Hello dear readers! How are things? Last time out on the blog I wrapped up that wedding trip of 2022 and now I’m cracking on with the rest of the adventures for the year. How anybody blogs in the moment is beyond me, I’m “only“ the three and a bit years behind!
Anyway, after six weeks in the USA it was time for some more adventure. A friend of mine, Sarah, was celebrating her 30th birthday by having herself a little party in the town where she lives, Northallerton, and what better excuse to get away for a couple of nights!?
Northallerton’s a small town up in North Yorkshire. I’d been there once previously and it doesn’t have a huge amount going on so I figured rather than stay in Northallerton, I’d base myself in nearby Newcastle for the weekend.
The one and only other time I’d been to Newcastle was back in April 2015. Tottenham had kindly offered to fly their supporters up to Newcastle for our visit to the North East and better yet, they’d fly us up there free of charge! All we had to pay was the £1.25 booking fee each way, just £2.50 to go up to Newcastle and back. I loathe taking a domestic flight for such a short journey when I’d much rather have taken the train but with bank-breaking train fares in England, it was a bit of a no brainer.
St James’ Park is an iconic football stadium in this country and Newcastle also has its reputation as a fun city shall we say? As far as football away trips go, Newcastle is considered one of the better ones despite sticking the away fans up “in the Gods”.
I was excited to be going up to Newcastle for the first time but a friend had planned his Stag Do for the night before and it wasn’t an occasion I was going to miss. A group of us ended up going out for a buffet, followed by a Saturday night on the town – frequenting a few Peterborough favourites along the way.
I’ve never felt as rough as I did that following Sunday. I’m sure the abundance of alcohol didn’t help matters but I’m also certain I suffered food poisoning from eating at that buffet restaurant (another friend had similar suspicions). Needless to say, I’ve never been back.
Unfortunately it resulted in a largely miserable daytrip up to Newcastle. I spent far too much of the trip visiting the toilet and as my friends enjoyed their away trip with a few beers before the game, I couldn’t bring myself to touch anything other than water. The one positive was that Tottenham did at least win – it’s usually the football that is the letdown on such trips!
Anyway.. seven years on it was time to finally head up to Newcastle and experience it properly. Even had I not been suffering on my previous trip, football away days aren’t usually the most cultural of adventures.
“Let me squeeze in some local culture alongside the football, I’ll have a Newcastle Brown Ale please”
Having ticked off St James’ Park already, this was an opportunity to see what else Newcastle had to offer.
This time I did take the train – cost aside, it’s my favourite way to travel and truthfully it was so much more convenient for me too. It’s only three hours on the train from Peterborough to Newcastle, which is probably the same length of time as flying from Stansted had taken when you factor in traveling to the airport and time spent at the airport. The airport also isn’t in the city, whereas the train drops you off in the heart of Newcastle.
Having to work on Friday, my Friday night was already a write off. I figured rather than rush up there I’d have dinner in Peterborough so had myself an Indian and a couple of beers before catching the train. By the time I’d arrived in Newcastle it was pretty lively and pretty much as you’d expect of a Friday night in Newcastle – a cauldron of noise in a city renowned for liking a drink or two.
My first impressions were that if you’re looking for a good night, Newcastle is not going to disappoint you. I however wasn’t in the mood for hitting the town myself so made my way to my hotel. Out of convenience, I booked a hotel really close to the train station and was a little surprisd to find a bouncer on the door – separating the hotel guests from the drunken riff-raff pouring out of Newcastle’s train station.
After a good night’s sleep I kicked off my trip by seeking out a local. Fellow travel enthusiast and blogger, Sam, is a native Geordie and after many chats online it was a nice opportunity to actually meet up in person. Sam suggested we meet up over in what appeared to be a rather hip area of Newcastle called Jesmond with its scattering of restaurants, cafes, shops and such. I ended up walking there which gave me the chance to see a bit of Newcastle outside of its city centre and it was a lovely walk – very green in parts.
