Tag: places to go

#ThrowbackThursday: A North East Winter Wonderland

By on 17th December 2015in Lifestyle

A browse through the Tyne & Wear Flickr archive reveals some wintery gems…

The Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Flickr page is home to nearly 2,000 photographs of North East history. Whether you’re looking for photographs of World War Two factories, turn of the century ship launchings, or criminal mugshots of the ’20s, you’ll likely find it in one of their many albums.

But with Christmas just around the corner, and with a few flashes of snow in our recent memory, we think you might like to check our the ‘Winter Wonderland’ album.

With just a light frosting, our local landscape is transformed into an image straight from the front of a Christmas greetings card.

See for yourself…

Gems include Jesmond Dene, and an awesome aerial view of Alnwick Castle.

To see more of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums photographs, click here.

Do you have wintery photographs of your own to share? Leave a comment below, or email online@inandaroundmag.co.uk!

Alex Nelson’s Places To Go: Clacton-On-Sea

By on 16th December 2015in Have Your Say

Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train every month for ten years. This month, he’s headed to Clacton-on-Sea…

 

As we enter the depths of winter, I always like to look back over great experiences in the warmer summer weather.

One day in July, I had 22 hours free in London, and instead of staying in an expensive City hotel, I decided to have a trip out of the capital to visit somewhere I’d never been before. I settled on a train trip from Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea in Essex.

Although I stay in all sorts of places on a regular basis, I have a particular fondness for Premier Inns, and there was one on the front at Clacton for £77. London Premier Inns now often top £200 a night, so imagine my happy surprise!

I arrived by train in the late afternoon, and after a walk on the pier I took a First Essex bus out to Jaywick Sands. Jaywick is the most deprived ward in England, where unemployment and crime are high, but there is a strong sense of community spirit. The houses in Brooklands are named after famous British racing marques, but the quality of the houses is highly variable, all private holiday cottages in various states of repair, which have become permanent residences.

I decided to walk the length of Jaywick along the coast, past the golf course and back into Clacton, and I met various people along the way. I wish I could have shared a beer with some lads in one of the houses behind the flood barrier, but although they were friendly, they didn’t invite me to join them.

Local MP Douglas Carswell (the only UKIP MP in the House of Commons) is campaigning for a coherent plan to improve conditions in the area, primarily through the proposed Jaywick Coastal Community Team. I followed the coastal path past Martello Towers and the Golf Course, and ended up in Clacton centre for a pleasant Mexican meal alongside the award-winning golden sands.

The Pirate Radio Museum near the Pier would have been worth a visit, but sadly it was closed during my visit. It tells the story of Radio Caroline and the other late ’60s pirate radio stations, playing music that the BBC Light, Home and Third programmes declined to play. Many operated from ships anchored off the Essex shore or in abandoned wartime forts off the coast. The pirates led to the foundation of Radio 1 in 1967, and set the scene for commercial broadcasting to compete with the BBC. That was in the heyday of Clacton, when it was a daytrip resort for Londoners, which lasted from the 50s to the 70s. Billy Butlin had a holiday camp in the town from 1936 to 1983, which is now covered by housing, but with a few interesting information boards by the site.

I’m not suggesting that all of you should plan a trip to Clacton this summer. Mine was effectively a trip from London, not the North East. However, you might consider a short trip by train somewhere you’ve have never been before for a micro-break away from home. Some suggestions? How about Knaresborough, Berwick, Saltburn, Whitehaven, Hartlepool and Girvan… just for starters.

Santa Claus On His Way To Wynyard Hall This Christmas

By on 7th December 2015in Local Biz, What's On?

A North East attraction, which has received thousands of visitors since it opened in autumn, is preparing to welcome the most important of all; Father Christmas…

From Friday 18th to Wednesday 23rd December, The Walled Garden, in the grounds of Wynyard Hall Hotel, Tees Valley, will play host to Santa Claus, who will be giving a Christmas present to each child he meets.

And, while children visit his special grotto in the doorway of the historic gardener’s cottage, their parents will be able to snap up festive fare and Christmas gifts in the shop within the visitor centre.

Shoppers can choose from a wide range of seasonal homeware and gardening items along with a variety of cakes, preserves, cheese and meat, sourced from suppliers in the North East and North Yorkshire.

In addition, the visitor centre houses a café overlooking the garden, which serves main meals and light snacks.

Santa’s grotto will be open between 11am and 3pm each day and tickets, which cost £8 per child or £21 for three children, must be bought in advance online at www.wynyardhall.co.uk.

The £5 admission fee to the garden will be waived for up to two adults per child.

