Travel through time: Heritage activities at the Tyneside
Imagine a world before the internet, before TV and when newspapers barely had any pictures printed in them. Back in the 1930s a phenomenon swept the UK as News Theatres were set up to show newsreel films to the public.
People flocked to these cinemas to see world events as moving images for the very first time. The Tyneside Cinema was originally built as Newcastle’s News Theatre in 1937 and today is the finest surviving news reel cinema in Britain.
Every day of the week our new permanent exhibit describes the history of the building and how the news was filmed and screened in the days of the newsreels. You can hear the stories of the people who made the news and what the newsreels meant to local people, you can even experience the thrill of making a projector whirr into life – first hand!
Photo: Allan Mushen
Free Self Guided Tours
Everyday, 10.00am-10.00pm
The building and the exhibits are open everyday for you to explore from 10.00am to 10.00pm, and you can pick up a free guide to the building from the Box Office. In the mornings you can also take a look around the Classic screen and be transported back in time with a free screening of an archive Newsreel.
Photo: Keith Pattison
Free Guided Tours
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 11.15am
Our Tour Guides will take you through the fascinating story of the Tyneside Cinema and give you an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes of this unique building. Guided tours are free but must be booked in advance by calling 0845 217 9909.
Present your ticket in the Tyneside Bar for 50p off a hot drink of your choice.
Photo: Allan Mushen
Lights and Shadows on The Wall: Improving Amusements described by Peter Yates
The final part of the Tyneside Cinema restoration is now in place. In the Electra you can now see architect Peter Yates’ 1976 mural, originally displayed in the old Cinema 2/Electra screen.
Peter Yates began his career as an illustrator and modelmaker, and took drawing lessons in Paris from Georges Braque at the end of the Second World War. He was a founding partner of Ryder and Yates, an architectural practice responsible for some of the most innovative and individual buildings built on Tyneside from the early 1950s onwards.
After many years hidden from view, Yates’ amazing mural was rediscovered during demolition work for the 2006-08 refurbishment of the Tyneside and its conservation and re-installation has been made possible through the sponsorship of Ryder Architecture and The Pilgrim Trust, under the direction of conservation architect Cyril Winskell.
FREE Archive Newsreel Programme: February - April 2010
Archive Newsreel
British Gaumont, 1946. 15mins.
Starts Friday 26 February
To coincide with AV Festival 10 and its central theme of energy, we present a fascinating, at times shocking, glimpse into the devastating power of nuclear energy.
This incredible newsreel footage details the preparation for ‘Operation Crossroads’, a series of nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, which culminated in the irradiation of the entire test site – still uninhabitable to this day – and the destruction of many test ships anchored near to the explosions. Pick up your free Newsreel tickets from the Box Office. Please see www.avfestival.co.uk for more details.
Archive Newsreel
British Gaumont 1950. 15mins.
Starts Friday 26 March
Head back into the past with this fascinating look at life at Easter 60 years ago. See a storm-lashed Brighton, watch Prince Michael and Princess Alexandra of Kent at the Children’s Horse Show, see the King and Queen at Westminster Abbey and even take in a day at London Zoo! But all was not celebratory, as over the channel the communists were rioting and Paris was in turmoil…. Please pick up your free Newsreel tickets from the Box Office.
