May 18, 2010 Hadrian,s Bikeway

Yes that is my bike on the Hadrians Bikeway which runs through Wallsend alongside the original path of Hadrian's Wall - The cycleway runs right past Swan Hunters and Segedunum Fort. 

May 05, 2010 Segedunum

Segedunum was the Roman fort at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall in Wallsend. The Wall is 80 miles long and runs from Bowness on Solway on the Solway Firth across to Wallsend onn the North bank of the River Tyne.
The Wall was began in AD122 and Segedunum is the  most-excavated fort is a must-see: spectacular reconstructions (including the bath house and a section of Wall), original Wall, computer-generated history tour and a 35-metre high viewing tower.

Open: 1 Apr-31 Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5pm daily, 1 Nov-31 Mar 10am-3pm daily; closed 25-26 Dec, 1 Jan 

May 01,2010 Hebburn Marina & Segedunum

This is the view from the marina at Hebburn looking across the river towards Wallsend and the Segedunum Roman Museum which has been built on the site of the Walls End at Wallsend !
Segedunum Roman Fort is the eastern most fort on the Wall and this part of the site is dedicated to it. Roman history in this country is one of the most interesting periods of time to study simply because of the vastness and wealth of their empire, the fascination of the folk and their life’s habits who ultimately lived and died during that time and of course the wonderful archaeology they leave behind for us. The sheer majesty of their architecture and the scale of it. The brutality that went alongside it all. Their legal system, the elections, the different levels of society, their entertainment. Virtually everything they had can be drawn as a parallel to our society today! The ultimate willingness of the locals to welcome the habits and living standards of Rome’s own people eventually helped this tiny little outpost which lay at the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall become a major defence frontier. Now, of course, it is a major tourist attraction and rightly so. While other sites along the Wall were being excavated and finds were being dug up by their hundreds poor little Segedunum lay almost lost because of a total lack of funds to do anything about it. 

Tower and Restaurant

But, the millennium was creeping up on us all and the ’Let's do something for the year 2000...’ cries were being heard and so, now, Segedunum takes its rightful place among the best sites to visit along the whole stretch of the Wall. Enjoy your visit to Segedunum here on this site and someday hopefully to Segedunum itself.

April 11, 2010 Swan Hunters

A sorry looking Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend with many of the cranes now gone to India .
This is the Main Yard in Wallsend and the exit under the bridge and up the hill would see hundreds of workers running up the hill when the end of day hooter went on the Big River

The Swan Hunter shipyard in Wallsend was not only a major employer in the region but also became a landmark, with its iconic cranes shaping the skyline.

Workers at the yard, which closed in 2006, built a wide variety of ships, including the famous RMS Mauretania.

Their memories will form part of the Swans of the Tyne exhibition at Newcastle's Discovery Museum until May.

There will also be photos, video footage and technical drawings on display.

February 18, 2010 - Ship in the Hole

The Ship Inn sits between berths at Swan Hunters Wallsend yard and this picture, taken before the cranes were sent to India shows you just how close it was.
The pub was called the Ship in the Hole by those who frequented it at break times in the yard. It sits beside the Segedunum Roman fort which was the original Wallsend at the eastern end of Hadrians Wall. It also sits right beside the C2C (Coast to Coast) National cycle route which I know well and although this point is the End of the wall, the cycle route still has another 7 or 8 miles to run till it reaches the coast at Tynemouth.

January 28, 2010 Swan Hunters Cranes

This is a wider view of the Swan Hunter cranes looking across the river from Hebburn, what was the former Palmers yard across the Tyne to the Big yard at Wallsend.

Charles Palmer was a MP and a major local employer who set up the Palmer shipbuilding & Iron company which were major employers in Jarrow & Hebburn

You can read more about Charles Palmer & Palmer Shipbuilders at the following links :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmers_Shipbuilding_and_Iron_Company_Limited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Charles_Palmer,_1st_Baronet

January 26, 2010 Swan Hunter's Cranes

These are the cranes which were at Swan Hunter's yard in Wallsend until 2007 when they were taken down and shipped to India.

There's lots of websites which will tell you all about the history of shipbuilding on the Tyne & at Swans - here's a link to one of many sites

http://www.swanhuntershipyard.co.uk/Swan_Hunters_Shipyard/Welcome.html

Here's a link also to a video of the cranes leaving the Tyne for Mumbai

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7988773.stm