I’m pleased to report that the Victoria Tunnel is, thankfully, in somewhat better condition than its information board.

As I mosey to and from work each day, I pass a number of Victorian water fountains, none of which work. In the late Victorian era, much of Newcastle’s drinking water supply was rather too closely acquainted with its sewerage, so the building of fountains which supplied wholesome water was considered a noble and civic-minded endeavour.

This one, erected in 1906, is a tribute to WD Stephens, a local councillor, mayor, magistrate, businessman, and many other things besides. It used to feature a relief portrait of him in that big blank space, though it has long since been lost. The inscription reads:

1827-1901

A citizen of lofty ideals and strenuous endeavour.

Erected by public subscription in recognition of the openhearted charity, ceaseless activity & unfailing geniality which marked the public life of W.D. STEPHENS, Alderman & J.P. of the city of Newcastle on Tyne, Sheriff 1879-80, Mayor 1887-88

Distinguished as the president of great organizations for the promotion of maritime commerce he earned still higher appreciation in the cause of temperance and the betterment of the poor and needy.

Another fountain was booted up the road to make room for this one—perhaps I’ll tell you more about that another day—but karma comes back around, and the Stephens fountain itself eventually got booted out of the way of the central motorway and into its current location.

The fountain is Grade II listed.

It was flavoured with strawberry and champagne, and was unexpectedly soft and chewy.

Henry and Joyce Collins were famed for making concrete murals. This photograph shows a portion of their mural ‘Newcastle through the Ages.’ This was part of a series they created for various branches of British Home Stores in the 1970s, by which time the pair were in their 60s. The Newcastle building to which this mural is attached is now occupied by Primark.

The Twentieth Century Society is keen on protecting post-war murals. I was surprised to see that Primark, with their extensive re-cladding of the BHS building, didn’t just get rid of this one—neither the mural nor Primark are to my taste, but I suppose there’s something commendable about protecting civic art.

A couple of years ago, I took part in some Northumbria University research about the underpasses in Newcastle… by which I mean I filled in a survey.

It made me reflect on a few things, not least the fact that I use several underpasses daily, and rarely did so before I moved to Newcastle. It also made me realise that underpasses where the exit isn’t visible from the entrance seem inherently less pleasant.

It turns out from one of the resultant papers that some of this research was about ‘sensory criminology,’ a concept that was entirely new to me but really quite fascinating. Jordan Reeve, who often posts videos about the urban landscape of Newcastle, has made a video exploring the findings with Ian Cook, one of the authors:

I know I bang on about it more than I should, but—for a city dweller—I am so lucky to have such a bucolic walk to and from work.

Pillar Man, which I showed you a few days ago, isn’t Nicolaus Widerberg’s only sculptural contribution to Northumbria University: he has quite a few scattered around the place.

This 2013 piece is called Collar and Wave.

This miniature statue, high up on a building, has the dubious honour of being Newcastle upon Tyne’s only statue of a non-royal woman. In fact, I can be even more specific: it’s Newcastle’s only statue of a woman who isn’t Queen Victoria.

The subject is Dame Eleanor Allan, who died in 1709. She is commemorated as a philanthropist who founded an eponymous school, initially for providing for the education of sixty poor local children per year. Remarkably for the time, these weren’t all boys: a third of the places were reserved for girls. These days, her schools charge about £15k per year.

As with many historical figures, Dame Allan doesn’t necessarily live up to the moral standards of the twenty-first century: her wealth came from the tobacco trade, which was of course money earned in large part of the back of slave labour on American plantations.

Dame Allan is, perhaps, an unfitting choice given that Newcastle’s most famous statue is probably that of Charles Grey, most famous for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. But then, to only have a single woman recognised in a city with such a storied history of famous women is also unfitting. But who am I to say?