haway lads and lasses lets gan doon the toon! (Newcastle upon Tyne)

Member Name: girlnextdoor

Product:	Newcastle upon Tyne
Date:	15/12/02 (1827 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I live here, what more do you want?

Disadvantages: the recent Metro link to Sunderland...Graon!

The hours I have spent researching and writing this op is beyond belief, it has been by far the hardest opinion I have had to write but also the most rewarding and interesting.

I have lived in Newcastle all my life, so who better to tell you of it?s attractions than me.

There was a time in my life when I was going to move to Peterbrough to start a new life, but no, I couldn?t leave my beloved home city, Newcastle has everything that I could ever need, and I love it here so I couldn?t bring myself to go. I?m going to get straight into now, this opinion is long enough as it is without me waffling on about things that you have no interest in.

Newcastle is the largest city in the North East of England. Newcastle has a colourful past that dates back to the Romans. Once upon a time it was known around the world for it?s ship building industry that was centered along the banks of the river Tyne.

A few decades later however ,Newcastle was in a state of decline and had gained a reputation for poverty and unemployment.
Fortunately recent years have seen a surge in development and restoration, bringing Newcastle to what it is today. A stylish, historical, bustling city.

If you?re a shopaholic, Newcastle has all you need to satisfy you. We have several huge shopping centres which include Eldon Square and the Metro Centre. Eldon Square is situated right in the heart of the city on Northumberland street. Shops there include ? Levi?s?, ?Boots? , ?The Disney Shop? and many electrical, clothing, and sport retailers. It also includes many café?s and restaurants on the upper level. The Metro Centre is a massive shoppers paradise, it?s like Eldon Square only four, maybe five times the size. I?m sure a lot of you have heard of the Metro Centre, it was once and maybe still is the largest shopping mall in England or Europe. The Metro Centre has ample parking spaces and situated on the south side of the river in Gateshead. It?s easy to get
there from Newcastle, once over the Tyne Bridge it is signposted and takes about 20mins.

Just south of the City Center you will find Grainger Street, it?s on this street that you will find the Grainger market. It dates back to the 1830 at the time of the Victorians. Here you will find many bargains. Fruit and Vegetable stalls cram into this undercover market, although you will also find meat stalls and other such items. The Grainger market is open everyday except Sunday and is always busy, you can?t stop bargain hunters.

Around the rest of the city though, you can find an array of shops, including my favourite FCUK, if you ever come to Newcastle and go in there, I will be the girl kicking and screaming shouting ?I WANT , I WANT, I WANT ?.

Enough about shopping, I think you get my drift that there is all you need, I like to tell you about another of the many attractions. The River Tyne.

What?s attractive about a river?, you ask.

Well The River Tyne has 7 bridges joining Newcastle with Gateshead. The most significant bridge being that of the Tyne Bridge. It opened in 1928 the year that my grandmother was born. It was opened by royalty, King George V I think, and looks like the Sidney Harbour Bridge. At the time of opening it was the largest bridge in the world. Only broken by the Sidney Harbour Bridge in 1932. It?s a remarkable sight on an evening, the whole bridge lights up. Memories come to me now on Bonfire Nights of old ,when my Mother and Father used to stand alongside my brother and I on this bridge and watch the remarkable fireworks display that takes place every year. This also happens on New Years Eve now. I say to myself every year that I?m going to make an effort to watch it, but always end up way to intoxicated to make my way down from the Nightclub. Maybe next year!

The rest of the bridges are going to just get a brief mention, or else I will bore you. In 1849 the High Level bridge was opened. Situated
just west of the Tyne Bridge it was designed by a local engineer called Robert Stevenson. At the time it was a remarkable achievement because it allowed Rail and Road travel on the same bridge. The rail being on the upper level and the road being beneath.

We also have the Swing Bridge, it opens up to let ships pass through. One more then, because I?m boring myself. The Millenuim bridge is the rivers newest bridge. It only opened last year and it?s a public footpath bridge. This opens to, to let ships pass and is often referred to as ?The Blinking Eye? because that is what it looks like. Again it is lit up, and looks a remarkable sight on an evening.

Phew!

A short drive out of Newcastle?s City Centre and over to Gateshead, you will find ?The Angel Of The North?. A towering structure built from Rusty Metal. Built by Anthony Gormley the sculpture measures 20 metres high and has a wing span of 52 metres. The sculpture is intended to represent the great engineering skills of our region. It?s visible for 30 miles and is situated on a on a former colliery site at Eighton Lodge in Gateshead. You can see it from the A1 approach to Gateshead, and also the main London to Edingburgh railway line.

Onto the stuff that I?m not really interested in, but will tell you anyway because I?m nice like that.

The Laing Art Gallery.

Considered to be the North East best Art Gallery, it houses a brilliant collection of pieces ranging from ?Arts and Crafts? to ?Glass Enraving and Glassmaking?. It has won many national awards. Open from Monday to Saturday, which is good. What is even better though is that admission is FREE, GRATIS, NIL. Its located on Hingham Place, just east of the City Center.

The Newcastle Discovery Centre.

This place tells of Newcastle?s past right up to the present day. Again admission is free and it?s open Monday?s to Saturdays 10 to 5. It?s just west of the City Centre in Blanchford House. I?ve neve
r been so I don?t know if it?s any good, but from other people I?ve heard it is.

