled in.
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Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Old railway bridge at Blaydon
Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Robert Sinclair Tobacco Factory
Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Old mills at the Ouseburn
Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Brett Oils Gateshead Quayside
Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Ship yards at Wallsend
Credit: Newcastle Chronicle
Tower at the Cluny, Ouseburn
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