Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Tyne and Wear

  • National Express : Newcastle to London Victoria Coach Station

    National Express : Newcastle to London Victoria Coach Station

    I fear that I’ve been lulled into a false sense of confidence about National Express following a rather brilliant journey a few weeks ago from Norwich to London. This is the National Express bus station in Newcastle, which was perhaps not unsurprisingly closed at 22:45 which was when the bus was leaving to get me to London. Although on this point, I recall in the United States that the Greyhound bus stations I went to remained open if there were services going out. What was more surprising was that National Express haven’t bothered putting more than a couple of benches in the area, leaving most people to stand up.

    Here we are waiting for the service, which was due to arrive into London at 06:30.

    The coach turned up twenty minutes early, but this was mostly so that the drivers could stand in the entrance to the vaping. I have no interest in what they do, but it takes a little away from the National Express message not to smoke or vape on their vehicles if their drivers are doing it. The staff member was greeting customers by, well, saying nothing and just looking at their tickets or phones to ensure that they were meant to travel on that service. He wasn’t impolite to me, but it was all a bit cold. Although I was fortunate, he was quite abrupt with some customers behind.

    I felt sorry for the lad who was about 18 and had managed to buy a coach ticket for the wrong day and he then resorted to trying to buy a ticket from other passengers. I’m not sure what happened there in the end, but I don’t think he was able to travel. Nor indeed were a couple of customers at other stops further down the line who had turned up on spec in a bid to get to London.

    I boarded first and so had the full choice of seats although the first couple of rows on the right of the above photo were reserved. This is always a dilemma, there’s a better seat which is the emergency exit seat at the rear near the toilets, but there were a few groups of friends visible and I thought they’d probably want to chat and the like at the back, so it might be quieter at the front. So I picked the seat behind the two closed off for the drivers, so at least no-one could recline into me.

    Being used to not annoying coach drivers I had already put my bag on the floor and put my seatbelt on, so the driver meandered by me to announce loudly to a few people further back “get your bags off the chairs as this service will be full and you will have people sitting next to you”. It’s probably sensible to tell people to make it easier for later customers to board, but I did wonder how personable this approach was.

    That’s also the difference between the Caledonian Sleeper service I took last week and this coach service. There the stewards were wearing masks, there were big gaps between customers and there was a level of professionalism to the whole arrangement. National Express didn’t bother faffing around with that convenience and safety, they filled every seat. There was a slight disregard from the drivers over customers wearing seatbelts, but I think it did say to wear them on the pre-recorded announcement.

    On this, I note a swathe of negative reviews of National Express for returning to full seating with no social distancing, but their argument is that the Government said they could from 29 May 2021, so that’s what they were going to do. And I can’t much complain about that given the low price of the ticket that they charged me.

    The service isn’t the easiest to sleep on, as every stop the driver turns on all the lights so that customers can board. There’s probably not much that can be done about that, otherwise people would be tripping down the aisles when boarding, but it’s not the most conducive with regards to being a restful environment. At 02:30 we also had the added excitement of stopping at a service station for thirty minutes, although this was handy to use their facilities.

    As for the seats, they were crammed in to the point of being entirely unsuitable in my mind for an overnight service. With every seat full, it was all far too cramped for my liking, although since I seem to be able to sleep anywhere, I didn’t much let it bother me. I’m not sure that National Express themselves would even claim they’re going for comfort here (if they were being honest), it’s simply a way of getting people from A to B. For anyone taller than me (so over six feet) they’d likely be distinctly uncomfortable.

    The drivers didn’t worry about both coming in at the same time to use the toilets at the service station and leaving the coach open and unlocked. I imagine at some point someone will board the coach and nick passenger belongings, or indeed the entire coach, and then some more care might be taken. There were two drivers who took it in turns to drive the coach and although there was no real effort at customer service, they were professional drivers at the wheel and it all felt safe and secure en route. I suppose that I’d rather have this than a driver who is very friendly but yet collides with numerous things during the journey.

    Here we are in London Victoria Coach Station, a few minutes before the expected arrival time. On the plus side, this journey only cost £12 to get me from Newcastle to London. It was also on time, the driving was safe, the USB points worked and the coach was clean. On the negative side, it was cramped, uncomfortable and the drivers were grumpy. I’m not really a fan of coach travel, so the positive here for me is that I’m going to try and take the train in the future, it’s a better way to travel as far as I’m concerned. Although I might try Flixbus now they’re in the UK, as although they used to annoy me, I’ve become something of a fan of theirs.

  • Newcastle – Bacchus

    Newcastle – Bacchus

    Continuing on my tour of Good Beer Guide pubs in Newcastle, this is Bacchus Bar, which is designed to look like an ocean-liner. Something a little different I suppose….

    There was a friendly welcome at the door from the staff member, although I thought that the music was a little loud for my own personal preferences (which are, quite boringly, no music at all). I thought that the atmosphere was a bit muted, but it was a clean and comfortable environment. The beer selection was reasonable, a few different real ales and an effort has been made not to be bland. The staff were personable and pro-active, so everything seemed well managed and efficient.

