Day 1 - Home to Newcastle upon Tyne

A beautiful day, weather wise.  Very warm and sunny.

After an early morning running session, we got away at 9.30 and stopped for lunch at Fountains Abbey, a really lovely National Trust site near Ripon.  We had our picnic lunch overlooking the Abbey and explored the ruins before walking along the river to Studley Water Gardens.  There was a lot more to do but to see this place properly a full days visit is needed.  There were a lot of bluebells and wild garlic plants in flower in the woods.

 

 
Studley Water Gardens


 
Nesting Coot

 
Pheasants in the grounds

 
St Marys church

 
River Skell footbridge 

 
Studley Water Gardens

 
Wild Garlic

 
Fountains Abbey Cloisters

 
Fountains Abbey

 
Fountains Abbey

 
Fountains Abbey

 
Fountains Abbey

We headed for Newcastle and checked into our hotel and caught the bus into the city for the evening.  We walked around the city centre and then down to the Tyne before finding a nice restaurant.

 
The Monument - which is of Sir Charles Earl Grey
who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1830 to 1834

 
Theatre Royal, Newcastle

 
Newcastle Cathedral

 
Newcastle Castle

 
The Sage at Gateshead

 
Bridges across the Tyne

 
The Millenium Bridge, linking Gateshead to Newcastle

 
Very old houses with arched entrances in the city centre

 
Paul in Harrys restaurant


 


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