Fiddle - Gateshead, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 57.980 W 001° 36.280
30U E 589328 N 6091936
This large than life stone fiddle was erected as a memorial to the famous fiddle player James Hill who lived near here for most of his life.
Waymark Code: WMNKB9
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/28/2015
Views: 5
The fiddle stands next to the wall of the Tyne Bridge that crosses the River Tyne and conects Gateshead with Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
Hill's most famous tune, the High Level Hornpipe was inspired by The earlier combined railroad and road bridge that was built in 1849 is visible from this location.
Much of this area known as Bottle Bank where Hill lived were demolished during the later Tyne Bridge's construction.. The monument consists of the stone fiddle, a stone bench, inscribed with some of the names of his tunes and a bronze plaque set into the pavement. The sandstone used to carve the fiddle and bench came from the same quarry used in the building of the Tyne Bridge.
link
The sculptor was Peter Coates and it was erected in 2006. The Bronze plaque unfortunately gets covered with dirt and leaves and is hard to read but has the following inscription.
James Hill
of
Bottle Bank
world renowned
fiddle player and composer of tunes.
The finest exponent of
the Newcastle hornpipe style.
Most active 1842-1852.