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North East England Quiz Number 10

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Test your knowledge of North East England with quiz number 10.

Sage Gateshead
Question 1 photo © David Simpson

1. What is the name of the beautiful building pictured above?

2. Which famous poet was married at Seaham?

3. What is the name of the legend involving a hapless knight, a secret cavern, a beautiful maiden, a wicked wizard, a sword and a couple of skeletons that is associated with Northumberland’s Dunstanburgh Castle?

Dunstanburgh Castle
Dunstanburgh Castle © David Simpson

4. Which two North East rivers merge at Warden rocks and what do they become?

5. Friars Goose near Gateshead takes its name from what?

6. Underhill, once a private house and now a Gateshead care home in Low Fell was famous for which world first?

7. On whose body did sculptor Antony Gormley model the Angel of the North?

Angel of the North
Angel of the North © David Simpson

8. On which plain would you find the ancient site of Maelmin, a Royal centre for kings of Northumbria?

Milfield Plain, site of Maelmin
The site of Maelmin © David Simpson

9. Where would you find Benebal Crag and King Edward’s Bay?

10. For what purpose was this eighteenth century building (below) at Westerton near Spennymoor built and who built it?

Observatory at Westerton
Westerton © David Simpson

11. What was the name of the fenced-off Belgian village occupied by 6,000 French and Flemish speaking Belgian nationals during World War One and where in the North East was it located?

12. The mound of this Norman castle (below) can be found on the outskirts of which North East village?

Earthworks of motte and bailey castle at Bishopton
Earthworks of motte and bailey castle see question 12 © David Simpson

13. Who was the leader of the seventeenth century Levellers political movement who hailed from the North East?

14. Where will you find the memorial to the Felling Colliery disaster and the grave of the miners’ union leader, Thomas Hepburn?

15. Where in the region would you find the ballroom from the Olympic, the sister ship of the Titanic?

16. For what purpose was the building that now forms the famed art gallery BALTIC at Gateshead originally built and on what notable industrial site does it stand?

BALTIC Gateshead
BALTIC viewed from the Gateshead Millennium Bridge © David Simpson

17. What is the name of this eerie structure pictured below?

Winter's Gibbet, near Elsdon
Fancy a game of hangman? © David Simpson

18. Where would you find the Kilted Magi and what are they?

19. What family name links the village of Longnewton near Stockton, Wynyard Hall, Seaham Harbour and Old Durham near Durham City?

20. What was the name of the son of William the Conqueror who built a castle of earth and wood at Newcastle in 1080?

21, What was unusual about William Cumin, Bishop of Durham who seized and fortified the hill top church of Kirk Merrington in County Durham during a siege in 1143?

Kirk Merrington church
Kirk Merrington church. See question 21 © David Simpson

22. What was the occupation of Clavering commemorated by Clavering’s Cross in the moors near Longhorsley, Northumberland and what happened to him?

23. What separates the Blackgate of Newcastle castle from the castle keep?

24. What was the name of the former border stronghold of the Prince Bishops of Durham on the banks of the Tweed in north Northumberland?

Norham Castle
Bishop’s border stronghold. See question 24.  © David Simpson

25. Born at Morpeth in 1508, who was known as ‘The Father of English Botany’?

26. Plummer Tower, Wall Knoll, Durham Tower and Morden Tower are all part of what extensive medieval structure?

27. What devastating Tyneside event took place on October 6, 1854?

28. What was the former name of the village centred on what is now Gosforth High Street?

29. With which North East town would you associate the legend of the Pollard Brawn?

Cleadon Windmill and Water Tower
Windmill and Water Tower © David Simpson

30. Where would you find the two towers pictured above?

31. Which County Durham church has an interior with a remarkable similarity to the Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral and is thought to have been built by the same architect?

32. Where is the modern town centre area (below) called Trinity Square?

Trinity Square, Gateshead
Trinity Square © David Simpson

33. What is the name of the hill near Sunderland where the carriers of St Cuthbert’s coffin are said to have mysteriously ground to a halt, as the monks sought guidance in finding his final resting place?

