DAVID SIMPSON considers the size and importance of Northern England and its place in the world and argues that the whole of the North should have a much bigger voice
Right let’s be clear, right from the very start, when it comes to people, the North of England is a pretty BIG place to be:
Scotland’s population is around 5.3 million by the way.
Now, I’m not suggesting for one moment that the North of England – or any part of the North of England for that matter – should break away from the United Kingdom.
Heaven forbid!
I mean, for a start, we wouldn’t have won quite as many medals in the Olympics.
However, the three regions that make up the north – and not just the cities – do need a stronger and bigger voice that’s in keeping with their place in the world. In fact part of the problem is that they need to have a place in the world. Too often they’re seen as the fringes of England.
They’re more than that, in fact in many ways they are the real England.
Yet somehow, somewhere along the line, we’ve been conditioned to think small and the truth is we are very far from that. We have our own distinct history and a population that many nations in the world don’t come close too.
The North has a story all of its own – and it’s a big story and with deep roots.
And we played no small part in what made our nation so powerful and successful in the past. In fact we played a major role in changing the world:
Even the North’s smallest region could have a much bigger voice:
Whenever we think about the North, we need to remember to think big and ensure that we get our fair share of investment and a bigger say in our affairs.
Great Britain is not just all about London.
Without the North, it would be Not So Great Britain.
So, always speak up for the NORTH and let’s start by making sure that we are properly empowered to do so.
If you like this post you might like this follow up post more maps:
HELEN GILDERSLEEVE discovers the wide range of cycle-friendly cafés available across Newcastle and its surrounding areas.
The Cycle Hub, Newcastle
What better way to enjoy the sun and our beautiful region than by having a tootle on a bike with some well-deserved cake at the end.
A decade or more ago, budding cyclists would struggle to find anywhere suitable for a mid-cycle pit stop. Now, the region’s cycle ways and popular routes are brimming with cafes full of lycra-clad riders and curious passers-by.
One of Newcastle’ s most central and well known cafés, The Cycle Hub has gone from strength to strength since it opened its doors a few years ago on Route 72 of Hadrian’s Cycleway.
With a large outdoor terrace and spectacular views of the Quayside, it isn’t hard to see why it’s so popular. As well as serving delicious locally sourced food and drinks, the Hub also boats a merchandise shop, bike hire, maintenance workshops, film nights and breakfast clubs. Regular social bike rides take place on a weekly basis and are suitable for those new to cycling right through to professional riders.
Another city centre bike café opened its doors in June 2015. Part-funded by the Government in a bid to revolutionise cycling in the region, The Journey, located next to the Laing Gallery in the city centre is proving just as popular. Developed by travel charity Sustrans, in partnership with Newcastle City Council, its aim is to put city cycling back on the map to improve health and wellbeing.
Its cafe is run by Colour Coffee, which runs Pink Lane Coffee, and Recyke y’Bike who sell second hand bikes and carry out repairs across the North East.
Newcastle had £10.6m pledged to it by the Government as part of their Cycle City Ambition Fund which will go on schemes in the city’s West End, the Ouseburn, Heaton and the Coast Road.
Some £5.7m handed over in an earlier round of funding will go towards the John Dobson Street upgrade, part of Cowgate roundabout and Elswick and Benwell cycle lanes.
Peddalling Squares in Swalwell
Across the Tyne in Swalwell is another contender for best bike café in the region, and some would even argue the country. Pedalling Squares is a family owned coffee bar and shop selling affordable replica and retro team cycling apparel. Since opening in March 2014, Pedalling Squares was voted in the top five cycling cafés in the UK by the Financial Times for 2016 and was in the top ten cycling cafés in the UK by cycling website, Road.cc for 2015.
The café is located on the Coast to Coast route, close to Derwent Walk and Chopwell Woods. Cyclists, runners and visitors alike can enjoy a coffee, cake and burger in unique, retro surroundings. Even dogs are welcome too.
For riders wanting to enjoy a more rural setting away from it all, Parkhead Station , near Stanhope on the Coast to Coast route provides beautiful scenery from all angles of Stanhope Moor.
Parkhead Station near Stanhope in County Durham
Named after the railway stations that existed along the original railway line to Consett, Parkhead Station offers a bed and breakfast service as well as a rustic and inviting café for cyclists passing by.
