FIVE BRIDGES (OR IS IT SEVEN ?)

31st May 2023.

Firstly, an apology to reader Mr John Watson, who has sent me a stern Paddington stare, the equivalent of a 90 day Parliamentary ban by the Privileges Committee,

I’d written “The in-laws had always wanted to visit Beamish, the living history museum just outside Newcastle“, when of course Beamish is very much part of County Durham, and should really have said “just outside the old Phileas Fogg factory in Consett“. Hope that clears up that misuderstanding.

The in-laws really enjoyed their night in the Toon, though it was a shame there wasn’t a classical concert on at the SAGE, so we just had to admire it from the banks of the Tyne.

It bears repeating; Newcastle is a gorgeous city which still surprises on the 20th or 50th visit.

MIL* loved the bridges and credit to both octogenarians for getting in a full 10k of fairly steep steps around town, showing true grit in climbing to the High Level bridge,

where they were rewarded with world class grime views.

I’ve long been confused by the number of bridges, perhaps because I own a copy of this classic piece of 1969 pretentiousness;

But even a six fingered Fen boy like me can count the seven crossings over the Tyne shown here.

Being a modernist, the Millennium one is still my favourite,

even if I’ve never actually seen it “blink”.

Next up : Queueing in Spoons. Read the Tand first here.

*Please look on MumsNet for the acronyms.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

10 thoughts on “FIVE BRIDGES (OR IS IT SEVEN ?)”

  1. You are probably not going to believe this Martin, but the title of the Nice’s penultimate album was the first thing that sprang to mind, when I saw the title of this post.

    Clicking on, and then reading the article, confirmed my hunch, although I didn’t have you down as a Keith Emerson fan! The album cover photo, seemed very futuristic at the time, and somewhere in my pile of soon to auctioned off vinyl, I have a copy of Keith, Lee and Brian’s “finest moment.”

    As for the seven bridges conundrum, the Millennium Bridge wouldn’t have existed when the album was recorded, and I imagine another bridge (not sure which one, but would guess the QE2), might also be recent addition.

    Finally, special thanks for the list of MumsNet acronyms. TBH, my life feels complete now that I know what SPD stands for, although as a male (if I’m allowed to use that adjective these days), I’m extremely unlikely to suffer from the condition!

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    1. In 1989 I bought the record collection of a chap who lived (in every sense) the late ’60s and early ’70s, a scruffy set of LPs covered in writing and dubious smells but opened up a world of discovery for me !

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      2. So am I !

        Mrs RM sold about a thousand LPs in the mid 2000s. It was the albums issued during the (assumed) death throes of vinyl that made £30-50; the 70s stuff is ten a penny!

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  2. The other new crossing was indeed the QE2 which opened in 1981 and carries the Tyne & Wear Metro. If you’re quick (and board early enough in the journey), you can get the front seat next to the driver’s cabin for the best view. However, they have new trains on order which may not include this feature.

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  3. Seven bridges? Are you getting mixed up with Königsburg? Euler could have solved that Problem by simply a proper understanding of language rather than all those maths…

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