Discussion
I'd be more worried leaving my car in Harlepool. If the locals didn't trash it the chemical rain would dissolve it! :-)
My mates wife is the same. Lovely lass but so southern. It used to annoy me. Now when they make their annual trip north I just find it very funny her sitting in my house and talking to us as if we live in some sort of Embassy compound in Baghdad's Green Zone.
She asked me about the local Tynemouth golf course once. I told her it was only built in the 1990s after they shut the steel mill down that had been on the site.
I think I'll tell her next time that Tynemouth Priory was trashed by drug crazed rioters in 2010 and that we can't afford to get it mended.
My mates wife is the same. Lovely lass but so southern. It used to annoy me. Now when they make their annual trip north I just find it very funny her sitting in my house and talking to us as if we live in some sort of Embassy compound in Baghdad's Green Zone.
She asked me about the local Tynemouth golf course once. I told her it was only built in the 1990s after they shut the steel mill down that had been on the site.
I think I'll tell her next time that Tynemouth Priory was trashed by drug crazed rioters in 2010 and that we can't afford to get it mended.
Edited by wildcat45 on Friday 20th May 17:42
Not an entirely accurate summary!
p4cks said:
Jesmond is nice, and expensive.
Gosforth is nice, and expensive.
Byker is a dump, and cheap.
Longbenton is average, and average.
Sunderland is awful, and cheap.
Tynemouth is nice, and expensive.
North Shields is OK, and average.
South Shields is OK, and average.
Gosforth is nice, and expensive.
Byker is a dump, and cheap.
Longbenton is average, and average.
Sunderland is awful, and cheap.
Tynemouth is nice, and expensive.
North Shields is OK, and average.
South Shields is OK, and average.
I used to live in Jesmond, it is indeed expensive and packed with students.
I spent most of my youth in a village near chester-le-street. The town itself isn't great but there are a lot of surrounding towns and villages that are nice. Easy to commute to Newcastle from there (15-20 mins on a clear day, 1hr if not), but you get a DH postcode (and cheaper insurance?)
I don't know why someone said North Shields was alright. I worked there in 2010ish and it was an absolute hellhole. I used to dread going to work, looking out the window to check the car every 5 mins etc.
I spent most of my youth in a village near chester-le-street. The town itself isn't great but there are a lot of surrounding towns and villages that are nice. Easy to commute to Newcastle from there (15-20 mins on a clear day, 1hr if not), but you get a DH postcode (and cheaper insurance?)
I don't know why someone said North Shields was alright. I worked there in 2010ish and it was an absolute hellhole. I used to dread going to work, looking out the window to check the car every 5 mins etc.
AH33 said:
I used to live in Jesmond, it is indeed expensive and packed with students.
I spent most of my youth in a village near chester-le-street. The town itself isn't great but there are a lot of surrounding towns and villages that are nice. Easy to commute to Newcastle from there (15-20 mins on a clear day, 1hr if not), but you get a DH postcode (and cheaper insurance?)
I don't know why someone said North Shields was alright. I worked there in 2010ish and it was an absolute hellhole. I used to dread going to work, looking out the window to check the car every 5 mins etc.
It's a lot better now , you've only got to check every 15 minutes now.I spent most of my youth in a village near chester-le-street. The town itself isn't great but there are a lot of surrounding towns and villages that are nice. Easy to commute to Newcastle from there (15-20 mins on a clear day, 1hr if not), but you get a DH postcode (and cheaper insurance?)
I don't know why someone said North Shields was alright. I worked there in 2010ish and it was an absolute hellhole. I used to dread going to work, looking out the window to check the car every 5 mins etc.
There are a lot of nice places in North Shields, however the snob-factor has most of the residents referring to those parts as Tynemouth now, even though they still have an NE29 postcode. Of course, some of North Shields is as you say, a bit dodgy.
I'm out west of the city now by Heddon-on-the-Wall. Lovely round here. I'd agree with most of what is posted already though.
