A Weekend in Middlesbrough
As I said in Travels with My Stroke, the first trip outside London would be one to Middlesbrough. Some of my friends thought I was slightly unhinged to be going there, but then you don’t have to be mad or stupid to be an Ipswich supporter, but it does help.
So it was with a certain amount of anticipation, that I boarded the train at Peterborough for the journey to York, where I changed for Middlesbrough. It was a pleasant and uneventful journey that was completed by a short taxi ride to a clean and comfortable B&B called Chadwick Guest House, run by a charming young Sardinian, who had come to the UK to learn English a few years ago and had stayed.
Also staying in the same guest house, were some Town fans from Oslo in Norway, who after the match were going to Exeter for the Carling Cup.
I should say that I was going to be shown round Middlesbrough by a lady, Liz, who subscribes to the coeliac group on the Internet that I moderate, and her husband, Terry.
So on the morning of the match, they showed me around Middlesbrough and gave me lunch. One of the reasons, I’d come was north was to see the new Anish Kapoor installation, Temenos, and the various amazing bridges across the Tees. They have the famous Transporter Bridge, an enormous lifting bridge, a modern stylish footbridge and a barrage to prevent flooding of the town. We even saw some salmon leaping up the salmon ladder past the barrage alongside the canoe slalom course.
It was a very interesting couple of hours before the match and the walks along the Tees are very much to be recommended.
I won’t say too much about the match, except to say my fears and those of the other several hundred travelling fans were not fulfilled.
Perhaps, we should have all gone had paid homage at Temenos, which in ancient Greece was a place to worship gods, after the match., as the structure is very close to the Riverside Stadium, but I suspect if we’d tried, the Middlesbrough Police wouldn’t have understood the joke.
Did I have any regrets about going? Only one! Sunday marked the start of the Tall Ships Race, just over the Tees at Hartlepool. If I’d known about it, I’d have gone. But neither the Middlesbrough Council or Football Club web sites had mentioned this was happening. Instead I took the train back to Bury St. Edmunds in a much more optimistic mood in more ways than one, to the one I’d started out on Friday.
I will return to the Tall Ships Race. Surely, in these times of austerity, we should do everything we can to encourage visitors and make their visits as enjoyable as possible. If just a few Town fans had stayed over to see the unique race, at least they would have had a meal and a few beers to help the local economy.
Remember too, that many football fans are interested in other things. I was in Milan, when Town fans showed how to support the team away in style. It was the first time, I actually had managed to get to see Leonardo’s Last Supper, in the city. One of the guides told me, that she’d never seen so many football fans viewing one of the world’s most famous paintings.
But then Town fans are different and long may it stay that way!
Anyone for a weekend in Scunthorpe?
The Anonymous Widower 
I have noticed myself that it is difficult to find out about everything of interest in a area when you are going there for a particular thing. Manchester Evening News is good at letting you know what is happening in Manchester area, especially one off events and exhibitions etc. But further away, it can be really hard work, especially if it is something we know nothing about so cant even try and find a website.
Of course, it is possible that Middlesborough doesnt like football fans and wanted them straight in and out! I am less than a mile from Stockport County ground, and some games the away supporters are taken to the ground from the railway station by an escort of mounted and unmounted police, lots of them! They share the ground with Sale Sharks, who play Rugby, I have never seen a police escort for their matches.
Comment by Liz P | August 9, 2010 |
There are a number of problems and I’ll expand them later. I’ve been told by two people that the reason the Tall Ships Race wasn’t mentioned anywhere, was that it was in Hartlepool and not Middlesbrough.
Ipswich police have long given up the throw everything approach, as they have found that the best way to control football crowds is to give them a map of the town centre marked with where they are welcome. I heard this on a football phone-in from a fan from Crewe, who said that they never got any problems in Ipswich, except that they generally lost. Norwich used to use the other hard approach and was this the reason very few visiting fans ever went!
But I think, that towns could do more to sell their attractions to those coming for various sporting events. Businesses will benefit and hopefully fans will enjoy it more, perhaps despite having lost.
Comment by AnonW | August 9, 2010 |
I agree, Stockport has some really interesting tourist attractions, mostly historical, and quite a lot of the very old buildings are still in use today. Some date back to Tudor times. Stockport isnt bad at marketing itself, but it hasnt really caught on as a destination for short breaks, most people go to Manchester and stay around the city centre.
Which is a pity.
Comment by Liz P | August 9, 2010 |
James,
Thanx for mentioning us Norwegian Town-followers from Chadwicks – I read your blog with great interest.
We are now well accommodated in Exeter for tomorrows game, but the cathedral here, I must say, lacks the splendor of that in Durham, where we spent the Sunday.
Feel free to hook up on FB!
All the best,
Richard W
Comment by Richard Wiik | August 9, 2010 |
I don’t know Exeter. Not really into big cathedrals, although we have a nice one here in Bury St. Edmunds. Much prefer smaller churches with good architecture, like Clare or LLavenham in Suffolk or St. Bartholomew-the-Great in Smithfield in London.
I’m going off Facebook. Everybody seems to think I want to be into Farmville. I usually use LinkedIn to contact all my old business colleagues.
Comment by AnonW | August 10, 2010 |
i would like to learn more about the english language specially the english grammar ..
Comment by Compact Fluorescent Bulb : | October 29, 2010 |
[…] football team has been terible recently and it is not the team I saw at Middlesbrough or Sheffield […]
Pingback by Bet of the Month « The Anonymous Widower | December 12, 2010 |
Hello there, I discovered your web site via Google while searching for a similar subject, your
website got here up, it seems good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hello there, simply changed into alert to your weblog
thru Google, and located that it’s really informative. I’m going to watch
out for brussels. I’ll appreciate if you proceed this in future. Numerous people might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Comment by Erin | December 15, 2012 |