    I went for the Stout 2021 from Nomadic Beers who are a small brewery from the Leeds area. Smooth, dark and chocolately, although perhaps lacking a rich aftertaste, but still very drinkable. The surroundings are a bit decadent, but that’s perhaps a little inevitable when you’re trying to recreate the theme of an ocean liner. There are normally around eight or so real ales on, but they’re down a little at the moment due to current circumstances, but there was still no shortage of options and most beer styles were available.

    This is an interesting and long-standing addition to the Good Beer Guide, although I suspect that on Saturday evenings it can all get a bit raucous for my liking. It does though seem to have been serving decent beer for some time, their web-site notes that it was a CAMRA pub of the year runner-up in 1995, so it appears to be something of a survivor. It’s run by a small chain, Sir John Fitzgerald, which I haven’t heard of, but they have numerous pubs in this area. This isn’t a pub I’d have thought to have gone in without the Good Beer Guide recommendation, but I’m pleased that I did.

  • Newcastle – Premier Inn Newcastle Millennium Bridge

    Newcastle – Premier Inn Newcastle Millennium Bridge

    This Premier Inn is a short walk from Newcastle city centre and was also very reasonably priced. They’ve changed the check-in time across all Premier Inn hotels to be after 16:00 to give them time to clean the rooms, but they were all ready just before then when I turned up.

    The room, which was all clean and sufficiently modern. The television is quite large for a hotel room and it let me cast my phone so that I could watch Britbox on the large screen. The blackout curtains are very effective, I decided to catch up on sleep (not least because I’ve got an overnight coach to London later today) and my alarm woke me at 09:00. Usually before then the sunlight would flood in, cleaners would clank about or other guests would fall over or something outside my room, but none of that happened here.

    As an aside, I wasn’t planning to eat at the restaurant at the hotel, but I liked that they’ve included a menu in the room. Some hotels seem to have chucked all of their paperwork out and blamed Covid, which isn’t ideal if they haven’t provided any QR alternatives or similar.

    The view from my room and I could see the River Tyne which was a little bonus. To be fair, I didn’t spend long looking at the river and car park view, but it was better than just having a view over air conditioning units or the like. The windows in this hotel also open and aren’t hermetically sealed as some locations seem to think is helpful.

    I asked for a few extra milks and the helpful staff member obliged   🙂

    I had a little look at the reviews for this hotel, which aren’t universally positive, but it’s above average. The majority of the complaints are about the lack of air conditioning (although at least a large fan was provided) and the behaviour of other guests, with the problem for the hotel it seems of stag and hen groups. I didn’t have any problems in that regard, although I was pleased to find myself at the end of a long corridor.

    The whole stay was faultless and it’s starting to become clear that Premier Inn and Travelodge have been able to have the strength to power through this Covid situation, whereas chains such as Accor seem to be positively falling apart. Very friendly staff, a clean room, a quiet location and a reasonable price, all really rather lovely.

  • Newcastle – Mean Eyed Cat

    Newcastle – Mean Eyed Cat

    As I’m in Newcastle for the day, I thought that I’d visit a few of the pubs in the Good Beer Guide and I started with this micropub near to the Haymarket metro station. When I went in it seemed to be quite busy internally and externally, but there was a friendly welcome from a member of staff who said that there was space in the rear garden area. That sufficed me as I wasn’t sure that I could get in at all on a Friday evening.

    The friendly staff member told me to have a quick look at the beers at the bar and she’d then come and take the order. I took one look and decided instantly, it had to be the Cherry Trifle from Brew By Numbers. A cherry imperial stout is one of my favourites and I’m a fan of Brew By Numbers and have been working steadily through their beers, as well as having visited their taproom in London. There were a range of beer styles there though to cater for most tastes, all nicely balanced and thought out.

    As it was a walk by photo this is a bit blurred unfortunately, but there were some cask options as well which looked tempting. As I wanted to meander around a few pubs, I had decided just to have one drink here, but not because of any shortage of options. The decor was sufficiently quirky to make it interesting and the whole atmosphere felt inviting, somewhat different to its previous use as a newsagents.

    The rear garden wasn’t the most salubrious of environments if I’m being honest, but they’ve made it bright and colourful. The beer was good, not quite as rich as I had expected, but it didn’t taste its 10% with the flavour being sufficiently moderate. The cherries were there though in some form, with a bit of vanilla in the taste as well. I was perfectly pleased with this smooth and slightly decadent beer, but I wanted a slightly more powerful punch from the cherries.

    Anyway, back to the pub itself. Not being inside meant I couldn’t quite get the same experience of understanding how the regulars interacted and the like, but I always felt welcome and the environment was on-trend without trying to be. The beer selection was thought through, the staff were friendly and I’d most certainly visit here again. Indeed, a few of us have decided a trip to Newcastle in November 2022 will be a really good idea, especially as the Head of Steam and Brewdog here are currently closed, so a revisit is required. This pub is though a quite worthy addition to the Good Beer Guide in my humble view.

  • British Airways (Newcastle to Heathrow T5)

    It’s the first time that I’ve flown from Newcastle and also, I think, the first time that I’ve taken a flight starting and ending in England. It was aircraft G-EUXL, a British Airways Airbus A321.

