A different sort of TR this week
We had a day out in Newcastle on Saturday. The weather was forecast to be really wet and windy in the Lakes but dry further east. Beefy had never seen the bridges or Quayside in Newcastle so we thought this was an ideal opportunity to go and see them. We wanted to try out our new cameras without them getting wet. We have both bought a Sony DSC HX60, Beefy has the one with GPS.
We got the 685 bus to Eldon Square and first up was a hunt for a new camera case for our cameras. We didn't really see what we wanted. We went into Fenwick’s a department store on Northumberland Street, they didn’t have any camera cases but I couldn’t resist looking in the kitchen department. Beefy loved all the gadgets and he got an onion chopper and I got some measuring spoons. We had a coffee before heading to Grey Street and I became a tourist in my own City.
The Theatre Royal on Grey Street
Grey's Monument. His government saw the abolition of slavery and he is also associated with Earl Grey tea.
This is written on the plaque on Grey’s Monument.
THIS COLUMN WAS ERECTED IN 1838
TO COMMEMORATE
THE SERVICES RENDERED TO HIS COUNTRY BY
CHARLES EARL GREY K.G.
WHO, DURING AN ACTIVE POLITICAL CAREER OF
NEARLY HALF A CENTURY
WAS THE CONSTANT ADVOCATE OF PEACE
AND THE FEARLESS AND CONSISTENT CHAMPION OF
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
HE FIRST DIRECTED HIS EFFORTS TO THE AMENDMENT
OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE IN 1792,
AND WAS THE MINISTER
BY WHOSE ADVICE, AND UNDER WHOSE GUIDANCE,
THE GREAT MEASURE OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
WAS AFTER AN ARDUOUS AND PROTRACTED STRUGGLE
SAFELY AND TRIUMPHANTLY ACHIEVED
IN THE YEAR 1832.
It was very cold and windy in Newcastle but at least it was dry. We went down Grey Street to the quayside.
First glimpse of The Tyne Bridge
Some 16th and 17th century buildings on Sandhill including Bessie Surtees House on the left
We don't often take photos in cities and one thing we noticed was all the signs, lamp posts and traffic lights in the way. Landscape photography is much easier.
We got onto the quayside and the wind was even colder next to the river.
The Millenium Bridge and The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on the right
The Sage Gateshead, a live music venue
The Tyne Bridge, Swing Bridge, High Level Bridge, Queen Elizabeth Bridge
We walked over the Millenium bridge, both of us for the first time, over to the Gateshead side.
The Baltic, the old flour mill building
The Millenium Bridge from the Gateshead side near the Baltic
We returned to the Newcastle side over the bridge again.
Beefy with the Millenium Bridge behind
The Tyne Bridge from the Castle Keep
The Castle Keep
We had our lunch in The Mile Castle a Wetherspoons pub. I’ve had lunch in here a few times and the food has always been surprisingly good. We were out of luck on Saturday. Our baked potatoes and veggie chilli were cooked when it came but a bit cold. They needed a bit longer in the microwave
We walked back toward Grey’s Monument.
A poster underneath Grey's Monument. Rather apt, Charles Grey was an advocate of peace
There was a huge police presence in the City Centre and we saw an English flag being bandied about near Grey Street. We assumed it was a march by the morons from the English Defence League.
The new City Library
Newcastle these days is a city of contrasts with the very modern buildings along side the old. I don’t recognise most of the new buildings. They were built after I left to live in Cumbria and it is a bit of a surprise not knowing where you are at times in the place you once lived for forty years.
A familiar 'old' sight. The Northern Goldsmiths Clock on the corner of Blackett Street
We went into Cotswold Outdoors on the way back to the bus station in Eldon Square not expecting to find a camera case but I did and I bought an Osprey one, exactly what I wanted
I’m not sure how many miles we walked but were on our feet for four of the five hours we were in Newcastle. We’d had a great day out avoiding awful weather in the Lakes. The Helvelyn fell top assessor had recorded 53.7mph winds on Whiteside on Saturday. Newcastle was a nice change but we wouldn’t want to make a habit of city sight seeing. Too many people about
First impressions of our new cameras are good ones. Beefy has bought the timelapse app (of course) so expect some timelapses from his new camera over the next few weeks. Next weekend I am going to take the same photos with my old Sony and new one so I can see the difference between them
