Gateshead has often been portrayed as the ‘poor relative’ in comparison to its larger and more glamorous Tyneside neighbour, Newcastle. But Gateshead has a long and proud industrial and social history, much of which has sadly gone, but in recent years there has been a revival in Gateshead’s social and cultural infrastructure, which has placed it firmly on the tourist map. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries wrought huge changes on Gateshead, but traces of the town’s fascinating history are visible to the enquiring eye. Local author Rob Kirkup delves into the past in this unique approach to the town’s history, blending dark deeds and strange tales with long-forgotten facts and amusing stories, seeking out Gateshead’s many hidden secrets.