34. Who gave Jesmond Dene as a gift to the people of Newcastle?

35. What was first performed on June 5th 1862?

36. To which saint is Newcastle cathedral dedicated?

St Nicholas Cathedral Newcastle
Cathedral, Newcastle © David Simpson

37. A circle of heads of which creature can be seen peering over the lantern tower of Newcastle Civic Centre?

38. What often riotous event last took place on September 28, 1916?

39. Who was Dickie of Kingswood?

40. Why is Newcastle’s Dean Street so named?

Answers below

 

 

Answers

  1. Sage, Gateshead.
  2. Lord Byron.
  3. Sir Guy the Seeker.
  4. The North Tyne and South Tyne merge to become the Tyne.
  5. Friar’s Goose is another name for gorse (or broom).
  6. It was Joseph Swan’s house, the first private house in the world to be lit by electricity.
  7. Antony Gomley modelled the Angel on his own body.
  8. Milfield Plain near Wooler.
  9. Tynemouth.
  10. It’s an observatory built by astronomer Thomas Wright.
  11. Elisabethville at Birtley.
  12. Bishopton, near Stockton-on-Tees.
  13. John Lilburne.
  14. Heworth churchyard.
  15. The White Swan Inn, Alnwick.
  16. It was originally a Joseph Rank Flour Mill. In earlier times this spot was the site of Hawk’s (Haaks) Gateshead iron works (1858-1890).
  17. Winter’s Gibbet, near Elsdon, Northumberland. The body of a local murderer called William Winter was hung here after he was executed at Newcastle in 1791.
  18. Medieval stone carvings of three wise men wearing kilts at Kirknewton church near Wooler.
  19. Vane Tempest (Marquess of Londonderry’s family name).
  20. Robert Curthose.
  21. He was a usurper bishop who had seized the County Palatine of Durham under the direction of King David of Scotland. He was not the rightful bishop.
  22. Robert Clavering, a High Sheriff of Northumberland who was shot dead at this spot in November 1586.
  23. A railway line.
  24. Norham Castle.
  25. William Turner.
  26. Remnants of Newcastle’s medieval town walls.
  27.  The great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead.
  28. Bulman Village.
  29. Bishop Auckland.
  30. Cleadon, South Tyneside.
  31. St Lawrence church, at Hallgarth, Pittington.
  32. Gateshead.
  33. Warden Law
  34.  William, Lord Armstrong.
  35. Geordie Ridley’s song ‘The Blaydon Races’, the song itself mentions the actual races which took place on June 9th a few days later.
  36.  St Nicholas.
  37. Seahorses.
  38.  The Blaydon Races – horse racing event was always a rather riotous occasion.
  39. A notorious mosstrooper, horse and cattle thief from Allendale.
  40. Because it follows the course of the dene or valley of a stream called the Lort Burn. The spelling should perhaps be ‘dene’ rather than ‘dean’.
County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East History Quizzes, North East Quiz, North East Quizes, Sunderland

North East Quiz 9

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Test your knowledge of North East England with our ninth North East England history quiz.

Duddo stone circle.
Duddo, Northumberland. See question 26 © David Simpson

1. What is the name of the North East street pictured below?

Sandhill Newcastle
Street scene. See Question 1 : Photo © David Simpson 2015

2. What was the nationality and name of the sailor and privateer who bombed the Northumbrian village of Alnmouth with a cannon ball from his passing ship on September 23, 1779?

Alnmouth
Alnmouth © David Simpson

3. Where would you find a sculpture of a male and female called ‘The Couple’ standing on a platform out in the middle of the sea watched over by a much smaller but otherwise identical couple on the shore?

'The Couple', Newbiggin
‘The Couple’, © David Simpson

4. Where might you find the ghost of Archie Armstrong?

5. What was the name of the ship that struck one of the Farne Islands on the morning of 7th September 1838 and resulted in the famous rescue involving the heroic lighthouse keeper’s daughter, Grace Darling?

6. Broad and Trinity in Newcastle; Church, Low and Middle in Chester-le-Street; Castle and Wear in Bishop Auckland; Castle in Durham and Church in Whickham are all examples of what?

7. Originally from County Durham but principally associated with North Northumberland, what were the Culley Brothers, Matthew and George (born 1730 and 1734) noted for?

8. Name the famous furniture designer born at Stockton-on-Tees in 1751 who shares a family name with a North East village near the A19?

