Mul’s at the pub
I’ve mentioned local artist Mul a couple of times in the past, but never mentioned this eye-catching piece which I walk past most days.
Covering the entire exterior of the Barca Art Bar on Gosforth High Street, this is Gossy Disco, created in July last year.
There are more and better photos here.
This post was filed under: Art, Photos, Gosforth, Mul, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The first pancake
Merely days after I read Dan Cullum’s post about ‘the first pancake rule’, Wendy decided that we’d make pancakes for breakfast this morning.
For the first time in my life, even the first one turned out perfectly. Maybe Wendy’s just better at cooking pancakes than me.
This post was filed under: Photos.
Spicy box
Look, I know it’s irresponsible of me to keep you in suspense for this long over my spice rack dilemma. I must apologise if it’s been keeping you awake at night.
The solution, as to so many things in life, was Tupperware: a box that lives in the cupboard and can be lifted out as required.
This post was filed under: Photos.
Springing forward
The blossom’s here and the clocks have sprung forward. Easter has arrived. Hope is in the air, growth and renewal are all around us, if we only let ourselves notice.
This post was filed under: Photos, Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Bridge to nowhere; not for everyone
Just along the River Tees from the Princess of Wales Bridge, one finds the Teesquay Millennium Bridge—locally known as the ‘wobbly’ bridge. I trudged across this many times when I lived locally.
At its northern end, the bridge used to give onto the Castlegate shopping centre. The bridge was accessible to pedestrians, but not to wheelchairs, when the shopping centre was closed. This gave rise to the above unusual sign, roughly 250m away from the south end of the bridge, directing those with disabilities to use the aforementioned Princess of Wales Bridge.
These days, the Castlegate centre is no more. While the new Stockton Waterfront is under construction, the northern end of the bridge is disconcertingly dangling. Once it’s complete, the bridge will be extended to join it, and will—for the first time—be fully accessible at all times.
It was always the bit over the road that wobbled. I wonder if it will still wobble after the extension is constructed, or whether a new moniker will be needed.
This post was filed under: Photos, Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby.
Disassembled Rocket
Twenty years ago, this piece of land near Thornaby station was home to The Rocket. This was the Students’ Union associated with Stephenson College at Durham University, where I started my medical degree… and where several of my fellow students performed a ‘full monty’ striptease for the local mayor. I’m not sure that would be a University-sanctioned activity in 2024. It feels more like an event that could lead to a political scandal.
I’m not certain when The Rocket closed, but it had been long abandoned and had suffered a large fire by the time it was torn down in 2021. It could hardly be called a rapid unscheduled disassembly.
It’s surprising how quickly things change, and also how quickly time passes.
This post was filed under: Photos, University, Durham University, Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby.