Latest news with #TyneBridge
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Great North Run 2025 medal unveiled in collaboration with Newcastle artist
The Great North Run's 2025 medal has been revealed, inspired by art and poetry. Unveiled on August 14, the medal is the result of a collaboration between the event and Newcastle-based 'art of illusion' artist Howard Lee. Mr Lee is known for his hyper-realistic 'Real vs Fake' style and his work has gained global recognition through social media and television. The medal design features the Tyne Bridge, alongside lines from the poem We are the Great North Run, written by George Caulkin, North East sports correspondent for The Athletic and The New York Times. Great North Run's 2025 medal has been revealed (Image: Supplied) The poem has been adopted as the theme for the 2025 event. Howard Lee, artist, said: "Because my work is viewed in video form, there are a lot of ways to experiment with creating illusions or playing around with perception. "Realism is already a type of artistic illusion but the video creates a certain way of seeing it, adding another level for the audience. "The starting point for this type of artwork is almost always to find a range of art materials that can be blended to accurately match the colours in the real piece. (Image: Supplied) "The depiction of the Tyne Bridge and surrounding poetry took quite a lot of colour mixing. "I feel very privileged to have been involved in the process of revealing this year's medal, it really is quite a striking design." Mr Lee has lived in Newcastle for nearly 20 years after moving to the region when his wife secured a job in the North East. He said: "We drove up here not knowing what to expect and we never left because this region has everything you would want. "It has everything really – the people, the atmosphere, the culture, landscape, art, architecture, food. "I feel very lucky to have found myself here." The Great North Run has been a fixture in the North East for 44 years, celebrating 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things'. This year's event will take place on September 7, with 60,000 runners expected to take on the 13.1-mile course from Newcastle to South Shields. More than 200,000 spectators are expected to line the streets to cheer on the runners. The 2025 AJ Bell Great North Run will be broadcast live on BBC One and will feature elite men's, women's, and wheelchair races. Among the competitors will be Olympian and Great Run Ambassador Eilish McColgan, who has confirmed her participation. Organisers say the medal is a celebration of the spirit of the North East and the collective achievement of everyone who takes part. A spokesman for the Great North Run said: "Every one of them a story. "But together, we are the Great North Run." The medal reveal video is available to view on Instagram at @great_run. Runners and fans can also find out more about this year's event and the We Are The Great North Run campaign on the official website. Registration is now open to be notified about the 2026 ballot. For more details or to sign up for updates, visit
BBC News
29-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Newcastle unveil 25-26 away kit
With Newcastle now in South Korea, the club have released pictures of their new away kit for the 2025-26 say the green strip's all-over print "pays homage to the arched-structure of the famous Tyne Bridge" and will be debuted against the Team K League XI in Wednesday's game at 12:00 Bruno Guimaraes said: "This new away kit looks great - I love all of our kits for this season. I'm sure our fans will love them too, because they represent who we are and what it means to wear the Newcastle United badge."
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Tyne Bridge funding rubberstamped to aid centenary restoration
The restoration of the Tyne Bridge will be completed in time for the structure's centenary year, officials say, after significant funding was North East Combined Authority (Neca) has green-lit more than £6m to finish the work in time for the crossing's centenary in October funding was initially announced in June as part of a £1.85bn investment in the region's transport from central now says it has "brought forward" the money, with agreement from the Chancellor and the Department for Transport (DfT), in light of the pressing timescale. Restoration of the bridge began in April 2024. Regional 'landmark' An initial £35.2m was provided by the DfT, but then Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also pledged to provide another £6.2m that would cover the full costs of upgrading the Grade II* listed crossing and the Central placed the award of the additional money under review after the general election last year, leading to fears among local leaders the funding would be in June, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed Neca was planning to use a portion of the investment into the region's transport to restore the at a cabinet meeting in Dunston this week, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: "We are allocating some of the £18.6bn that will transform the region's transport."That includes £6.3m to restore the iconic Tyne Bridge in time for the centenary."I'm so pleased that we have now secured that funding. There was no way that anybody around this table was ever giving up until we did."It would be completely unacceptable to not have the bridge up to standard when we are celebrating that landmark for our region."Deputy leader of Newcastle City Council, councillor Alex Hay, added: "It would be remiss of me as the representative from Newcastle not to mention how overjoyed we are to receive the additional funding needed to restore the Tyne Bridge in time for its centenary in 2028." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Tyne Bridge repairs: Final funding confirmed after review
