How often do you really take in the streets of Newcastle? I’ll admit, when I’m in town my head is usually down, headphones in and moving too quickly to realise what’s around me.
I can’t remember the last time I wandered around, looking up and walking around corners I’ve yet to visit. As it turns out, there is so much to see.
Our friends over at Fabulous North curate and archive the most incredible parts of the North East, revealing the hidden meanings behind our culture, buildings and art.
Newcastle’s street art is fascinating, from the graffiti completed just last week to the hidden statues that have lurked on cathedral walls for hundreds of years.
So here is a list of some of Newcastle’s quirkiest offerings. From dozens of hidden invader street art to a Iron Man puppet once used by Pete Townshend
Next time in town, you’re going to want to look up.
1. Iron Man
A puppet of the Iron Man that was used in the musical of the same name by The Who guitarist Pete Townshend can be found in the Black Swan Courtyard of the Arts Centre in Newcastle. Just a few minutes walk from Central Station, the puppet premiered at the Young Vic theatre in London in 1993 for a stage adaptation of Ted Hughes book. The tale follows a boy and a metal-eating monster that had dropped out of the sky. After the puppet was retired to a barn at the Hughes family home, it was brought to Newcastle for the Centre for Children’s Book Exhibition at Newcastle Arts Centre in 2001. Photo: Fabulous North
2. Vampire Rabbit
Now this is a creepy one... The so-called ‘Vampire Rabbit’ statue can be found above the door at the rear entrance to the historic Cathedral Buildings, adjacent to Newcastle Cathedral. There are a number of stories about why it was put there ranging from being used to scare away grave robbers who were running rampant in the Cathedral graveyard, to actually being a hare whose ears were put on backwards, symbolising the coming of spring by invoking the Easter Bunny. The Vampire Rabbit was originally in the stone of the building, but in recent years it has been painted black with blood dripping from its claws and fangs. Photo: Fabulous North
3. Invader Street Art
Invader is a French urban artist known for his ceramic tile mosaics modelled on the pixelated art of 1970s-1980s 8-bit video games, many of which depict the titular aliens from the arcade games Space Invaders although he has also used Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros. and characters from TV shows. His creations can be seen in 79 cities over 20 countries. In 2006 Newcastle was invaded and a number of mosaics were installed around the city on buildings, and five were listed on the official Invader website. By January 2020, Invader’s mosaics comprised 3,858 Space Invaders, over 1.5 million ceramic tiles, and he had published 24 “invasion maps”, although Paris is where most of his work can be found. Of course, this image is just one of the many of which can be found around Newcastle. Some of the other places are Stowell Street, Pink Lane, Side and Lombard Street- there is a link to the list of all of the locations in the main body of the article. Photo: Fabulous North
4. White Walls Project
A serious of art installations were created in Newcastle’s East End to celebrate the regeneration of the Hoults Yard Estate between 2011 and 2020. There are amazing piece of street art all around the estate after Unit44 Gallery co-ordinated with an international line up of artists. Photo: Fabulous North