Newcastle’s Multicultural Sector UP CLOSE: Westgate Rd & Arthurs Hill

in this video we are going to explore newcastle’s West Gate Road one of the oldest most important and culturally diverse roads that you’re going to see in Newcastle if you’ve never been before it’s going to go from one extreme to the other you’ll see all sorts of things it’s really interesting we’re starting here right in the city center city center just outside Central Station bottom of Granger Street where it meets Westgate road now like the other videos I’ve done on exploring tside this is not a full in-depth history history video of what we’re going to see I don’t know everything about everything I’m just going to show you um around as we walk more or less the length of Westgate road which is I think about a mile and a half until it meets west road up the bank there so when you get off at Central Station you are immediately met by three statues uh and they are statues of the same man uh they are representative art of the everyday working man of Newcastle it shows a a floating man a walking man and a man just standing and it’s meant to represent the alter egos of the everyday working man I don’t understand that I’m artistic it’s all a bit abstract to me if somebody can explain to me down in the comments below exactly what that means I really appreciate it it’s a bit like uh poetry didn’t get it man I don’t understand it so right here at the botm West Gate Road uh in the city center the buildings are very old you can you can tell it’s beautiful back in the day Merchants used to live in these these beautiful old buildings it was a very well to-do area of course now a lot of these buildings are being repurposed you got the mile Castle which is the weather spoons directly behind us there and as we walk a bit further up there’s the old assembly rooms which are very old as well that recently became um kind of highend nightclub called China White and that’s closed down because of problems I had with u alcohol related violence drug activity all sorts of shenanigans growing up going on but apparently um those who own the building have now been granted uh a new license to reopen it so when that’s going to happen I don’t know so as we pass the assembly rooms to our right building 1776 we’ll pass a statue here in the front of cross House of Joseph Cowen 18299 00 I don’t know a lot about him uh I believe yeah from what I’ve read he was a radical liberal politician and journalist um but other than that um I’m not really sure why there’s a statue of them here in the city center of Newcastle what I do love about this particular area of Newcastle are these little nukes and crannies and here’s one just off the art center called fourth Lane and if you went down fourth Lane and went all the way through that would take you to pinkan which is very famous I’m going to talk a little bit about that a little bit further up the road there but you’ll get the fourth hotel and a couple of cracken bars down there anyway we’ll head back out back onto Westgate Road for those of you who don’t know Newcastle has a thriving cracking salsa scene and on a Friday night if you fancy some salsa come to the Black Swan go downstairs and dance the night away there’s the Jordi star Pub on the left there great place to watch a match that recently been done out and across the road you have the NX Center which is very popular now for all sorts of huge events like watching currently the eurus it used to be um a playhouse and a bingo hall and all sorts of things now some of you might be wondering why it’s called Westgate Road well closing the name this is actually this Junction that we’re just approaching now where flip um big flip sign is there cross street and if we looked up that street you can see the remnants of the Old Town Wall Pink Lane Pink Lane runs down here very interesting street been hang out for all sorts of different subcultures over the decades uh takes you all the way down to Central Station but where I’m stood here now is where the old gate to the town wall was built in the 13th and 14th centuries that’s why it was called the west gate and this particular Road it was an important route going back to Hadrian’s day when they built the wall cuz this uh Westgate Road follows the route of old Adrian’s wall so behind us there that’s uh Pink Lane if you’re wondering why it’s called Pink Lane that alley that runs all the way down to Central Station that was that used that lane used to run just on the inside of the Old Town wall it was named after one of the the wall Towers which is called pink Tower another popular bar on Match deers is til’s bar gets a we fans in there as well right next to that fantastic old building the T theater and opera house still popular DEA still getting bookings for all sorts of Music Theater comedians check it out on their website if you want to see what’s going on and if we swing around we will see the Newcastle Town wall one of the best remaining parts of the Town wall the BEDA of course behind me there’s a very old Pub in fact there’s have been a pub either on that spot or very nearby since about the 1400s the unas would claim the BEDA as the oldest purpose built Pub and Newcastle I can’t verify that I don’t know but uh I do know the George is registered as the oldest pub in New new Castlewood BGA it’s a Spanish word for wine seller or wine shop beautiful old building beautiful Old Pub right next to the theater there heav on a match days you’ll need to check it out if you haven’t already it’s a sjn Fitz Gerald Pub originally an Irish guy from tipari who come across in the 1870s set up in Newcastle learned the trade open his first Pub in the 1890s uh and he went on to become a very prominent poit ition in Newcastle become the sheriff in 1906 and a member of the parliament a little bit later on and was kned 1915 or something like that so very important man John Fitzgerald so it’s not as a John Fitzgerald club now it’s been to taken over by another company I can’t remember their name but they also have the bridge and the crown P down on the key side another Spanish named Pub in the city so yeah beautiful inside it’s got these huge original stain glass uh dos inside two of them and the original long ball which is very popular late 1800s and early 1900s so now we’re going to leave this section of Westgate road iose you can kind of chop it into three individual sections we’re going to go onto this section now across crossing over the magpie we onto the the hill part of Westgate road which was very popular for motorbike shops I remember you know three four decades ago used to be motor bikes everywhere on this on the street and there doesn’t seem to be so many now these are places I’ve never been in before the salt and pepper Cafe the Mulan Rouge Cafe and Grill a little grocery store there afro Caribbean there you go that’s a shame some uh properties went by the way side there another motor bike shop and I not about motor bikes so forgive us for not going into detail just not my thing it all looks a bit I’m Hest bit just a bit tired and run down up this neck of the woods you know when you go back down to the other end of Westgate Road it’s all very busy and vibrant if you’re wondering we’re still following the route of old Hadrian’s Wall and I believe a section of it was uncovered