LONDON, June 23 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition capturing the spirit of northern England opened this week in Newcastle-on-Tyne as part of the government-backed Great Exhibition of the North.

Cultural agency Historic England and acclaimed photographer John Kippin have co-operated to create the "Spirit of the North" that gets to the heart of "northernness".

Images in the exhibition capture iconic historic places from Durham Cathedral and Flamborough Lighthouse, to Salford Lads Club and the Liverpool Docks, and gets to the heart of "northernness" itself.

One of the places to be featured is the famous Casbah Club in a Liverpool suburb, created in the basement of a private house, where the then teen John Lennon's group, the Quarrymen, played before the birth of the Beatles. Lennon and his group members helped paint the walls with spiders, dragons and rainbows. The club is now officially a listed building to preserve it.

The exhibition opens from June 22 to Sept. 9.

To celebrate the North of England's people and places, Historic England commissioned photographer Kippin to explore the "Spirit of the North" with a new series of images.

The images celebrate places that have shaped the entire world, but are still uniquely northern.