Geordie In Wonderland

Everybody has special feelings for the place they come from. Newcastle upon Tyne in my case. And for me, this has been increased due to the fact that I live elsewhere at the moment.

It may not be the biggest city in England, but it has everything to offer that other cities do, without the problems of congestion and overcrowding that London certainly specialises in. It is also within touching distance of some of the most picturesque parts of England, with the Northumberland coast and National Park within easy reach.

Newcastle speciality though is pubs…and lots of them! And the smaller size of the city means that most bars in the central area are within staggering distance of each other...a definite plus! The thing which dominates the minds of many of the locals though, is the city’s football team, who’s home towers over the city.

This journal will hopefully provide useful information and ideas for anyone visiting Newcastle for the first time, whether its just passing through, or a longer stay. It truly is a great city, with special people, who are generally accepted as being amongst the friendliest in the country.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting about in Newcastle is extremely easy. As mentioned above, most places in the city centre are all within walking distance of each other, although beware of the steep hill to/from the quayside. For getting slightly further afield, the Metro system is excellent, and very easy to use. This can get you to and from the airport, or out to the coast. There are buses aplenty too, although for getting to some of the more remote (and therefore nicer) parts of Northumberland, it would probably be preferable to hire a car.

The most famous view of Newcastle is that of its bridges (although the "Angel of the North" statue on the A1 road might dispute that nowadays). The best known of all the bridges is the Tyne Bridge, with its distinctive arch shape. The observant amongst you might think that this sounds rather similar to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and you would be absolutely spot on. Not only are they of extremely similar design, but the Tyne Bridge was actually built as a prototype for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and both bridges were built by the same people, which was a company from Middlesbrough, not far south of Newcastle. The Tyne Bridge is somewhat smaller than the Sydney equivalent of course, what with the River Tyne being rather narrower than Sydney Harbour! At night time, the bridge is illuminated, so that the bridge, and its reflection in the river, both look dazzling.

The River Tyne’s newest bridge is the Gateshead Millenium Bridge, which is a spectacular modern design, and unlike its London equivalent, it is perfectly safe for the public to use! It is a footbridge in the shape of an eyelid…at least that’s the closest description I can think of. The eyelid opens up in order to let boats through if they are a bit too tall to fit underneath. There is also a Swing Bridge which is at a very low level, which not surprisingly given its name, swings open to let boats through if necessary.

The whole Quayside area near these bridges has been the beneficiary of much urban regeneration in recent years, after the area fell into decay. Its former prime was when the shipbuilding and coal mining industries were strong, and the quayside was a hive of activity. These days it is somewhat more salubrious, and is home to luxury flats and apartments, and swanky bars and restaurants...how times have changed!

Every few years the Quayside has also been home to part of the Tall Ships Race, when many old style sailing ships are moored on the river, giving the quayside a historical feel, and a glimpse of what it used to be like, with tall ships everywhere.

Newcastle was funnily enough named after a castle, however there is nothing new about it any more. I think the city itself is something in the region of 900 years old, and therefore presumably so is the castle! It is built on the sight of an old roman fort, and was essentially the place from which the city grew and radiated out from. The castle was an important stronghold in the defences against the Scots, which was a regular requirement in medieval times.

The castle is up the hill from the Quayside in what must have been a fairly dominating position in its day, but what now is surrounded by many other buildings. It is adjacent to Newcastle Cathedral, which is distinctive with its lantern shaped spire.

The castle is obviously a bit of a ruin these days, but some of the walls are still standing, and the Keep is still there. There are also remains of the old city walls which can be seen near Stowell Street, which is nowadays Newcastle’s chinatown!

This part of the world also signifies the limit to which the Roman Empire reached. The Roman Wall, or Hadrian’s Wall named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian, stretches from Newcastle in the east of England, across to the west coast. The place where the wall ends in Newcastle is appropriately enough called Wallsend. The Roman Army were unsuccessful in their attempts to win victory over the Caledonians from north of where Newcastle now is. So Emperor Hadrian decided to consolidate the hold on those parts of Britain which the Romans did have, and so he ordered the construction of a great defensive wall which marked the northern limit of the Roman Empire. The wall was built sometime during the 2nd century AD.

The wall did not act as a border between England and Scotland, since it was still a few centuries before either of those races would inhabit Britain. It was more a barrier between the Romans and what they called the "Barbarians". Today it is some way south of the border with Scotland, with most of the English County of Northumberland being to the north of the wall.

There are several places where it is good to visit the wall, for instance at Housesteads or Vindolanda. Not only is it possible to see , and in fact climb on and walk along much of the wall, there are also many Roman ruins at these sights of Roman buildings and bathhouses and such like. There are also museums at these sights to give a rather more informed view than I am able to give, but they are thoroughly recommended for those with a sense of history.

There is one other sign in this region that the Romans had been here, and that is in the fact that several of the roads in the area were built on old Roman roads, and therefore they are dead straight, no matter what hills are in the way…these roads are always great fun to drive along!

Newcastle has so many pubs and bars all within such a relatively small area, and that is what makes it such a good place for a night out on the lash. In the centre of the city, there are several areas where your drinking can be done, but all are within easy reach of each other, so you’ll never be limiting your options.

The Haymarket area is located around the main shopping street Northumberland St. My favourite bar in this area would be the Pacific Café, in which I prefer to get a table upstairs, where you can enjoy table service (downstairs in more like an ordinary bar), but with the added benefit of the fact that you summon the waitress by pushing a button in the middle of your table, and hey presto…along comes the waitress to take your order…lovely!

The Bigg Market is situated towards the river from the Haymarket, just off Grey Street. This is where the younger crowd are most likely to be heading, and the Bigg Market has a bit of a reputation for a bit of the rough stuff every now and then. However, generally when I’ve been there it is only those that are actively looking for trouble, that manage to find it.

