retiredmartin

July 2026. Newcastle.

A night out in Tyne & Wear, always a joy, but one where it’s easy to overdo it very quickly.

With 3 hours till my £33 return back to Sheffield, I left the Posada till next time,

saved the museums for a rainy day,

and set off west along the Tyne,

pausing only briefly for three (3) espressos and Millionaire’s shortbread and ice cream at Spoon’s mediterraneanesque Quayside diner.

This lovely spot under the High Level bridge is as busy as it gets,

and within 10 minutes it’s quiet on the Hadrian’s Wall Path, just joggers and seagulls.

And an abandoned football. You’d need a very poor penalty kick for a ball to exit St James Park.

There’s a lot of nothing for the next mile west, with Utilita Arena, a Helipad and endless industrial park your only company.

Perhaps the definitive guide to Benwell and Elwick was produced by this author on an inauspicious night five years ago.

Look at this gap between pubs (black Ps) on the CAMRA pub site.

That “P” on the left of the map as you head to the A1(M) is a keg Greene King Flaming Grill.

But where’s the record of all the long-closed pubs on that vast stretch into town ? Perhaps it’s wise that Newcastle CAMRA focuses on the living, not the dread.