Newcastle

[pigface]

I was there for a few days in 2015 for a Rugby World Cup game between Scotland and South Africa (my 2 teams ... Scottish born but long residence in southern Africa). It was great. Friendly people, some nice pubs, a decent pedestrian area, guitar shops, easy trip to Tynemouth at the coast etc. As others have said, the centre is quite small so you can walk everywhere, and the quayside is great too. Highly recommended for a visit. Something I'm not used to (being from Africa and having lived in Germany for a long time) was the arrival of busloads of young people dressed up to the nines, who then hit the town in determined fashion. I have no idea whence they came. A few hours later many of them were staggering about or face down in the gutters. Culture shock ... but I never had any problem with anyone there. 

[Daz39]

17 minutes ago, pigface said:

I was there for a few days in 2015 for a Rugby World Cup game between Scotland and South Africa (my 2 teams ... Scottish born but long residence in southern Africa). It was great. Friendly people, some nice pubs, a decent pedestrian area, guitar shops, easy trip to Tynemouth at the coast etc. As others have said, the centre is quite small so you can walk everywhere, and the quayside is great too. Highly recommended for a visit. Something I'm not used to (being from Africa and having lived in Germany for a long time) was the arrival of busloads of young people dressed up to the nines, who then hit the town in determined fashion. I have no idea whence they came. A few hours later many of them were staggering about or face down in the gutters. Culture shock ... but I never had any problem with anyone there. 

They came from the Greater Tyneside Metroplex. Some of them might have even been Smoggies or Monkey Hangers: the only nightlife on Teesside is found beneath Redcar Pier.

[Bluewine]

11 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

 

Blue collar town. Centre of the known universe. You'd like it here.

 

Curious as to why you ask...?

 

 

I saw a Youtube video that said the night life there was fantastic.

 

It sounds great except for the cold. And I'm thinking it would have been great to have moved there when I was 29 instead of 69.

 

Blue

[Bluewine]

5 hours ago, Daz39 said:

They came from the Greater Tyneside Metroplex. Some of them might have even been Smoggies or Monkey Hangers: the only nightlife on Teesside is found beneath Redcar Pier.

 

 

Smoggies, Monkey Hangers ?

 

Blue

[peteb]

21 minutes ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

Smoggies, Monkey Hangers ?

 

Blue

 

People from the neighbouring towns of Middlesbrough and Hartlepool respectively 

[Bluewine]

8 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

People from the neighbouring towns of Middlesbrough and Hartlepool respectively 

 

 

Ahh ok. Thanks Pete.

 

Daryl

[Chris2112]

4 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I saw a Youtube video that said the night life there was fantastic.

 

It sounds great except for the cold. And I'm thinking it would have been great to have moved there when I was 29 instead of 69.

 

Blue

 

Thanks to some favourable climate change it's pretty balmy here now. We had high 30's in the summer which was almost a bit much. 

[yorks5stringer]

10 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

Smoggies, Monkey Hangers ?

 

Blue

Hartlepool monkey

Legend has it that during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, a shipwrecked monkey was hanged by the people of Hartlepool, believing him to be a French spy! To this day, people from Hartlepool are affectionately known as 'monkey hangers'.

Smoggies

Middlesborough has a large chemical manufacturing area which used/still does create smog( air pollution). Hence Smoggies

[dodge_bass]

On 06/01/2023 at 04:42, Chris2112 said:

Great town but dangerous, full of violent yobs and drunken idiots. It is well renowned for it's nightlife but like most things, it ain't what it used to be. By the standards of most places in the UK it's one of the better nights out, if not the best overall, particularly because all of the nightlife in the city centre is fairly densely packed in. You don't have to go far to see a lot. 

Total rubbish I’m afraid. Not true at all. 

[dodge_bass]

22 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Newcastle is great. (though there are more than one dark skies location in the UK)

Different from Yorkshire, different from the Central belt. I'ld happily live up or around there.

It’s great. Fantastic varied music scene, great day and night life, near the coast, near the hills, has a good airport, houses are relatively cheap, people are nice, loads of investment recently. Perfect place to be. Highly recommend. Been here 20years, we won’t leave. 

[warwickhunt]

9 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

It sounds great except for the cold. And I'm thinking it would have been great to have moved there when I was 29 instead of 69.

 

Blue

 

So you are 69 and asking about the nightlife... you'll not be frequenting the Bigg Market so you'll be safe enough!   

 

As for the cold... we are only a couple of 100 miles North of that there Landan Taan, so hardly the Arctic Circle.  We sold our house to a couple who moved lock/stock from Portsmouth and they said they can't believe they didn't do it sooner, never regretted one minute of it by all accounts. 

[wateroftyne]

14 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

I saw a Youtube video that said the night life there was fantastic.

 

It sounds great except for the cold. And I'm thinking it would have been great to have moved there when I was 29 instead of 69.

 

Blue

The music scene would have been even livelier back then, too. And The Tube was being filmed here then - a pioneering music TV show that attracted the world’s biggest names.

 

Oh, and the Animals were from here.

[Woodinblack]

29 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

We sold our house to a couple who moved lock/stock from Portsmouth and they said they can't believe they didn't do it sooner, never regretted one minute of it by all accounts. 

 

thats more about Portsmouth than Newcastle - I never regretted moving either

 

[NikNik]

Just back from collecting a bass in Newcastle. Popped into an old haunt of mine....

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Happy Jack]

So are we ready yet to move on to Swindon?

 

[Davebassics]

Ahreet?