9. By what name is the Battle of Branxton (1513) better known?

10. Which picturesque North East village was laid out by Louisa, the Marchioness of Waterford?

Ford village main street
Pretty village main street, Northumberland. Question 10 © David Simpson

11. In the courtyard of which Newcastle quayside institution will you find a former almshouse of 1787 and an anchor from the Spanish Armada of 1588?

12. Which North East town was the birthplace of Frank Williams of Formula One racing fame?

13. Which famous North East battle took place in Redesdale, Northumberland in 1388 and involved the Northumberland Percys and the Douglas family of Scotland?

14. Who composed the North East song Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinny?

15. What was the name and occupation of the Akenside from whom Newcastle’s Akenside Hill takes its name?

16. Where in the North East would you find the picturesque Trafalgar Square situated around a green with a plaque commemorating 76 local sailors who served at the Battle of Trafalgar?

Trafalgar Square, Sunderland
Trafalgar Square © David Simpson

17. Which battle fought near the Roman Wall a few miles north of Hexham persuaded the victorious Northumbrian king, Oswald to convert to Christianity and who were the opponents in the battle?

18. Name the Swalwell-born composer who reputedly wrote the tune to Auld Lang Syne?

19. Where might you have once found an eighteenth century military defensive instalment called the Black Cat battery?

20. What is significant about Ellington in terms of North East coal mining and what was the nickname with which the mine was associated?

Ellington.
Ellington village, Northumberland © David Simpson

21. Which two North East rivers are separated by the sandy Cambois beach?

Cambois beach looking south towards Blyth
Cambois beach looking south © David Simpson

22. With which North East colliery village would you have associated Richard Haswell’s fictional character ‘Geordie Broon?

23. Where would you find Javel Groupe?

24. Who was the renowned journalist born at Embleton in North Northumberland and what was his eventual fate?

25. Which American comedian indirectly takes his name from a Northumbrian ballad that commemorates a Cheviot hunt and the Battle of Otterburn?

View of the Cheviots from the Duddo stones.
View of the Cheviots near Duddo © David Simpson

26. What ancient site can you find in the middle of a field with great surrounding views near the village of Duddo in north Northumberland?

Teesdale
Teesdale © David Simpson

27. White-washed farm-houses in Teesdale usually signify that they are part of which landed estate?

28. Which Newcastle street was historically associated with the distinctive keelmen fraternity who transported coal to ships on the Tyne using their boats called keels?

29. What is Sting’s real name?

30. Name the five rivers found in Tyne and Wear?

Two rivers at Jarrow. Photo: David Simpson

31. Name the ten rivers found in the historic county of Durham and the three rivers that it acquired  from the North Riding of Yorkshire in the 1970s following boundary changes?

32. What is the name of the famous character created by the Hartlepool cartoonist Reg Smythe (1917-1998)?

33. Until 1836 what was unusual about the districts of Bedlingtonshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire in Northumberland?

34. Born and brought up in Teesdale near Barnard Castle, name the explorer and renewable energy champion who was the first man to walk to both poles?

35. Which prominent North East family were closely associated with Streatlam near Barnard Castle and Gibside near Gateshead?

36. Which North East village was known as ‘Little Moscow‘ from its communist sympathies and a street called Marx and Lenin Terrace?

37. Shiremoor in North Tyneside was named from which historic North East district or ‘shire’?

38. What was the name of the German industrialist who was the first mayor and first MP for Middlesbrough?

39. What famous Roman fort is located at Chesterholm in Northumberland?

40. Where would you find Killingworth Billy and what is it?

Answers below

 