Owners, Terry and Lorraine Turnbull decided for their millennium project to do something very different and Parkhead certainly was that.
The project was to restore and rebuild the derelict Station Master’s house into a B&B and team rooms. It has been specifically designed with cyclists and walkers in mind, renowned within the cycling fraternity and certainly the place to be on the famous Coast to Coast. It is frequently and affectionately referred to as the sanctuary, haven and oasis to many a weary, distressed traveller.
Coast loving cyclists can enjoy a brew at the Cullercoats Bike & Kayak. This venue hires out bikes, kayaks and stand up paddleboards for those feeling particularly adventurous. The team there are specialists in tours, lessons and repairs.
Bike and Kayak Cafe, Cullercoats
Cullercoats Bike & Kayak is a perfect retreat for aching legs and has converted a loft space into a cosy, snug café where guests can enjoy some homemade cake and locally roasted coffee.
DAVID SIMPSON meets Newcastle tour guide, Alexander Iles, who talks about his popular city tours and his hopes for the region
I meet tour guide, Alexander Iles at Newcastle’s Journey Café to the rear of the the Laing Art Gallery. He’s very welcoming and offers me a coffee. My first impression is of an enthusiastic, engaging young man full of passion for Newcastle and very keen to share his knowledge of the city and region.
Alexander Iles
He draws my attention to a nearby building that was home to Victorian architect, John Dobson and points out what looks like a plain pavement just outside the café. Alex explains that this is the controversial ‘Blue Carpet’, a worse for wear art installation of 250,000 glass tiles, completed in 1999 at a cost of £1.6 million. He’s clearly not impressed by its sorry state, but it’s great to have your eyes opened to something you might not have otherwise noticed and in this Alex excels.
Alex is the owner of Iles Tours, a three and a half-year-old business providing popular walking tours that have become, in a very short space of time, a major tourist fixture in Newcastle. They are also a great treat for locals wanting to learn more about their city.
You’re left in no doubt that the success of the business is down to Alex’s knowledge, determination and passion for Newcastle. We chat for more than an hour and I’m struck by his desire to share as much of what he knows about the city and the region as he possibly can. What he knows is exceptional. I learned much that I did not know and as a North East historian myself, I’d say my knowledge is certainly better than average.
Though only 25, Alex has soaked up facts, stories and insights spanning centuries and this all helps to make his energy and passion so much more infectious. In fact such is his passion that it’s sometimes hard to get a word in, but it’s endearing because what he has to say is so fascinating and inspiring. What’s more it’s all told with a conviction that Newcastle and the North East has an extraordinary story that just has to be told and that this is a city and region destined for great things.
“It all started in March 2012” says Alex, remembering the beginning of his entrepreneurial adventure fondly, “there was a blizzard on the day and I started asking people if they would like a tour of Newcastle.”
Alex had studied Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University and stayed on to follow up with a Masters in Innovation Creativity and Entrepreneurship. He believes his academic background helped him understand cultures and how to “take apart the method of idea generation.”
Post university and frustrated by his job searches, being told he was either overqualified or inexperienced, he opted for self employment.
“I didn’t want to do an office job and loved Newcastle” he reflects.
“When I was younger my family and I went to the Edinburgh Festival and I remembered the guides and thought, well, that is something I could do.”
Newcastle upon Tyne: photo courtesy of Iles Tours
As a student, Alex developed a great affection for Newcastle and in his preparation for business his passion for the city’s history was further ignited through absorbent research:
“I went into Newcastle Library and read every book I could get on Newcastle and wrote my first tour – the Historical Tour.
“From here I went out and started asking people if they wanted tours and contacting people about what I could offer them.”
In setting up the business Alex received guidance from PNE (Project North East) and Rise Up at Newcastle University who gave him a £400 grant to build a website and make the first flyers.
“It helped a lot, as I had a vision but not much finance to get off the ground.
“For research I went to York to learn about guiding and how the city of York structures things. I wanted to see how it was done in a place with lots of tourism so I could then see where Newcastle would and will be”
Alex is motivated when people get passionate about the region and start seeing it for what it is. He wants people to love the region and to fight for it too. I find him optimistic about the region’s future as well and he believes the North East is on the verge of another great period of prosperity.