I'm out west of the city now by Heddon-on-the-Wall. Lovely round here. I'd agree with most of what is posted already though.
The famous 'Tynemiuth Fringe' which sounds like a festival but is a made up thing from the minds of estate agents.
North Shields is not Tynemouth. There are nice parts of North Shields, mainly to the East towards Tynemouth, but they are not Tynemouth.
There are some dirty stinking council s
t holes in Shields, with locals to match. Local police refer to them as 'Shields ste' That though is very much to the west - Meadowhell Estate etc. The town Centre is down market and rough which is a shame. It was never going to be posh being a fishing and ship repair Centre, but 30 years ago it was alright. All your major shops, even a department store. That's all gone along with ship repair and most of the fishing industry.
The Fish Quay has a good mix of tourism, fish based businesses nice pubs restaurants and flats mostly waterfront stuff and old warehouses. Folks I know who live there love it. One guy I know even sold up from a house on my road in Tynemouth for a fantastic new house with spectacular views at half the price he sold his Tynemouth home for. Another guy had a Tynemouth house and sold it in favour of an amazing flat which is like a film set with wonderful River and sea views.
I met a flash bloke in a pub away from the North East once. It was all Tynemouth this and Tynemouth that. His house was brilliant on the edge of the beach. I asked him - not telling him I came from there (I don't have a NE accent) - where abouts he lived. It made no sense, there wasn't a house like he described there. I then got his address out of him. A place so far west from Tynemouth it was almost in Carlisle. I'm exaggerating but it was a new build firmly in NE29. He wasn't at all happy when I pointed this out to him.
The annoying thing (especially to a Tynemouth snob resident like me) is that the post office - despite having a Tynemouth branch - doesn't recognise Tynemouth. I take great angry pleasure of deleting North Shields from online forms that ask for your post code and house number and replacing it with TYNEMOUTH.
:-)
North Shields is not Tynemouth. There are nice parts of North Shields, mainly to the East towards Tynemouth, but they are not Tynemouth.
There are some dirty stinking council s
t holes in Shields, with locals to match. Local police refer to them as 'Shields ste' That though is very much to the west - Meadowhell Estate etc. The town Centre is down market and rough which is a shame. It was never going to be posh being a fishing and ship repair Centre, but 30 years ago it was alright. All your major shops, even a department store. That's all gone along with ship repair and most of the fishing industry. The Fish Quay has a good mix of tourism, fish based businesses nice pubs restaurants and flats mostly waterfront stuff and old warehouses. Folks I know who live there love it. One guy I know even sold up from a house on my road in Tynemouth for a fantastic new house with spectacular views at half the price he sold his Tynemouth home for. Another guy had a Tynemouth house and sold it in favour of an amazing flat which is like a film set with wonderful River and sea views.
I met a flash bloke in a pub away from the North East once. It was all Tynemouth this and Tynemouth that. His house was brilliant on the edge of the beach. I asked him - not telling him I came from there (I don't have a NE accent) - where abouts he lived. It made no sense, there wasn't a house like he described there. I then got his address out of him. A place so far west from Tynemouth it was almost in Carlisle. I'm exaggerating but it was a new build firmly in NE29. He wasn't at all happy when I pointed this out to him.
The annoying thing (especially to a Tynemouth snob resident like me) is that the post office - despite having a Tynemouth branch - doesn't recognise Tynemouth. I take great angry pleasure of deleting North Shields from online forms that ask for your post code and house number and replacing it with TYNEMOUTH.
:-)
Buster73 said:
It's a lot better now , you've only got to check every 15 minutes now.
haha 
what was worse for me was a 3 month period where I had to get public transport, ie the metro from St James Park up to North Shields, via wallsend, meadow well and other places where strange creatures would get on and punch each other.
AH33 said:
haha
what was worse for me was a 3 month period where I had to get public transport, ie the metro from St James Park up to North Shields, via wallsend, meadow well and other places where strange creatures would get on and punch each other.
