Newcastle Day 1

Saturday, 29th May 2021

This trip has been in the limbo for 2 years. It was supposed to happen in May 2020 but Coronavirus happened and life was put on hold. 

The plan is to spend 2 days in Newcastle before walking the Hadrian's Wall Path on a leisurely 8 days and ending in Glasgow for 2 days. Glasgow is a bit touch and go at the moment as they are still in Covid-19 level 3 and we may not be allowed to travel there.

On Saturday 29th May 2021 we finally set off on our trip. We are taking our big backpacks with us and we'll be carrying our stuff during the walk. We tried to pack as light as we could but they still weight roughly 10kg each!!

We cycled to Southampton airport because it takes less than 15min and parking is free. I'm glad we had breakfast at home because the cafés at the airport are still closed.

The flight to Newcastle with Loganair took 1h15min and we were there by 1pm. Newcastle airport is small and we were out in 15min.

The Metro is just outside the airport, the ride to the Central Station takes 24min and a single ticket costs £3.70. The metro is overground in it's majority with underground stations in the city centre.

We are staying in Newcastle for 2 nights and I decided that we were going to be as cheap as possible because accommodation availability is limited along the Hadrian's Wall Path which will be costing us quite a bit. In Newcastle we are staying in a hostel, Albatross Hostel. We have a small room with a bunk bed. Towels are for rent (£1/towel) and this is the only accommodation that doesn't include towels. For an amazing £35 for 2 persons for 2 nights this is, without a doubt, the cheapest accommodation I have ever seen in this country.

The hostel is in Grainger street, bang in the centre!, so very convenient for sightseeing. We dropped our bags at the hostel, had a quick lunch at Costa and headed out for some exploring.

The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas

Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Newcastle. Founded by the Normans in 1091 but destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the gothic style in 1350.

We wanted to see the inside of the Cathedral but it was closed for renovations. It has an interesting street on the back called Amen Corner.

Newcastle Castle

The ticket comprises The Black Gate and The Keep and it costs £8.75.

The Black Gate

Built between 1247-1250 by Henry III, it was the last addition to the medieval castle defences. It was the gatehouse of the barbican, a walled entrance leading to the castle's north gate. 

There is a good exhibition inside explaining the chronology of the castle and the inner castle dwellings that were built over the centuries.

The Keep

Built between 1172-1177 by Henry II to replace a motte and bailey style castle which had been built in 1080 on the site of the Roman fort Pons Aelius (meaning 'Hadrian's bridge'). Nothing remains from the previous fortifications.

The best part of the Keep are the city views from the roof.

View northwards, with the Black Gate and the Cathedral.

View southwards, with three of the river Tyne's iconic bridges visible.

View westwards, towards Newcastle Central Station.

With the arrival of the railway in the mid 19th century, a viaduct was built crossing the castle site destroying a big part of it with only the Keep and the Black Gate surviving. It is quite shocking to see how small the gap between the viaduct and the Keep is.

Down via de Castle Stairs one gets to the Quayside, Newcastle's riverside entertainment area by the river Tyne. Restaurants, bars, cafés and a very enjoyable river walk. 

We walked eastwards on the north bank until the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and then westwards on the south bank until the Swing Bridge.

Tyne Bridge

Built 1925-28, it's Newcastle's iconic symbol. It has a 161m steel arch carrying the suspended road deck.

Behind the bridge, on the south side of the river, the Sage Gateshead, a music venue.

View from the top of the castle Keep.

View from the Swing Bridge.

The bridge and nearby structures are home to a huge colony of black-legged kittiwakes, a seabird species in the gull family. This is the furthest inland colony in the world. It's classed as a vulnerable species which explains why the bird dropping are abundant and tolerated. It gives the bridge quite a filthy look!

Malmaison Hotel

Housed in a former Co-Operative Society warehouse. It's entrance has beautiful forged iron work decoration. Design looks early 20th century.

Glorious sunny day lead to our first outdoor ice-cream of the Summer.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Opened in 2001 for the use of pedestrians and cyclists, it's the world's first and only tilting bridge.

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Housed in the former Baltic Flour Mill, built in 1950 to a late-1930s design.

Swing Bridge

Built 1868-76 and, at the time of building, it was the largest bridge of its kind in the world. It used to swing, moved by hydraulic machinery, to let taller ships go by. It looks like it hasn't done any swinging for a while...

The bridge stands on the site of the Old Tyne's Bridges of 1270 and 1781 and possibly of the Roman Pons Aelius.

View from the top of the Keep.

Bessie Surtees House

Two 5-storey 16th & 17th century merchants' houses. Allegedly a fine example of Jacobean domestic architecture. Closed due to Coronavirus. 

I find it remarkable that a medieval timber building was this tall and it's still standing!

Grey St. looking onto Grey's Monument.

Grey St is full of restaurants, pubs and bars and it was very lively. Locals include very scantily dressed ladies in high heals. Rumours have it that it is the norm year round in Newcastle to wear small fabric coverings on one's body and that coldness is but a rumour and unknown by the Northerners. Yikes!

Chinatown

It consists of an archway and a single street of restaurants: Stowell St.

West Walls

Newcastle medieval town wall was built during the 13th & 14th century. The best preserved and most substantial remains of the wall are the West Walls, on the western side of the city, on the back of Stowell St.

The west side of the Wall proved to be a good sunbathing place, sheltered from the wind.

The east side of the Wall is an alley on the back of the Chinese restaurants used for rubbish bins.

Blackfriars

Just inside the medieval town wall, near the West Walls, a Dominican Friary was established in the 13th century.

The outline of the church can be made out in the grassy courtyard. Only the buildings of the cloister remain.

After a brief rest at the hostel, we headed off to a Chinese restaurant specialised in Chinese hot pot. We have had the Japanese equivalent and were very curious to see if the Chinese was as good. Happiness 2 is the name of the restaurant in Stowell St. We were the only non-Asians in the restaurant. The waiters took their time explaining the dish and helping us with the order. Unwillingly, we provided some entertainment to both waiters and customers who eyed us whilst we ate. All very respectful but it was clear that Westerners are not regular customers!

The hot pot is placed in the middle of the table with an electrical heating plate underneath. There is a choice of broths and we chose 2 types hence the pot is divided along the middle. We chose mushroom broth and Thai broth. Ingredients for the dish are picked by the customer and come raw to the table. The customer cooks the ingredients in the hot pot as the broth boils. Dinner cost £60 for both. It was delicious and I would highly recommend!