In July 2011, four Tynesiders – Port of Tyne writer in residence Michael Chaplin, artist Birtley Aris, photographer Charles Bell and poet Christy Ducker – set off to walk the tidal length of the River Tyne from South Shields to Tynemouth via Wylam.
Their walk took them through changing communities, vital industry and through urban, rural, industrial and post-industrial landscapes. Along the way they interviewed people who work alongside the river from boat builders and taxi drivers to a horse dentist at Bill Quay farm to capture reflections on the past and the future of the Tyne.
The resulting book includes pen and ink illustrations, photography, poetry and a written and poetic narrative that captures the ordinary and extraordinary people of the river and the river itself at a point of change. Part social history, part psycho-geography and part love letter, Tyne View captures the soul of Tyneside’s big river.