We had cereal, fruit and the usual full English for breakfast accompanied by limitless tea and coffee so we were really set up for our day! We headed to Durham first and parked in the large multi-storey that brought us out onto the main shopping street leading to the Cathedral and the Castle.
Keith had seen an advertisement for an exhibition at the University Library about Durham County's involvement with the Battle of the Somme so we paid our entrance fee and spent a very enjoyable, and moving, couple of hours there.
The exhibition was mainly about the Durham Light Infantry who recruited from the area and there were lots of photos, films and artefacts about the First World War. It was beautifully presented and it was fascinating to see so many photographs and films from 100 years ago.
When we emerged from the exhibition we went into Durham Cathedral which is truly beautiful and dates from 1093 to house the shrine of St Cuthbert. By now the area around the Cathedral and Castle had become a lot busier, but it was still lovely to wander around the huge church and look at the stunning architecture and stained-glass windows.
Afterwards we wandered over to the Castle entrance but we decided to head to Newcastle instead. The weather was a bit dull and cloudy but thankfully, dry!
We found our way into the city quite easily and parked in the underground car-park of Newcastle United Football Club! As they weren't playing at home today the ground was shut but the bars and shop were open.
Keith has been a supporter of NUFC for most of his life but has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the club at the moment as they are not doing so well! We found our way down the very steep streets to the Bigg Market where a lot of Newcastle's nightlife is to be found. There were endless bars and restaurants and some people looked like they were starting their Saturday night revelries early!
We found the Crown Posada pub which is a very atmospheric, narrow pub. It was busy with people and we found a seat towards the back of the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks. I tried a half pint of a very dark beer while Keith went for a lighter IPA.
From the pub we walked the short distance to the Quayside but as we'd visited a few years ago and time was getting on we had a quick look at the River Tyne and the bridge and returned to the car.
Getting back up the steep streets was a bit of an ordeal as we were now a little tired! It took us half an hour to get back to the car and before long we were driving over the river and back into County Durham.
We called into The Blue Bells pub in the village of Newton Bewley before going back to the hotel as we wanted to see whether it was worth booking a table there. The pub was very quiet and I'm sure that a long, long time ago Keith and I called there for Sunday lunch. They were able to fit us in at about 7.30pm so after a quick drink we left and returned to the hotel. I relaxed on the bed and could have stayed there all night but Keith wanted to go out a bit early and have a pre-dinner drink in the pub.
When we arrived it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale so it looked like the start of the stormy weather that was due to hit the UK over Easter. We ran into the pub to find it still very quiet and had a nice chat with the girls behind the bar who were very friendly. Looking at the extensive menu we chose garlic bread to start followed by a mixed grill for Keith and Surf and Turf for me. Although we'd booked the table for 7.30pm we were seated much earlier so by 7.45pm we were all done and the pub had emptied out! The garlic bread we'd had was perhaps the worst I'd ever tasted and I couldn't discern any garlic at all! Keith's mixed grill was huge and he enjoyed the various meats but I was slightly disappointed with the scallops on my plate as they were soft, flabby and tasteless.
Wondering what on earth we were going to do at such an early hour, we drove back to the hotel and went to The Toby for a nightcap again. Even here the pub had emptied out and by 9pm it was very quiet indeed! We put our clocks forward in readiness for the morning and went to bed to read!
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