Answers

  1. Sandhill, a quayside street, Newcastle upon Tyne
  2. John Paul Jones. He was American.
  3. Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.
  4. Haughton Castle, Northumberland.
  5. The Forfarshire.
  6. They are all ‘Chares’.
  7. Farmers who bred the Border Leicester sheep.
  8. Thomas Sheraton.
  9. Flodden Field.
  10. Ford village, Northumberland.
  11. Trinity House.
  12. South Shields.
  13. Otterburn.
  14. Joe Wilson.
  15. Mark Akenside. He was a poet.
  16. Sunderland.
  17. Heavenfield. King Oswald fought against the Welsh.
  18. William Shield.
  19. Sunderland.
  20. Ellington was the region’s last colliery. The mine was known as ‘The Big E’.
  21. The River Wansbeck and River Blyth.
  22. Backworth.
  23. Newcastle quayside.
  24. W.T. Stead. He died on board the Titanic.
  25. Chevy Chase.
  26. Duddo standing stones, a small stone circle.
  27. Raby.
  28. Sandgate.
  29. Gordon Sumner.
  30. Rivers Tyne, Derwent, Team, Don and Wear.
  31. Rivers Tyne, Derwent, Team, Don, Wear, Tees, Browney, Deerness, Gaunless and Skerne. The River Balder, River Lune and River Greta were moved into Durham from Yorkshire.
  32. Andy Capp.
  33. They were part of County Durham (The County Palatine of Durham).
  34. Robert Swan.
  35. The Bowes family.
  36. Chopwell.
  37. Tynemouthshire.
  38. Henry Bolckow.
  39. Vindolanda.
  40. It’s a locomotive found at the Stephenson Railway Museum, North Shields.
County Durham, Gateshead, History, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East History Quizzes, North East Quiz, North East Quizes, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland

North East Quiz 8

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Test your knowledge of North East England with our latest North East England quiz focusing on the history, geography and culture of the region.

Roman gatehouse at Arbeia
Reconstruction of a Roman gatehouse at Arbeia © David Simpson

1, Which place in the North East was known to the Romans as Arbeia meaning ‘place of the Arabs’? In Roman times it was home to a unit of bargemen from the River Tigris in what is now Iraq.

2, What is the name of the sculptor who created Tommy at Seaham and Fiddlers Green at North Shields?

‘Tommy’  at Seaham. Photo © David Simpson

3. Which North East comedian was known as ‘The Little Waster‘?

4. Who was the Norton-on-Tees born director of Quadrophenia and creator or Auf Wiedersehen Pet (which he pitched to Ian La Frenais)?  He also created TV’s Master Chef.

5, What was the name of the community venture situated in a County Durham town that was sometimes known as the Pitmen’s Academy? It unearthed and encouraged the talents of pitmen like the writer, Sid Chaplin and local artists Norman Cornish and Tom McGuinness.

6. What is the name of the river local to Ashington and Morpeth?

River Wansbeck near Sheepwash, Ashington.
Here is the river at Sheepwash near Ashington. Question 6, © David Simpson

7. Which North East castle chillingly claims to be Britain’s most haunted?

8 .What was supposedly slain at Cleve’s Cross near Ferryhill by Hodge of Ferry around the year 1200?

9. Who was the author of De Temporum Ratione (The Reckoning of Time) that became the major influence for the way in which we still count our years today from the birth of Christ ?

10. What shapes feature on the ancient and mysterious prehistoric markings such as those found on Doddington Moor in north Northumberland?

11. Which famous entertainer and comedian once resided in Bishop Auckland and in North Shields’ Dockwray Square – where there is a statue to his honour?

Stan Laurel, Laurel Park, Dockwray Square, North Shield
Dockwray Square, North Shields © David Simpson

12. What is the official name of the Lady of the North, a 44 acre landscape sculpture near Cramlington?

Northumberlandia, the Lady of the North
The Lady of the North. Photo Question 12 © David Simpson

13. Where in the North East did King Cnut allegedly have his hair cut in the year 1031 before visiting St Cuthbert’s shrine at Durham?

14. What is the name of the Middlesbrough-born artist and former shipyard worker noted for his abstract art and ‘square sheep’?

15. In which Northumbrian dale can you find Otterburn?

16. In 1747 what did the Sedgefield vicar’s wife do to her deceased husband to ensure that she kept receiving payment for parish tithes?

17. Where on the North East coast would you find Sparrow Hall?

The remains of Sparrow Hall in the old part of Cullercoats.
The remains of Sparrow Hall © David Simpson

18. Which frequently altered Northumberland village-name provided the inspiration for a lengthy comedy routine by the comedian Stewart Lee?

19. What famous painting by Velazquez was housed for many years in a grand hall near Barnard Castle from which it took its name?

20. What are the names of the twin rivers with valleys just to the west of Durham City that join together near the town of Langley Moor before joining the River Wear near Croxdale?

