We are in Geordie country…Newcastle-upon-Tyne. But why are people from this part of the world with their distinct accent called Geordies? There are many theories ;
The name originated during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. The Jacobites declared that Newcastle and the surrounding areas favoured the Hanovarian King George and were “for George”. Hence the name Geordie used as a derivation of George.
In 1826 George Stephenson gave evidence to a Parliamentary Commission on Railways at which his blunt speech and dialect drew contemptuous sneers. From that time Londoners began call the colliers “Geordies”.
North East miners used Geordie safety lamps, designed by George Stephenson, instead of Davy lamps which were used in other mining communities.
Whichever theory you go with, Geordies, we have found, to be happy, friendly and approachable people. The town/toon is vibrant, clean and tidy with the area around the quayside having been revitalised and rejuvenated.
Remember watching TV programmes ‘Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ ‘When the Boat comes in’ ‘Vera’? Those accents are Geordie accents and I have to admit that I love hearing it as it brings a smile to my face. How way man, Canny, Alreet Pet, Nee chance, are all local words you will hear all around the toon.
We are here not just to have a look around the city but also to catch up with friends Harry, Kim and family whom we met a few years ago in NZ, in fact we met them first of all at Shakespear. We also caught up with them this time last year in Lawrence and Dunedin which you can read about here.
We met up with the family outside our hotel and walked along the refurbished and regenerated Quayside to the Millenium Bridge.
Now I say that we walked along the quayside, it was more like sauntering with talking, lots of nudges from Harry saying “I can’t believe you are in my home toon” every couple of minutes, looking at buildings and scenery and stopping to talk to random people along the way.
We eventually made it across the Millenium Bridge heading to the Baltic Contemporary Art Centre.
We had noticed that a number of buildings in this area had the name Baltic in their title…why Baltic? we asked. In fact a group of students were accosted and asked why…they didn’t know. But Roy came to the rescue as he found the answer on one of the buildings – apparently ships left the Tyne docks for Russia every year on 23rd February as this was when the Baltic ports were free of ice to trade with Russia and other Baltic Ports along the way and of course Russian ships came bringing their wares to trade. Hence many buildings were named after the trade route, with the now Baltic Contemporary Art centre housed in what was the Baltic Flour Mill.
There are seven bridges crossing the Tyne, all within a very short distance.
After a look around the art centre it was a walk down the road to a cafe for a bite to eat. There were lovely veg gardens in the entrance to the complex on the side of the river.
From there it was another saunter along the walking path to another bridge crossing, this time across the swing bridge. This bridge is sited on the original site of a Roman bridge, Pons Aelius, which was built for the small Roman settlement on Hadrians Wall in the 2nd century AD. These days the bridge doesn’t open very often but just a few years ago it would have opened up to 20 times a day. We wandered back toward our hotel having spent the last few hours talking and walking before we bade the Escott’s farewell until tomorrow when we will meet up again.
Meanwhile, Roy and I have some serious sightseeing to do.
The Vanninis' Manoeuvres 
What a time you’re having pet in toon