The Hancock Museum.

Admission is 2.25 for adults and is open Monday?s to Saturday?s 10 to 5. It?s also open on a Sunday from 2pm to 5pm.
Honestly, I can?t tell you much else about it, because I have never been. All I know is that is displays things raging from Dinosaur artifacts, to specimens of extinct animals. Check out the website: www.ncl.ac.uk/hancock

The Centre for Life

A brilliant place which I have frequented many times, here you can exlpore life, the brain and the human body and find all about how it works. Just left of the Central Station admission is 5.95 for adults. Times of opening are 10 to 5 Monday to Saturday.

To the south east of the Centre you will also find the Newcastle Catherdral, it?s maritime center and the Castle.

Newcastle also has some great architecture, Grey Street is worth looking up if anyone visits. It is named after Earl Grey who was Prime Minister in the 1830?s. Greys monument was aptly named after him too. It stands 135ft high and at the top is a statue of the man himself.

Just down the road from Grey Street walking south you will come across Newcastle?s Theatre Royal. The Royal Sakespeare company visits there every autumn, and it has also seen concerts held there from the likes of David Gray, and The Manic Street Preachers. I am yet to see the lovely singer Pink there, but I do have a little kitty for a ticket if ever the occasion arises. YUM!

Now to things that do interest me.

Pubs, Clubs, and Football!

Newcastle is the United Kingdoms trendiest City?s for Nightlife. It?s absolutely buzzing up here. The range of bars and nightclubs is amazing. We have the big market which houses loads of pubs. On either side of the road every door leads into a pub, and the place is busy every night of the week. Prices aren?t to bad, ranging from about 2.50 to 3.00 quid for a
pint, and 2.50 to 3.50 for a bottle of the stuff some like to drink and call alchopops. Yak!

A short walk south and you will come to the Quayside. Many residents of Newcastle think the Quayside is more Posh than the Big Market, but I think it?s just the same cliental, just the prices are a bit more expensive. Once here you can walk over the Tyne Bridge and come to our floating Nightclub affectionately known as ?The Boat? but officially the ?Tuxedo Princess?.
Here is a nightclub that has many different genres of music played in separate rooms. You have the club music downstairs with the hilarious spinning dancefloor. Many a bruise has been attained from that. And in a few of the side rooms we have 70?s and 80?s music played. Brilliant for all legal drinking ages. In the summer thy also hold a BBQ on the top deck which is fantastic considering how hungry you get after a good session on a Saturday Night.

The ?Haymarket? is good too, this is a 5minute walk north of the ?Big Market?, and again houses door to door pubs with a good few Pizza Places and restaurants in between.

Dotted around frequently we have those vendors of Hot Dogs and Burgers. They are all over the city and you are 100% sure to find one outside of any nightclub.

Near the Central Station, is ?The Pink Triangle? This triangular area of the city houses all the Gay bars and Bed and Breakfasts in the city. A good range of pubs are situated here, and also 3 nightclubs. I frequent there myself twice a month, and the atmosphere is top notch. ?The Pink Triangle? can be found in the area around Newcastle?s Central Rail Station, which I will come to after I waffle about the sports for a bit.

All Geordies share a passion for Football, the famous Black and White strip and magnificent structure that is St James Park, is part of a Geordies heart. Well mine definitely.

St James park can be seen from miles around, it?s situated in the North West of the city, jus
t follow your eyes, and every other Saturday just follow the noise, you?ll get there easy enough.

Newcastle Arena

The home of Newcastle Eagles Basketball team, and regular holder of concerts. Everything from Ronan Keating to Robbie Williams and Westlife gets held here. It?s situated south west of the city centre and a five minute walk from the Central Rail Station.

I?ll get onto the station now then shall I?

Traveling around Newcastle is easy enough, we have the Metro which will get you anywhere you want, and even goes to the foreign land of Sunderland. I look at it as Newcastle?s version of the London Underground, although not as crowded or expensive. We have buses that take you where you want to go, prices are reasonably cheap and the buses come every five minutes in the city centre. The Central Station then. This houses many shops and a Burger King, a train can be taken from here to get you to the Metro Centre and nearby York and Durham. Of course you can get a Inter City train from here to just about anywhere in the country.

Right then, the conclusion.

Newcastle is a compact City, almost everything I have mentioned above is within walking distance of the City Centre. I recommend avoiding driving in the City Centre itself because of the one way system and the hard to come by parking spaces. Blame the government. Getting to Newcastle from other City and Towns is relatively easy. Travelling by air you land at Newcastle Airport and then you are only about a 20 minute Metro ride away from the City Centre. By car you reach here by driving up the A1 from North or South. The A69 brings you in from the West, and the only way to get to us from the east is by swimming or a boat.

Newcastle has an array of places to visit, things to do and look at, but I can?t list them all, honestly I would be here for ages.
I recommend you take the time and opportunity to visit this fantastic city at least once. I promise
you, you will not fail to enjoy yourself. The people are renowned for the friendliness, as much as I am renowned for enjoying the occasional whiskey and Pot Noodle. Go On, make the effort you won?t be disappointed.

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