Newcastle Upon Tyne; Northumberland; The North East. This is a place that makes no excuses; it is what it is and they don’t care whether you like them or not. Well, that’s what they say, but Geordies are such lovely folk and you just know that inside they really want you to love it here as much as they do.
As we trundled up the motorway from York, we suddenly remembered a “Point of Interest” (as UKDave, our SatNav, refers to them) and made a short detour to take in Middlesborough’s Transporter Bridge.
“It got sold to The States, but me and the boys went out and got it back only they didn’t film that bit” ~ Bridge Worker, when we mentioned Auf Weidersehen, Pet was the reason we were there
We had just one more stop along our trail
before seeking out our accommodation for the next four nights and then spending the afternoon snoozing, exploring, train-and-wildlife spotting and playing in the games room (our accommodation is a bit flash). York had left us a little exhausted.
But the next morning, bright-eyed and bouncy of step, we were ready for our next adventure. First stop was to check out Northumberlandia, The Lady of the North.
We felt incredibly privileged to have the lady entirely to ourselves and spent ages in the biting wind looking from the beautiful human form sculpture on one side, to the busy Shotton surface coal mine on the other. From what we can gather, she is not everyone’s cup of tea but she get’s our vote.
Then it was off to Ouseburn Farm. This is a working farm with poultry, sheep, pigs and cows, less than two miles from Newcastle city centre and we loved (it despite the absence of any goats). The cafe sells the best bacon sarnies we’ve ever tasted (from their own animals), they’re passionate about what they do, we could have yakked to them all day…
and did we say they’re right in the middle of Newcastle!
After spending the afternoon trotting around the sights
we then headed for the place The Bean Counter and Milk Maid remember so fondly from their first UK visit: Whitley Bay.
A grand time was spent playing arcade games, enjoying a fish supper, and finishing up with ice creams on the prom – because, at heart, we Homesteaders do love to be beside the seaside.
Union Homestead 
What a wonderful time you are having, I love Yorkshire myself especially that Transporter Bridge.
It was literally breath-taking…so huge and pretty and cleverly simple
Hi, I have enjoyed catching up on your U.K. travel experiences – the good, the bad and the ugly – which is pretty much as life is no matter where you are.
Deer and foxes in your hotel’s back yard – bonus! What is it about steam engines which hold us in their power even in the 21st century? I wander along the Castlemaine – Maldon trail on Wednesday mornings so I can see the Victorian Goldfields Railway steam engine and its associated carriages panting and puffing with smoke and steam billowing up a gentle slope, than trundling past.
Good luck with the rest of your travels – no more transport problems hopefully!.
It was amazing to have those animals right there on a piece of land literally surrounded by motorways.
You’re exactly right about life and it’s ups and downs…all part of the great adventure😊
Not sure what the deal is with steam but we definitely have one of us who is truly smitten.
Thanks for the good wishes. We’re on the move again tomorrow…I’m astounded how differently we all deal with these changes of scene
You have been everywhere and seen all the sights. You will need a good holiday when you finally get home.
I don’t want to miss a thing but I have started dozing off in quiet moments😊
I can believe that.
I love Northumberland! So pleased you’re still having fun 🙂
You’re definitely getting lots of trains into this trip – but I guess you’re in the right country for it. The farm in the middle of Newcastle sounds interesting. Amazing the vision some people have and their drive to make it happen. Is it giving you ideas for New Brighton?
Lots of ideas percolating – stay tuned.
Trains now give way to football (soccer) with us attempting to broker tickets to a sold out game (Liverpool v Man U) in thr bar of our accommodation which goes a long way to explaining my wobbly gait.
Do the haka – should win you tix no prob. Especially if you’re wobbly 🙂
Alas we remained ticketless but managed to enjoy ourselves anyway. once we get a decent WiFi signal we’LL tell you all about it 😊
I come from near Middlesbrough and have never been on the Transporter Bridge! Not even been as close as you…
I am guilty of the same thing at home 😊 Middlesborough put on a wonderful show for us: bright sunshine and great, funny conversation
Good to hear this 😊
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[…] As part of The Grand Tour of 2017, in which we took the world (or a bit of it) by storm, we visited Ouseburn Farm. It’s an amazing place, very similar to Arion Farm Park (the place responsible introducing The Farmer and Princess), right in the middle of Newcastle upon Tyne(it’s pretty much underneath the Byker Bridge on the A193) where they grow vegetables, fruit, animals and, as per their mantra, people – well, their minds at least. At the time of our visit, we’d been away from the menagerie-as-it-was long enough to be missing them bigtime and this visit utterly rejuvenated us with their full circle, permaculture, paddock to plate ethos. So much so that I wrote a facebook review about it, mentioning their ideals, vision, environmentalism…and the bacon butties we enjoyed in the cafe. […]