Alex Nelson’s Places To Go: Darlington

By on 18th November 2015in Have Your Say, In & Around, Lifestyle, Places To Go, What's New?

Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train every month for ten years. This month, he’s headed to Darlington…

 

 

Over the past few decades, County Durham has been getting smaller. First of all, the county lost Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Stockton and Hartlepool in 1974, followed by Darlington when it became a unitary authority in 1997.

With its population of over 100,000, Darlington is a town famous for many reasons, not least for the world’s first locomotive hauled railway service (from Stockton to Darlington) founded by Edward Pease and his business associates.

The company initially provided only the track, which was hired out to whoever wished to run a train, hauled either by horses or by steam. The transition to standard railway management was a gradual one, spurred on by frequent disputes between drivers over right of way, and by the dangers of the higher speeds of steam locomotives.

The town does have its own railway museum, but it’s been several years since I’ve visited, as opening hours are much reduced. This isn’t at the main Darlington station, sometimes known as Bank Top, but at the original station at North Road, a 20 minute walk north of the town. It’s the first stop on the branch to Bishop Auckland, which runs infrequently, but stops alongside the museum and the shed where the iconic new steam locomotive 60163 Tornado was built in 2008.

North Road Station Museum is known as the Head of Steam, and is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am-3.30pm. There is an admission charge of £4.95, with reductions for concessions and children. The big problem it faces, however, is that despite being a very interesting museum and incorporating the fascinating Ken Hoole Study Centre, it is dwarfed by the National Railway Museum off-shoot at Shildon, just up the line, which is much larger and benefits from free admission.

The Shildon museum is where people tend to gravitate, but on a day trip to Darlington, it’s well worth a visit to the original.

 

The town centre contains many interesting alleyways (or vennels), particularly between the High Street and Skinnergate, which runs parallel to the west, away from the railway station. There are many independent shops and specialist cafes on these vennels.

My wife and I enjoy many of the shows at the Darlington Civic Theatre, which is a more intimate performance space than the likes of the Sunderland Empire or Theatre Royal in Newcastle. The theatre is also close to the railway station for a ride home afterwards, but requires careful planning of train times if you’re to avoid a long wait after the show.

Darlington is also an excellent place to change trains, having a flat floor plan with no bridges or subways between platforms. Watch the indicators, though! Whilst southbound trains routinely leave from Platform 1, northbound from Platform 4, and locals to Middlesbrough/Saltburn from Platform 2/3, these are prone to swap around from time to time.

I learned this the hard way when I foolishly directed a lady on her way to Whitby (via Middlesbrough) to wait with me on Platform 1 whilst her train gently slid out of Platform 4… and it was her last connection. I wrote an apology in the Whitby Gazette and it won Letter of the Week, but the memory still fills me with dread.

On the railway, I’m supposed to know what I’m doing…

Alex Nelson

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Wynyard Hall Unveils Autumn Brasserie Menu

By on 11th November 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Local Biz, What's New?

An autumn menu of smoked, steamed and spiced dishes has been unveiled at one of the North East’s leading hotels…

Diners at Wynyard Hall Hotel and Spa, Tees Valley, can enjoy some of the season’s most popular ingredients with a new Brasserie menu, served at the informal, outdoor Terrace, overlooking the grounds.

In the coming weeks, a choice of starters, main courses, lighter options and desserts will be on offer, alongside an extensive drinks menu, including punch bowls of warming drinks, such as Daniel’s Swedish Glögg – created to a family recipe – and Winter Pimm’s Punch.

Starters will include venison and pork Scotch egg with Cumberland sauce, cured duck salad with baby pears and smoked salmon with boiled quail’s eggs, shaved fennel and wild radish.

Diners can then choose a main dish – such as steamed Shetland mussels in a Thai broth, spiced lamb massaman curry with coconut and roasted peanuts or a Wynyard burger with Applewood cheddar, pancetta and chunky chips.

Lighter options include an open, free range chicken and avocado club sandwich or roasted Mediterranean vegetable wrap with hummus and vegetable crisps.

These can be rounded off with desserts such as lemon meringue tart with raspberry sorbet, passion fruit and ginger panna cotta and plum and grenadine burnt crème with honeycomb and jam.

The Brasserie menu will be served daily from midday until 2.30pm, and from 5.30pm until 9.30pm. Starters are priced from £6, main courses from £13 and desserts from £5.

For further information call 01740 665406 or email events@wynyardhall.co.uk.

Ramside Hall Hotel Receives First Award Of Its Kind

By on 10th November 2015in Lifestyle, Local Biz, Places To Go, What's New?

