Only 2 1/2 hours by train and I have a whole new city to explore. My hotel is on the Quayside so after dropping off my kit I headed out to the waterfront where on Sundays they have what we in the States would call a flea market going on. This part of the city is know for it’s bridges among other things, so I decided to walk the loop.
This is the street from the Tune Hotel’s from stoop.
The first thing I noticed were the gulls. Kittiwakes specifically. Tens of thousands of them using the city as a breeding ground with their droppings painting buildings, sidewalks, cars and even some of the market offerings with their droppings. Seems like an investment in pigeon spikes is in order. Medium sized gulls distinguished by the black feet, I could see birds nearly ready to fledge and eggs in the same nests.
Across the river Tyne is a very noticeable building, the Sage Gateshead (which is the name of the town it resides in) is a purpose-built performance center for concerts and the like. It’s enormous.
After taking a few photos from ground-level, I went up to the terrace of the BALTIC Contemporary Arts building for aerial shots. I’ll visit the inside on a less sunny day.
The Tyne Bridge is for vehicles and the Millennium is for bikes and pedestrians
Walking back over the Tyne on the swing bridge, the red one which like the bridge in New Bedford, swings rather than raises to allow boats to pass, I noticed the decorations on the Fish Market building. Pretty good Neptune.
Heading back to the hotel after sampling some of the fare the flea market offered, I stopped at St Nicholas Cathedral, Church of England.
The original church on this site dates from 1091 but this one was a rebuild completed in 1350. How? And it’s most famous minister was the reformer John Knox in the mid 1550’s. The baptismal font was impressive.
Outside is the mandatory statue of Queen Victoria.
Everyone knows how much the English like their tea so it is no wonder that in the center of Newcastle there is the 40m/130ft monument to Earl Grey, the inventor of tea.
I’m joking. Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, was instrumental in 1832 in the passing of the Great Reform act and the city had this monument built in his honor. The sculptor was Edward Hodges Baily who also created the more famous Nelson’s Statue in Trafalgar Square, London. Without going into boring details, the Great Reform act was the first major reformation of the electoral process in England.
Also near the Grey Monument there are 3 works by contemporary artist Sean Henry called “Man with Potential Selves” all of the same man.
As I returned to the Tune Hotel I met a group of Americans from Lubbock Tx trying to decide if the pub next door fit their need. I heard them note that is was just a local hole in the wall which to me, sounded perfect. Noticing the Red Sox cap with American flag pin one said he knew Texan Clay Buchholz notable for throwing a no-hitter in his second major league game. After they headed off I returned to a bar that was filled with locals but no Americans. It is a typical “coffin bar as denoted by the shape. With the delightful Lilly pouring.
Recommendations from the folks I spoke with lead to the next day’s wander.
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