I've only been on the metro once in about twenty years , I left Monument to go to Bede Ind.est. at Jarrow about lunchtime on a Saturday, it was like the film set of Zombie resurrection.what was worse for me was a 3 month period where I had to get public transport, ie the metro from St James Park up to North Shields, via wallsend, meadow well and other places where strange creatures would get on and punch each other.
Charva kids arguing with each other , one constantly banging on the window , spitting on the floor and feet on the seats most of the time , added to which a mother and daughter were effing and blinding at each other .
I'm 6'2" and not really easily intimidated but I breathed a sigh of relief when I got off , god help folk when they travel late at night , never been back on it and I genuinely think I never will , self drive or taxi next time.
The Metro on parts of the system is just a mobile council estate.
Sadly those who make decisions about it or who report on it tend to either drive, or if they use it they travel on the pleasant Regent Centre to town route.
Metro is getting on for 40 years old with some of the rolling stock over that age. It is dirty and unreliable as well as being unsafe when it comes to personal security. It would be a much better system if they shut the riverside route with trains terminating in Tynemouth as they did between 1980 and 1984. The Riverside stations do little more than allow council scum to circulate. The people there by and large do not contribute to the economy and there are few if any commuting destinations on that route. Replace it with busses, a basic service that allows the scum to get to the quayside for Crown Court appearances.
I speak as a recent victim of Metro violence for which the two people involved received 20 month jail terms so I might be a little OTT on this subject.
Sadly those who make decisions about it or who report on it tend to either drive, or if they use it they travel on the pleasant Regent Centre to town route.
Metro is getting on for 40 years old with some of the rolling stock over that age. It is dirty and unreliable as well as being unsafe when it comes to personal security. It would be a much better system if they shut the riverside route with trains terminating in Tynemouth as they did between 1980 and 1984. The Riverside stations do little more than allow council scum to circulate. The people there by and large do not contribute to the economy and there are few if any commuting destinations on that route. Replace it with busses, a basic service that allows the scum to get to the quayside for Crown Court appearances.
I speak as a recent victim of Metro violence for which the two people involved received 20 month jail terms so I might be a little OTT on this subject.
wildcat45 said:
The Metro on parts of the system is just a mobile council estate.
Sadly those who make decisions about it or who report on it tend to either drive, or if they use it they travel on the pleasant Regent Centre to town route.
Metro is getting on for 40 years old with some of the rolling stock over that age. It is dirty and unreliable as well as being unsafe when it comes to personal security. It would be a much better system if they shut the riverside route with trains terminating in Tynemouth as they did between 1980 and 1984. The Riverside stations do little more than allow council scum to circulate. The people there by and large do not contribute to the economy and there are few if any commuting destinations on that route. Replace it with busses, a basic service that allows the scum to get to the quayside for Crown Court appearances.
I speak as a recent victim of Metro violence for which the two people involved received 20 month jail terms so I might be a little OTT on this subject.
I used to get the Metro from Newcastle to South Shields. It was alright in the morning, but even by 5pm, going home was not fun, full of absolute scummers, alcoholics and just generally the dregs of society. To be honest though, its not surprising, considering basically everything east of Gateshead (including the town centre itself) is an utter hole. In the end, I stopped using it, and drove, despite having a car that struggled to do much better than 20 MPG because it was just so crap. I can imagine the stretch between Tynemouth and the City Centre being just as bad, as it passes through Meadowell, Wallsend, Walker and Byker, which are all dumps. Some of my mates have to get the metro home after a night out, rather them than me. The bus I get goes through West Road, which itself is a dump but at least I've rarely ever felt threatened.Sadly those who make decisions about it or who report on it tend to either drive, or if they use it they travel on the pleasant Regent Centre to town route.
