Cake Trails: Newcastle's Workers, Witches, and Rebels

Grab your slice of history! In this expert-led tour, explore the lives of some of Newcastle's most fascinating historic women, with castle tickets and complimentary tea/coffee + cake included.

City Women and their Stories

Join our expert led walk through the lives of the Toon's fascinating historical women, from resplendent royals to victims of the seventeenth-century witch trials which took place there. On this journey around the city's outstanding historic sites, including Newcastle Castle and Newcastle Cathedral, step back in time to experience the social, political, and cultural forces that shaped women's work, belief, and place in society. We encounter women displaying their power as empresses and Queens, challenging legal inequality as leaders in Newcastle's medieval marketplaces, and enduring public shaming and execution for subverting social norms as religious rebels and accused witches. This deep dive  offers a unique and unmissable look at the remarkable stories of female endurance and struggle.

Cake Trails

Step into history with our trained archaeologists and historians this summer, as they guide you through the region’s most fascinating historic sites, events, and people on our new series of walking tours, from ruthless royals to the women persecuted as witches in the chaos of the English Civil War.

Let them eat cake!

With a limited number of tickets are available available per tour, and complimentary cake and a hot beverage at a local tearoom with your guide concluding each two-hour walk, this is a fantastic event for those wanting to discover history within a more informal, conversational atmosphere.

Booking Information & FAQs

Tour Start: Tours start at 11.30am and finish at approximately 2.00pm, before moving to a nearby tearoom.

Meeting Point: Your guide will meet you in front of Central Station, with more information provided in advance of the tour.

Duration: The tour is approximately 2 1/2 hours in length followed by cake and a hot beverage.

Inclusions: Access to key sites for each tour, such as Newcastle Castle, and tearoom refreshments are included in the ticket price. 

Access: The tour covers a diverse set of urban terrains and may prove somewhat challenging for wheelchair users. Additionally, some historic sites are only partially wheelchair accessible.

Refund Policy: Due to the nature of the tour, 100% refunds of the ticket price will be given for bookings cancelled 7 or more days before the event. 50% refunds will be given for bookings cancellations made more than 2 days and less than 7 days before the event.

About Iles Tours

Iles Tours is a five-star historic tour group specialising in small-group, guided visits to historic sites in the North East of England and Southern Scotland. Founded by archaeologist and historian Alex Iles, our guides are experts in their fields with formal training in historical and archaeological research, and our tours are consistently rated five-stars on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews. For more, see ilestours.co.uk.