about a mile further up I’m sure if you dug down Westgate road now a meter or two you’d probably find remains of the old wall where it’s been taken down and use as foundation for other roads like this so there’s a huge Curry House called akbar’s King of Curry looks nice from the outside if anybody’s been before let us know what it’s like in the comments down below so now we’re just about to approach the busier end of Westgate Road up at the top end here it’s fair to say it’s no secret it’s very Multicultural up here I was reading back in 2011 it was made up of only 55% white British and the rest is made up of cultures from all over Africa the Middle East turkey the Indian subcontinent and further Eastern Asia as well so I don’t know what the F us are today but this you know Newcastle is no secret to multiculturalism going back to the Romans when they built the wall the 20,000 soldiers I so were made up of people from the same parts of the world North Africa um Southern southern Europe uh the Middle East yeah we’re no stranger as to multiculturalism it’s probably be interested to to know your views on what this area is like to live if you do if you shop here you know you can tell straight away hello there you all right what I do with May about folk from other cultures in the those regions of the world like the Indian subcontinent and the Far East is how much they look after each other how tight their communities are how how they look after their elderly when they want to set up a business they all help each other I don’t think you see that very often in our culture so it’s no surprise you know when they see an opportunity to buy your premises and turn it into a shop or a take away um they make it a success cuz everybody helps each other you know there’s nothing stopping um if I want to a better term traditional British individuals entrepreneurs businesses families from buying these premises and turn them into retail opportunities nothing at all but I think one of the downsides I see in our culture is um certainly in the last two or three decades is that we seem to be getting lazier you know we just want something for nothing all the time we’ve become a society of those who know the rights but don’t know about their responsibilities an attitude I think they want to have everything handed on a plate so some of you may complain about areas like this and being predominantly with people from other cultures but the help in their economy I’m sure if you went into one of the you know the general any Hospital you like you wouldn’t go in there and see look at all these migrants in here I’m positive you wouldn’t cuz most of them are damned hard workers and they keep our economy and our NHS and education systems and Care Systems afloat because our our Nations UK would be crippled without them do I think we have a culture now where you know the balance has been tipped where we have we’re we’re too slack with our borders allowing other cultures to come in yeah I do and that’s clearly not to see our culture is better I’m not seeing that at all but I think it has an impact on communities and the cohesion of communities where we have all these subcultures not integrating with each other so we’re at a point now on Westgate road which is you could call the top of the hill and behind me he has a huge residential estate called Arthur Hill dating back to about 1826 Isaac cookson who started to build the office Hill estate behind it behind me there named the estate after his first born son author have to say the first impressions look at the rubbish dude here man I don’t care who you are or where you’re from including White English people pick your bloody crap up man put it in a bin really makes the place look crap run down certainly First Impressions to me it strikes me as a as a poor area this area of Westgate Newcastle and fenom but that’s just um just me Impressions I’m obviously not from here I don’t hang around here I don’t want to sound I’m being unkind if you’re from around here you know please tell us you know what what you know what’s the community like are there lots of facilities and amenities what sort of projects are ongoing at the moment any regeneration schemes I tell you what you do see a lot of uh since I’ve been in this neck of the woods is barber shops and there’s another Barbers so I’ve got me BS a bit on this street stup Street should have know and if you follow Stan up Street all the way down the bank there you’ll it’ll plop you out to the black and white bulb on barck road and of course where St james’ Park is what a really busy street first time I’ve ever been on Stan up Street in Aras Hill tell you what this is probably one of the busiest fruit and vegetable shops I’ve ever seen including the Granger Market Hinson and there’s a one just across the road as well absolutely thriving even people from all sorts of different nationalities in there shopping getting their fruit and veg deliveries L on I abdulahad I like New Castle and the area is very good social behave everybody good and like each other and hingson and all our B Road they all are fine and we are likeing ra thank you very much my name isi B yeah I’m here in um West um um s Street for food stuff you know this where we can get the best African food stuff you know I come here twice in a month I come here to buy tomato pepper all kind of food stuff yeah this what we do Pepsi Coke whatever you want what a meon so I come here twice in a month all for my family you know here’s the old Bing alley shut down now and uh but that’s been a few places in the in its time and I bet it was really popular as a balling alley it’s just such a shame to say these places all closed down not um not operating anymore this building he had behind me now which is all closed down boarded up that’s the old Cop Shop the old police station not operating anymore course clued down with tons of other police facilities and infrastructure from about 2012 or so uh during austerity across the road was the uh the general hospital now it’s a place for what is it a campus for aging and vitality so I’ll be in there soon before you see out you have a look at the state of this old building the old angel Heights nursing home just gone to rock and ruin look at all the wind has been smashed in man fascinating area apparently there was a tunnel underneath the nursing home here into the General Hospital under the road here I wonder if that’s true so what’s this place to my left yeah the biging the beacon creative workshops Business Center office space inspiring communities through Enterprise so I think that’s it I believe I’m at the end of West Road where quick fit is with the gulf garage uh yes like I see it’s been a long time since I’ve been up this neck of the woods and really only driving up Westgate Road along West Road and out I’ve never really explored the area what do you think but now it’s time for me to find a cafe have a sedun have a KCK flat weight cheers let me know what you think about this whole area and if you haven’t checked out my other videos on bik out the West End gated Wilds end check them out tside is full of history and interesting things going on so hope you enjoyed the video if you did give a thumbs up don’t forget to subscribe I’ll catch you in the next place wherever I’m going to be see you later