Metro is getting on for 40 years old with some of the rolling stock over that age. It is dirty and unreliable as well as being unsafe when it comes to personal security. It would be a much better system if they shut the riverside route with trains terminating in Tynemouth as they did between 1980 and 1984. The Riverside stations do little more than allow council scum to circulate. The people there by and large do not contribute to the economy and there are few if any commuting destinations on that route. Replace it with busses, a basic service that allows the scum to get to the quayside for Crown Court appearances.
I speak as a recent victim of Metro violence for which the two people involved received 20 month jail terms so I might be a little OTT on this subject.
As for places to live in Newcastle, assuming we're sticking north of the Tyne, Jesmond, Gosforth, Benton, Kingston Park, Chapel Park / House, Ponteland, Northumberland Park are all pretty decent places. I'd avoid basically anywhere on the riverside, so North Shields, Wallsend, Walker, Byker, Elswick, Benwell, Scotswood, Lemington are all crap (and I live in the latter!). Also add to that, Cowgate, Blakelaw, Fenham, Arthurs Hill, Throckley, West Denton, Fawdon, Newbiggin Hall are definitely also worth avoiding. Especially Cowgate and Blakelaw.
wildcat45 said:
I speak as a recent victim of Metro violence for which the two people involved received 20 month jail terms so I might be a little OTT on this subject.
I'm sad to hear you were a victim of violence. As a member of Metro staff, I want you to know that we too would love to rid the system of these low lifes, but they're breeding too fast. We want a train network to be proud of, when DB first took over, the trains were deep cleaned, stations painted and the network genuinely looked fantastic. But that costs money and DB quickly realised that the concession agreement left them with very little profit and staff slowly disappeared, the 3/4 life train regeneration was little more than a spit and polish with none of the essential kit like traction motors replaced.
DB had the best intentions but the Nexus relationship essentially failed. I'm hoping the future improves.
Buster73 said:
Wouldn't even consider anything south of the Tyne if she's working in Fawdon.
Maybe you wouldn't, but lots of people would and do commute. I'm out towards the wilds to the west of Durham, a long way south of the river, and commute to near Fawdon, it's 30 minutes in the morning and 50 minutes in the evening. Perfectly acceptable. It'll be a good bit quicker in the evening when they finish the A1 too.Depends what you want, city or countryside? I know the area fairly well, I work nearby, and haven't seen anywhere that I'd especially want to live. I commute in and out via either Whickham or the Derwent Valley, there's some really nice places around there, quiet countryside that's well connected with civilisation. If I didn't have a house and didn't need quick access into Durham for grandparents and child care I'd be looking around Hamsterley Mill, Rowlands Gill, Burnopfield, Chopwell etc.
I'd not consider south of the river but like the guy above said there are some great places.
Parts of South Shields are great. Coastal life, nice houses and flats. Whitburn is very nice and Celadon is rather posh. Some of the Boldons - I forget which one - are very nice too.
Further away Seaburn and Roker aren't too shabby. But it's Sunderland! Which to be honest is a perfectly good Northern town.
Parts of South Shields are great. Coastal life, nice houses and flats. Whitburn is very nice and Celadon is rather posh. Some of the Boldons - I forget which one - are very nice too.
Further away Seaburn and Roker aren't too shabby. But it's Sunderland! Which to be honest is a perfectly good Northern town.
wildcat45 said:
I'd not consider south of the river but like the guy above said there are some great places.
Parts of South Shields are great. Coastal life, nice houses and flats. Whitburn is very nice and Celadon is rather posh. Some of the Boldons - I forget which one - are very nice too.
Further away Seaburn and Roker aren't too shabby. But it's Sunderland! Which to be honest is a perfectly good Northern town.
East Boldon!Parts of South Shields are great. Coastal life, nice houses and flats. Whitburn is very nice and Celadon is rather posh. Some of the Boldons - I forget which one - are very nice too.
Further away Seaburn and Roker aren't too shabby. But it's Sunderland! Which to be honest is a perfectly good Northern town.
On a Metro route, too. Great area.
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