Sunday - A trip to the Quayside and along the Waal

Sunday 05.06.11



The German Bratwurst stand

 Sunday wasn't such a nice day, but we had decided to pay the Newcastle Quayside a visit. This is a centuries old market, by the look of some of the goods and wares they had been there since its conception. It is no longer a the market of yesterday with the selling of carpets, quilts and your wallet! it has turned into a bit of Farmers, local produce market, with a bit of T-shirt, framed photographs and electrical goods thrown in.

They even had a stall selling Neon Cupcakes!!!!!

They even had a stall selling good old German Bratties, tut-tut, I ask you :-(. I think they had even imported them just for us, why, oh! why, do they insist on calling them Bratwurst sausages!!! It is like calling them bratsausage, sausages.

We had crossed the Tyne via the Millennium, bridge, what a wonderful sight one gets of the bridges crossing the river Tyne from this position.



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the old



The new



and the Keep



The 5 bridges



The Baltic Mill



Well worth a visit (but not this time) is the Baltic Mill gallery and event centre, I visited this a couple of years back with my daughter and it was very good and had some nice pieces of art on display and has a café on the top with great view op and down the Tyne if you’re willing to pay the somewhat expensive prices.



This was once said to be the only pub that it doesn't rain on in Newcastle, it was our local after an evening at the Speedway (Newcastle Diamonds), they have now turned it into a  cocktail bar



It had started to rain (who said so what’s new in Newcastle) and as it was getting onto midday we decided on a spot of lunch, we walked under the old swing bridge and saw that Weatherspoons had opened a gastro pub in one of the renovated warehouses, they had called this appropriately The Quayside.

We took a seat on the mezzanine level, I suppose when it had been used as a warehouse, it would have had many more, as these where built to a common system and I remember them well from 45 years ago while serving my apprenticeship a little lower down Tyne in North Shields.

Now gastro pubs a much derided by some, but I find that whilst not at the upper end of fine dining the Weatherspoon chain certainly serve fine homely food at very reasonable prices, well made, good portions and tasty.

The frontside of the Quayside, the open shutter is the Mezzanine floor



And the backside of the Quayside



I had the steak and kidney pudding, it is offered with chips but I wanted mashed potatoes, this was no problem, it also comes with garden peas or mushy peas (doesn’t almost all meals in the UK) and loads of extra gravy. It was very tasty with “pieces” of beef in it and had and the kidney was visible (lots of mass produced puds and pies come in an encased uniform slurry and have no texture, I like to taste and see what is in them, that is pieces of steak and kidney

Leaving Newcastle along the New (ish) A69 to Hexham for no other reason than it is such a pretty town nestling on the South Bank of the Tyne. We left the A6 to follow the B6318, this is the line of the original Military road and is the route I knew as the only one that crossed the country from East to West and went as straight as a die for many miles. It also follows the route of the Vallum, this was a fortification that predates the wall and was a ditch dug into the peat and the spoil was heaped up behind making a higher protective mound, this was in all probability topped with wooden stake palisade.  We decided that we would visit Housesteads that last bastion of the Roman Empire. I enjoy visiting the wall, when at school it was one of my favorite subjects as it was real history we would visit it many times during the year and so it was an actual visual/hands on experience. Later I was to start my rock climbing in this part of the area (what is now the Northumbrian National Park) at 14 we cut our teeth on the Wanney crags not far from the wall, these are also part of the great Winsill fault that cuts across England from the North sea to the  Solway Firth. The builders of the Wall used these high rocky outcrops to add height (in some places like Steel Crags a great amount) to an already impressive border protection. Though the weather was wet and windy we enjoyed the hour or so that we stayed, it made one think what the legions from in the most warmer sunnier climes ever wanted to protect, it is a desolate and barren part of the country but it has its own haunting beauty and for me it will always be home. We then went to Steel crag car park to take in the most famous (and photographed) view along the wall.

Leaving the car park we retraced our steps (well wheels) before turning North  visited a few of the outlying hamlets and townships that I had last visited while hiking and camping in this area in my youth as a boy scout. Wark, Wall, Bellingham have not changed a lot they are still sleepy townships built with the millstone grit in all probability nicked from the disused Roman fortifications.

It was then back to Sis for a spot of Tea before going out for an evening’s entertainment at the Miners social club (though the miners are now all retired or otherwise employed that frequent it, there is still the warmth and well being when you enters portals). The mainstay of the club these days is the women folk of the village, in the days of the collieries, women where only allowed into the concert room on a weekend, this was when they had Bingo, a turn (comedian, group or band) or a dance on. This has now changed and the women are now full members and are even putting themselves up for the committee, my dad will be turning in his grave!