City Trail
Bewicks life in Newcastle upon Tyne
The 'Cot on the Tyne'
Newcastle upon Tyne (link to the region)
August 2003 saw the unveiling of the bronze Chillingham Bull in Bewick Street, Newcastle upon Tyne. The two photographs above are from the unveiling ceremony. But the photographs cannot show the interesting background to this work. It did not start out as an anniversary event at all. It was actually part of the ‘Grainger Town Project’, an initiative of the City Council attempting since 1991 to revitalise the city centre by recognising the great achievements of Richard Grainger in building a major section of the city. The Grainger Town Partnership created a sub-group to consider a variety of landmarks and David Gardner-Medwin represented the Society. He pressed for the Bull as the most appropriate signal of Bewick’s fame and other points too, such as the naming of Thomas Bewick Square. The achievement of the bronze Bull owes much to the designer Sarah Carr and the bronze caster Stewart Stoneham, working nearly one hundred miles apart, but closely engaged with the technical demands of the project. It is anchored firmly in place with forty hidden stainless steel bolts and will certainly remain as a permanent memorial to Bewick.