A North East hotel is celebrating being the first in the region to receive a new award given out by a leading recognition scheme…

This year the AA has introduced its Silver Star award for hotels which achieve particularly high standards. The Ramside Hall Hotel, near Durham, is the only four star hotel in the area to have been awarded the new accolade.

AA inspectors gave Ramside Hall – which has benefited from a £16m investment in the last two years – the Silver Star for its “high standards of hotel keeping, superior level of quality, hospitality, service and cleanliness.”

To qualify, hotels also need to have a current Rosette award for “culinary excellence.”

The new entry in the AA guide for Ramside praises it for combining “the best of both worlds – convenience and tranquillity.”

It goes on to praise the variety of restaurant options and adds that, “bedrooms are furnished and decorated to a very high standard and include some stunning suites. A new addition to the property in 2015 is their spa and leisure facility; one of the finest in the country.”

John Adamson, owner of Ramside Hall Hotel, said he was delighted that the hotel had achieved the new award.

“We have invested heavily in the hotel and our new wing of rooms, second championship golf course and, now, our multi-million spa have all gone towards helping us achieve this Silver Star,” he said.

“It is great to hear our high standards of service and customer care being acknowledged in this way by such a prestigious organisation.                                

“To be one of the first to get the Silver Star and to get an 84 per cent rating from the AA, which is one of the highest in the region, is testament to all the hard work and investment which have taken place at Ramside Hall.”

For further information on the hotel visit www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk and www.ramsidespa.co.uk.

North East Coca-Cola Truck Tour Dates Announced

By on 4th November 2015in Entertainment, Events, Local Biz, What's New?, What's On?

The Coca-Cola Truck is back on tour. Does this mean we’re allowed to feel Christmassy now?

 

Coca-Cola’s Holidays Are Coming soundtrack has been the (un)official notifier of the Christmas spirit since 1995. This year, the big red truck will be stopping at 46 locations up and down the UK, and thankfully they haven’t forgotten the North East.

Each stop will offer the chance to grab a photo with the truck, while enjoying a sip of Cola in a wintry wonderland setting.

You can catch the truck in the North East on these dates:

Gateshead
26th November
ASDA Gateshead, Metro Retail Park, Gibside Way Metro Centre

Middlesbrough
27th November
Mima Centre Square

Leeds
10th December
Victoria Gardens, The Headrow

Ripon
11th December
Market Place, Ripon, North Yorkshire

Bridlington
12th December
King Street, Bridlington, North Humberside

Click here for the full list of dates.

Will you be going to see the Coca-Cola truck on tour? Share you selfies with us @inandaroundmag!

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North East Walks: Crawley Edge

By on 3rd November 2015in Lifestyle, Places To Go, What's New?

Gary Richardson, Darlington-based freelance photographer and writer, details the North East’s best walks. This month, he’s visiting Crawley Edge…

Route Info:

6¼ miles/10.0 Km with 800 feet/240m of ascent
Maps: 1:25K OS Explorer 307 or 1:50K OS Landranger 88
Start: Durham Dales Centre. Grid ref: NY995392 …. Post Code: DL13 2FJ
Parking: Durham Dales Centre car park.
Where to Eat and Drink: Durham Dales Tearooms, 9.00 to 16.00 Tel: 01388 527650

Route Map

A lovely autumnal walk combining riverside strolls along the wooded Stanhope Beck and Shittlehope Burn valley’s, with an airy walk along Crawley Edge, which gives outstanding views over Upper Weardale. The walk starts in the market town of Stanhope in Upper Weardale.

 

Leave the car park and go left along the main road, and walk into the market place. Cross the road and go left down ‘The Butts’ heading towards the river. At the bottom of the road, turn right onto the riverside path, which is followed upstream to the Stanhope Swimming Pool. Turn right past the pool to the main road, go left for a short distance, then go right along a track leading to Stanhope Hall (A).

 

Go right along this and follow it as far as the footbridge across the river. Don’t cross this, but keep on the west side of the stream and follow the path, initially fenced along field edges and then into the woods. Continue through the woods until another footbridge is reached. Cross this and climb the steep steps to join a wide track. Go left along this, through old quarries to reach some derelict mine buildings (B).

Just after passing a large single storey building on the right, take the track going uphill on the right following a wall through gorse bushes to reach a gate. Go right along the track which is followed through Heathery Burn to reach a road. Go directly across the road to reach an old mine track, turn right and follow this downhill. At the buildings go left and then leave the track. Follow the grassy track on the right alongside the wall/fence to reach a gate. Go left along a path through the heather onto Crawley Edge, and continue to reach a fork in the path (C).

