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Newcastle has a long, rich history - and one man who knows more about it than most is John Grundy.

You might well have seen him on television, enthusiastically throwing fascinating new light on some aspect of the North East’s past.

Now, the 70-year-old former teacher and lecturer, who lives in Gosforth, has published his latest book, John Grundy’s History of Newcastle.

The TV historian said: “I’m not from Newcastle originally, but since I moved here in 1970 the place has fascinated me. I love the look of it and the feel of it and I have always loved living in it.

“The book is about Newcastle, its buildings and streets, its achievements and, most of all, its people.

“It has been a very enjoyable experience and I have to say that I think it is quite a remarkable story but then, Newcastle is quite a remarkable place.”

To get a flavour of John Grundy’s new book, here are 15 things you (probably) never knew about Newcastle:

Gateshead is probably older than Newcastle. Excavations when The Sage was being built showed signs of an ancient ‘henge’ monument overlooking the river and there was a Roman fort on the south side of the river long before the Newcastle fort was built. Newcastle’s medieval walls were begun in 1265, long before the wars with Scotland started. They were hugely impressive. John Leland, who was Henry VIII’s historic building man, said that they “far surpasseth” all of the walls of the cities of England and most of cities of Europe. More of them survive that anywhere in the country except York, Chester and Southampton. Because of the endless wars against the Scots, Kings of England were constantly visiting Newcastle with their armies. They always stayed in one of the Friaries, usually the Blackfriars and they paid a pittance for their accommodation. A “pittance” was 6s 8d – enough to buy a cow or a number of sheep! There’s a little piece of medieval stained glass in St Nicholas Cathedral which shows The Madonna breast feeding the infant Jesus. He has teeth and a rather unsettling look in his eyes; she has a sad and resigned expression as if she’s dreaming of the time when he’ll be on solid food! The inventory survives of the contents of Richard Anderson’s shop in the 1500s. He sold everything – bedding, clothing, food, haberdashery, pots and pans, kitchen stuff – but there was also stuff from all over the world. There were hats from France and Bruges, aniseed and almonds, rice and saffron from the Mediterranean; there was sandalwood from India and exotic things like mace, cloves and nutmeg which had made their way from the far-off Moluccas (the Philippines) to end up on Newcastle Quayside. Newcastle’s Geordies always wanted to be top dog and tried to stop anyone else from muscling in on their trade. In 1267, Mayor Nicholas Scott and the members of his corporation burned down North Shields because the Prior of Tynemouth had started to export his own coal. The Bishop of Durham was constantly complaining that Newcastle kept burning down his quays on the Gateshead side of the river, and in 1553 they actually annexed Gateshead for a year before they were forced to give it back again. Newcastle was visited by The Plague on many occasions but the worst outbreak of all, one of the most destructive plagues ever recorded, happened in 1636. It seems to have started down by the river in May, probably brought in by a sick sailor, and it spread throughout the town, raging out of control until the arrival of winter. In the end 47% of the population died – almost half of the people of the town. In 1698, a famous traveller and diarist called Celia Fiennes said that Newcastle “most resembles London of any place in England, its buildings Lofty and Large, of brick mostly or stone.” She was clearly a woman of taste and discrimination. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, loved Newcastle. He said that there was “no place in Britain comparable to it in pleasantness”. The first time he preached here, down by the riverside, he started with a congregation of half a dozen but by the end of the day there was a crowd of thousands and the people were “ready to tread me under foot out of pure love and kindness”. Despite John Wesley’s affection for the town, he was a touch shocked by the language. He said there was “so much drunkenness, cursing and swearing, even from the mouths of little children”. Newcastle’s first street lights were installed in 1763. At first they were oil lights but by 1818 they were gas and by 1827 there were 269 gas lamps inside the walls. Mosley Street in 1879 was the first street in the world to be lit by electricity and by 1889 the city had the world’s first proper power stations. Modern electrical power supply was invented in Newcastle. George Stephenson revolutionised the world. Despite being an uneducated colliery worker, he invented the miners’ safety lamp and brought about the railways. He built the first colliery railways and the first railways to join towns and carry passengers. His locomotive works behind the station was the first and most famous in the world. But when he had to be quizzed by the authorities about the route for the Manchester to Liverpool railway they had to bring in a translator and he was shockingly insulted by the barristers and politicians who questioned him. He was described as “stupid and incredulous” with “an ignorance almost inconceivable”. Newcastle was a hotbed of Suffragette activity. There were two group. The Women’s Social and Political Union were the most militant and burned things down in Gosforth and Heaton (they were a pretty middle-class bunch). The other group was the snappily titled National Society of Women’s Suffrage Societies. They were more moderate and held marches and gave out leaflets and things. They also held their meeting in that hotbed of political activism – Fenwick’s French Café. Newcastle has had mayors for 800 years, since 1216. They have been mainly men and rich, but recently there have been 19 female lord Mayors. And next year there will be another. T Dan smith gets criticised for a lot of things but (among other things) he started the clean-up of the appallingly polluted Tyne, he insisted that Newcastle University should stay in the city centre at a time when almost everyone else wanted to move it out onto a campus, he even founded the Poly which is now Northumbria Uni in the centre of the town. He was also responsible for the foundation of Eldon Square Shopping Centre – and where would modern Newcastle be without that?

John Grundy’s History of Newcastle, Tyne Bridge Publishing, is on sale now, hardback, priced £10. The book is packed with superb pictures, some of which feature here.