UK city of iconic TV present the place ‘a little bit of solar comes out and everybody strips bare’
Setting for fictional TV show Byker Grove, the real Byker is a lot tougher and rougher – home to the ‘UK’s worst high street’ where youths face constant exposure to drugs and violence
Byker, in Newcastle, is home to a few lively characters. The town hugs the Tyne, and has seen a changing face and fortune far more marked than the gradual erosion of the northern river’s banks. It was also the setting for the 90s TV show based around the fictional ‘Byker Grove’ youthclub.
YouTuber and documentarian Billy Moore recently made his way round the real Byker – including Shields Road, once dubbed “UK’s worst high street” – noting the area’s apparent steep decline.
A hotbed for both naval and coal industry in the 19th Century, Byker was one of numerous English towns hit by Margaret Thatcher’s mine and shipyard closures in the 80s. The mass layoffs caused by Thatcherite policies led to huge unemployment and a nose dive for living standards.
“It’s a great place to party,” says resident Melissa, speaking to Moore as he makes his way round the area. “The clubbing is great and the dining – great.”
“A little bit of sun and everyone just strips bare naked,” says host Moore, who then meets a “legend of Byker” – a bloke that dubs himself a “dirty bastard” in a toothless roar.
Another man informs Moore he’s “fresh out the clinic – the nuthouse”. Off the side of a “moody footpath” running through Byker, Moore finds “sharps, pins and cooking pots” – crystal clear evidence of drug use.
“Seems like everyone on Shields road is just hammered. Every step you take there’s someone sat down, on the ale. Litter everywhere, this is what the UK is like now these days,” says Moore.
A group of youths, far from the cheeky chappies portrayed by a young Ant and Dec on Byker Grove, then appear outside their council estate abode.
Grinning at the camera, the trio just looked like they were enjoying a bit of afternoon sun. “Nah, it’s not rough round here,” says one.
“Not rough,” replies Moore, panning round to show the council estate. “You just have to be tough to live somewhere like here.”
And tough is certainly the word for it. Teenagers in Byker face high levels of poverty, constant exposure to drug use and gang violence on their doorstep.
“There are issues as well with postcode wars. Some young people can’t go to school, because it’s in the next area, which is literally a 10 minute walk down the street,” youth worker Jennie Maughan told The Big Issue in October last year.
She added: “They’re very aware of it, because the issue of youth violence happens on the streets, on their doorstep.”
The romantic hardships faced by Ant and Dec’s characters in the TV programme don’t quite measure up to what Byker’s modern youth have to deal with – it’s all a bit more real.