Sam has seemingly since disappeared off the face of the Earth so I can’t link you to their now disappeared blog or socials but it was lovely putting a face to the name and we had a good chat about all things Newcastle and travel accompanied by tea.
After our tea we went our separate ways. Although Sam and her partner were kind enough to give me a lift back in to the heart of Newcastle so I didn’t have to walk back as they dropped me off close to Quayside for my first proper glimpse of the River Tyne and Newcastle’s infamous bridges.
I’d heard good things about Newcastle and I have to say, it did win me over quite quickly. I warmed to it almost immediately and it just felt like my kind of city – I added it to my list of “I could live here..” cities (of which there are many!).
The morning had suddenly passed by and I quickly turned my attention to lunch. The Quayside area along the river has plenty of good options but long-time readers probably won’t be surprised to learn that I opted for a visit to Newcastle’s Hard Rock Cafe – sadly it has since closed (as has Manchester’s!) and I dare say that HRC is probably a dying brand but nevertheless I like visiting them. Newcastle’s was by no means a favourite but it was nice to add another to the collection.
After lunch I mooched around for a little bit before getting myself ready and making my way over to Northallerton. It’s about 40 minutes away on the train and I figured I’d be better killing time in Northallerton before the party rather than killing time in Newcastle and risk running late.
My only previous visit to Northallerton I hadn’t even really gone in to Northallerton proper so I had a little time this time around to walk through the town. There wasn’t anything particularly fancy or noteworthy that I saw but it seemed nice enough, your bog-standard English town I suppose with a high street running through the heart of it.
I was still relatively early so I stopped off at some pub on route along the high street for a quick drink before making my way over to the party venue – a local theatre venue called the Forum (I think).
It was a nice venue, a good place to host a little gathering. Providing entertainment on the night were an Abba tribute band, an unsurprising choice for a lover of all things Sweden! As a sidenote, my lack of musical knowledge has led to a bit of a running joke in my family where “Abba” is my go-to answer for any music related quiz questions so this was a good occasion where the answer to “who sings this?” was without fail “Abba!”.
It was a fun evening, lovely to catch up with Sarah and celebrate her big birthday! It was nice to catch up with a couple of Sarah’s family I’d met previously and also meet a few new people. Sadly, all good things come to an end and I hopped back on the train at the end of the night and made my way back to Newcastle.
Despite its famed nightlife, I’d had a few beers already and didn’t have any real desire to extend my evening so somehow avoided a night out in Newcastle on either Friday or Saturday night. Instead I headed straight for my hotel and got myself to bed.
I was heading home on Sunday but had flexible train tickets so didn’t have to leave at any particular time. I could hang around for as long as I pleased as long as I didn’t miss the last train home!
I kicked off the day by having a walk through what I suppose is essentially Newcastle’s “old town” with its cathedral and castle. I didn’t go in either though so settled for just walking by and admiring them from the outside. From there I ventured on back to the Quayside area and was pleased to find a Sunday market with a bunch of stalls lined up alongide the river.
Across the river is ‘Gateshead’ which I was familiar with as a place and knew was in the North East but I don’t think I appreciated that it was literally neighbouring Newcastle with just the River Tyne separating the two. I crossed over but didn’t really venture in to Gateshead, I did little more than admire the view of Newcastle from this side of the river before stopping in for a drink at the “By The River Brew Co”.
A quick Google search suggests it closed in 2024 which is a terrible shame because its location was fantastic and I’d happily have gone back there on any future trip.
After a quick stop I grabbed a few photos of both the Tyne and Millenium bridges and then returned to Newcastle for a final look around and in search of somewhere for a Sunday Roast before catching the train home. I made one last stop to pick up some postcards before bidding a “see you soon” to Newcastle.
I haven’t yet returned to Newcastle but it’s certainly somewhere I saw myself returning to. I don’t know why I warmed to it so quickly, I didn’t even really embrace its nightlife which is often considered one of the best things about the city but I just really liked it. I think I could spend a lifetime walking along the River Tyne and just soaking up the atmosphere and feel of the city but sadly this was all I had time for on this trip.
Until next time!
Jason
Jason likes to travel 