Quayside

Synopsis

Quayside was the old commercial centre of Newcastle with an image to match its importance. Its solid Victorian architecture, designed and built with wealth and skill, emanates permanence and faith in the future. Yet it was all lined up to come under the developer’s hammer only a few decades later.

The film, made in 1979, is a visual journey along the Quay, as the camera explores the monumental bridges, offices and warehouses of the river Tyne; and also a journey in time, as voices from the past recall the "momentous" in the life of the Quay. Made as a campaign film, Quayside remains a powerfully poetic record of a threatened architectural area and era.

The Amber/Side premises, which were converted by the group in the early 70s from a bonded 18th Century warehouse into film and photographic workshops, gallery and cinema, are at the heart of the Quayside, surrounded by the Tyne Bridge, Bessy Surtees House, the Castle and the Keep. An "unfashionable" area in the 1960s, much of the Quayside was scheduled for demolition, as plans were proceeding to transform Newcastle into the "Milan of the North" then monies ran out and the grandiose vision for spanking new offices and carparks was abruptly cut short, like the half-built walkway from Swan House, eerily suspended and left in mid-air. The old Quayside was left to decay, and one by one the truly grand soot-blackened architectural landmarks began to disappear.

This film and an accompanying photographic exhibition were produced as a basis for a public debate, in an effort to halt the insidious process of neglect and demolition. Debates ensued at the Side, with town planners and architects among the audiences, and were later continued in local TV, radio and press. The newly formed Quayside Campaign Group actively sought to obtain preservation orders on all remaining old buildings, and succeeded in listing most of the architecture on the Quayside, with the result that it is now being gradually cleaned up, restored and taken up by new users.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

1980

Year of production

1979

Subjects

Architecture; Politics & government

Keywords

campaigning films; conservation - buildings; docklands; Newcastle upon Tyne; urban development

Distribution Formats

Type

Film

Format

16mm

Availability

Sale

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£10.00 (+p&p)

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

10 minutes

Year

2003

Distributor

Name

Amber Films

Web

http://www.amber-online.com External site opens in new window

Phone

0191 232 2000

Fax

0191 232 3217

Address

5 Side
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3JE