Uncle Eric 12th-15th Oct

The adventure that was Newcastle.
We were (slightly) hung-over Tuesday after our hard nights night and had to take a 6 hour bus ride through lovely little towns and gorgeous green fields to get to Great Uncle Eric’s house in Gateshead, Newcastle. Eric is 90 years old, so I guess what were expecting was to show up, do the meet and greet, have some dinner and go to bed. When we got there we were greeted with a pot of tea and sandwiches, followed by meeting Leslie and Anthony, Eric’s neighbours and very close friends, and drinking whiskey and beer till midnight! And here I was expecting us to take a break off drink while we were up here! There were many stories to be told tho with heaps of laughter and lots of yelling- Eric’s quiet deaf so you have to be a few more decibels louder to be heard by him. We also had to talk slower cause I think he had a problem with our accents.

On Wednesday the 5 of us went into Newcastle to have a look around. We went to the old flour mill which has been converted into an art gallery, which had some weird bits of art on show but some brilliant views also of Newcastle, the River Thyne and the new millennium bridge. We went for a walk along the river and up to a pub for lunch, where we had a couple of pints, and Eric suggested going to their local pub for one drink on the way home, as Pete and I were planning on going back into Newcastle that evening to see hopefully see some music. Well. The one drink turned into an all nighter at the pub, so needless to say Pete and didn’t make it out! He’s a tough one that one.

Angel of the north

Thursday found us hung over (again) and in desperate need of sleep. Not happening today tho, as Pete’s mums best friend, Pat, was picking us up and taking us to Fencehouses, just out of Durham and the area where Pete was born. On the way there we stopped at the Angel of the north, a huge sculpture made out of steel that stands on the side of the freeway near Newcastle. She was erected in honour of the miners and also to give people a bit of hope (he said, everyone speaks of Angels, but no-ones even seen one, so hopefully this will put hope and faith in people) and her wing span is nearly the length of a jumbo airplane. She was pretty big!
At Fencehouses we met his Grandads old next door neighbour, Joan, and had a cup of Tea and a gossip with her. We saw the house his Mum grew up in, his Grandads house to, and got a photo out the front of the house he spent his first 2 years in. Actually we were outside his mums old house and there was a guy there, and we asked him if we could take a photo of the house and explained why, and he gave us a funny look. Its pretty neat seeing the places where it all happened, and even tho Pete isn’t very nostalgic, I don’t think he could help feeling a bit of that on this day.

Pat then took us to Lumley Castle which is a beautifully restored Castle that you can stay in, and also has a restaurant which does a lot of weddings. We had the yummiest lunch there (with wine glasses full of water- no alcohol was passing our lips on this day!) of Pumpkin soup and traditional beef roast with the biggest Yorkshire puddings I have ever seen. Size didn’t equal taste tho and Pete was a bit disappointed that they were no where near as good as his Mums. Pat left us there for a couple of hours and we had a walk around the immaculate gardens with a hedge that was so well pruned it looked bouncy, and Pete saw his first squirrel. It was a bit camera shy tho. We also took a walk through the castle and got a little lost through all the little walkways, a couple of the staff saw us and were so nice, they heard our accents and said- “You are a bit lost aren’t you!” We stopped at a little area that had big chairs and an open fire and Pete sat down and proceeded to fall asleep.

I got a cup of tea and homemade petite fours and read an old book of short stories out of the old library that was covered with dust and all the ladies that came into the area where we were all looked down at Pete and gave a little giggle. It was a lovely day and all up and was good to do it with Pat as she has memories of the area and stories for Pete to hear. We finished the day off very quietly and ended up in bed early.

So Friday found us eating Eric’s yummy soft boiled eggs with soldiers for breakfast before packing and getting ready to go to the airport.. He has spoilt us completely and it doesn’t matter what you say, every morning when we got up he would get out of his seat, boil the water for our pot of tea (cups, saucers, milk and sugar all ready), put the pot on to boil our eggs (plates, knives, cloth napkins already laid out), toast our bread (butter and spreads on the table also) and spoil us with choice of juice, cereal and fruit.
It was such a pleasure to be around Eric, and Pete and I have had a blast. Its been good for Pete to meet more of his family as his is so small, and I know now that I’m in trouble if this kind of longevity and liveliness is in the family- Pete is going to drive me round the bend when he’s old!!

Next stop- Dusseldorf with Maggie and Alex!!!! Take care- P & R

Uncle Eric 12th-15th Oct

Gateshead, United Kingdom