The final £6m needed to complete the restoration of the Tyne Bridge has been confirmed by the government, after the chancellor put it on hold last had been announced by the previous Conservative government, but was subsequently placed under review by Labour after the 2024 general cash to finish the refurbishment in time for the crossing's centenary in October 2028 will be drawn from a wider £1.85bn government pledge announced on Tuesday. Renovation work on the bridge, which carries traffic across the River Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead, has been ongoing since April 2024. While the Department for Transport (DfT) provided an initial £35.2m towards the repair works, a further pledge was made by former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for an additional £6.2m to cover the full costs of upgrading the grade II* listed bridge and the Central extra cash was placed under review by Labour and there had been serious worries among Tyneside leaders that it was at risk of being cut, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Politicians and business leaders from across the North East united in March this year to call on the government to hand over the promised funding, warning that a failure to do so would be a "spectacular own goal".The frustration added to anger over the scrapping of plans to dual the A1 in Northumberland and the cutting of £50m in transport funding for County Durham, with the government arguing it had inherited £2.9bn of unfunded transport commitments from the ministers, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, had repeatedly refused to commit to delivering the cash needed to complete the Tyne Bridge repairs. But on Wednesday the chancellor promised to provide £1.85bn to the North East Combined Authority in an allocation covering 2027 to 2032, a chunk of which will be used to extend the Tyne and Wear Metro to East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: "The record £1.85bn funding for transport we announced for the region this week includes £6.3m that will allow Newcastle City Council to complete the restoration of our iconic bridge in time for its centenary in 2028."The council's deputy leader Alex Hay said the authority had "lobbied for years to secure this funding and stepped in with the council's own money to make sure the restoration could start when it needed to".Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon said the bridge was a "symbol of the whole of the North East so it's vital we get it back to its iconic best". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Tyne Bridge restoration: Meet the apprentices
Among the apprentices restoring of the Tyne Bridge is a wannabe welder working with his dad on a proud task his grandad undertook 40 years ago. In 1984, John Nicholson was part of a team of contractors completing essential maintenance work on the iconic structure linking Gateshead and Newcastle. Four decades on, his grandson Charlie Nicholson, 18, is working on the current restoration efforts as part of a welding and fabricating apprenticeship with his dad. The family business has been part of the project from the beginning, having carried out some of the initial investigations into the state of the bridge. Charlie said: "It's been challenging, especially some of the paperwork, but getting down and dirty is what I've always wanted to do. It's good."It's nice to carry on something. My grandad started and finished it and now I've started and I'm gonna finish it." When asked about working with his Dad, Charlie was complimentary: "We get on really well, I think you need to if you're working with family."We argue sometimes - I'm normally right." Dad Paul Nicholson has a different perception: "There's the odd discrepancy, who's right, who's wrong. Normally I'll come out on top though." Paul, 54, told the BBC he was proud to be working on a regional landmark: "It's iconic. Everyone wants to work on the Tyne Bridge."It's one of the biggest achievements in my, even in my dad's lifetime." While Charlie and Paul are currently working below the bridge, another apprentice - Taylor Macdonald - is working on the bridge deck where commuters and pedestrians travel. Taylor, 32, is an apprentice industrial painter and the Tyne Bridge restoration is his first project since he left the army after 13 years of service. He was supported by Building Heroes, a charity that helps veterans retain and unlock a new career in construction. He described the transition out of military service as challenging, but said: "I don't think I could be in an office. "After being in the infantry for 13 years, you can't just go straight to sitting in an office I don't think."For me it was definitely about something hands-on." Completing an apprenticeship means Taylor is still able to financially support his family. "Originally when I was leaving I was a bit worried because there is this question of am I gonna be able to walk into a new job."Everyone's got bills to pay. "They brought me in for a week, to see if I liked it and to see if they wanted to take me on, but it's the same as any job."You don't just walk in at the top, but for them to put me through the qualifications is brilliant." "For now, it's just a matter of learning on the job." Restoration work is expected to continue on the Tyne Bridge until Summer 2028. The BBC understands the project remains on schedule, with many hoping the work will be complete in time for the bridge's centenary in October 2028. John Nicholson died in 2024, but not before he was able to see both his son and grandson set to work on the Tyne Bridge just as he had in 1984. Paul said: "He was really proud, just as I am so proud of Charlie as well." Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
