You know that nice statue in town, the one that overlooks
Grey Street? The Monument, Grey’s Monument, well every so often it opens its
doors to the public and you are allowed to climb its steps (168 to be exact) and
behold the sights of Newcastle from above.
Not just a precious meeting point for the hordes of people
that visit town every day, the Monument is there to celebrate the life of
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey for passing the Great Reform Act in 1832. (I won’t go into too
much detail, but you can find it all on Wikipedia. It took me two seconds.) To
me the Monument is a place of gathering. When I went on Saturday there was a
big street market showcasing goods. There were buskers and even a man dressed
as Darth Vader playing a keyboard. I mean only in Newcastle eh?
So yeah on Saturday myself, my mam and her Fiancé (Geoff)
went to climb the monument. I read somewhere that the times were from
10:00-16:00 (half an hour slots with only 8 people being able to go up at a
time.) We got there for quarter to ten. There were already people up the
Monument. When we went to put our names down the earliest we could get was
12:00pm. I felt sorry for anyone getting there a bit later. There were already
loads of people waiting for spaces when we went. When we came back at 11:45 to
wait for our turn, the whole thing was completely booked up.
Definitely go early to avoid disappointment. We went for a
nice fry up at Fenwicks to fill the time beforehand. I was pleased we got a
later spot in the end because the sun was out by that point and although the
strong winds were shaking the structure, I still managed to get some good
pictures.
To go up, there was this little wooden door by the base of
the Monument. You had to enter backwards and keep your head down as the ceiling
was low. Then it was just a case of climbing up all of the steps on the stone
spiral staircase. There were little holes in the walls all the way up. I chose
not to look as I didn’t want to freak myself out. (I’m scared of heights, and
for whatever reason unbeknown to me, it never occurred to me that I would be
scared when I reached the top.)
As soon as I stepped onto the platform I was scared stiff.
Don’t get me wrong it was absolutely breath-taking. There was a man up there to
guide us and answer any questions that we had. I just kept myself as far back
to the wall as possible. There were railings and mesh so it wasn’t like I could
fall, but still. I t was amazing looking down at the tiny people and at the
gorgeous buildings. We went around a couple of times snapping away, before
leaving. After a while I wasn’t so scared, but every time the wind picked up
and I could feel it shaking, I wasn’t so confident haha.
As you can see I found an old sign hidden away. It's crazy to think of it being open before quite regularly and at only 50p a pop.
Until Saturday I hadn't ever really paid much attention to the Monument. I don't remember looking at the figure on the top, or reading the quotes on the side of the base. I'm pleased I got a chance to really look at it and to climb it is something that I'll probably never do again, but I'm so pleased that I did it.
You can check out the page here it will keep you up to date with the next open day for Grey's Monument. It's priced at £4 each.
Did any of you climb the steps of the Monument?
