Head of Steam

The Society is surging along - we have had talks with Newcastle University, Northern Architecture, Newcastle Libraries and others and we are all very keen to work together on projects - huge potential to get interesting action going.

We ordered some books from the Centre for Alternative Technology (Wales) and now are the proud owners of 'Shed Nation' which is very inspirational! Also a book on permaculture, planting by the moon and building your own compost toilet. Who can stop us now?

Amazingly, out of the blue, we are also the owners of a brand new tricycle! How cool is that?

Update from our AGM 17th Nov 2010

We had our AGM today which was a great success. A good cross-section of activists came along to discuss our events over the past year, to assess where we are and where we want to go from here.

There was a lot of enthusiasm for developing more projects - the most popular one seemed to be the relaunch of the Byker Phoenix community newspaper so we will progress with this as a matter of priority as both a printed newspaper and as an online magazine.

We want to continue with our environmental projects around the estate and met with Colin Riley, The Byker Housing Manager, last week to progress ideas to improve Raby Street.

Another popular idea is a regular lawn bowls event at Headlam Street - this can happen again when the season starts in May 2011.

There was a call for a social space to be open daily for people to drop in and socialise. There were a few ideas where this could be.

So keep watching this space for exciting things happening around the estate. The momentum is building! See you here soon.

Here is our stall!

Quuite impressive I think!

Bolam Coyne Info Event 16th Sept 2010

The Society took part in this information event for residents of Raby Cross and the surrounding area. It was definately a learning curve for me. RES set up a stall outside of the building, with a table cloth, plants, photographs, books, newspaper cuttings, apples and I (heart) Byker badges. We did this because we like living there, know a few people in the area and basically like humanity and engaging with people.

We had a good day. It is interesting to see the response from different age groups: the under 12s are so enthusiastic about everything, the teenage lads kind of like hanging around being a bit reluctant to want to look interested, many of the adults just are not interested, but some were persuaded to come and get a plant and voice their opinion - which was mainly 'It is shocking that the Council allowed Bolam Coyne to get in to such a mess in the first place and then leave it for 10+' which is a very good question for which I doubt we will ever get an answer!

So here is onwards and upwards!

But looking on the bright side we did a few tours for Heritage Open Days in September:

August visit to Bolam Coyne

We dropped by to discuss details with the landscape designers. The Coyne is in a sad state.

Byker Bowling Event - photos

And a great day was had by all.

Heritage Open Days 2010

We had a series of walking tours arranged over the weekend around the Byker Redevelopment: the sheltered housing schemes (Mount Pleasant, Avondale House and Tom Collins House; a general introduction to the Byker Redevelopment and an update on progress at Bolam Coyne. We had a great bunch of people along, including Roger Tillotson who designed Avondale House. Colin Haylock from Ryder Architects came along to update everyone on Bolam Coyne too. So thanks to both of them for making the events more personalised.

Roll on 2011.

Bolam Coyne refurbishment

The Society has been asked to be involved with the refurbishment of Bolam Coyne in south Byker. It has a long history that I will outline at a later date... but just to say some really good things could be coming out of this project so watch this space!!

Byker Bowling Event

We had a great day up at the Byker Village Bowling Club at Headlam Green. Who said it was for 'old blokies'!

It's all happening in Byker...

We've been pretty busy the past few weeks what with drawing up our first newsletter, discussions around Bolam Coyne and all of this Community Trust malarkey. Look out for our newsletter which should be coming out in the next few weeks - full of lots of inspiring ideas, info on what we have been doing and plans for the summer.

Activities, activities and so little time...

We are drawing up plans for Heritage Open Days in September so look out for those. Closer to home we are doing a guided tour for the Ouseburn Trust next week.

Other ideas are to get some community development projects off the ground.

The allotment down at Rabygate (Byker) is coming along great after a slow start due to a late spring.

We did'nt get access to the Coyne so we decided to do N's front garden instead.

Little Celebration at Bolam Coyne Sat 29th May 2010

The Society is having a Little Bolam Coyne gathering at the Coyne on Saturday to celebrate the end of 10 years of hard work preventing the demolition of the houses and the hard work of residents over 4 years to clean up and maintain the landscaping around the area.

We have established an allotment in one of the gardens, planted some bulbs and cut back quite a lot of shrubbery, made bird boxes, and had a good few hours of working together, chatting and eating Andy's food.

On Saturday we will be chilling out with a little bit of tidying up and getting some ideas as to how we would like to see the houses developing and what to do with the landscaping and gardens.

I just want to say a BIG thanks and congratulation to all of you who have come along, put time in to this and who love to live in Byker!

P.S. Bring your brolly as it may rain!

New Projects for 2010

We have started the year off with a whole host of ideas and projects. Here are some of them:

1. Environmental projects around the Byker estate.
2. The first Byker Cherry Festival - sometime around early May.
3. The relaunch of the Byker Phoenix newsletter - watch out for this exciting new development!

And more ideas on the way....