The Destruction Of An Icon.
Hey,
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And so to the end of an era.
Soon one of Gateshead’s iconic buildings will disappear forever and even the protestations of both Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino could not stop it from happening.
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Have you guessed which building it is.
You haven’t?
Well, I shall put you out of your misery.
It is the seventies car park that was used…to great effect…in the wonderful Mike Hodges’s 1971 debut feature film ‘Get Carter’, which he both scripted and directed.
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This was Michael Caine’s best acting moment, playing a London gangster who comes to the North-East to find out why his brother died and exact vengeance from those responsible.
Although a bit dated now, it captures the mood of the place and times perfectly.
The car park was a main part of an excellent scene where Jack Carter throws Cliff Brumby to his death.
It is a totally gritty and real film, the best scene being the one where Jack Carter…Michael Caine…comes out of the house nude except for his shotgun….brilliant.
The final scene is wonderful too, on that coal spoil of a beach.
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If you have not seen this gem you must watch this…
Brilliant!
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Trinity Square was designed by Owen Luder, who was twice the president of the Royal Institute Of British Architects (RIBA).
It was a combined car park and shopping centre.
Although it may have been brutal, with raw exposed concrete, it certainly had a voice of it’s own.
There was nothing bland about it.
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We were all shocked when we first saw it, especially in contrast to the old Law Courts, Town Hall and the old police buildings, which were classic and mellow dressed stone, but it was so unexpected and of-the-moment.
It was new thought, like the work of Corbousier and the Bauhaus movement, right in the middle of the town centre.
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It had a great box on the top too, 124 feet up, meant to be a happening nightclub.
This never happened, which was a shame really, because the views of Tyneside would have been fabulous to see.
Truly a taste of the ‘high life’.
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So, sadly, this icon is being demolished to make way for Gateshead’s £150 million regeneration project, which will probably be suitably bland and homogeneous, and will not frighten anybody, more’s the pity.
Gateshead Council say it is being done at the request of local residents… well they don’t get my vote!
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I approximately six weeks time the crime will be completed.
A marvellous piece of film history gone forever.
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Boooooooooooo!
J,x.
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By the way, Mike Hodges may be 77 and living in the wilds of Dorset, but he is now actively promoting his first novel ‘Watching The Wheels Come Off’.
This is about a character called Mark Miles, a grubby PR man, who descends into a world of sex and violence.
Not bad for someone who qualified to be a chartered accountant!
