A Very Wet Weekend Break

[poliphilo]

The idea was we'd bimble up north by country roads, stopping every now and then to look at interesting things, spend the night in Newcastle, then bimble back home again, possibly by a coastal road. What we hadn't been prepared for was how heavily it was going to rain and how scary the flooding on those pretty country roads was going to be. All the rivers were running high, several had burst their banks, there was water where water didn't ought to be- and we found ourselves continually having to plough through impromptu streams and lakes. It was, I think, the most memorable drive of my life.

We'd been planning to spend time in Richmond- stroll round the Georgian streets and visit the castle; instead we dodged into a pub for a warm drink (it was full of young soldiers from the camp at Catterick)- then headed straight for the unflooded motorway.

Our hotel was a stone's throw from the Newcastle quays. The Tyne is fabulous at night, with its many bridges covered in lights- and the water on the ground and in the air just amplified the dazzle.

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I remember as a child that the "quayside" was scary and rough. My uncle who was a prison officer remembers going there one weekend and seeing a guy he knew only too well from the "inside" doing some busking as an escapologist! But I've been back twice in recent times, stayed at the wonderful Malmaison Hotel, and went over the bridge to the Baltic Gallery (I had a great uncle who worked there when it was a flour mill). Wonderful space, incredibly pompous art made literally of rubbish...

Nice to see Tyneside smart and proud. We took my old Auntie last time, it is her home town and she was really surprised at how it looks now.

Did you get to the Laing Art Gallery? - I think you would love it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I can imagine how the quayside must once have been. They've worked a similar transformation at Salford Quays- one the pits of the universe- now a yuppie paradise.

We didn't have more that a few hours to spend. We had a look at the castle and the cathedral, then spent the rest of our time at the Baltic.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Richmond is so beautiful...it's a pity you didn't get to wander the streets and soak up the atmosphere of the castle.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting to visit Richmond for years. No doubt we'll try again.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

We went in the company of an historian of 15c England and his wife, an art historian who was on the board of the Georgian theatre there. It was quite the guided tour!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Just beautiful!