Oot on the toon - Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Newcastle Upon Tyne has contributed to the good of the world in many ways. It gave us Newcastle Brown Ale, Sid the Sexist, Ant & Dec, Gazza, the Geordie language and of course the warm friendly Geordies themselves. Anya and I lived in Newcastle through most of 2011 and quickly fell in love with everything the city offers and it felt like home. This past weekend, we have just been back to visit this glorious city one last time and to say goodbye to some very good friends. During 2011, we lived on the Quayside, overlooking the infamous river Tyne. The Quayside was once the commercial hub of the city where coal was transported from the many mines in the surrounding area to the quayside and shipped around different parts of the UK. The Quayside has been transformed in the past two decades, being regenerated from old factories and mills to one of the grandest quayside’s in the UK (In my opinion). You will now find bars, restaurants, hotels, riverside apartments, and a great Sunday market located on both sides of the river. Structures like The Sage, The Baltic centre and the Millennium bridge have changed the skyline around the Quayside forever. The Sage is a musical education centre for performances and conferences, opened in 2004. Its unique design of curved glass is recognisable the city over and it now sits firmly as part of the Quayside skyline. The Baltic Centre for contemporary Art located next to the Sage opened in 2002. Formerly a flour mill, it is now the world’s largest gallery of its kind and alongside the Sage represents a symbolic showpiece and represents the investment made into the regeneration of the Gateshead side of the Quayside. Entry is free and it has a fantastic observation deck overlooking the Quayside and the city. On the top floor is a fantastic restaurant called ‘Six’, serving awesome food. This is where I famously showed off my culinary prowess by asking the waitress what kind of gravy accompanied my meal, to which she replied ‘It’s not gravy, its Jus’……’Chips n Jus’ for me next time. The Millennium Bridge opened in 2001, connecting Newcastle and Gateshead as a pedestrian footbridge. It was designed to rotate to allow ships to pass under, making it the world’s first tilting bridge and also giving it the nickname ‘The winking eye bridge’. There are 7 bridges in total crossing the Tyne, the most famous being the Tyne bridge itself. Built in 1928, it's iconic design was inspired by the design of the Sydney harbour bridge. Shame they couldn't bring the gleaming sunshine from Oz too. Newcastle's nightlife is legendary, famous for it's women who wear 'nowt' when 'oot on the tap'. (Translated as wearing nothing when out drinking). The Bigg market can trace it's market trading days back to the 12th century and gets it's name from a type of barley that was sold there. Today, at the weekend, it is the Main Street where the debauchery behaviour occurs. Walk down here at 2am and first you will understand why it's often referred to as the 'Pig market' and second you'll be glad you avoided it on your night out as you dodge the trails of urine and vomit running down the street or the couple shagging in the shop doorway or the fight kicking off between two stag do's. It is Saturday night carnage at it's best. Away from the Bigg Market, you can find some very cool bars scattered around the city. For anyone heading there check out these bars-Tokyo, Popollo, Alvinos, Barluga, As you like it. One of our favourite areas to go out is Ouseburn, which is walkable from the Quayside, just east of the centre. The pubs here are old traditional venues and a good place to find live music. Places such as The Cluny, Cumberland Arms, Free Trade Inn and The Tyne bar all serve real ale and have live music and all being close to each other, make for a good pub crawl away from the madness of the centre. Newcastle has a long history too. It was once a Roman settlement and the Emperor Hadrien was the first to build a bridge across the river Tyne in the early 2nd century. Hadrien also built the famous Hadriens wall across England, a wall that stretched across to modern day Newcastle. The Romans built a fort in Newcastle and the settlement was known as Pons Aelius. Newcastle gets it's modern name from the Norman era, from William the Conquerors eldest son, Robert Curthose, who built a 'New Castle' directly on the site of an old Roman fort named Pons Aelius. The catchy name obviously stuck (just as well he didn't name it after himself-Bobscastle United doesn't quite have the same ring). A city then developed around this new castle and the rest as they say is history. So, it's 'seeya gan canney' (goodbye) to Newcastle. This weekend has been a joy to be back in what we would call our second home. Even this weekend we were introduced to some new faces who shared the incredibly friendly Geordie hospitality. We managed to avoid the Bigg market last night so with teeth still in tact, we are heading south on the East Coast mainline one last time.