The old and the new - on The Tyne

Busy day for me.  First of all I went to the match.  12.45pm kick off.  Newcastle V Arsenal.  What a match.  Newcastle were put at a disadvantage by going down to 10 men when  in the 16th minute one of their players was  sent off.  It was a crazy game with 6 Newcastle players getting booked - it was hard to keep up with who had been shown a yellow card.  However Newcastle managed to keep a clean sheet until their Captain scored an own goal.  A disappointing match all round.

Becky and Mike spent last night in the Midlands with Mike's Mam and Dad and this morning continued their journey to Newcastle.  I met them in town after the match.  We went for a meal.  Then we looked around the outdoor Craft Market near Grey's Monument, mooched around the Grainger Market, went to TK Maxx where Becky bought some trainers and then walked down towards the river.  On the way we popped into Brewdog.  Mike and Becky like going there because of the variety of craft beers.  I had some nice German diet cola.  See extra shots.

Down on the Quayside this weekend were some old fishing boats from the North East Maritime Trust.  You can see a couple of them in my shot - with The Sage music venue in the background. 

The ship in the foreground is the fishing trawler The Sovereign - built in 1936.  The 43-feet boat was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during World War 2.  It returned to the North-East of England and went to fish off Seahouses in Northumberland in 1960 and then onto North Shields. It was de-registered in 2009 when it needed to be refurbished. Rare boatbuilding skills were needed to get the vessel back to a working state and ready for a relaunch 75 years after its original launch.

After a slow walk along the Quayside we drove home.  A quick change of clothes, feed the cats and then we were out again.  We walked down to the village and had a mini pub crawl.  Started off at The Bay Horse - just for a drink.  Then to Wetherspoons for a meal - and a drink. Finally to The Crown - which was very noisy with loud music and a DJ.  We got back here just in time to watch Match of The Day.

So this is a very late blip and no time for comments I'm sorry to say.  Maybe tomorrow I will find the time - although Becky and Mike seem to have another busy day lined up.

Steps today - 20,097