LOCAL COMMEMORATIVE BLUE PLAQUE SCHEME

To date fifteen plaques have been commissioned and are displayed in the Borough (see below). This scheme is ongoing and three new plaques are currently in production. If you would like to suggest a local person or special building for our consideration contact us at – nulcivicsociety@yahoo.co.uk                 [...]

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A TO Z OF ARCHITECTURE

Continuing Denis Duffy’s explanation of common architectural terms.   Dado – In modern architecture, the finishing of the lower part of an interior wall from floor to waist height. Dormer Window – A window placed vertically in a sloping roof with a roof of its own. The name derives from the fact that it usually [...]

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LOCAL LISTS

Contributed by Dr Angela Drakakis-Smith  Local lists refer to properties which are not officially listed but which possess special features that entitle them to be preserved.  The NBC has drawn up a list of some 100 local ‘monuments’.  It is not known if all these will be selected, or if someone will choose.  The list [...]

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POWER TO THE NIMBY ACTIVIST

  By Griff Rhys Jones, by permission of Civic Voice and the  National Trust  A few years ago, standing on a bridge, overlooking a motorway that enabled people to roar across Glasgow at ninety miles an hour (at enormous cost to architecture and quietude) I was proudly told by a charming Civil Engineer that the [...]

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Town Centre Plaque Trail

This trail will help you to find some of the more interesting buildings around the town centre.     Key 1      Guildhall and Market Cross – Blue Plaque 2      71 High Street – Historic Building Plaque 3      75 High Street – Historic Building Plaque 4      85 High Street – Historic Building Plaque 5      93 High [...]

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Historic Buildings Plaques

   In the 1970s, Civic Society members wanted to identify and celebrate some of the buildings of historic or architectural merit remaining in the Borough and mark them with small plaques.   These plaques, designed by Phillip Gibson, are cast and fired in a stoneware ceramic body and decorated in blue slip. The design shows a [...]

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Development

Contributed by Dr Angela Drakakis-Smith As more building sites come on stream within Newcastle and although there appears to be no rapid uptake of these sites, it is important to be aware of any planning applications made for these sites to the Newcastle Borough Council (NBC) especially those in and on the edge of the [...]

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The Guildhall – Present and Future

Contributed by Jeanette Hilton Head of Customer Services, NBC   Early in 2008, I was fortunate to be given the remit to refurbish the Guildhall, one of Newcastle’s most iconic buildings, to create the Borough Council’s first combined front line services centre. This represented a huge undertaking; nevertheless we were determined it would be successful.  [...]

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KATHLEEN MAY BILLINGTON – Obituary

   A Tribute     We are very sad to announce the  death on Monday 2nd August of Kathleen Billington.  Kathleen and her husband Bernard have been very active members of the Civic Society since its early days and have over the years contributed a great deal to our various projects. Recent months have seen [...]

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Tesco Development – Summer 2010

Contributed by Mr Ron Redgewell  As we go to press, the Public Inquiry is taking place into Tesco’s planning application to nearly double the size of its store in Trent Vale. Fellow member, Paul Farrelly, MP, succeeded in convincing the Secretary of State to ‘call in’ Stoke-on-Trent Council’s decision to approve the application, thus enabling a Planning [...]

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