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… Continue reading FIVE BRIDGES (OR IS IT SEVEN ?)
Tag: Tyne & Wear
HIT THE TOON
31 May 2023. The in-laws had really wanted to visit Newcastle (in FIL’s* case, for the first time since before The House of the Rising Sun was No. 1) on their visit to Sheffield. It did at least take a couple of days out of their ten (10) day visit, and I needed five ticks… Continue reading HIT THE TOON
WASHINGTON – THE REAL ONE
May 2023. By an extraordinary stroke of luck, our quickest route from Beamish to the hotel on the banks of the Tyne took us close to a new GBG tick. Close enough, anyway, and my four passengers squeezed into a car suited for three were happy to get out for 20 minutes for a beer,… Continue reading WASHINGTON – THE REAL ONE
WHITBURN WINNERS
I first came to Sunderland in Easter 1997. Petrol in Roker was 59.9p a litre, the match with Charlton a sell-out as the move to a new stadium loomed, denying me a vital tick on the way to The 92. It was a year before I made it back to the Stadium of Light. Petrol… Continue reading WHITBURN WINNERS
FULWELL (NEARING THE) END
Suddenly I was within two (2) ticks of completing Tyne & Wear GBG, and all that was needed was an hour on the metro to north Sunderland and then another hour slog in the biting cold along the coast. See, it’s easy. The hardest part was finding a loo at Monument before I jumped on… Continue reading FULWELL (NEARING THE) END
BYKER TREASURE TROVE
From the Heaton Tap I walked the couple of miles down through Byker to the Tyne for my (checks spreadsheet) 69th Newcastle Brewery Tap. Coincidentally, ’69 was the last time Newcastle United won a trophy. Byker itself, between the metro and the river, is a sharp contrast to the pashmina enclave of the Ouseburn valley… Continue reading BYKER TREASURE TROVE
METRO MAN MAKES IT TO MONKSEATON
Durham in the bag, I reached base camp at 13:30. The Premier Inn just south of Newcastle Airport is your perfect £40 location from which to mop up Tyne & Wear AND that irritating Northumberland straggler a mile over the border in Ponteland. £5.40 for a Metro all-day ticket which will take you from airport… Continue reading METRO MAN MAKES IT TO MONKSEATON
A PERSIAN BREAKFAST AT THE MOULIN ROUGE
Sunday morning in Newcastle. Just time for a local breakfast and then head home to Sheffield, a phrase which still doesn’t quite seem real. The west side along the A186 to Benwell has a touch of Hagley Road or Salford Crescent or ihe Wicker about it; lively, historic, good for lunch and bad for pubs.… Continue reading A PERSIAN BREAKFAST AT THE MOULIN ROUGE
WHITLEY BAY – CHIMPS, CHEEK, CHIPS
Where were we last Saturday ? Oh yes, on the beach at Whitley Bay. Made you a video. Now it was time for my penultimate tick for Tyne & Wear. I was expecting the Split Chimp, wayward cousin of the original Chimp near Newcastle Station, to be quite smart; outside a Champagne bar, next to… Continue reading WHITLEY BAY – CHIMPS, CHEEK, CHIPS
THE BAY
Calm down ! That’s not Mrs RM above (or me). Whitley Bay, the Margate of the North ? Or the new Folkestone ? It’s gone all posh, hasn’t it ? Ever since Mrs RM and I came here 15 years ago, admired the beach and mispronounced Tynmouth, it’s seen an influx of young people with… Continue reading THE BAY
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