The tour tells chilling tales of blazing fires, necromancers and murderers as it reveals the city’s rich - and sometimes chilling - history
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A gruesome tour of Newcastle is giving people the chance to discover little-known stories that give a fascinating insight into the city’s bone-chilling past.
Warning that the trip is only for those with nerves of steel, the 90-minute Gory Newcastle City Tour promises to unveil “tales of body snatchers, mysterious murders and big explosions”. Starting off at Grey’s Monument, tour-goers will walk along Dean Street, the Quayside and High Bridge, stopping off at sites including the Castle Keep and the Bigg Market to “hear tales of Newcastle’s ghosts, criminals, magicians and gangsters”.
Tour guide Alex Iles has shared some of the goriest stops to give tour-goers a taster of what to expect when they take a spine-tingling trip around the city. One of the most well-known stops on the tour is the site of the Great Fire of Newcastle and Gateshead on the Quayside, where many of the original buildings were destroyed following the tragic event in 1854 which killed 53 people and left hundreds more injured.
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The disaster began when a fire broke out at a yarn factory, with the blaze quickly engulfing the building and spreading to the warehouse next door which was used to store combustibles, including thousands of tons’ worth of sulphur and nitrate of soda. When the warehouse went up in flames, the resulting explosion was so loud that it could be heard as far away as Hartlepool, knocking houses over and lifting ships out of the river with its force.
Another stop on the tour tells a sinister tale from the city centre’s narrow Dog Bank street, where Newcastle’s only necromancer Black Jackie Johnson is said to have practised his tricks in the 1800s. Feared by even the toughest criminals in the city due to his black magic, the story goes that Johnson was conducting a Tarot when he died and stayed in the same position for days afterwards.
Other stories on the Gory Tour to look forward to include that of Ewan MacDonald, a soldier who is said to have survived the gallows after committing murder in Bigg Market alehouse Pinkey’s in the 1700s. MacDonald’s life was put to an end a second - and final - time after surgeons found him sitting upright and pleading for his life on the dissection table.
The tour also tells the tale of the 19th century ‘Scottish giant’ William Campbell who claimed to be the world’s heaviest man weighing in at a staggering 52 stone. William and his wife Polly took on the Duke of Wellington pub on High Bridge, which still exists today - and following his death in the pub, a window and part of the wall had to be removed in order to move his body out to be buried at Jesmond Cemetery.
Alex founded his company Iles Tours after coming to Newcastle for university and becoming “captivated” by the rich history that the North East is steeped in - and the region’s myths and legends that have passed down through generations. Alex locked himself in the local history section of Newcastle Library to spend two months reading every book on the shelf, before giving his first tour in 2013.
Iles Tours has since grown from offering a single tour of Newcastle to covering the whole of the North East with a range of specialist topics. From walking tours that delve into Durham ’s history to Northumberland tours covering Bamburgh and Lindisfarne, they provide the perfect opportunity for tourists and locals to uncover the hidden secrets of the region.
There’s also a variety of tours to choose from where it all began in Newcastle, including an exploration of the city’s most ancient history with Roman and Anglo-Saxon tours covering the likes of Hadrian’s Wall and Segedunum. Other tours will take visitors down to the Quayside to discover the role of the River Tyne in Newcastle’s history, or to take a look around the iconic Newcastle Castle.
The best part of the job is having people travelling from all over the world to learn about the region on the tours, Alex says. “I enjoy learning about their own hometowns and cultures as much as sharing my own. It’s amazing that people and places can be so different, yet they can also share so much in common.”
Prices for the Gory Newcastle City Tour start from £22, with dates available throughout the year. You can book a place on the tour by visiting the Iles Tours website .
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