Turning the tide on the Tyne

The industrial age brought prosperity to Newcastle but at great cost to the Tyne and its salmon. Today its waters are a haven for fish and anglers alike

- Adrian Dangar

UNLESS they enjoy fishing, I doubt many motorists on the AI give the brown slick of tidal water stretching west from the bridge separating Gateshead from Newcastle upon Tyne a second glance. The river is a much grander sight a mile downstream where the parabolic arch of the famous Tyne bridge - built in 1928 - spans waters that have always been synonymous with a great northern city, epitomised by Lindisfarne's 1971 hit single Fog on the Tyne. The image of fog is redolent of the shipbuilding and heavy engineering that brought prosperity to Newcastle during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, but this progress marked the beginning of the end for the Tyne's migratory fish. By 1959 the situation was so dire that salmon were prevented in their entirety from accessing hereditary spawning grounds by an insurmountable barrier of filth, and not one was caught that year.