Man who put us on the map
Feb 3 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
Inspired by Royal visit
THE visit to Cragside by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1884 will be used as the inspiration for the location’s contribution to the Armstrong celebrations.
Electric light was used to illuminate Armstrong’s Cragside estate to mark the royal stay.
Ten thousand small glass lamps adorned the rocky slopes and railings lining the walks, with an almost equal number of Chinese lanterns. A firework display rounded off the show.
A report of the event reads: “Clouds of little lamps hung like fireflies in the hollow recesses of the distant hills.
“The entire sweep of the Debdon Valley presented a fairly-like appearance.”
Zoe Bottrell, director of the Northumberland Lights Festival is working with ideas based on the royal lighting extravaganza.
This would be staged at Cragside as part of both the Armstrong and this year’s Northumberland Lights event.
The fire work display could also be replicated.
Zoe said: “Cragside means something special to me because it was where I married in 2001, and I love it.”
Events to celebrate a remarkable life
A PLAQUE will be erected by Newcastle City Council to mark the Armstrong 200.
Potential sites include Argyll Street, previously Armstrong’s birthplace of Pleasant Row, and a location behind High Bridge where Armstrong made his early inventions in Henry Watson’s works.
Other events include a show for pupils by Tyne Wear Museums in March which will feature actors as Armstrong and light bulb inventor Joseph Swan and which will include science demonstrations.
Next month will also see a conference at the Literary and Philosophical Society titled Engineering for the World: Armstrong.
From July 10 - January 16 an exhibition on Armstrong will run at Newcastle Discovery Museum.
City Guides walks will include an outing on June 27 from the Swing Bridge to the site of Armstrong’s Elswick works.
Another walk on July 11 will follow Jesmond Dene to Matthew Bank.
There will also be site tours of the Armstrong works of BAE Systems.
What is described as the first definitive biography of Lord Armstrong, by Henrietta Heald, will be published by Northumbria University Press in September.
His legacy lives on
LORD Armstrong’s legacy features in the Past into Future project in Newcastle’s West End.
The £71,000 project, backed by £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, involves St Bede’s, Canning Street, Lemington Riverside , St John’s, Hawthorn and St Joseph’s primary schools.
"It is important at this time, when West Newcastle is in transition, that the history and heritage of this important part of the city are preserved and debated," said project co-ordinator Neil Tonge.
"This is being achieved through a study by children and young people of the industrial past."
Armstrong’s works turned the villages of Elswick, Scotswood and Benwell into suburbs. "A quarter of Newcastle depended on Armstrong in some way," said Neil.
