Explore Gateshead's incredible industrial heritage with a new board game

The Tyne Derwent Way is a popular route for walking and cycling, but now there's another way to explore it - by board game!

Today the peaceful riverside route is known as Gateshead's green getaway, but the new game - Bottles, Coal and Iron - transports players back to a time when things were very different. It may look green and lovely now but not so long ago it was a noisy, smelly, dirty and dangerous industrial landscape. 

Available to play from August onwards at locations along the Tyne Derwent Way, Bottles, Coal and Iron is a playful and informative celebration of the rich industrial heritage along the Tyne Derwent Way.

It's suitable for all ages and is a classic game of chance, in which players throw the dice and navigate their way through forfeits at sites throughout the route. Starting on the steep slope of Busty Bank near Gibside National Trust, players follow the rivers Derwent and Tyne - and the route coal took on its way from the collieries to the ships and to power other industries - and race to the finish at Gateshead Iron Works, now the site of Baltic.

Step back in time...

While playing the game, you'll discover company names, places, transport and stories from Gateshead's rich industrial history, such as Derwenthaugh Coke Works, Delta Iron Works, Dunston Colliery, Teams Rope Works Ltd, Sharp & Walker of Lumley's flour mill, Atlas Rivet Works, William Grace & Co paper mill, Sadler's Boat Yard, CWS Soap Works, horse-pulled coal wagons, and Derwent Valley Railway. Did you know that Crowley's Ironworks made cannons, grappling hooks and ammunition for Nelson's Navy?

Even the playing counters represent artefacts and legends from local industries: there's Cutty Soames, the notorious mine-dwelling goblin; a sack of flour from the CWS Flour Mill in Dunston; a horse-drawn coal wagon; a Dunstos pulley from Taylor & Pallister & Co Ltd marine engineering works based in Dunston; and an anchor from Crowley Ironworks at Swalwell.

Months in the making...

Beautifully designed by Paulina Malowaniec and researched by local historians, experts and members of the community, Bottles, Coal and Iron is supported by funding by Historic England, and has been many months in the making. It was one of three projects voted for last summer by local community groups, visitors and the Tyne Derwent Way's online community.

Imogen Cloet, Heritage Engagement Officer, explains the inspiration for the game:

"Almost all of this area's industrial heritage has become lost over time. On the Tyne Derwent Way, you're walking through history, but you can't see much of it any more, with some obvious exceptions like Dunston Staiths. The wagon ways are now paths, and it's hard to imagine that noise, dirt and busyness of the heavy industry here, because it's so tranquil now.

"We looked for a way to capture and celebrate all those industrial sites, factories, collieries and bridges, and bring their stories to life.

Lianna Francis-Kelly, Historic England's Northern Partnerships Team Leader, said:

"It's fantastic to see innovative approaches to enable people to engage with the heritage on their doorstep. Bottles, Coal and Iron is a fun and interactive way to bring the hidden history and stories of the Tyne Derwent Way's industrial past out into the open."

Where to play and learn more

As well as being available to play, you can find out more about the making of Bottles, Coal and Iron in a new exhibition at the Staiths Space (Tyne Derwent Way at Dunston Staiths) on Staithes Road, Dunston, and see some of the archive materials gathered along the way.

The Staiths Space will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays in August, from 11am to 2pm, when you can enjoy the exhibition and play the game. There will be other games and craft activities to enjoy too.

Copies of Bottles, Coal and Iron will also be available to play at the following venues. Please check opening hours before visiting:

Gibside National Trust (entry fee applies); Thornley Woodlands Centre; Land of Oak & Iron Heritage Centre; Metrocentre; The Staiths Café; Gateshead Library; Orbis Community High Street; St Mary's by the Tyne; Baltic.