Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Little bit tricky this week. Near as I can figure it, the most likely answers are:

Q1. Newcastle Upon Tyne

Q2. The Ouseburn Viaduct


NB question one is a little bit ambiguous but making the assumption (and the Eastender Himself does not like assumptions) that he means which city was he in, I have selected Newcastle upon Tyne as the most likely answer. It's also worth noting that sometimes the city is referred to as just 'Newcastle' but it is more accurate to say Newcastle Upon Tyne.

The initial clues place us squarely in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The river Tyne is sixty two miles long and the Romans built a bridge and a fort called Pons Aelius there, near the High Level bridge, which was opened in 1849. Aelius was emperor Hadrian's heir but he died before he became emperor so this is maybe why the author says it's slightly confusing (Aelius was also said to be Hadrian's family name in some texts). The High level bridge is around 446 yards long and depending on the state of the river, can be 109 feet above the water. The castle keep the author is referring to is the original new castle and was built by Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy c1080 as a wooden motte and bailey structure, with the stone keep being constructed later by a king (Henry II, who had a son also called Henry).

The parish church is most likely The Cathedral of St Nicholas (patron saint of barrel makers) , Newcastle upon Tyne, which became a cathedral on the 25 July 1882. The inventor referred to is most likely Sir Joseph Swan (b 1828), who invented the first incandescent lightbulb and demonstrated it at the Newcastle Chemistry Society and the Literary and Philosophical society of Newcastle Upon Tyne, both of which were close to the cathedral.

The theatre Royal in Newcastle was built by an architect called Benjamin Green (b c1811-1813) who also did a lot of work on railways. The theatre lies in a district known as Grainger town and Grainger (b1797) was a builder who developed the 12-13 acre area referred to. This is where the puzzle becomes tricky because there are two viaducts, originally constructed using timber arches mounted on stone piers for N&NSR, in 1839, in Newcastle. They were both designed by the same architect, Benjamin Green. The bridges are the Willington viaduct and the Ouseburn viaduct and from the description in the text, the Ouseburn viaduct is the best fit. It has five arches (the Willington viaduct has seven) and is closer to the author's position to walk to than the Willington viaduct (it's approximately a mile north east of the high level bridge)