A City Walk in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle upon tyne, England

Newcastle is a spacious, extended, infinitely populous place. It is seated upon the River Tyne, which is here a noble, large and deep river, and ships of any reasonable size may come safely up to the very town.

They build ships here to perfection, I mean as to strength and firmness, and to bear the sea; and as the coal trade occasions a demand for such strong ships, a great many are built here. In Newcastle there is considerable manufacture of wrought iron.

But while the first part of his description may hold true today, these industries have long since departed the Tyne. Instead Newcastle is focused on more modern industries such as electronics but also on education (there are two universities), culture and tourism.

I visit the city so often I no longer consider myself a tourist, though local Geordies may disagree! But I recently saw it anew through the eyes of tourists when I hosted a group of former Virtual Tourist members for a weekend meeting in the city. Thirty-six members from thirteen countries came together for our (usually annual) Euromeet. Wanting to give them the best possible introduction to the city I booked some expert guides to escort us on a walk through some of its most interesting and historic sites. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).