21. Which North East city has a place-name that is thought to mean ‘separated land’?

Jack Crawford nailing his colours to the mast, Mowbray Park
Jack Crawford nailing his colours to the mast. Question 22© David Simpson

22. Where would you find a monument to Jack Crawford, the hero of the Battle of Camperdown, nailing the colours to a ship’s mast?

23. The Prudhoe-born and Berwick-raised actor Henry Travers (1974-1965) is famous for playing which role in a black and white Christmas themed movie?

24. For what notorious activity was the Northumbrian village of Boulmer principally noted in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century?

25. Name the South Shields-born director (left)  whose movie credits include Blade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, Blackhawk Down and Alien?

26. What links the crags on which Hadrian’s Wall stands, Bamburgh Castle rock, the Farne Islands and High Force waterfall in Teesdale?

27. What was the name of the Anglo-Saxon palace of King Edwin of Northumbria of which the outlines including an auditorium can be traced in aerial photographs in Glendale to the west of Wooler?

28. What is the surname of the Ryton-born folk duo sisters Rachel and Becky?

29. Hesleyside in North Tynedale was the principal seat of which North East border reiver clan?

30. Which famous North East MP, commemorated in song, once resided at Whitworth Hall near Spennymoor?

Whitworth Hall.
Whitworth Hall. See question 30 © David Simpson

31. Alnwick, Sedgefield and at one time Chester-le-Street are linked by which February tradition?

32. Where was the Dean and Chapter Colliery located?

33. Which famous North East ship, built at Wallsend In 1907 captured the Blue Riband prize for her eastbound transatlantic voyage that was achieved during the maiden voyage return? She then went on to claim the same prize for the westbound journey across the Atlantic during 1909.

Segedunum and the Tyne at Wallsend.
Segedunum Roman fort (bottom right) © David Simpson

34. Segedunum was the Roman name for the fort in which North East town?

35. What remarkable discovery was found at Howick on the Northumberland coast in 1983?

36. In terms of national boundaries what is unusual about the course of the river called the Bowmont Water in North Northumberland.

37. What was the name of the Bishop of Durham who founded Durham University? He was also, technically, the last ‘Prince Bishop’.

38. What links names such as Shaftoe, Storey, Robson, Charlton, Heron, Milburn, Collingwood, Armstrong, Elliot, Fenwick, Forster, Ridley, Nixon, Potts and Pringle?

39. Which Northumberland village gave its name to the battle of 1018 which resulted in the loss of much Northumbrian territory and more or less established the border with Scotland as it exists today?

Raby Castle
Raby Castle © David Simpson

40. Brancepeth Castle near Durham, Raby Castle in Teesdale and Middleham Castle in Wensleydale in Yorkshire were the principal seats of which powerful northern family of medieval times?

Answers below

Answers

  1. South Shields.
  2. Ray Lonsdale.
  3. Bobby Thompson.
  4. Franc Roddam.
  5. The Spennymoor Settlement.
  6. River Wansbeck.
  7. Chillingham.
  8. The Brancepeth Brawn, a wild boar.
  9. The Venerable Bede.
  10. Cup and Ring markings.
  11. Stan Laurel.
  12. Northumberlandia.
  13. Trimdon.
  14. McKenzie Thorpe.
  15. Redesdale.
  16. She pickled him, to preserve his body and pretend he was still alive.
  17. Cullercoats.
  18. Shilbottle.
  19. The Rokeby Venus.
  20. The River Browney and River Deerness.
  21. Sunderland.
  22. Sunderland’s Mowbray Park.
  23. Clarence the Angel in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.
  24. Smuggling.
  25. Ridley Scott.
  26. The Great Whin Sill.
  27. Ad Gefrin (Yeavering).
  28. Unthank.
  29. The Charltons.
  30. Bobby Shafto.
  31. Shrove Tuesday football matches.
  32. Ferryhill.
  33. The Mauretania.
  34. Wallsend.
  35. Traces of a Stone Age house.
  36. The river begins in Scotland then heads northward – yes northward – into England.
  37. William Van Mildert.
  38. They’re all Border Reiver surnames.
  39. Carham on Tweed.
  40. The Nevilles.