Newcastle upon Tyne

After our sojourn in the Tees Valley we made the relatively short journey further north to the CMC Old Hartley site just north of Whitley Bay. Our last visit to this site was nine years ago although it has not changed much except the two rows of paving on each pitch have been replaced by a quite large gauge of gravel. Our first even visit to this part of the world with the then caravan was the old Newcastle Race Course site if anyone remembers that!

This was a bit of a homecoming trip for Margaret as she was born in Newcastle upon Tyne but moved south over fifty years ago. In all that time she has not been back more than a handful of times. So this visit was an opportunity to rekindle old memories and to discover how many  things have change in fifty years!

After setting up and trying to use the chemical toilet in the van I noticed something was wrong as the flap appeared to be no longer in place! A further inspection show that the mechanism holding the flap in place had sheared off thus rendering the toilet unusable. It would seem that I had somehow forced the cassette back into place. We have been using cassette type toilets for about twenty years without incidence. So a search started to find somewhere to buy a replacement and it seemed that it would have to be the complete cassette. I made a note of a few local caravan dealers we could go to but when I rang the next day I had no luck. On E-Bay I found a “Fresh up Kit” which consisted of a new cassette and toilet seat which seemed the best value, but still over £100. It was in stock and could be delivered in 24 hours. Before I ordered I checked with the wardens that it would be OK to have it delivered direct to the site. Fortunately they were happy with this so it was ordered and arrived safely 36 hours later.

Having sorted out that problem we set off for the bus to Whitley Bay. Those of you familiar with this part of the country will no doubt know about the Spanish City and it is something that Margaret has fond memories of as a teenager. When she was young it was a fairground type place. However we had read that it had been complete restored but the fairground rides had gone although the names of the rides live on as carving in the wooden seats outside. Now it just contains a café, restaurant and of things a champagne bar!! We walked along the seafront to see what other memories the visit would stir but it would seem the character of the place has changed quite a bit. We moved a bit further into the town as I wanted to visit the Metro Station for a possible future visit to Newcastle. Outside the station was something I had not seen before, an old red telephone box that also incorporated a post box.

The following day we had to wait in for our delivery which arrived spot on time. Safely installed and working we decided that in the afternoon we would pop back into Whitley Bay for some shopping. There is a very good bus service on the main road near the site with buses every 15 minutes.

On the Wednesday, the midpoint of our stay we were rather concerned about Storm Ali which was due to hit at full strength around early afternoon. We had decided to stay with the van. Despite it being a beautiful day sunshine wise the wind was exceptionally strong and we were being badly buffeted and quite scary at times. Those that know Old Hartley will understand from its location on a cliff overlooking the North Sea is very exposed. Fortunately by the evening the wind had subsided to more acceptable levels.

Thursday and time for our trip into Newcastle City Centre. We got the bus to Whitley Bay and walked up to the Metro Station and purchased all zone day tickets. The Metro is mainly based on old suburban railway lines and the building of the system in the 1970/80’s was the largest urban transport system built in the UK in the 20th century which rather suggests that London is not the only place to get major transport infrastructure projects. I digress. We decided to go the long way round on the Metro so Margaret could travel through all the places where she used to live. So magical names like Four Lane Ends and Longbenton flashed by. We got off at Haymarket and walked down Northumberland Street. We called into the Eldon Shopping Centre for a coffee. Our main destination was The Quayside but we were still some way from that. We called into the Grainger Street Market on route and headed down to the railways station. We followed the signs to the quayside but somehow ending up on the Tyne Bridge! Incidentally the company that built the Tyne Bridge three years later built the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I noticed a group of intrepid pensioners climbing some steps up to the bridge and asked if they had come from the Quayside which they had and were able to provide directions although I couldn’t help thinking it was the long way round but we got there eventually. On the opposite side of the Tyne from where we found ourselves is the Sage Building which is a conference come concert venue. It was a rather grey day and the glass structure looked almost ghost like as the edges merged with the gloom. We now had a ground level view of the Newcastle bridges and impressive they look. We seemed to have been walking for hours although that is likely to be an exaggeration but we were feeling it in our knees so time to stop for some lunch. We found a handy riverside pub where we took refuge.

Not sure we could face the walk back to the Metro so we took a bus up into the Centre before getting back on the train at Monument back to Whitley Bay. This time we went the other way via Tynemouth. The Metro takes you by the Byker Wall housing development. Tynemouth has a very impressive railway station which gives an impression of how important it was as a tourist spot all those years ago. An exhausting day but well worth it.

On our last full day at Old Hartley we walked along the coast to St Mary’s Lighthouse. Unlike last time we were here we couldn’t cross over the Lighthouse because the tide was in. There are good paths here either for walking or cycling. We could have carried on into Whitley Bay and get the bus back but we decided to retrace our steps.

Saturday and time to leave. We wanted to visit the Angel of the North on our way south but I wasn’t sure how to set that into the sat nav. I then discovered if you set it to no tolls it sets a route avoiding the Tyne Tunnel and we were taken via Gateshead. The sculpture is not so obvious from the north although you do get the odd glimpse. Fortunately there were brown tourist signs at the junction of the A1. We found a place to park and I went off to have a closer look. Antony Gormley’s wonderful sculpture is quite magnificent and clearly popular by the number of people stopping to have a look at it. Although I must say it doesn’t seem as tall as I imagined it was but then it is built on a hill which gives it such an iconic view coming north.

Heading south again we had a two night stop at Poolsbrook Country Park which is very handy just off the M1 but not near enough to be troubled by traffic noise.