I was never one to subscribe myself to what I thought was an ignorant view that the dialect belong to the inhabitants of Newcastle and the far North-East in general was completely alien to the rest of the population of England and the most of the British Isles. However, on my travels tot he heart of the 'Geordieland', I found more often that not attempting to converse and failing miserably. On most occasion resorting simply to a polite not in agreement, in addition to a friendly chuckle and smile before swiftly on. I'm not sure whether it is the sheer thickness and difficulty to pick up the simplest of words from the mouth of a local, nor whether it is the speed and the seemingly effortless ability to strings a sentence together to form one long word, nor finally whether it is the use or pronounciation of words that seem completely made up and fantastical. I have always been a fan of the 'NooCassell' accent, finding it endearing, amusing and sometimes rather attractive, this was before I had however learned of the social dangers which surrounded said dialect. It was after a rather discouraging example of this difficulty on the first day that I chose to just escape, with a confused frown on my face I departed for the site on which the 'Angel of the North' is situated. A magnificent example of British sculpting, this vast winged beast stands proud over looking the A1 as either an intimidating beacon of the North-Eastern territories or a fascinatingly plain and basic welcoming sight.
However, enough of this nonsense hang up of mine, I found myself staying in a surpringsly pleasant hotel situated in the outskirts of the town (I had, by this stage come to terms with my choices in places to stay being rather basic to say the least), however in closer proximity to the impressive St James' Park, home of the mighty 'Toon Army', Newcastle United Football Club, whom despite being an avid Gooner (fan/supporter of Arsenal Football Club), I've always had a particular fondness for, some would regard it as a soft spot perhaps. As for the city it was again similar in many ways to any other out of London city, however the Architecture differed somewhat from places like Nottingham and Birmingham. The Town centre was steeped in History with impressive 'turn of the century' style grand buildings lining most of the road, however allowing room amongst their clusters for some quirky back alleys and quaint stores. The many bridges crossing the River Tyne, simply cannot be ignored by any tourist and allowed some great views of the bustling landscape of Newcastle contrasting with the rather quiet surroundings of County Durham. Particularly impressive and providing stark contrasts in examples of technological advances in mechanical engineering feats were the Millennium bridge and the Tyne bridge itself.
Many of these previously stated backstreets and intricate alleys worming through the town centre, opened up into small parades of shops and indoor market places which show that the independant retailers still survive and thrive somewhat in Newcastle. In one small Bookstore I even managed to find the 'Hunger Games' for as little as £4, which pleased the inner stingy, money-grabby demon inside, as well as satisfying the geeky, thirst for medieval adventure.
the highlight of the few days spent in the far reaches of Northern England didn't actually occur in Newcastle however, it was on the journey from York to 'Geordieland' on which i chose to take a detour over the North York moors. I chose the villages of Helmsley and Stokesley as my A and B destinations on the North and South borders of the vast wasteland respectively between which runs a 17-mile stretch of the B1257. This quickly became my favourite dive which I have ever completed. Simply stunning. The views were utterly breath-taking as I followed the ever winding road, it was almost a shame that I had to concentrate so much on the road and not take in the raw beauty of the natural landscape which my route ran through, splitting the many valleys and contours of the National Park. Vast expanses of Moorland and dramatically steeps rolling hills surrounded me in extreme contrasts. I felt truly privileged experience this rich English countryside in its purest form, you can really get a feel for and understand the isolated nature that some areas of the North of England has to offer. Personally I find it fascinatingly fantastic to think how alone and with nature these areas are, I already have an irrepressible yearning to further document, visually, what I believe to be a little piece of heaven on these Earthly Public Highways.
