Northumbia

[neonwilderness]

Also if you're feeling frivolous, lunch in the Treehouse is supposed to be good.

I'd probably go to the chippy by the market instead though

 

[soulman]

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

they have, or at least used to have, lots of inspectors.

Still do. You get fined 20 quid if you get caught. I'd say a regular patron encounters inspectors about 3 times a month. A monthly all-inclusive travelcard costs about 75 quid.

You do the math, as the septics say. Seems they've calculated it to make it not worth anyone's while to try to dodge on a regular basis, while not actually making the simple effort to make every station fully manned.

And then there's the fact that you can only buy said travelcard at certain stations, between about 10 and 5, meaning if you're working, it's fucking hard to get hold of one in the first place. You can spend more like 200 quid a month if you're buying separate bus companies travel tickets, etc.

 

[coccinelle]

Its a superb part of the country .... and particularly north and west of Hexam,where there are lovely empty upland areas and great wee villages to explore.

Have fun.

I've just come back from a little place called Greenhaugh which is due west of Otterburn. The whole area is so remote and beautiful with national parks and red squirrels and little villages all over the place. The people are really easy-going and friendly and I saw my first Nuthatch!

 

[Totoro303]

Still do. You get fined 20 quid if you get caught. I'd say a regular patron encounters inspectors about 3 times a month. A monthly all-inclusive travelcard costs about 75 quid.

-As a newcomer to Newcastle (moved up in the new year) and a regular traveller on the Metro I would back this up. They seem to go in for the blitzing approach at the bigger metro stations - Central , West Jesmomd, the Monumnet where at the gates you're confronted by about ten inspectors all stragetically placed around the exit points so thers no escape. Then at other times you can go 2-3 weeks without seeing one.

You can spend more like 200 quid a month if you're buying separate bus companies travel tickets, etc.

-£200 a month aint an extravagant figure. Different operators tend to concentrate on one area , and if youre going from one part of the metropolis to another you often have no choice but to use two different bus companies. Their much praised metro rail system only operates in certain areas too.


Although Greater Nottingham is a smaller area , they had a much simpler system of a flat £45 (or thereabouts) a month 4 week bus pass when I lived there, operated by Nottingham City Council who still have a monopoly on most main roures. More egalitarian , fairer, and a much more transparent transport system than the one Newcastle operates with its myraid zones, and operators.

Moan over - as I am acutely aware the above sounds like the peevish whinging of a grumpy middle aged man (which I am!)

Ultimately capitalism with its light touch deregulated public transport system . which puts money and profits before the needs of people is to blame!

 

[Totoro303]

On a more positive note after that last whinging post, there are two great coastal walks within striking distance of Newcastle both easily accessible by Metro.

A splendid 4-5 mile walk can be had from St Marys island Lighthouse near Whitley Bay, to Tynemouth with its striking castle and north pier which juts out into sea and is nearly a half mile walk in itself.. From there you can see where the Tyne meets the sea , which always makes for panoramic views.

Another other time I walked from South Shields which has loads of ice cream vans and Chip shops which I could not resist, and then carried along a cliff walk to Marsden which is really impresssive , where you can see Marsden Rock which is home to approx 8% of UKs cormorants allegedly....

 

[pogofish]

I've just come back from a little place called Greenhaugh which is due west of Otterburn. The whole area is so remote and beautiful with national parks and red squirrels and little villages all over the place. The people are really easy-going and friendly and I saw my first Nuthatch!

I know it. We used to do environmental work in that area. I stayed in Bellingham when I was down. Great wee village.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

On a more positive note after that last whinging post, there are two great coastal walks within striking distance of Newcastle both easily accessible by Metro.

A splendid 4-5 mile walk can be had from St Marys island Lighthouse near Whitley Bay, to Tynemouth with its striking castle and north pier which juts out into sea and is nearly a half mile walk in itself.. From there you can see where the Tyne meets the sea , which always makes for panoramic views.

Another other time I walked from South Shields which has loads of ice cream vans and Chip shops which I could not resist, and then carried along a cliff walk to Marsden which is really impresssive , where you can see Marsden Rock which is home to approx 8% of UKs cormorants allegedly....

Tynemouth is lovely. We were down there on one of the recent outbreaks of warm weather. The beaches in this bit of the world are very underrated.

 

[coccinelle]

I was brought up in Tynemouth, at a time when British seaside resorts were where you went on holiday. The beaches are glorious but the sea is so cold.... I've swum in the sea on Boxing Day and I think (because of the Gulf Stream) it may have been warmer than mid/late Summer!

Just up the coast, poor old sad, forgotten Whitley Bay now looks like a scene from a Mad Max film...

 

[Paraletic]

www.northumberland360.com

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Yeah I went to Whitley Bay first thinking it was the main beach and thought the beach was nice but it was a bit deserted. Then I didn't find out about Tynemouth for another three months *facepalm*

 

[northeastoipunk]

i back you up on cullercoats bay my sister lives there and i visit regular , its a nice sheltered cove with little caves . very safe for the kids they can play for hours and they cant really leave your sight , regular coast guards patroling for bathers too , i dont recomend the chips in cullercoats but tynemouth chips are fabulous

 

[northeastoipunk]

cragside and rothbury fills the day in nicely very beautiful area