Blogs from Durham County, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

It was a glorious day. A sharp contrast to my last foray around the North East coast, which turned out rather damp. The forecast predicted the warmest early May Bank Holiday on record. I looked out the windows to double check. On a good day, visibility stretches as far as Sunderland from the mother in law's lofty perch. The view confirmed the weather people were on course to get it right today. I found myself on Thornaby railway station waiting for a connection towards Hartlepool. The Travelblog world is full of records of trips to magical places, but the blog that brought you Shildon, Bishop Auckland and Tow Law was on the way to County Durham once more. The York drinking circus would be busy today. A few had decided to best the rush and get ... read more

I awoke to see a hard frost outside the windows. The white where the lawn should be, coupled with the deluge of rain and snow the previous morning, possibly spelled an end to my preferred mission of the day. I flicked on to the lap top and watched the twitter feed unfold with news of postponements. The usual suspects called off early. A bucket of water would be enough to bring Mount Pleasant to a halt. No news. I set off regardless. I was thinking of getting a North East rover ticket on the bus. At £8, it is good value. Good value perhaps, but a quick check of the timetable suggested I would do well to get back for the start of Match of the Day if I missed a connection. I took the car ... read more

Checked out of my guest house and headed to Costa to get breakfast, mainly because I knew they'd have plant milk. Then off to the station to get the train across the breadth of England to Durham. Some very pretty scenery between Preston and Leeds, another part of England that was unfamiliar to me, the southern part of the Yorskshire Dales. So much left to explore. A rowdy lot got on at Leeds, complete with alcoholic beverages. Squaddies and possibly a stag do. Changed trains at York, and my friend who I was possibly meeting couldn't make it but he said he might stand in the field behind his house and wave at my train. I think he missed it though. In Durham I decided to have a quick walk around, despite being rather worse for ... read more

I look across at the decaying facade of an old Art Deco theatre. The Globe. High Street. Stockton-on-Tees. The boarded up section at street level, carries the logo Bring Back the Stars. At the right hand end, it states Sold Out. I think it has been. The project to restore The Globe to former glory with Heritage Lottery money looks like it hasn't got off the ground. The former heavyweight of the music industry on Teesside will have to wait a bit longer to see another Sold Out sign. I wander further along the widest High Street in the UK. Marlborough in Wiltshire claims the 2nd widest, if you are interested. I have looked, but cannot find any specific reason for the wide expanse. I can recall being in Coolgardie, Western Australia and the explanation there ... read more

If you look back at some of my previous posts, you'll see I like a good song title as the lead. Where The Streets Have No Name. It was an obvious choice for this blog. The streets of Newton Aycliffe really do have no name. In fact, there are no streets. There are Roads, Avenues, Ways, Closes and so on - but no Streets. The first interesting fact revealed about Newton Aycliffe. I started the day on the 9:58. The 9:58 special. I feel like a Portsmouth fan, except they went in numbers on the 6:57. I am a bit later. I am also on my own. There are 2 conductors on the train this morning, as we pull off from the North East Premier Seaside Resort. It is overkill today. The Teesside invasion of York ... read more