 

Proudly born and raised in Newcastle. Lived just off stanhope street, 5 minutes walk to St James. Used to hear the crowds raw on a Saturday afternoon. Magic. Moved to the coast when I was 4 or 5 and moved to Yorkshire for Uni and never quite managed to leave. I'm currently saving to move back up but let me tell you, in certain areas, the North/South device isn't as wide as I would like it to be! On the coast where we are looking, I'd say its roughly £100k cheaper than an equivalent on the South Coast (where my other half lives and where my main office for work is). It's difficult to say definitively. It is cheaper, but not as much as I would like!

 

Do we have a Geordie corner here on basschat? Would be canny to make some friends prior to me move up there!

[dodge_bass]

15 minutes ago, Davebassics said:

Ahreet?

 

Proudly born and raised in Newcastle. Lived just off stanhope street, 5 minutes walk to St James. Used to hear the crowds raw on a Saturday afternoon. Magic. Moved to the coast when I was 4 or 5 and moved to Yorkshire for Uni and never quite managed to leave. I'm currently saving to move back up but let me tell you, in certain areas, the North/South device isn't as wide as I would like it to be! On the coast where we are looking, I'd say its roughly £100k cheaper than an equivalent on the South Coast (where my other half lives and where my main office for work is). It's difficult to say definitively. It is cheaper, but not as much as I would like!

 

Do we have a Geordie corner here on basschat? Would be canny to make some friends prior to me move up there!

Me and @wateroftyneare based up here - drop us a PM, we don’t bite!

[dodge_bass]

17 minutes ago, Davebassics said:

Ahreet?

 

Proudly born and raised in Newcastle. Lived just off stanhope street, 5 minutes walk to St James. Used to hear the crowds raw on a Saturday afternoon. Magic. Moved to the coast when I was 4 or 5 and moved to Yorkshire for Uni and never quite managed to leave. I'm currently saving to move back up but let me tell you, in certain areas, the North/South device isn't as wide as I would like it to be! On the coast where we are looking, I'd say its roughly £100k cheaper than an equivalent on the South Coast (where my other half lives and where my main office for work is). It's difficult to say definitively. It is cheaper, but not as much as I would like!

 

Do we have a Geordie corner here on basschat? Would be canny to make some friends prior to me move up there!

I’m based about ten mins from Stanhope street

[Mykesbass]

53 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

So are we ready yet to move on to Swindon?

 

Stay on the M4, you soon get past it.

[Cat Burrito]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

So are we ready yet to move on to Swindon?

 

Everyone knocks Swindon but Old Town is great. 

 

Best avoid the bottom of town though, that's proper banjo country! 

[Little Dragon]

2 hours ago, Davebassics said:

Ahreet?

 

Proudly born and raised in Newcastle. Lived just off stanhope street, 5 minutes walk to St James. Used to hear the crowds raw on a Saturday afternoon. Magic. Moved to the coast when I was 4 or 5 and moved to Yorkshire for Uni and never quite managed to leave. I'm currently saving to move back up but let me tell you, in certain areas, the North/South device isn't as wide as I would like it to be! On the coast where we are looking, I'd say its roughly £100k cheaper than an equivalent on the South Coast (where my other half lives and where my main office for work is). It's difficult to say definitively. It is cheaper, but not as much as I would like!

 

Do we have a Geordie corner here on basschat? Would be canny to make some friends prior to me move up there!

Include me for Geordie corner. Greetings from Jarrow!

[nilebodgers]

On 06/01/2023 at 09:44, Huge Hands said:

I really wanted to get involved in this conversation as I was born and raised just 5 miles south of Newcastle and spent most of my weekends wandering the town but have just realised I haven't lived there permanently for around 28 years!

 

I have plenty of nostalgia for the area and images of the Tyne bridge still stir huge patriotic and homesick vibes in me, but have no recent knowledge other than what my family briefly tell me.

 

I used to go up there regularly but poor health has kept me away - I am hoping to take a trip up there around Easter as my parents are getting much more frail.

 

Of course I would recommend it.  I would just say to Blue that the Geordie accent can be very strong and sometimes sound like a completely foreign language if you're not used to it!     

 

If you get the chance, try Greggs' stottie cake (bread) while you are there.  It is a revelation and not sure why Greggs never took it across the UK when they expanded.

I grew up in South Durham and went to uni in Newcastle. I remember being on the bus once in town and I heard some old people speaking what I thought was German. It turned out to be English, but the thickest Geordie accent imaginable.

 

I had a great time there. A lovely city.

[lownote]

Maybe we could open this out.  Are there some places that are more - or less - magic, and others that are ghastly s***holes? Or is everywhere a bit of both depending on our personal experiences? Personally, as discussed, I adore Newcastle, my missis loathes Sunderland based on having to live there, and I loathe the whole of Devon based on personal experiences. But I like Warwick, and Norwich is nice, but Ipswich isn't. Is it possible or even sensible to generalise? Maybe not. And not least because places change with the years.

Edited January 7, 2023 by lownote

[Matt P]

I moved to the North East when I was 16 then Newcastle uni, I'm still here and no intention of moving away, I'm about a mile further out of the city centre than @dodge_bass it's a great place to live, plenty of great venues, pubs to suit all tastes, every type of cuisine you can think of. Definately worth checking out Tynemouth Market one weekend too (I'm off there in the morning for a bit of a browse)

 

Matt

[Woodinblack]

40 minutes ago, lownote said:

Personally, as discussed, I adore Newcastle, my missis loathes Sunderland based on having to live there, and I loathe the whole of Devon based on personal experiences. But I like Warwick, and Norwich is nice, but Ipswich isn't. Is it possible or even sensible to generalise? Maybe not. And not least because places change with the years.

 

I think it is sensible to generalise. I mean, I doubt anyone is going to disagree that the UK would be just that bit better if Kent was sawn off and allowed to sink or drift in the sea.