THE TYNE BRIDGE

Another disturbed night.  This time it was due to cramp in my leg.  Once I had sorted that out I was able to get back to sleep.  Had a late breakfast and did a few chores. Also caught up with some TV viewing.

At 6pm I got the bus to Gateshead and headed for St Mary's Heritage Centre which is next to The Sage on the Gateshead Quayside. I had a ticket for a talk entitled Torah Town - a history of the Jewish Community in  Gateshead.

It was an interesting talk but I did think it could have included more detail.  And the speaker tended to waffle a lot. 

A bit of info about the Jewish Community in Gateshead : ~ The community was established at the end of the 19th century when two  Eastern European Jewish refugees chose to leave the Newcastle congregation, which they viewed as too lenient in religious matters, and crossed the river to set up a new synagogue.  Following the Holocaust Gateshead became home to the largest Orthodox Jewish education complex in postwar Europe, and the most significant outside of the United States and Israel. This can partly be attributed to the arrival of Jewish refugees.

The community of Haredi  ( Orthodox ) Jews is based in the Bensham area of the town.  Today it has the only expanding Jewish community in the North East and  is acclaimed for its higher educational institutions. The Talmudical College attracts students from all over the world. .  Young Jewish women come to study at the Teacher Training College and Beis Chaya Rochel. - an Academy for girls.

The talk lasted just over an hour.  When I came out of the Heritage Centre I took my blip shot of the Tyne Bridge.  In my Extras is a shot of the Heritage Centre which is based in St Marys Church. I walked into Gateshead town centre to get my bus home.  It was a freezing cold evening.  I was glad to get on the warm bus.

Steps today - 7,176