The Geordie Accent
At times walking round Newcastle city centre, I thought I was hearing some foreign language.
It wasn’t!
It was just the version of English that Geordies talk to each other.
Newcastle Cathedral
Newcastle Cathedral would not be considered a large church.
Newcastle Cathedral
I didn’t get a chance to go in as it was shut.
Outside is a typical statue of Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria Statue, Newcastle
There seem to be lots of statues of Queen Victoria, many of which have a very similar pose. Did some sculptors do job lots?
Uniform Dating
Just seen an advert for a site called Uniform Dating on Sky!
I suspect that you don’t always find the person, you think you’re going to!
Grey’s Monument, Newcastle
I hadn’t realised how important a politician Charles Grey was until I went to Newcastle. I hadn’t realised that he had been a character in Saul Dibb‘s film about the Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, the Duchess.
You can’t miss the monument erected to him in the centre of Newcastle.
I have just been talking to a friend and they put me right aboiut Grey. His 1832 Reform Act was very important and when he was Prime Minister when slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire.
For trivia, Earl Grey tea was named after him and he had sixteen children with his wife and at least one other.
Around Newcastle City Centre
I walked down from St. James’ Park to the centre of Newcastle.
These days city centres look very much the same with steel and glass shopping centres, although Newcastle does have quite a lot of grand stone buildings in an area called Grainger Town.
Stone Buildings in Newcastle City Centre
This is just a side street and there are a lot of grand building still left in the area, although T. Dan Smith and John Poulson would have probably knocked the lot down if they hadn’t got charged with corruption.
Luckily sense was seen and the area is now being restored.
But that didn’t stop this hideous edifice being erected by the Co-Op.
A Hideous Edifice
Can a building like this have ever looked good? Even as a set of drawings!
Do I have one abiding memory of Newmarket City Centre?
Yes! I’ve never been to a place with so much smell of chips and burgers.
Newcastle Do Apostrophes Different
St. James’ Park, the home of Newcastle United, and St. James’s Park in London spell it differently.
Why?
It was things like that, that used to annoy my father, as everyone had different views on spelling, apostrophes and plurals.
The Wembley Pitch
We get rather blase at Ipswich, as our pitch is often voted one of the best in the country.
I would have thought that the pitch at Newcastle would not be of a good standard, as the pitch is surrounded by high stands and Newcastle weather is not as good as that in London or Ipswich.
The Pitch at St. James' Park
This picture was taken around four o’oclock and you can see that it is mainly in shadow. Surely, this isn’t good for grass!
Now I didn’t even walk on the pitch, but from my lofty place in the sky, it looked to be in good condition and the players didn’t seem to slip at all.
So if they can get it right in the more difficult circumstances at Newcastle, why can’t they get it right at Wembley?
St. James’ Park, Newcastle
St. James’ Park is the home of Newcastle United and the reason I went north was to see Ipswich play for the last time this season. I shall actually be away for the last home match.
Note the view from high in the stand over the city. The Sage Gateshead, the Baltic Mill and some of the bridges can be clearly seen.
To me the most interesting thing about the game was Connor Wickham’s performance and his well-taken goal. For the last few matches he’s been playing up-front on his own and he has scored quite a few goals.
I do hope that he both keeps this up and stays at Ipswich.
Kittiwakes at the Baltic
Kittiwakes are a bird that normlly nests on cliffs. But they have nested at the Baltic for many years.
Kittiwakes on the Baltic
They may like it, but I don’t think I’d like to raise a family there!
Hay Fever
To add to all my problems, I seem to be suffering from awful hay fever.
C’est la vie!
But I never suffered before I was diagnosed as a coeliac.
The Anonymous Widower 