Gateshead Garden Festival

The Gateshead Garden Festival was the fourth of the United Kingdom's five National Garden Festivals. Held between May and October 1990, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, it lasted 157 days, and received over three million visitors.[1] Attractions included public art displays, a Ferris wheel, and dance, music, theatre and sporting events.[1] Several modes of transport were provided around the site: a monorail which ran between Norwood and Eslington, a narrow gauge steam railway between Dunston and Redheugh, and a road train which covered the entire site. A ferry across the River Tyne, between Dunston Staithes and Newcastle Quayside, was also provided.[1]

The festival site was created over a two-year period, on 200 acres (0.81 km2) of derelict land, previously the site of a gasworks, a coal depot and a coking plant.[2] The cost of reclaiming and redeveloping the land was around £37 million.[1] After the festival ended, much of the site was replaced by housing.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Life of the Dunston Staiths" (PDF). George Wimpey. 2007-05-01. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  2. ↑ "Staiths South Bank – Design process". Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Retrieved 2009-01-18.