Work Trip to Tynemouth

Tuesday 7 June 2005. I was attending a meeting of Jisc Regional Support Centres - a service set up to support Further Education colleges in their use of Information Technology.

A colleague from the North West region (there were nine regions covering the UK including one in Northern Ireland, two in Scotland and one in Wales) was following me across the country as she had never been this way before and wanted to see the Angel of the North sculpture. Our route to Tynemouth took us right past it so we stopped for a quick look before carrying on to Tynemouth to meet the other team representatives for an evening meal.

We were all staying at the Grand Hotel Tynemouth. It was built in 1872 by the Duke of Northumberland as a summer house for the Duchess and converted five years later into a hotel. The hotel claims it as the original luxury hotel in Tynemouth and so it may well have been. The grand staircase is especially worthy of mention. At one point the hotel proprietor was named Tom Tickle. Described as genial, I suppose that his life could have been made a misery had he not been genial!

I'm not sure who it was that took this one, as I can see myself peering out from halfway down the right hand side! I do remember it was Matt's birthday.

The next morning dawned sunny and bright and for some reason I decided to get up and go for a walk along the seafront before breakfast.

On the headland of Pen Bal Crag there are the ruins of both a castle and an earlier priory which dates from the 7th century. In the year 651 CE King Oswain of Deira (south Northumbria) was killed by men of King Oswiu of Bernicia (north Northumbria). King Oswain's body was buried at Tynemouth and he was later beatified as St Oswin. He was the first of three kings to be buried here at Tynemouth.

The second was King Osred II of Northumbria. His rule had been somewhat short. He became king in 789 and was deposed in 790. He was murdered in 792 which brought to an end any thoughts he may have had of regaining his crown...

The third king to be buried here was King Malcolm III of Scotland, the same mostly known today for his featuring in Shakespeare's play Macbeth. He was killed at the Battle of Alnwick in 1093 and was brought to the priory for burial but later sent back to be reburied in Scotland. Tynemouth's coat of arms is three crowns, in remembrance of the three kings once buried at the priory.

A castle of eathworks and wooden stockade was believed to have existed not long after the Norman invasion. Robert de Mowbray who had killed Malcolm III of Scotland at Alnwick, subsequently rebelled against William II and took refuge from William's siege in the castle in 1095. The siege lasted for two months but de Mowbray escaped to Bamburgh castle for a while, returned to Tynemouth and was captured when William retook the castle and was charged with treason, being imprisoned for the rest of his life.

In 1296 the Prior was granted permission to surround the priory with stone walls which kept Robert the Bruce at bay in 1314. A gatehouse and barbican were built in 1390 facing the land and 3,200 feet (975.3 metres) of walls still exist despite the seaward north side and east side falling into the sea and indeed much of the south side being demolished.

Looking down the town's streets.

The mouth of the River Tyne. From here it is 8 miles (13 kilometres) to Newcastle upon Tyne with which city Tynemouth was long in dispute over shipping rights on the river.

The Collingworth Monument is dedicated to Lord Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood (26 September 1748 - 7 March 1810). He was Admiral Nelson's second in command at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 and his ship, the Royal Sovereign was the first to engage the enemy, having been fitted with a new copper on its underside which gave it an advantage of speed. It was an hour before any other British ship came close enough to fire a gun. On Nelson's death he became Commander-in-Chief of the British fleet. He was created Baron Collingwood, of Caldburne in November 1805.

Born and educated in Newcastle, his home was in nearby Morpeth at Collingwood House. The monument is 23 feet tall (7 metres) and was completed in 1845. Four years later the four cannon were added. They came from Collingwood's old ship, the Royal Sovereign.

By now I was definitely ready for a spot of breakfast! Walking back I passed the wooden building and watch tower of the Life Brigade Watch House.

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Fire and Ice: Joining a Two-Week Cruise to Norway and Iceland

Saturday 29 July 2017. The most leisurely start to a cruise that we've ever had I think, as we only have to drive across to Newcastle upon Tyne to join our old friend the Thomson Celebration for a two-week cruise that will take us further north than we have ever been before. Indeed we would be circling Iceland so would cross over the Arctic Circle.

First though we had to get to Newcastle. Joining us on this trip were near neighbours and friends John and Sue, who we first met on a cruise in Turkey in 2009 and then for the second time on another cruise in Norway in 2013! We have since become friends and occasionally meet up for a meal and natter. It was at one of the band's gigs where Sue first told us of this cruise, saying that it was the only such cruise during 2017 and joking that we should book it. We both fancied the sound of it so we did just that and it made sense to go over in just one car. John and Sue had already booked a car parking space so I offered to drive.

Driving to Newcastle of course brought back memories of driving over to the University of Northumbria for meetings with the rest of the team before I retired. John and Sue had mentioned they had never seen the Angel of the North from close-up before so I stopped for a short while so we could walk up to it. This also meant I could drive over the Tyne Bridge which they hadn't done before.

Thomson Celebration was the ship for our first cruise with Thomson in 2009 - the same cruise we first met John and Sue. This would be our sixth time aboard her, but our first time in years without seeing our great friends Tomas and Maris who used to play in Horizons Bar but are now on the Thomson Dream. We'll have to catch up with them later! Joining a ship at a UK port is simplicity itself and the organisation at Newcastle was excellent.

This will be our itinerary for the next few days: Day 1 Newcastle UK; Day 2 at sea; Day 3 Stavanger Norway; Day 4+5 at sea; Day 6 Akureyri Iceland; Day 7 Isafjord Iceland; Day 8 Reykjavik Iceland; Day 9 at sea; Day 10 Torshavn, Faroe Islands; Day 11 Lerwick, Shetland; Day 12 Bergen Norway; Day 13 Flam Norway; Day 14 at sea; Day 15 Newcastle and home. I might gloss over the days at sea a bit, but there will be a look at all the places we visited including volcanic geysers, waterfalls, whale watching, some spectacular train journeys, old towns, picturesque villages, the rift between the tectonic plates of Europe and America and a Norwegian mountain spirit enticing us into the mountains to be lost forever... (I'm easily taken in, you know...)

So with no more ado, let's go! The Celebration pushes her nose into the River Tyne and we head off from the port at North Shields, towards Tynemouth.

In a short while the sights of Tynemouth come up on our port bow (that's the one they serve the strong wine on). The statue is that of Admiral Lord Collingwood, the cannons at the base coming from his flagship Royal Sovereign. He was a close friend of many years standing with Horatio (later Lord) Nelson and was his second in command, though first in action at the Battle of Trafalgar. Born in Newcastle and later living in Morpeth, just to the north of Tynemouth, he was wont to walk the hills with his dog, Bounce, with a pocket full of acorns that he planted when he saw a good spot for an oak tree. This was to ensure good English oak for a future navy. Many of his trees must still be growing, the need for them surpassed by the introduction of iron and steel ships.

We are approaching the North Sea and the Newcastle pilot boat (named after our brave admiral) approaches to take off the Newcastle pilot who has sailed down river from the Port of Tyne on the bridge of the Celebration. He leaps aboard from the side of our ship and with a wave the pilot boat veers off to head back to the port.

The North Sea is being kind. Sunshine and only a slight to moderate swell takes us towards Norway, which we shall reach on Monday after a full day at sea tomorrow. Join us next for a look at Stavanger in Norway.

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