Friday 12 June 2026
We arrived in Newcastle Friday night, checked in and had magnificent views of the Tyne from our hotel. It was worth the spendy penny.
We travelled by metro to Jesmond that evening. We were amused by the metro advert - which only makes sense if you knew where we used to live.
We ate in the amazing Dosa Kitchen. You enter around the back yard and you wouldn't know it was there, however the food was super lovely.
I lived in Jesmond for my last year at university, Flat L in Eskdale Terrace. For my first two years at uni I lived in Castle Leazes, on Leazes Moor, which have been knocked down (the student establishments, not the moor) so this was the last standing memory of my accommodation. It gets worse tomorrow...
Today was the BIG trip down memory lane. JC and I strolled up Grey Street and then I disappeared into the bowels of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Oh my goodness, the students union, the red brick arches where most people read their degree results, it was great to be back.
We met in the current Geospatial Sciences building and then went on tour of the campus. The equipment store of the geospatial sciences course was mighty fancy, but I wasn't able to distract anyone to nick a bit for my team.
This is where I graduated.
The Old Brewery Building, where I had lived and breathed surveying sciences for my 3 years, was no more. In its hey day, the door code had been set by a professor to 206265. For the uninitiated, it is the number of seconds in a radian (rounded up). It was the most amazing place I inhabited for 3 years, with the most awesome door code I've ever known. But it was flattened for student accommodation. Memories swiped.
In an interlude, I met with JC and Libby, my friend's daughter, for Indian street food in the Grainger Market.
That evening I met up with fellow colleagues near Byker. Much reminiscing, but a little sad that none of my graduation year had turned up. However, I knew plenty of other surveyors, as many of us are still circulating in the industry.
Sunday 14 June 2026
Time to head home, but not without one more wander around the quayside. So many memories!
We drove south and visited Fountains Abbey. It was well worth a visit to discover how the Cistercian monks ran the community until it was closed down by Henry VII.
It was then incorporated into Studley Royal in the 18th Century and now is a UNESCO site,
Monday 15 June 2026
This morning, I met one of my best friends from university for coffee which was supremely lovely. Then JC and I headed south, with a pit stop at Hanbury Hall. It was a summer retreat for Thomas Vernon (1654-1721) and celebrated for its wall and ceiling paintings by James Thornhill.
Not really my thing, but beautiful grounds.
In all, a super lovely, long weekend up north and must go back again soon ;-)
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