His optimism is based on the belief that a new industry or technology will be found for the city. Let’s hope he’s right. Indeed, as part of his research into a new tour featuring the city’s historic entrepreneurs, Alex has learned much about modern technology developments and technology companies within the city and the region and this will feature in his latest themed tour.
I ask him what it is about Newcastle and the North East that he thinks is so special?
“This is the greatest region in England and has so much rich history that makes it so vibrant today” he says.
“The North East is a location with such a unique culture, it is English, but it’s not, it is communal, friendly, based on honesty and mutual respect with a huge sense of humour.
“The layers of history are near the surface with the ancient Hadrian’s Wall side by side with the modern parts of the region. It is also the durability of the location; it always picks itself up, has a bit of a laugh about it and gets on with the work needed”
Hadrian’s Wall. Photo: David Simpson
Typical customers on Alex’s tours are from all walks of life, ranging from school children on trips to students and professionals, to older people taking city breaks. He also undertakes corporate tours from time to time at the request of local businesses.
Around half of Alex’s customers are British, around a quarter are from Europe and the rest are from English speaking countries. He seems to get some great feedback from customers who are impressed by what they learn. This is certainly backed up by glowing reviews on Trip Advisor.
Alex clearly gets a great buzz from inspiring and educating people about the region. Even when they are local, he is keen to show that although they may ‘know’ their city there is always so much more to know.
I ask what kind of expectations or preconceptions visitors have about Newcastle on his tours and Alex has a view on this:
“I think many people think Newcastle will just be a party city. Geordie Shore has had a lot of influence on the way people view the city. Others think Newcastle is just flat caps, coal and ships – or the lack of all three! I like showing that there is so much more to the city than this.”
Alex has made many surprising discoveries about the city but one of the things that strikes him the most is how much the world owes day to day things to the city. He believes that the inventions and inventors who came from Newcastle and the region are often taken for granted despite the fact that they transformed the way the world works and I am inclined to agree.
Light bulbs, power stations, competitive rowing, cranes at docks are among the developments Alex mentions.
“Newcastle has been pivotal in how the world has worked” he says.
Newcastle Quayside, Photo: David Simpson
Alex is an entertaining teller of tales, but also a stickler for accuracy which is a good thing, but I want to know what are his favourite stories about the city?
“It depends on how people I am touring respond to it (the tour) as to which one is my favourite” he says.
“Currently on a personal level it is the story of Roger Thornton and Ralph Carr, entrepreneurial businessmen who were very influential in Newcastle during their day. I look to them as heroes in my own business. Both men started with some advantages but had to work hard on their business to succeed in Newcastle and grew to the level where they were two of the most influential people in the North East and able to protect and invest in the region through their finances.”
Alex undertakes a number of different kinds of walking tours in Newcastle, each with a different theme. There’s an historical tour, a cultural tour and a gory tour and, as mentioned, he is close to introducing the new tour focused on Newcastle’s entrepreneurs. He can also create bespoke tours for people on request.
His gory tour started this way after Newcastle Blood Bank wanted a medical tour of the city. Alex put together the tour for them and realised he enjoyed the material, so started adding and editing it.
Alex is of course not the only guide offering walking tours in Newcastle and the North East. There are many experienced, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides offering such services throughout the region, so I want to know what he believes makes his tours different?
“I think it’s a combination of my passion for the region and wanting people to love the area as much as I do. Anyone can list off facts, but to create an engaging story you need to take the facts and make it relevant and comparable to the age in which we live. History is a lot of stories and you need to draw it out of the facts and help people feel it.”
So as the business begins to grow where does Alex go from here? Well, Alex is clear in his future ambitions:
“My dream is to expand Iles Tours across the North of England within the decade – from Glasgow and Scotland down to the south of Yorkshire and then to plan expansion into Scandinavia, northern Europe and eventually southern England.”
However, in the present he’s focused on our region and hopes to continue developing the educational arm of his business as part of a teaching group called Meet The Ancestors – where like minded businesses work to teach the past to schools and the region. Alex has also written a book that he’s hoping to get published entitled A Time Travellers Guide to the North East.
“It is a passion of mine to work in establishing festivals in the North East”, he says “and helping to get people passionate about their region” he adds, and it is in this, it seems to me, that Alex is a shining light.
For more information about how to book an Iles Tour visit the Iles Tour website at Ilestours.co.uk
