Things you didn't know about... Newcastle

Newcastle's new castle is nearly 1,000 years old
Newcastle was founded at the point on the Tyne at which it can most easily be crossed. The Normans built a wooden fort there in 1080 as well as a wooden bridge, and a stone castle was built in the 12th century.

Newcastle took money from the English and the Scots
Because of its proximity to the border, Newcastle did rather well financially out of the wars between the English and the Scots, with travellers between the two countries spending a great deal of money here.

They've been carrying coal from Newcastle for eight centuries
Newcastle was already exporting coal from the 13th century, and by the 16th century coal was its biggest export market. Some estimates put the amount exported in 1500 at around 15,000 tons a year, rising to about 400,000 tons a year by the middle of the 1600s.

The phrase "carrying coals to Newcastle"—meaning to waste time and energy on a pointless exercise—was first recorded in 1538. These days, coal is imported from Eastern Europe.

Shipbuilding in Newcastle went back to the Middle Ages
Until its swift decline after World War II, shipbuilding had been a major industry in Newcastle for centuries. The first record of a ship being built appears in 1294. The city was also renowned for industries such as rope-making and leather processing.

Newcastle's Tyne Bridge's short-lived world record
When it was opened by King George V in 1928, the Tyne Bridge, which connects Newcastle and Gateshead over the River Tyne, was the largest single span bridge in the world. But that record lasted only four years—the Tyne Bridge had to make way for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Newcastle natives have a funny naming system, by George
A Geordie, someone from Newcastle, is a diminutive of George, but there is no definitive answer as to why they are so called. Confusingly, in Australia and New Zealand, it's the Scots who are referred to as Geordies.

Newcastle's underground glory
Newcastle is one of only three cities in the UK to have an underground transport system, the others being London and Glasgow.