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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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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Newsletter – Summer 2009 – Heritage Protection

Contributed by Ron Redgewell   From Stonehenge to the mills of the Industrial Revolution, and from Norman castles to the site of the first TV transmission: in each generation, a small number of exceptional places mark and celebrate human architectural achievement, define an era, mark an important struggle or push new ideas to the limit. [...]

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Newsletter May 2009 – Nips and Tucks

Contributed by Dr. Angela Drakakis-Smith The Guildhall refurbishment, as far as we can see, has been a good thing.  The building is one of the now few elegant structures in the town centre and it is fitting that this now forms the town’s centre piece.  The fact that it has been transformed into a public [...]

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THE CHAIRMAN WRITES – WINTER 2009 NEWSLETTER

Contributed by Jim Worgan Thursday 18th December 2008 was a momentous day for the Borough when the mayor, Councillor John Cope officially opened the Guildhall as a Customer Service Centre. It has been restored to its former glory with many original features preserved. This iconic building was brought in to use on 19th December 2008 [...]

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Local Commemorative Blue Plaque Scheme

The Arnold Bennett Plaque proved to be the starting point for the new Commemorative Plaque Scheme. In August 2004 representatives of the Civic Society made a fact finding visit to Leander Architectural at Doveholes near Chapel in le Frith to research the production and costs of 16 inch, vitreous enamel coated aluminium plaques suitable for [...]

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The Fall and Rise of the Guildhall

The Guildhall is once again shrouded in scaffolding, as the reincarnation of Newcastle’s iconic building is well under way. Several Councils ago a decision was taken to place this building into the commercial letting sector. This would relieve the local taxpayers of the cost of maintaining it and, hopefully, provide a useful yearly income. Regent [...]

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