July 23, 2018
Prudhoe to Newcastle on Tyne.
We rocket past George Stephenson's house to Gateshead and the Newcastle Quayside.
July 23 Monday 25kms
Prudhoe to Newcastle on Tyne.
Early start and a good breakfast on yesterday’s purchase of fruit and yogurt from Wylam. Our neighbour from Ely is nervously ready for his day sculling, a masters rowing clinic that is- not the other kind. It’s something he thought he’d give a try. His skiff sits atop his car and it’s too late to back out now, so we wish him a great day. Our Dutch neighbours, on the other hand, won’t be going anywhere, least of all to Scotland, their planned destination, as their motorcycle with its little covered trailer, has broken down. We offer commiserations and wave goodbye.
A short road trip gets us to Wylam and from there we have a greenway to Newcastle. We rocket past George Stephenson's house which is closed.
George Stephenson's birthplace is noted at the start of the trail. His contribution as "Father of the Railway" and his engineering innovations, including the miners lamp, and his skew bridge, are given excellent coverage on information stands along the way.
It’s off road on great green riding all the way- to Gateshead and the Newcastle Quayside.
The approach to Newcastle is on an excellent path. Information points describe the great Armstrong engineering works that employed thousands in the late 19th and early years of the 20th century. Clearly this was a dynamic period when this city lead the world in engineering endeavours.
The most obvious feature of the present day quayside is the proliferation of bridges. It appears that the city father's motto is that a city can never have too many. The variety of styles though, is striking from the most recent curved elevating bridge to the 'coat hanger style' to the rail bridge (We once parked the night in our Kombi under it) - the skyline is crowded by them.
Finding our hotel, the Grainger, proves a mission since it is 2kms up, and I mean up, Westgate Road. Despite being in a slightly seedy area it is clean an relatively modern inside. We ask that our bikes be kept inside, though, and for this reason they kindly give us larger room to accommodate both us and the bikes.
With a supermarket over the road all is well in the world.
Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 2,406 km (1,494 miles)
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