GATESHEAD GARDEN FESTIVAL SITE - NOW

Neil had a day off today and he suggested we have a wander around the old Garden Festival site.  So I met him in Dunston and we set off on our walk.

The Gateshead Garden Festival was held between May and October 1990.It attracted over 3 million visitors. Attractions included public art displays, a ferris wheel and dance, music, theatre and sporting events - as well as lots of wonderful flower displays cafes and shops..There was also a little train which took visitors around the site and a monorail. The festival site was created over a two-year period, on 200 acres of derelict land, previously the site of a gasworks, a coal depot and a coking plant.  After the festival ended, much of the site was replaced by housing. The rest consists of woodland and various pathways. The River Team snakes it way through the site. Douglas and I bought season tickets for the Festival and as a family we visited lots of times at the weekend and after school.  I used to go on my own two or 3 times every week during the day and Douglas used to go by himself after work.  So we really made the most of it.  I have added a couple of photos as Extras which were taken at the Garden Festival in 1990.

As my blip shows the Garden Festival site as it is now I decided to use it as an Mono Monday entry - the theme is NOW hosted by Majoayee.  As you can see in the " Now " photos the site is nothing like it was in 1990.  Very quiet. and the River Team had a lot of debris in it - bikes, shopping trolleys and general rubbish.  And of course lots of housing which we didn't walk around.

Musical link NOW and Then - Pete Townsend

Before our walk I had already decided to have a sit on a bench and have a chat with Neil.  When we usually go for a walk we do talk but hes usually ahead of me and Im talking to his back.  And  we " chat " every day using Facebook messenger.  Its ages since we actually sat down together and just talked.  So as we walked we looked for a bench.  No benches to be found on the whole of the route.  But we did find a large rock which we were both able to sit on and we stayed for around half an hour having a nice cacth up.Then we walked back to Aldi where I did a bit of shopping.

Weather was Ok but rather dull.  There was 5 mins of rain while we were walking but that was all.

Caught up with Line of Duty when I got home.  Such a tense episode.  Hope the loose ends are sorted out in the final episode next week.

Steps today - 11,797

CORONA CLASSIC - Festival March by Victor Herbert