North Shields 800: Conrad Milne Unveils New Artwork Celebrating 800 Years

Last night local artist Conrad Milne welcomed an enthusiastic audience at the Three Tanners Bank to preview his impressive new artwork, ‘North Shields 800 years in the Making’. He was joined by others who have made significant contributions to the piece: photographer Hazel Plater, poet Dean Jolly and author and genealogist David Scholey. 

Meet the Artist: Conrad Milne, North Shields Visionary

Marking the 800th anniversary of North Shields, Conrad has intricately crafted seven large-scale panels that lay out the town’s history in a visually striking style. The digital composites, printed on aluminium, have multiple layers of images and words, blended to form a vivid, almost tapestry-like representation of the story of North Shields. Unlike another famous tapestry, the panels do not tell a chronological tale but reassemble it and allow it to flow out organically from a mid panel which has The Pow Burn as its central stem. Conrad explained that the Pow Burn was the natural starting point for the panels, the burn being vital to the town becoming established as a safe harbour back in the 13th century. From that mid-point, the history radiates outwards, hundreds of moments in time captured over each panel. 

Collaboration and Craftsmanship Behind the Artwork 

Conrad has incorporated vintage photographs of buildings, shops, pubs and theatre with his own modern photographs and a series of inspired contemporary images by collaborator, Hazel Plater. There are significant words and numbers and even poetry: Dean Jolly’s stunning poem about our mining and fishing heritage, Our Harvest is from the Deep, is integrated across the panels. Then there are maps, charts, diagrams and mythology…so much detail…each section thoughtfully added following months of in-depth research and careful evaluation. The history he has represented spans from evidence of a circular henge in the vicinity of Beach Road and a reference to the Votadini Tribe who most likely dominated the area, right up to the RNLI Harbour Day celebrations only three months ago. 

Though each of the panels has no particular theme, a deliberate choice by the artist, the images are far from random or scattered and artfully crafted connections have been made throughout. Linked through folklore, an image of Neptune blends with an old photograph of the Black Middens and other related references, which leads geographically to the modern Molten Building. This is overlaid with a grainy image of the ‘Deed Hoose’, and so such connections spread arterially over the entire artwork. 

North Shields History Reimagined

Conrad hopes when people view the panels, it will trigger memories, start conversations, educate. Some people might have a personal connection to an image – a black and white photo of my grandma’s shop in Rudyerd Street from the 1960’s is blended in one of the panels – and other people will ask questions. Why is this name mentioned? What do those numbers represent? Ultimately, he hopes it will be a lasting tribute to our town’s incredibly rich culture and layered history. 

Three Tanners Bank Exhibition & Beyond

The work, which was funded by North Shields Cultural Quarter, is to be exhibited at Three Tanners until next Wednesday, October 22nd. There is a special ‘Meet the Artist’ session this Saturday, October 18th, between 12pm and 2.30pm, when Conrad will be around to discuss his work and answer questions. The exhibition will be on display at North Shields Library from October 26th then transferred to the Beacon Centre from November 24th before finding a permanent home. 

About the Artist: Conrad Milne

Conrad Milne — known professionally as Dystopian Artist — is a North East–based visual artist whose work fuses photography, digital layering, painting, and text to explore memory, place, and transformation. His large-scale aluminium panels have become a distinctive part of the region’s contemporary art scene, weaving local stories and visual fragments into immersive, almost cinematic compositions.

A former art and photography educator, Conrad has spent decades nurturing creativity in others before focusing full-time on his own artistic practice. His collections, including Fragments and Primary Visions, reimagine the North East through layered imagery that blurs the boundaries between past and present, realism and abstraction.

You can explore more of Conrad’s work and upcoming exhibitions at:
🌐 dystopian.gallery
📸 Instagram: @dystopianartist

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