You know you’ve been in the UK for a while when you start to crave a change from the “Full English” for breakfast! The trouble is the standard alternatives of Eggs Benedict and omelets also seem like a bit too much……but I don’t have the willpower to stick to toast and fruit when the smell of bacon wafts out from the kitchen.
This morning I made do with eggs , mushrooms , tomato , hash brown and toast…but then followed up with a croissant , I am my own worst enemy!
Breakfast over, we checked out with a slight glitch when the Commonwealth bank decided to decline our Visa. The Mastercard worked fine and when we got to the car Neil discovered he’d received a text from the bank saying they’d blocked his card and wanted to know if the transaction was genuine, a YES reply and they unblocked the card. It’s good that they’re vigilant but you think their system would have tracked our card usage and realised it was all ok, especially as I’d registered our trip with them!
the sun was shining as we drove away from the lakes district and turned the car North again. A little short of the Scottish border we turned east and as we progressed across the country the clouds came over and dropped lower and lower . We started to pass signs to various locations on Hadrians wall but we were heading for Steele Rig initially. This section of the wall is claimed to be particularly scenic. As we neared the site we suddenly passed a small sign pointing to the town of Hartwhistle with the bold claim that it was the Centre of Britain. A little googling and we learned that there are a number of claimants to the “centre”, Hartwhistles claim is based on being the midpoint of the longest north-south meridian and also being the midpoint of each of the lines though it across Great Britain along the 16 main compass directions – that was good enough for us, so of course we had to go there! 😂 Thee was a signpost in the town square and a few businesses making use of the name. So now we can claim to have been to the centre of the USA, Britain and Australia!
It wasn’t far from Hartwhistle to Steele Rig, but as we drove up the hill to the car park it was clear to us that the scenic view of Hadrians Wall wasn’t going to eventuate for us, the fog was just too thick! There were a few hardy souls walking away into the mist along the wall, but after a quick photo we decided to head on to our next “wall” location.
Around AD 122 during Emperor Hadrian’s reign he ordered that a wall be built to act as a defence tool. 16 years later, and largely due to three legions made of 15,000 men, there was a wall, reaching 6m high in some places. Although it has changed somewhat since then, alongside the remains of the wall itself there are ditches, forts, fortresses, watchtowers and civilian settlements.
it was only a short drive to Housesteads Roman Fort. Today Housesteads lies in an empty landscape, but in Roman times there was a busy garrison of 800 men here and, outside the fort walls, a settlement of civilians and traders. Hadrian’s wall runs along one edge of the fort. The visible remains of the fort include four massive gates, and a complete line of curtain wall and interval towers. Within the fort are the remains of all the main buildings found in an auxiliary fort, and part of the settlement outside the south and east gates is also visible. We parked at the visitor centre and started out on the 700 yard path that climbs up to the fort . It was really very impressive! The walls were not as high as the one we’d seen at Wroxeter but the size and extent of the remaims of walls and floors was much more impressive. By the time we were climbing into the fort, the fog had blown away and the sun was shining. We rambled around and got a good feel for the way the fort had been set out.
The sun stayed out for the remainder of the day after that, and we enjoyed the drive across the pretty countryside to Prudhoe Castle. This one was a tiny castle com pared to the ones we’d seen in Wales but its history goes back to Norman times. It was a picturesque little pit stop along our way.
Only 20 minutes from Prudhoe we stopped in to take a look at the huge Gateshead Metrocentre. An enormous shopping centre on the outskirts of Newcastle. We looked at a few of the shops and had a quick light lunch at a cafe before carrying on for another 15 minutes to see the Angel of the North, an extraordinary artwork that towers above the A1 motorway. It was commissioned by Gateshead Council who wanted an ambitious artwork that would become a landmark of the region’s character. Antony Gormley’s winning design is now one of the most viewed pieces of art in the world. It is seen by more than one person every second. That’s 90,000 every day!
Finally we set off to the centre of Newcastle-On-Tyne , and drove across the Tyne Bridge as we headed towards the Staybridge Suites. We checked in and then set out down the hill for a walk along the river. Newcastle Quayside is a vibrant location spanning both sides of the river with a wide esplanade , 7 iconic bridges, several restaurants and bars as well as galleries and a huge stunning Glasshouse Music centre with glimmering curved glass walls. We strolled along past the Millenium pedestrian bridge, the arched Tyne bridge that was a precursor to our own Sydney Harbour bridge, the Swing Bridge and Thomas Telfords High, double decker bridge.
We walked across the Swing Bridge and stopped at a brewpub that’s tucked just at the base of the Tyne bridge for a drink and to enjoy the view.
From here we could see hundreds of birds perched on the bridge, and then realised they were sitting on nests. Again Google came to our aid and we learned that there is a huge colony of Kittiwakes that nest on the bridge during the spring and summer, the Colony had been counted as about 1100 pairs in 2023! They are currently undertaking a massive refurbishment program on the bridge ( including a repaint job which we felt it desperately needed!) and plans are underway to set up Kittiwake “hotels” to house the birds that are affected by the refurbishment.
We walked back down the other side of the river and then returned across the pedestrian Millenium bridge to find a spot for dinner.
the Urban Garden is a popup alfresco brewpub on the esplanade with a food truck serving up BBQ and burgers. We enjoyed a delicious burger and some people watching, it may be only Thursday but there were plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine by the river.
Back at the hotel we took advantage of the hotels guest laundry to do some desperately needed washing. It’s a pleasure to find a hotel with a laundry here, it’s not common! After sorting, folding and some ironing we’ve been relaxing in the room, I’ve been waiting until it got a bit darker so I could take a photo of the Glasshouse and Millenium Bridge lit up. At 10.15 it’s still only twilight but you can see some of the lighting.
Tomorrow we head South to Yorkshire.