retiredmartin

July 2026. Newton Aycliffe. Durham.

I was staying overnight in a grim car park in Darlington as I didn’t fancy paying the outrageous hotel prices that kick in during the English summer.

That £1,492 a night wellness retreat is walking distance from my next pub in Newton Aycliffe. To be fair, you do get a hot tub.

A 15 minute trip on the Bishop line, along the route of the first ever railway (possibly).

What’s your favourite New Town* from the first post-war cohort ?

I’d guess only 2% of the population have a clue where and what Newton Aycliffe is. One previous visit, when the Turbinia had a brief stay in the Guide, and I can’t remember if I actually visited the town centre.

I had to ask ChatGPT where the highlights were. In most towns you just search for the Wetherspoons, something that Peterlee has but Aycliffe (pop. 26,415) sorely lacks.

The BIG pub seems to be the BIG Club,

the centre of town entertainment.

Dunno about Steve, but I sense I want to see Disco Heads more than you do.

There’s a few vacant shops, but at least they’re decorated with old photos from a time when folk wore ties and drank Bass.

It’s very easy to make the new towns look unexciting,

and incredibly quiet on a Saturday afternoon (they’re all at a wellness retreat),

and it’s not a town overflowing with dining options, though Elachi has good reviews.

So let me say, the town is neat and well-tended, in contrast to the rubbish-strewn streets of Keighley.

And it’s a town that provided housing just when the country needed it, as well as a giant industrial complex that dominates the map.

And it’s to that vast industrial estate we head now.

*_{I’m joking. The only answer is Corby.}