Board game brings long-gone names back to life

4 hours ago

Simon ArmstrongNorth East and Cumbria

Playing pieces represent items associated with firms once present in the area along with characters from stories, such as a mine goblin

Tyne Derwent Way Close-up of five playing pieces used in the game. From left to right, there is an anchor, a pulley, a bag of flour, a horse-drawn coal wagon and a green goblin. — Playing pieces represent items associated with firms once present in the area along with characters from stories, such as a mine goblin

Long-gone names and places that helped shape an area's industrial heyday are being brought back to life with a board game.

Now a nine-mile (14km) nature trail, the Tyne Derwent Way, which connects historic sites between the National Trust's Gibside estate in the Derwent Valley and the centre of Gateshead, was once a key spot for heavy industry.

Bottles, Coal and Iron will take players back in time as they trace the route from the area's now-closed collieries to the loading points for ships on the River Tyne.

Imogen Cloet, engagement officer with the Tyne Derwent Way, said the project was a way to celebrate the area's industrial heritage, much of which had "become lost over time".

The game will see players use a dice to navigate the board, which features companies such as Derwenthaugh Coke Works, William Grace & Co paper mill and CWS Soap Works.

The game's end point is Gateshead Iron Works, now the site of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

A mine-dwelling goblin and a horse-drawn coal wagon are among the playing counters representing items and legends from those industries.

The game was a project voted for last year by users of the Tyne Derwent Way and local community groups.

It will be available to play from next month at venues along the trail including Gibside, Thornley Woodlands Centre and the Land of Oak and Iron Heritage Centre.

Players begin the game at Busty Bank, near Gibside, and make their way to Gateshead Iron Works

Tyne Derwent Way A view of the board from above. It has "Bottles, Coal and Iron" written near the centre along with a map of the area featured in the game. Dozens of slots around the board feature the names of companies or locations. — Players begin the game at Busty Bank, near Gibside, and make their way to Gateshead Iron Works

"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," Cloet said.

"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."

The game's development and production has been supported by funding by Historic England.

Lianna Francis-Kelly, the organisation's Northern partnerships team leader, described it as an "innovative approach to enable people to engage with the heritage on their doorstep".