GATESHEAD’S magnificent Millennium Bridge was opened to the public last month, a powerful addition to their bid to become European City of Culture in 2008.
The council has been working on other attractions, to develop its Continental image. Indeed, the town is already known to many as the ‘Dresden of the North’. The bid is being backed by a high-profile advertising campaign (below).
Newcastle Stuff celebrates their efforts below.

Two of Gateshead’s most famous landmarks are being spruced up. The multi-story car park - which featured in the movie ‘Get Carter’ - is having a fresh coat of pigeon shit applied. And the statue outside Wilkinsons - a tribute to the beauty of Gateshead women - has been hosed down again. A picture of the statue will be reproduced on beer mats in the nearby Trafalgar pub where Elsie Clench, who originally posed for the artist, currently does her drinking.
Foundations are being laid for a new Hilton Hotel on the south side of the Tyne, but until it opens there is a variety of accommodation available to visitors. Gateshead Police’s exclusive Custody Suite is in great demand at weekends, but Newcastle Stuff has found a charming caravan park behind the Moon & Sixpence pub, on the High Street. Book early, as the rest of the caravan won’t be around for long.
Culture-vultures will adore Gateshead. People travel the length and breadth of the High Street to sample the local cuisine. Dining like true Continentals outside the many kebaberies, they can smoke, spit, and shout at women, in comfort and style. A local craft shop, the Gateshead Armoury (above, right), sells such trinkets as crossbows, catapults and cutlasses, as well as slugs for most modern makes of air-rifle. Treat yourself to a hand-crafted cosh.