The Quayside is where I prefer to go out in Newcastle for a couple of reasons. Personally, I prefer the bars that are down on the Quayside, and also, especially in summer, it is quite pleasant to be drinking by the river and seeing all the bridges lit up. There are so many bars down in this area, but a few of my favourites include The Waterfront, Offshore (decked out like an old sailing ship, complete with rigging), Quilted Camel, Quayside Bar, Vodka Revolution…and many more!

Just across the river on the Gateshead side, crossing over on the Swing Bridge, is the Baja Beach Club, which is a nightclub with, unsurprisingly enough, a beach club theme. All the staff are in beach wear, which certainly encourages you to keep going back to the bar quite often!

Wherever you end up, and wherever you go, there will always be plenty of options for a good night out in Newcastle, so just get into the spirit of it, and you’ll have a great time. One last thing though…be sure not to wear too much if you don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb. You will undoubtedly notice that the locals wear as little as possible, even during the cold winter months…its always warm and crowded in the pubs you see…a coat would just be a nuisance! And once you’ve got a couple of drinks down you, you won’t be feeling the cold when wandering from one pub to the next.

If you’re visiting Newcastle at any time other than June or July, then you are here during the football season, and that gives you the perfect opportunity to sample what really gets the locals going. Spend any time in Newcastle, and you will undoubtedly notice several people wearing identical black & white striped shirts, but on a match day, these shirts will be everywhere as fans make their way to St James’ Park, the towering stadium located virtually in the city centre.

It is not easy to get tickets for matches these days. But for any sports fans it would certainly be worth trying, as it would give you the chance to be part of one of the biggest, and most passionate, football crowds in England. It would also give you the chance to see a match in one of the top leagues in the Europe. If you’re lucky enough to see a match against one of the other top teams, or against one of our local rivals, then you are certain to get an electric atmosphere, and more than a hint of tension!

Match day rituals for many fans begin with a few pints in one of the many city centre pubs, just to get in the right mood for the match ahead! The pubs near the stadium are usually overflowing prior to a match, with people spilling out onto the streets, but the atmosphere is generally friendly enough.

The short walk to the stadium is simply a case of following everybody else, and you can’t possibly go the wrong way! For any visitors who really want to enter into the spirit of the occasion, there is a club shop at the stadium so you can buy your own black & white shirt, and then you’ll nicely blend in with the locals. Once inside the stadium, you should get an excellent view from wherever you are sitting, although if you’re sat in the very top tier it would be best not to forget your glasses if you’re short sighted! It will be very easy to spot which part of the stadium is occupied by the away fans…they’ll be the ones not wearing black & white!

Once the game is underway, feel free to hurl abuse at either the referee, or any opposition players, as this is undoubtedly what those sat around you will also be doing. Expect to be getting out of your seat regularly whenever the ball gets near to goal, as people try to get a better view, and also prepare to celebrate just incase it is a goal!

After the match, the tendency is to again head for one of the many watering holes, and assess what has just happened, or just to celebrate another win for the mighty magpies!

For those unable to get to a game, there is always the club museum and stadium tour which you could do to let you know what you’re missing out on!

Newcastle has an abundance of shopping possibilities, with Northumberland Street and the Eldon Square shopping centre , and across the river in Gateshead is the Metro Centre.

When it was built about 15 years ago or so, it was the largest out-of-town shopping centre in the UK. It is very much an American style mall, but also includes things such as a cinema, bowling alleys, Metroland funfair, and various themed areas within the mall, such as a Mediterranean village, a Roman Forum, and an Olde England style area. There are also many bars and restaurants in and around the Metro Centre, so it really does provide everything you might conceivably want.

Believe it or not, the Metro Centre attracts shoppers from far and wide. You even hear of groups of people from Norway chartering a boat to bring them over, just to load up with lots of shopping from the Metro Centre…strange but true!

Northumberland, the county directly to the north of Newcastle, is one of the largest, and most sparsely populated counties in England. It is also home to many wonderful sights and places of interest. Much of Northumberland is actually a National Park, and there are many places to visit.

There are numerous castles in Northumberland, left over from the days of almost constant wars between England and Scotland. Northumberland being on the border with Scotland tended to get mixed up in these many skirmishes rather often! One of the best situated of these has to be Bamburgh Castle which is right on the coast, practically on the beach. A short walk along that beach will bring you to the picturesque village of Craster. Two other well known and scenic castles can be found at Warkworth and Alnwick.

Along the coastline there are also many places of interest. Such as Lindisfarne, or Holy Island as it is often known. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway, so it is possible to cross by road or by foot when the tide is out, but be sure to check when the tides are in case you end up stranded on the island rather longer than you had planned. Or worse still, stranded half way across when the tide gets that bit too high! I recall seeing a car ploughing through the water and just about making it across before the water got too deep, but incase you don’t make it, there is a hut on tall stilts in the middle of the causeway to provide somewhere for anyone foolish enough to get caught half way across! On Lindisfarne, there is a castle and an abbey, and plenty of quaint English village type places to see, or you could go for an energetic wander in the sand dunes, if you have the energy.

There is also another group of islands called the Farne Island, which can be reached by small ferry boat from the vilage of Seahouses. The Farne Islands claim to fame is the fact that they are inhabited by Puffins, which is a sight you don’t see too often around here! My recollection of Seahouses is that it smells of fish and chips, though not always of the cooked variety of fish, as it is clearly also a fishing village as well as a route to the Farne Islands. The boat ride itself was extremely choppy as I recall, so be prepared to get a little bit wet.

There is much more to Northumberland that I haven’t mentioned, but much of it can simply be found by exploring, and discovering places yourself.