Endless Horizons

The site of the new creative and media centre occupies a commanding position on Moor Road, Prudhoe. The site is approximately 150 metres above sea level and affords impressive views north over the Tyne valley with the busy A69 glimpsed beyond and on past Hadrian's Wall towards Morpeth.

To the east the buildings of Newcastle are glimpsed over the nearby houses. Behind the site the land rises gently for another 10 or 20 metres before dropping down over Prudhoe Moor to Durham Riding Farm and the valley of the Stanley Burn.

Vicar's School

Prudhoe Community High School opened in 1958 as Prudhoe County Secondary School. The local authority were keen that the school was sited elsewhere in the vicinity but through the tireless efforts of Rev. Robson today's site was eventually identified.

Building started in 1955 and was completed at a cost of £172,016. The wife of Rev. Robson declared that the facility would provide 'a voyage of discovery offering endless horizons'.

Site Visit #1

Student Site Observations

COLOURS: green, brown, grey, yellow, white, black, blue, purple, gold, red, pink, orange, magnolia, light blue

PLANTS & ANIMALS: trees, daisies, dandelions, bees, butterflies, birds, grass, cow, hedges

Starting Points

To underpin the layout of the new media centre the curriculum of the diploma in Creative and Media was consulted and gave rise to the division of the new building into zones: participation, enquiry, creative and reflection.

At an initial meeting with students from Prudhoe CHS I took these four words along with 'Northumberland' and 'Prudhoe' and asked the students to take them for a walk using the game of consequences. This is what happened:

Northumberland | cold | polar bear | bear | Rupert | jumper | Winter
Northumberland | countryside | food | hunger | food | particles combined
Northumberland | rural | meadows | cows | animal | living thing | alive
Northumberland | England | Union Jack | united | Newcastle | home | family

Prudhoe | home | bedroom | bed | sleep | zzzzz!!! | tigers
Prudhoe | culture | society | culture | community | village life | cheerfulness
Prudhoe | town | settlement | identity | crisis | panic | worry
Prudhoe | town | place | a house | street | dance | movement

Participation | involved | friends | people | families | The song 'We Are Family' | music
Participation | team work | helping | co-operation | friends | family | life
Participation | engagement | marriage | partnership | togetherness | community | families
Participation | taking part | involvement | physically | hit | assault | attack

Reflection | mirror | reflection | shininess | shiny show | glitter | Christmas
Reflection | ideas | brains | power | strength | muscles
Reflection | mirrors | reflection | mirror | shiny thing | modern | homes & gardens
Reflection | reviewing something | thinking | game | fun | playing | games

Creativity | paintbrush | paint | colour | paint | smelly | cheese
Creativity | art | art | Stuart | artist | painting | visual
Creativity | ideas | thinking | using your brain | intelligent | thinking | mind reading
Creativity | music | songs | music | film | watching | TV

Enquiry | investigate | inspector | hat | sun | the sea | waves
Enquiry | thoughts | critique | criticism | opinions | ideas
Enquiry | telephone | contract | communication | talking | communication | device
Enquiry | questioning | asking | learning | new | old | antique

Early Concepts

Early sketch notes inspired by ideas of excavation and the architecture of the new building.

A Quick Background History

Travelling west on the train from Newcastle the grip of industry appears to loosen by the time you reach Wylam. There is of course a large industrial presence at Low Prudhoe but otherwise the place has a quieter more rural feel.

It seems that Prudhoe was a quiet, rural community until the middle of the 1800s. Prior to this little appears on the radars of archaeology or social history - significant bronze age artefacts have been found but no obvious settlement defined in the vicinity. Thomas Bewick noted woodcutter and ornithologist lived nearby. It is Prudhoe's castle that gives one of the earliest records of the place in the 11th century and it was from this focus that 'modern' Prudhoe initially developed.

Fast forward to the 16 and 1700s and the mining of coal has begun to grow in importance with two significant workings possibly located close to the south of the site. People have also started to enclose the open land for farming. By 1801 the town's population was 380 but seventy years later this had risen dramatically to 2583. What happened?

The mining of coal in and around Prudhoe had become much bigger in scale and ambition with local companies such as the Mickley Coal Company Limited leading the way. The industry would change the shape of Prudhoe forever - living long in the memories of local people and leaving its mark pn the landscape.

In 1849 Robert Capper Esq. of Blanchland leased much land in Prudhoe to a William Johnson of Prudhoe Hall Farm (?). This land included the fields on which will sit the new media centre. In 1850 Robert Capper is recorded as leasing seams of coal and clay to Johnson but by 1862 Capper had sold his land to the Mickley Coal Company Limited (owned by Matthew Liddell amongst others).

It would appear that the MCCL retained this interest until the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1847. A handful of year's later and the National Coal Board provided 'great co-operation' in the establishment of Prudhoe County Secondary School on the site. Building started in 1955 and the school opened in 1958 and would provide 'a voyage of discovery offering endless horizons'.

Processes

mining | excavating | boring | moulding | learning | educating | creating | participating | enquiring | reflecting | building up

Mr Capper

"A small land-sale colliery is in operation, and there is excellent clay for fire-bricks, for which a manufactory has been erected. The Duke of Northumberland and Mr. Capper are the principal owners of the township. On Mr. Capper's property is a farmhouse, which has evidently been a chapel; in the wall on the south side is a handsome Norman arch, and a porch was removed some years since."

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51224&strquery=prudhoe#s21

Coal

What is this blog?

This blog has been established as a repository for material uncovered in researching the past, present and future of a small area of land on the edge of Prudhoe, Northumberland.

The land is currently part of Prudhoe Community High School and is situated on Moor Road, Prudhoe. Grid reference NZ 097 623.

Planned for the site is a new media centre that will be opened in Summer 2011. More information about the planned building can be found here: http://www.medianetnorth.com/news.php?arch=Jan2010&id=731


This site will build a picture of this piece of land (and its surroundings) and the people and events that help(ed) shape it. Information posted here will inform creative input into the new building and its future programming.