Englandshire (slight return)
Newcastle wears its history on its sleeve. It's probably the geography of it, with the city tumbling down at speed towards the quayside, that highlights this. You can see where the old Newcastle snaked its lumpy bumpy way to the water, and then when the industrial revolution strode into town waving its cock about it didn't have time to figure out how it was going to get around it all, so it went over the top. There are parts of town that feel like a redbrick and iron cuckoo has long since nudged the little bird from the nest, leaving its rickety offspring to fight for the scraps. Big iron legs of railway bridges stand askance cowering buildings that were literally built over. Little archways are towered over by vast Victorian expanses that puff out their chests for queen and country. It's all quite intriguing and we wish we could have explored that little bit more. When we say that we of course mean got lost less....
Went to the Baltic and enjoyed particularly the exhibitions by Barry Mcgee (Graffiti, geometry, 1950s comics - what's not to love?) and Mark Titchner ('1984' esque advertising propaganda with hypnotic psychedelic eye). One of his pieces can be seen enormostylee on the side of the gallery.
We also love the stairs at The Baltic - we come over all Jimmy Stewart... no sniggering at the back.
