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If Gateshead is sometimes eclipsed by its larger, more glamorous neighbour, Newcastle, it does have its own unique rich history.

From his new book, Secret Gateshead, published by Amberley, the author Rob Kirkup selects 10 facts you probably never knew about the town.

1. Concrete evidence of a Roman settlement in Gateshead didn’t arrive until almost two millennia later when, between 1994 and 1997, stratified Roman deposits were found as work was carried out to properties near Bottle Bank at the site the current Hilton Hotel now occupies.

Further investigation revealed a section of roadway, stone buildings, ditches, and stone-lined cisterns. Remains of pottery point to a date of occupation from the early 2nd century to the 4th century.

Historians speculate this settlement most likely consisted of a row of shops and temples lining the Roman road capitalising on the trade offered by passing soldiers.

2. Mary Elizabeth Cassidy was born in Catchgate, Stanley, County Durham in 1889, and is better known as the ‘Merry Widow of Windy Nook’. She killed three husbands and a lover.

She was caught after raising suspicion at the wedding to her third husband when she joked the sandwiches would not go to waste as they would keep for his funeral! She died in 1963 in Holloway Prison at the age of 74.

While researching the book, I spoke to Andria Raistrick, her great granddaughter, and among other revelations she revealed “the News of the World newspaper paid all her legal fees so they could have exclusive rights to her story.”

3. Few people outside of Bensham will have heard the eerie tale of the ‘Dead Man’s Arch’.

Local legend has it that a train driver caused an accident near Bensham Station and there were fatalities. Overcome with guilt he committed suicide by hanging himself at the entrance to the footpath which runs beneath the main railway line, from Elysium Terrace through to Tynevale Terrace.

It’s said anyone brave, or foolish, enough to walk through the archway at midnight on New Year’s Day will experience the blood-curdling terror of bumping into the lifeless, hanging corpse of the train driver. There’s no dates attributed to this legend, but Bensham train station opened in 1868 and closed in 1954.

4. The Angel of the North is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a World War II Nazi recruitment officer. A number of visitors to the Antony Gormley sculpture have reported seeing the phantom, most commonly in the twilight, just after the last traces of sunlight have faded away beyond the horizon.

5. In the spring of 1940, five-year-old Robert Hall was playing with friends in Bensham, watching in fascination as soldiers marched along Saltwell Road.

But as he headed home he encountered a group of ‘horrible looking’ aliens’ who experimented on him before letting him head home. ‘Men in black’ later visited him and warned him against talking about his encounter.

A few days later he was chased by one of the aliens outside his house, but his uncle saw the attempted abduction and smashed it in the face with a coal shovel, killing it. It was taken away and hidden in a room beneath nearby St Cuthbert’s Church.

6. It has been claimed that the first shot fired by a Brit in World War I was by a Gateshead man.

John Brown-King of Windy Nook was aboard HMS Amphion, an active-class scout cruiser, which was patrolling the North Sea on August 5, the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the war.

Early in the morning the Amphion encountered the SMS Königin Luise, a former Hamburg-Holland ferry which had been converted into a German minelayer, and was in the process of dropping mines just off the Thames Estuary.

It is believed Brown-King fired the first shot at the enemy ship - which sank - and secured the Royal Navy their first victory of the war.

7. On September 1 and 2, 1939, Operation Pied Piper saw almost three million UK evacuees relocated, with 10,598 children evacuated from Gateshead.

This was 71% of children eligible to be moved for their own safety, but many parents understandably didn’t want to be separated from their children who stayed at home to face whatever dangers the Germans had in store.

8. During World War II, the people of Gateshead raised £10,000 to fund the ‘Gateshead Spitfire’ to defend the country. It flew with a Gateshead crest.

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9. Stormy Monday was a 1988 film starring a young Sean Bean in the role of Brendan, a janitor at a Newcastle nightclub.

A host of other big names starred, including Tommy Lee Jones, Melanie Griffith, and Sting.

The film features landmarks across Newcastle and Gateshead, including the Metrocentre - which had only opened two years earlier - and the Tyne Bridge.

The High Level Bridge played host to an important meeting between rival nightclub owners played by Tommy Lee Jones and Sting.

10. Gateshead has been transformed in recent years to the extent that in June 2011, Google ran a competition to find Britain’s best streets.

When over 20,000 votes were cast, South Shore Road on Gateshead’s Quays was named as ‘Britain’s Hippest Street’.

Secret Gateshead, by Rob Kirkup, Amberley Publishing, is newly published. Price £14.99.