    The boarding process was one of the smoothest I’ve had with British Airways and the lines were clearly divided between boarding groups 1-3 and boarding groups 4-5. It was also one of those times where I managed to walk through the boarding pass scan just as boarding started, so I didn’t have to wait at all.

    I assume he was de-icing the plane……

    Reading material.

    Seat 24F, an exit row seat which has the advantage of not having a seat in front of it. So, lots of space, especially as there was no-one sitting next to me. The flight was around 75% full with, I think, four rows in Club Europe up at the front of the aircraft.

    The crew did their M&S buy on board trolley run and managed to sell very little. The flight only lasts for 45 minutes, but the service seemed efficient and well managed. The crew member was excellent, she was merrily making conversation and was personable, it’s these little things that British Airways can do really well. She said that she was then about to fly to Geneva and back, which now makes me realise that I should go back to Geneva at some point….

    Anyway, the flight arrived on time and at Heathrow T5 A Gates, making it easy to transfer to my next flight.

  • Newcastle – Metro System

    I’ve never used the Newcastle metro before and my first plan to get a train from the station next to the central railway station were foiled after I discovered it was shut for maintenance. Fortunately there was a sign saying where the nearest open station was, which was only 0.4 miles away, so it could have been worse.

    The metro, which is properly known as the Tyne and Wear Metro, was first opened in August 1980 and they’ve added on chunks since, with 60 stations now on the network. There are two lines and the one I was going to use was closed, but they had merged the services together a bit during the maintenance which meant that I could still get to the airport easily enough. The journey from the city centre to Newcastle airport took around 25 minutes, not including the 20 minute walk to get to the damn thing.

    It was more like the London Underground than I had anticipated, including a train to a similarly named station. There were staff members at the entrance to the station who were helpful and engaging.

    I was pleased to discover that it’s like the DLR in London, so it’s possible to sit at the front (or rear) and pretend to be driving. I’m too mature to be impressed by that of course, but I’m sure Dylan and Leon would like it….

    It wasn’t the busiest train. By not the busiest, I mean that I was the only passenger in the carriage. It was all very efficient and the price of the trip was included in my rail ticket, so there was some integrated ticketing going on. It looks a well-run service, if only Norwich could have something similar.

  • Newcastle – Britannia Hotel

    Since I arrived into Newcastle late at night and was leaving early in the morning, my initial intention was just to faff about at the 24-hour Greggs at the airport for a few hours. However, the airport hotel operated by Britannia was selling rooms for £22.50, value which was hard to turn down. So I didn’t.

    Britannia have a reputation for, well, not being very good. Which Magazine continually rate them as the worst hotel group and some of their hotels, such as the Liverpool Adelphi, have some of the worst ratings in their locality. But, for £22.50, it wasn’t clear how much they could get wrong.

    The room came with toiletries and tea/coffee making facilities, and was actually perfectly well presented. It didn’t have a feeling of having been deep cleaned, but it was adequate when taking into account how much they’re charging.

    The bathroom was again moderately clean, it was clear that no-one had burdened themselves by spending too long cleaning the room, but it’s hard to be too critical with the price point where it is. And the service at the check-in desk was well above average, warm, friendly and efficient. They had my booking ready even though I had only placed it around an hour before, so there were no delays.

    The internal soundproofing was though dreadful, and especially for an airport hotel, it isn’t ideal as they’re going to have guests arriving and departing at all manner of times. I only had a couple of hours sleep by want of when I was arriving and leaving the hotel, but fortunately I wasn’t woken by anyone else, but I could hear doors closing (and shaking the walls slightly) further down the corridor and from the floor above.

    For £22.50 I thought this was much better than I had expected, although I’d be cautious of booking a longer stay here. I’m not sure I’ll ever be a fan of Britannia Hotels, but if they keep putting rooms out at this price, I might yet be tempted again.

  • Newcastle – Newcastle Airport

    It’s 3.30am and I’m safely at Newcastle Airport. I should perhaps reconsider what time flights I get in future, although the terminal is already surprisingly busy.

  • Newcastle – Newcastle Airport (Greggs)

    Well, how marvellous, a 24-hour Greggs at Newcastle airport. Despite it being 3.30am the staff were friendly, welcoming and engaging, an impressive effort. And I was moderately surprised that the prices of the fine Greggs food isn’t much more expensive than the standard pricing at high street shops.

    A large latte and a packet of Cheese Puffs, just what any traveller needs before their long journey. And, both were free with the Greggs rewards app, so it’s a win win for the hungry traveller.

    I note the TripAdvisor review of this fine outlet which said:

    “Staff are more interested in conducting their social life and exchanging banter with each other than serving customers. I am surprised that Greggs continues to be so successful because all the stores have similar issues in my experience.”

    I suspect that Greggs are so successful simply because their staff are friendly and exchanging banter, and I’ve never been to one where they haven’t been serving customers…. Anyway, all very lovely, and every airport in the country should perhaps (well, not perhaps) have a Greggs in it.