Topics is all about connections and the threads of life that run through history.
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For instance, yesterday we wrote about Newcastle Castle in England – which is the place where our town got its name.
The son of William the Conqueror – Robert Curthose – built the first castle on the site in 1080.
Some 564 years later, in 1644, the castle was a stronghold in the famous Siege of Newcastle.
We came across an artwork of the siege. It grabbed our attention, transporting us back 372 years.
The siege is considered the greatest upheaval in Newcastle’s history, at least until industrialisation and the advent of the railway in the 19th century, according to the website 1644-siegeofnewcastle.8k.com.
The siege was part of the English Civil War, which ran from 1642 to 1651.
The civil war was between parliamentarians and royalists.
The Scottish army that invaded Newcastle supported the parliamentarians.
“The civil war was one of the first to be extensively covered by the press,” the website said.
“The quality of printed material available in the 17th century reflects widespread public interest in contemporary events and an increase in literacy across all ranks of society.
“An example of this is the graffiti left by soldiers in the king's chamber of the Castle Keep [at Newcastle Castle].”
A correspondent on the Scottish side of the battle, left us with this delightful account: “The enemy from the castle doth mightily annoy us with their great artillery”.
The civil war led to the overthrow of the British monarchy from 1649 to 1660, along with the execution of King Charles I.
This revolution was led by Oliver Cromwell, one of the most famous figures in British history.
So there you have it. It may be tenuous, but we are undoubtedly linked to the overthrow of the British monarchy in 1649.
Six degrees of separation and all that.
Born and Bred
Here at Topics, we love patriotic Novocastrians. They don’t come much more patriotic than Johnny McLean, managing director of Lusty Industries.
Johnny created a top-notch gearbag called the PashaBulka.
He also created the De’Luge gearbag – which was named after a mountain bike track at Glenrock State Conservation Area.
“Obviously the Pasha Bulker is pretty synonymous with this area,” Johnny said, adding that “we ride the DeLuge every other day”.
The idea was to pay homage to Newcastle.
The gearbags carry the OGIO brand, which is big in motorcycle and bicycle circles.
Lusty Industries, which is based at Wickham, distributes OGIO bags.
“I worked [on the bags] with OGIO, which is a US company,” Johnny said.
“I wanted to put my own spin on it.”
So why did he give the bags Newcastle-inspired names?
“Because we’ve got the best city in the world,” Johnny said.
“Having that Newcastle attachment to a global brand is pretty cool.”
The bags cost $369 each.
“These bags are the most premium, expensive bags,” he said.
Asked where his company’s office was, the born and bred Novocastrian said “two doors down from The Lass”.
Can you get much more Novocastrian than that?
Topics reckons it wouldn’t be out of place in Novocastrian culture to describe every place in Newcastle by its distance to the nearest watering hole.
