ARABESQUE
GIFTS
ASR
AUTO SPARK RACING
ARMSTRONG
ENGINEERING
A-Z
STICKER'S
BIKE
SPORT
CUSTOM
LIDS
HUNTERS
MOTORCYCLES
JOE
JOE'S BREAKERS
MAL'S
CLOTHING
M&S
MOTORCYCLES
M&S
SUZUKI
O'NEILS
PAPER SHOP
RIDER
WEAR
WESTGATE
SUPERBIKES
THE
HILL POST OFFICE
W.S.SPRAGUE
YOUR
CHOICE BARBERS
HARLEY
BIKE HIRE & TOURS
MORE SHOPS ON THE HILL
DEALERS IN THE AREA
LEGAL & INSURANCE SERVICES
CUSTOM
BIKES, TRIKES &
TRAILERS
BIKE COMMUNITY
GIFTS
FOR BIKERS
Gallery
This is just a small selection of photo's taken on the Hill over the past few years. If you have any that you would like to add to our gallery, please email them to us.
Click on the images to increase size.
MEMORIES OF WESTGATE HILL (letter to Classic Bike Guide)
Your correspondent's letter about the bike shops on Westgate Road in Newcastle
upon Tyne brought back many happy memories for me. My first visit to "The
Hill" - still thriving as a motorcycle mecca to this day - was in
July or August of 1959 as a 16 year-old teenager (on a push bike!) looking
for a motor bike with his mates. None of the present names were there
then although Kens Motorcycles was not long in arriving. The main dealer
was Harry Wood who, I think, had the main dealership for AMC. I am amazed
that, after almost 50 years, the bike community still congregates on the
Hill on a Saturday!
The other main area of activity in Newcastle (apart from St Andrews Motors near St James Park - Norton dealers) and the legendary Dene Motorcycles in the Haymarket, (which Sir Tom Cowie has had restored so authentically at Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham) was Scotswood Road. There, a host of old corner shops formed the beginnings of Tom's automotive empire - now the global giant "Arriva" - so sycophantically described by Denise Robertson in her recent biography of the old megalomaniac.
It was in the back room of one of these old shops that myself, Bill Dodds and Ken Wardle put £5 down on a 1947 Velocette MAC (cash price £15) in the 1959 long summer hols after our 'O' levels, only to be frustrated in our ambitions by anxious parents who conspired to warn us off motor bikes (but only temporarily!).
Tom Cowie went on to consolidate his empire and build a new motorcycle showroom in Scotswood Road after the mega slum clearance programme of the early 60s eliminated a major piece of Newcastle history by demolishing its 60-odd pubs and the old corner shops. It was in his new showroom in 1961 that I bought my first bike - a dark green 1960 ES2 (323 GVK where are you now?), into which I later installed a 500 Dominator twin engine in case anyone still is wondering where the hybrid came from.
A few years later, I sold the bike back to Cowie's as a px on an Austin Cambridge saloon and this terminated my riding years. George Crawford was one of Tom's trusty lieutenants in Scotswood Road in those days and had a son who raced motorcycles under Cowie's patronage. The old Cowie's showroom is still there, now called the Newcastle Lighting Centre, and still has the enormous bike lift behind the sales counter which used to take the machines from the basement to the ground floor showroom.
Happy days which I often recall, particularly as I work in the Business Park just off Scotswood Road, built on the site of the old Armstrong Elswick Works
I am still ruing the missed opportunity of a G12CSR with an attractive local number plate (and no doubt a small oval brass plate on the rear guard with Harry Woods name on it) which was advertised in your mag last December and which was probably sold as new on the Hill in 1959 or 1960. A friend of mine bought a similar gorgeous 31CSR (s/h) from Ace Motors in Sandyford in 1960 which we rode two-up into a ditch near Scots Gap when a car pulled out from a side road in front of us. I cartwheeled over the top off him into the ditch and broke an ankle. Dene Motorcycles repaired the bike at their workshops in Jesmond.
Happy days indeed, the memories of which (almost) bring a tear or two to my eyes!
Ian Burdon
Came across your website just searching about one day.
Id like to thank you for putting together such a great sight. Bikes are
in
my blood as my great grandfather was the owner of the Dene Motorcycle
Company, Probably the first bike shop in Newcastle Right where the bastards
put marks n Spencer's. I've been raised on motorcycles and am truly passionate
about them. The hill is such a wonderful place with such a wonderful
atmosphere my dad started bringing me on Saturdays when I was just a small
boy and I've always loved the sights and sounds. I moved away from Newcastle
when I was about 8 my dad and I always had the same complaints about bike
shops in the US they were all bland as hell, Nothing like the hill! Well
I've
come back to Newcastle at 19 to attend uni but I've decided after my first
year its not quite for me. I also discovered how boring life is without
a
bike involved, I've been on the hill several times to get a dose of what
I
love so much. I will be leaving for the summer but back in September as
I've
got a flat lined up. Being as im not in uni I will be looking for full
time
work, in thinking of what job I'd look for my first thought was the hill.
I'm
assuming as you are the creator of the sight you may know a thing or two
or
a person or two to help me out. What would be the appropriate steps to
take
in looking for a job up there? I'm very competent in the garage as I built
my 73' cb 350 from a box of parts and also run and maintain two dirt bikes.
I
learnt everything off my father who is very meticulous when working on
his
bikes. Since I was a baby I've been attending all sorts of bike races
the
highlight being The T.T. in 01', and I could chew anyone's ear off whether
it
be classic bikes modern bikes road racing dirt racing etc. etc. As im
not
qualified and don't even own a bike in this country (yet) I fear I might
be
mistaken for just some random kid off the street who has a slight fancy
for
bikes. It's truly not the case, do you have any advice? Thank you for
your
time and thank you for representing the biking culture in Newcastle through
a really great site
Eric Smith