As a young man, the great engineer had unsuccessful applied for the post of engineer on England's first coast-to-coast railway, the Newcastle-Carlisle line. He then came north in November 1831 to apply for the job of constructing the Monkwearmouth Docks. He arrived in Newcastle at 4.40 a.m. on the 15th and slept at the Queen's Head. He sat up with the dock committee next day 'smoking etc.' He describes them as 'shrewd clever fellows - but a rum set.'
Brunel pursued his architectural and engineering interests wherever he might be. He stayed in Newcastle until 2 December, visiting Durham cathedral and the Scotswood suspension bridge, making detailed sketches. He then went to Stockton, where he walked to inspect the bridge which carried the Stockton-Darlington railway over the Tees. he was not impressed and his diary shows the floor of the bridge deflected 12 inches by the weight of two coal-wagons. In 1844, the Stephensons had to replace it with a cast-iron structure. Brunel also visited Hartlepool and wrote: 'A curiously isolated old fishing town - a remarkably fine race of men. Went to the top of the church tower for a view.' Brunel's later involvement with the proposed Newcastle-Edinburgh railway is dealt with in the entry for George Stephenson (q.v.)
Brunel's design for the High Level bridge at Newcastle was rejected.