On Thursday May 11th a special ceremony was held at the Guild Hall in Newcastle to unveil the latest four plaques of NewcastleGateshead’s “Walk of Fame”, as nominated by local people – as they voted for who they felt has made a significant contribution to the region over the past sixty-years.
The four recipients are:
• TIM HEALY. Actor from Benwell best known for Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Benidorm. Co-founded the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund.
• JOHN GRUNDY. Television presenter and author specialising in north east history. Chairman of Friends of Beamish.
• BRIAN JOHNSON. Singer and songwriter. Best known for his work with Geordie and AC/DC. Member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• MIKE NEVILLE, MBE. North East television presenter, known for his work for both the BBC and Tyne Tees Television.
(Tim and John’s plaques are located on the Newcastle side, and Brian and Mike’s are located on the Gateshead side of the NewcastleGateshead Quayside).
Speaking at the event was The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor Hazel Stephenson, Mayor of Gateshead, Councillor Allison Ilderton-Thompson and Sarah Stewart, Chief Executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative.
Tim Healy, John Grundy and Mike Neville MBE were all in attendance but unfortunately Brian Johnson sent his apologises; and in his place were daughters Joanne and Kala and grandson Edwin. All recipients were joined by friends and family.
The four names have been added to the existing list of 29 bronze plaques that currently make up the “NewcastleGateshead Local Heroes” collection along NewcastleGateshead’s iconic Quayside Mile. The route goes from Baltic Square to the Swing Bridge, across the River Tyne, to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (on the Newcastle side of the water).
You can click the following link to see what other names make up the Local Heroes list www.newcastlegateshead.com/
The nominations were open for one-month and in that time the panel received a diverse list of names from the world of sports, business, medicine and entertainment. Nearly fifty individual nominations were made – totalling almost 400 votes between them.