Keep straight on along Crawley Edge to reach a road, then turn left uphill to a farm. Go left through the gate and then keep right to pass behind the farm. Find the stream and follow it downstream. As the woods are reached, cross the stream again and follow the path to reach a footbridge. Cross the bridge and go right downstream, following the path through the woods until the next bridge across the stream (D).

 

Cross this then cross the stile into a field. Keep right alongside the wall to a lane between houses. Go along this, then turn left along Woodcroft Gardens to the main road (A689). Turn right and follow this back through Stanhope to the dales centre.

For more of Gary’s work, visit www.garyrichardson.me.

8 North East Fireworks Displays To Visit This Year

By on 2nd November 2015in Entertainment, Events, Local Biz, What's New?, What's On?

Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

 

Looking for a North East bonfire night to attend this year? Here’s our rundown of the top eight to choose from…

Thursday 5th November
Beamish Bonfire Evening
Entrance at 6pm. Adult admission £5, children under 3 free.

Ouseburn Community Centre Firework Display
Entrance at 6.30pm. Admission free.

Hardwick Hall Firework Extravaganza
Entrance at 6pm. Adult admission £4, children free.

Gateshead Firework Spectacular
Entrance at 5.30pm. Admission £2.

Friday 6th November
Seaham Fireworks Display
Entrance at 6pm. Admission free.

Saturday 7th November
Chester-le-Street Grand Firework Display
Entrance at 4.40pm. Adult admission £4, children and OAP free.

Barnard Castle Bonfire Night
Entrance at 6pm. Adult admission £5, children £2.

St Cuthbert’s Hospice Family Fireworks Night
Entrance at 6pm. Adult admission £5, children under 15 £3.

What’s On? November Roundup

By on 2nd November 2015in Entertainment, Events, In & Around, Lifestyle, Places To Go, What's New?, What's On?

Haven’t picked up your copy of this month’s In & Around magazine yet?

Straight from the pages of the North East’s favourite monthly publication, here’s your handy guide to the region’s top events this month!

 

Friday 6th November
Seaham Firework Display
Seaham
Free firework display from 7pm. Find the best viewing point at George Elmy Lifeboat way, opposite Asda.

Saturday 7th November
Durham Does Vintage
The Gala Theatre
Vintage fair is set in the heart of the city. Expect exquisite vintage stalls supplying the finest vintage clothing, jewellery, homeware, kitchenalia, prints, and crockery. Whether you’re a discerning bargain hunter or avid vintage home lover, Durham Does Vintage promises the perfect purchase!

Thursday 12th – Sunday 15th November
Durham Lumiere
Durham
The UK’s largest light festival returns to Durham for the fourth time. Created by Artichoke, one of the UK’s leading arts producer, the world’s most innovative artists and light designers are brought together in a breath-taking and spectacular programme of artworks across four dazzling winter nights.

Saturday 14th – Sunday 15th November
Letters To Santa Weekend
Killhope
Write your letter to Santa and have it delivered by his own highly trained and responsible owls. Enjoy and owl flying display, papercraft activities, mine tours, live music, and a hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Thursday 19th – Sunday 22nd November
Dine In Durham
Durham
Look out for amazing £5, £10 and £15 meal deals in Durham City. If you’re a fan of food, you’ll be spoilt for choice by what’s on the menu. From large national chains to independent eateries, the food offering in Durham City is second to none.

Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd November
Wynyard Christmas Fayre
Wynyard Hall
Find a truly perfect gift among 150 stalls selling the finest local, handmade and artisan jewellery, fashion, decorations and treats. Capture the spirit of Christmas with crackling log fires, tasty mulled wine, and carol singers.

Saturday 21st – Sunday 22nd November
Designer Makers Market
Barnard Castle
Showcasing some of the very best designers and craftspeople from around the region. The emphasis will be on original and contemporary work, with a strong ‘up-cycled’ theme. There will be an opportunity to meet the designer-makers in person and buy unique handcrafted goods of gallery quality.

Saturday 21st November
Nightmare Before Christmas
Rockliffe Hall Hotel
Bored with the same old scare-and-scream routine of preparing for Christmas? Before all the bright colours and warm spirits take control, join us in Halloween Town with a larger-than-life-size Jack Skellington and embrace the Halloween Christmas spirits.

Sunday 22nd November
Durham Christmas Light Switch On
Durham Market Place
Annual Christmas Light Switch On event where the lights will be turned on by Father Christmas himself!

Saturday 28th November
Christmas Gift Fair
National Railway Museum Shildon
Get ready for Christmas and enjoy a shopping trip with a difference! Browse a number of stalls including stained glass, ceramics, knitted toys, candles, jewellery, cakes and baked goods, wooden toys, hand-made cards, model railway, preserves and more.

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