The Geordie Tourist.

Well I finally managed to touch solid ground in King Edward’sBay. It was just a distant blur in the background when I ventured to Tynemouth last year. We took Poppy late afternoon and it was quite busy. Riley’s Fish Shack (which I’m still dying to try) was filled to the rafters. The smell coming from it was amazing and mixed in well with the sea air.

The weather was cold and windy, the sea water was quite far in and one lot of stairs was nearly totally covered. I love how it’s a cove so the dog can’t really run off into danger if she spots a friendly person she likes the look of or a little doggy friend. (It’s been known to happen.)

We threw her ball for her and I tried my best to get a picture of my shoes in the sand before the waves came crashing in. (as you do) She then opted for this massive log, that was nearly the size of her. Each time we threw it she brought it back though.

On our little walk along Tynemouth (me, Nic and Poppy) you can find details here. We stumbled upon the ruins of Tynemouth Castle and Priory.

I've lived here all of my life, been to Tynemouth beach more times than I can remember, but I've never once noticed the ruins or known about Tynemouth Priory and Castle. (Some kind of tourist I am eh.)

Anyways we walked passed the beautiful King Edward’s Bay (another place I’ve never actually set foot on) and decided to go and see it in all of its glory.

Tynemouth Castle and Priory was one of the largest fortified areas in England. It overlooks the River Tyne and the North Sea. It is a English Heritage Site, which basically means it’s a big deal. There are over 400 historic buildings, museums and others within their care. They try to reserve the beauty, the ruin and the former splendour of places so that they can be enjoyed by today’s public. (Maybe by two girls and a crazy dog?)

You can visit the outside of the castle/priory without paying. There were numerous little spots where you could sit on the grass, or on the low walls overlooking the bay. Being true explorers though, (I wish) we knew we couldn't leave without going further in.

It cost £4.90 each which isn't bad at all. What is bad is having to leave after a quick twenty minute look around because the parking was running out on the car. Parking at least twenty minutes’ walk away was also a rookie mistake.

The lady on the desk who sold me the tickets was lovely and we had a little conversation about the site and also some of the other places that the English Heritage looks after. She told me key points about the priory and the places not to miss. Not having much time to look around, it was more a case of quick, look over here and a click click of the camera.

I loved how there were just these huge, amazing, ruins everywhere. Granted we didn't have time to be too observant, but what I did see was half formed rooms, doorway and window shapes made with decaying brick.

There were a few old fashioned doors too. I love looking at doors (that makes me sound so sad.) I just like seeing how different they are, the knockers and the handles. (Yeah, I’m stopping before I go too far.)

The graveyard was something else entirely. I was so surreal walking among the tombstones, trying not to disturb the spirits. Trying not to get freaked out about the bones and beings buried under your feet. 

I just love going to historical places and seeing and learning about the past. I like to feel like I belonged in the moment almost. Obviously I'll have to go back to Tynemouth Castle and Priory as I don't feel like I did it justice. There were so many other things that we didn't see. It would be nice to just take it at a leisurely pace. When you buy a ticket it's valid all day too. Which is always a plus. 

Opening times at the moment are 10:00-16:00 daily.

English Heritage offer a yearly pass too, so that you can visit many of their historical places for free once you have one. It costs around £41.

I might just have to get one. Maybe I'll look at the handy brochure I was given and start circling venues of interest. Oh how very interesting indeed...

Have any of you been to Tynemouth Castle and Priory?

Way back in January when I started writing this blog, one of the first posts I wrote was about a trip to Tynemouth that I took with my best pal Nic and my pooch Poppy. Fast forward eight months or so, and were in exactly the same place, but only not.

It’s strange, you can visit somewhere, and then go back even just the very next day and it most probably won’t be the same experience. There will always be something different. Maybe you go to a different part of the beach (which we did) maybe the weather was different. (It was) My point being that, no two days are exactly the same and even if you go to somewhere that you've been before, chances are you’ll see something you missed the first time around.

It’s still the time of year when the dog can’t venture onto certain parts of the beach so for the most part we just took a stroll along the path instead. We came to the massive ruined swimming pool. (You know the one.) Even in its abandoned state, I can’t help but fall in love with it.

I remember ages ago we visited once when it was getting dark, the tide was quite far in and just walking around the outside of it was so scary. The water was black and murky and I imagined all sorts of horrible creatures lurking inside of it. (That’s the beauty of it though.) I love the ruins, the flaky paint. I like watching over the sides as the waves crash against it. It’s soothing in a weird kind of way.

I had this idea in my head that it would be amazing if the pool got renovated. I can’t imagine anything better than a pool at the beach. (It just blows my mind if I’m honest.) So I decided to have a little look online and I stumbled upon a page for the Tynemouth Outdoor Pool. It turns out that there’s an ongoing project to try and help bring the pool back to its former glory. You can get involved too, whether volunteering your services, or some spare change etc. It’s worth a read, seeing what is actually going on, what the Friends of the Tynemouth Outdoor Pool hope to achieve. It all sounds rather exciting. They have a Twitter and Facebook if you want to keep up with their progress etc.

After the excitement of the pool, further along we found a little abandoned spot where Poppy could just run around and be a dog for a bit. Nic and I just sat on the rocks and felt present in the moment. Life is full of these moments. Most of the time we’re too busy to realise that, but every once in a while it’s just good to sit back and take it all in.

From where we were we had a great view of the Tynemouth Castle and Priory in the background and you could also see King Edward’s Bay. I, up until that moment didn't know there was such a thing as Tynemouth Priory. You can bet that we walked straight over there when we were done, to see what it was all about.

I've also never set foot onto sand at King Edward's Bay whilst we're on the subject. A new fish shack has just opened up there too which I'm dying to check out. 

You can see what happened when we visited the Tynemouth Priory and Castle tomorrow.

Have any of you been to Tynemouth recently?

What do you think about the outdoor pool getting an overhaul?