Hadrians Wall Country 9: Newcastle

Newcastle is a magnificent place, in my opinion ranking alongside Bristol and Edinburgh as the most handsome of all British cities. It is blessed by a spectacular position on the River Tyne gorge which is criss-crossed by numerous bridges. And I'm not saying all this just because it's Christian's hometown.

Your first visit should be aboard a train so you can cross the river at height and approach the medieval castle keep that stands guard over the station.

As for us, we were aboard the AD 122 bus for the last leg of our trip along the Roman wall, our 3-day rover tickets ready to expire. It was such a contrast to see the wall in an urban setting, running alongside council estates, being crossed by pedestrian bridges and standing next to a busy highway.

No better place to end our Hadrians Wall trek than at the train station's fine refreshment room, the Centurion. A relic of another empire, it is a grand Victorian space supported by Corinthian columns and decorated in floor to ceiling terracotta tiles.

We schlepped our backpacks past the velvet chairs and parked ourselves on a leather settee to enjoy a drink. Emerging from the vast gilded chamber, we blinked at a rare sight: sunshine!

The first cloudless weather of the entire trip and we had all of Newcastle to explore!

We went down to the glorious quayside, This is one of Britain's finest waterfronts, where church spires and bridges overlook Victorian warehouses and mills that have been converted into hotels, offices and art galleries.

The Sage Centre (AKA 'the slug') slinks along one riverbank. Several concert halls are housed inside and it is the home of the Northern Sinfonia, making it the Sydney Opera House of England.

The Baltic flour mill is now home to an art gallery which is often nicknamed the 'Tate Modern of the North'. Both the Baltic and the Sage are in fact in Newcastle's sister city of Gateshead, on the south side of the Tyne, but the bridges knit the cities together.

A quick look at the time..

...and yes, the sun is still shining!

I don't want to give the impression that Newcastle is a perfectly preserved Victorian city (in fact, it's better known for its Georgian streetscapes).

Quite a lot of brutal 1960s concrete intrudes on the skyline, though some of these less elegant buildings have been demolished, reclad or spruced up.

The regeneration of the city has a long way to go in parts, which is much the same for any English city these days. A lot of progress has been made though these past 10 years to bring people and life back into Britain's city centres.

Nearly sundown by now and I think I've spotted a lovely pub to start the evening! Plenty more photos and more musings on the city coming soon.