The Vermont breakfast was up to its usual standard.  We had become accustomed during our recent hotel stays to table service being the only option due to Covid safety issues but unexpectedly the usual buffet service was on offer.   However, a time slot needed to be booked in advance to restrict the flow of people in the breakfast room. My choice of breakfast was scrambled eggs on toast which was one of the items that is cooked to order.

After breakfast we visited St Nicholas Cathedral and were surprised to see it had changed a lot since our previous visits. The space had been opened up to let in more light. Later, I found out from the latest guidebook that this was due to a project to make the Cathedral more open and accessible. Part of the project involved removing the Victorian pews and tiles which revealed secrets beneath.  The transformation is amazing. Whilst in the Cathedral I got my Pilgrimage Passport stamped with both a stamp and sticker, the latter being placed carefully to cover the bleed from a stamp on the reverse page. We had hoped to visit the Catholic Cathedral and bookshop but on arrival we found that it was closed on Wednesdays. So we returned to St Nicholas Cathedral tea shop for elevenses before driving to Jesmond Dene.

We had lovely walk around the parkland at Jesmond Dene taking in some of the historical features along the way. After our walk we shared a tuna baguette from the cafe, sitting outside in the sunshine until it was time to meet JD. On our way to his house we had a mini adventure. All the local carparks required coins to pay rather than a card payment so Mr C stopped off to visit a bank which he found was closed on Wednesdays. He found a nearby bank that was open. The cashier was bemused by his request for coins; “We don’t hold coins,”

After this diversion we  continued on our journey. We had a lovely afternoon chatting with JD and came away with a generous gift of paintings including one that Mr C had liked on two of our previous visits (the photo does not do the painting justice).

Back at the hotel, with the help of the concierge, we were able to get a space on the hotel carpark. When we entered our room, we were pleased to find that it had been serviced despite being told that it would not be when we checked in.

Dinner was in Restaurant 21. The food was a little slow to arrive due to the restaurant being unexpectedly (for them) busy. The service and food were excellent.

We walked back to the hotel along the quayside. I was amused to find that the Sage Gateshead building that appears as a giant slug by day had resembed a sailing ship at night, the structure almost invisible with the insides glowing.

In the 19th century, cannon were mounted on the rooftop and fired on ceremonial occasions.

One was used regularly as the ‘noon gun’, firing at the midday in response to a telegraph signal from Greenwich Observatory in London.  After a number of accident – in one of which a gunner was killed – the practice of firing the cannon was eventually discontinued in the 1850s and the guns were later removed.*

*Information from Newcastle Castle guidebook (Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne).