Monday 16 July 2012

Had a look down the Dene

I had to go see about getting a new leg made today at the Disability Services Centre in Newcastle. The DSC is situated just on the left hand side of the entry way into the Freeman Hospital.

Across from the Freeman Hospital is Jesmond Dene Park. This is a beautiful park and makes for a lovely stroll, there are some quite steep ups and downs, but the scenery makes up for the effort of venturing into the dene.

I had my camera with me so decided to take a few snaps......

The waterfall at the bottom of the Dene

Jesmond Dene

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jesmond Dene is a public park in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small stream known as the Ouseburn: in North-east England, such valleys are commonly known as denes.

The park was first laid out by William George Armstrong and his wife, of Jesmond Dene House, during the 1860s. The design is intended to reflect a rural setting, with woodland, crags, waterfalls and pools. It is now owned by Newcastle City Council.
The (now closed to road traffic) iron constructed Armstrong Bridge spans the Dene and through the 1990's used to host to a crafts fair every Sunday morning, although as of 2011 this has now ceased to exist, with some of the stands moving to the Sunday market on the Newcastle Quayside. The building of a replacement road and tunnel, The Cradlewell By-pass, was the subject of a road protest camp around 1993, due to the destruction of many 200 year old trees.

Jesmond Dene also contains a free entry petting zoo known as "Pets' Corner", which has been a popular family attraction since the 1960s. Attractions within Jesmond Dene include a coffee shop, a conference centre and a restaurant.
As of 2011, the field area and pets corner have been re-developed. The redevelopment includes a new road and a bridge over the Ouseburn river.
Jesmond Dene is also the home of Newcastle's oldest religious building St. Mary's Chapel. The chapel is now in ruins but was once a site of much significance, attracting a great number of visitors. Pilgrim street, in the centre of Newcastle, is named after the many pilgrims passing through on their way to visit the chapel.