Newcastle is not, as most southerners imagine, a dark and gloomy town of unrelieved bricks and mortar, for, besides possessing many wide and handsome streets, it has also several pretty parks, the most noteworthy being the beautiful Jesmond Dene, one of the late Lord Armstrong's magnificent gifts to his native town. The Dene, together with the Armstrong Park near it, lies on the course of the Ouseburn, which is here a bright and sparkling stream, very different from the appearance it presents by the time it empties its murky waters into the Tyne. Besides these there are Heaton Park, the Leazes Park, with its lakes and boats, Brandling Park, and others smaller than these; and last, but most important of all, the Town Moor, a fine breezy space to the north of the town, of more than 900 acres in extent.
Of statues and monuments Newcastle possesses some half-dozen, the finest being "Grey's Monument"--a household word in the town and familiarly known as "The Monument." It was erected at the junction of Grey Street and Grainger Street in memory of Earl Grey of Howick, who was Prime Minister at the passing of the Reform Bill. The figure of the Earl, by Bailey, stands at the top of a lofty column, the height being 135 feet to the top of the figure. There is a stairway within the column, by which it can be ascended, and a magnificent view enjoyed from the top.
In an open space near the Central Station, between the _Chronicle_ Office and the Lit. and Phil., there is a fine statue of George Stephenson, by the Northumbrian sculptor, Lough. It is a full length representation of the great engineer, in bronze, with the figures of four workmen, representing the chief industries of Tyneside, around the pedestal--a miner, a smith, a navvy, and an engineer. At the head of Northumberland Street, on the open space of the Haymarket, stands a beautiful winged Victory on a tall column, crowning "Northumbria" typified as a female figure at the foot of the column. This graceful and striking memorial is the work of T. Eyre Macklin, and is in memory of the officers and men of the North who fell in the Boer War of 1899-1902. Two other noteworthy statues in the town are those of Lord Armstrong, near the entrance to the Natural History Museum at Barras Bridge, and of Joseph Cowen, in Westgate Road.