Fiona Whitty
And family take a sporty trip to Geordieland
As I peeped through the curtains of my Newcastle hotel at a wall of whiteness hanging over the city’s river the words of a Geordie anthem sprang immediately to mind.
Fog On The Tyne, immortalised by footballer Gazza after the 1990 World Cup, may have been written by Lindisfarne about life on the dole in the city but it certainly seemed apt this not-so fine morning.
It looked like there’d be no chance of seeing any of the famous seven bridges that stand proudly across the city’s river.
But as if by magic within minutes the fog started to lift and the High Level Bridge next to our hotel and the iconic Tyne Bridge beyond slowly came into view – along with a transformation the city can be proud of.
The one-time post-industrial wasteland that was Newcastle quayside is now a thriving area in its own right with top-class hotels and attractions.
It’s about to celebrate a boost to its growing sporting prowess too by hosting the opening ceremony of the men’s Rugby
League World Cup on October 15 at St James’ Park, home to Newcastle United FC.
Sixteen teams from across the globe – including South Africa, Australia and current world number-one New Zealand – are set to compete at venues throughout the North and Midlands. There’ll also be separate women’s and wheelchair tournaments.
The first men’s match, England v Samoa, will follow on from the opening ceremony, with Scotland meeting Italy the following day at Kingston Park, in the northwest of the city.
I was on a weekend break on Tyneside with my husband Tim, our son Freddie and his friend Jatin – both 13 and sports-mad – and to get into the mood we headed over to Kingston Park to take in our very first rugby
league match – Newcastle Thunder against Leigh Centurions. (thunder rugby.co.uk)
Rugby league has slightly different rules, points scoring and participant numbers to rugby union but is fantastically fast-paced and gripping.
Despite a brave battle, however, the home team lost.
Newcastle is well served by rail and so to avoid a long drive from the South East we’d hopped on an LNER service from London, which runs every 30 minutes and only takes around three hours.
The journey also takes you over the Tyne for your first look at its stunning bridges,.
On our way up we’d stopped off at Durham to watch a one-day Royal London Cup match at The Riverside in nearby Chester-le-Street (durham cricket.co.uk).
England captain Ben Stokes had the same idea, popping along to see his home county take on Gloucestershire. Much to the delight of avid cricket fans Freddie and Jatin, Ben posed for pictures as he paced around the boundary. Despite a thrilling climax Durham couldn’t quite reach Gloucestershire’s total and lost by six runs.
Our base was a fabulous top-floor studio room at the hotel Innside Newcastle, slap bang on the Quayside with glorious river views enhanced by floor-to-ceiling windows.
Sofas converted into beds for the kids while a coffee pod machine, walk-in shower with monsoon head, pale wood flooring, a yoga mat and a vintage telephone gave it a cool edge. Opened in May 2021, the hotel was fresh and modern, with a sweeping iron staircase and glass balloon lights dominating its open-plan lobby adorned with local art.
The Gino D’Acampo riverside restaurant hosted a fabulous hot and cold buffet breakfast. In the evening there were celebrity Italian chef Gino’s menus to sample while watching the nighttime lights twinkling on the Tyne.
Our shared starters of king prawn bruschetta, beef carpaccio and mussel and clam stew were topnotch. My main, spaghetti with red prawn, mussels, clams and calamari – inspired by a dish Gino’s mum used to make – and Tim’s grilled swordfish tasted divine – as did Fred’s crispy duck in a cherry and red wine sauce and Jatin’s chicken skewers. We also managed to squeeze in desserts chocolate ice-cream sundaes for the boys, a creamy panna cotta for Tim and an affogato sprinkled with amaretti biscuits for me.
On our doorstep lay some of Newcastle’s highlights - like the Norman Foster-designed Sage music venue and BALTIC contemporary art centre, both just over the river in neighbouring Gateshead, while the main city centre was only 10 minutes’ walk away. As well as being lined with lively bars, cafes and restaurants, the quayside is a fun place simply to wander along.
We loved criss-crossing the bridges and trying out a set of quirky seats as well as the busy Sunday morning market packed with local crafts and street food.
You can’t mooch round Newcastle without spotting St James’ Park football ground at some point, one of the few right in a city centre, so a stadium tour lured (adult £18, child £9.90, nufc.co.uk).
Our guide Carole showed us around Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey’s £90,000-a-year VIP box on the halfway line – named Cubsy after a now-departed family pet dog.
She told how the dressing room for the away team was hot, cramped and basic while the Magpies version was roomy, bright and packed with performance-enhancing equipment. And we learned how groundsmen spent three-and-a-half hours cutting the hallowed turf every day in summer – and walked seven miles while doing it.
One of Newcastle’s many selling points is how easy it is to get to the coast. With the sun belting down we hopped on a Metro train and headed to the beach at Whitley Bay, only half an hour away.
We played football on the sand and had a dip in the sea but sadly another bout of fog forced us to cancel our planned kayak trip along the coast. Instead we had a go at a round of pitch and putt at Whitley Bay Mini Golf (adult £5, child £4, sportnorth tyneside.org.uk) and took a stroll to the Spanish City that famously features in Geordie band Dire Straits’ hit Tunnel Of Love. It’s white pleasure dome is the town’s most iconic landmark (spanishcity.
Hosting the World Cup opening ceremony boosts the city’s prowess
co.uk).
While there we consoled ourselves with a takeaway from the awardwinning Trenchers, named the UK’s top chippy in the 2020 National Fish and Chip Awards.
The judges certainly weren’t wrong. Later we enjoyed a cuppa and cake at the wonderfully old-fashioned Valerie’s Tearoom. All in all, our weekend break in Geordieland turned out to
be a really good Tyne.