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From between the castle and the cathedral a road known simply as The Side, formerly the main road out of the city, descends to the Quayside where the first bridges across the Tyne stood. There have been fixed river crossings here since Roman times and today the Tyne is spanned by seven bridges in close proximity, the most prominent being the looming Tyne Bridge of 1928, symbol of the city, which bears a striking resemblance to the roughly contemporaneous Sydney Harbour Bridge - not surprising really, as both were built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough. To the west of it, road and rail lines cross the river on the High Level Bridge , built by Robert Stephenson in 1849. Protected by the towering castle, the Quayside became the commercial heart of the city and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries its half-timbered houses were the homes of Newcastle's wealthiest merchants. One is Bessie Surtees' House , at 41-44 Sandhill (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; free), the residence of an eighteenth-century woman who scandalously eloped to Scotland with her beau; all ended well and the groom in question went on to become Lord Eldon, Chancellor of England. It's now the regional headquarters of English Heritage, with three rooms, decorated with elaborate panelling and plaster ceilings, open to the public. Directly opposite is the Guildhall , rebuilt many times since its foundation in 1316, where court sessions were held; John Wesley preached here in 1742 and had to be rescued from a volatile crowd by a hefty fishwife. On Sundays a busy morning market spreads around the nearby hydraulic Swing Bridge , which was erected in 1876 by Lord Armstrong, so that larger vessels could reach his shipyards upriver. East along the quay, up Broad Chare, stands the unspoiled ensemble of Trinity House (guided tours Fri 1pm; GBP3.50), with its enclosed courtyard and own graciously carved chapel, built in 1505 for the Mariners' Guild and still run by the Brethren of Master Mariners. Next door, at no. 29, the Trinity Maritime Centre (April-Oct Mon-Fri 11am-4pm; GBP1.50), housed in an old ship chandler's warehouse, has a few rooms of maritime mementoes and some lovingly detailed model ships. Beyond Broad Chare, the modern-day regeneration of the Quayside is in full swing. A landscaped promenade, public sculpture and pedestrianized squares have paved the way for a series of fashionable new bars and restaurants, centred around the supremely graceful, GBP20-million Millennium Bridge , the world's first tilting span, which is designed to pivot - at an energy-saving cost of GBP4 a go - to allow ships to pass. Dubbed the "blinking eye" by locals, it also allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Tyne to the Gateshead side, either to complete a mile-long circuit of the riverfronts via the Swing Bridge, or to visit the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (which opened in July 2002; ). This brick flour mill built in the 1940s is being converted into a huge visual arts space, second only in scale to London's Tate Modern and scheduled to hold some of the most ambitious international art shows of the next few years. As well as galleries, the centre has room to accommodate artists' studios, education workshops, an art performance space and cinema, plus a bar and two restaurants, one at river level with an outdoor terrace, the other on the roof with uninterrupted views of the Newcastle skyline. The BALTIC will be joined on the Gateshead side by new hotels, restaurants, bars and a multiplex cinema, and in summer 2003 by the similarly ambitious Music Centre Gateshead . This billowing steel, aluminium and glass structure designed by Foster and Partners will shelter two concert halls, a rehearsal hall and a wide-ranging music education centre and will be home to the Northern Sinfonia and Folkworks, a charity promoting traditional music.
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