Arbeia–Roman Fort and Museum

On our last day in South Shields we stopped by the Arbeia Museum.  It was part of Hadrian’s Wall and had remains from AD 160 (and I thought the Priory was old!)  It was a really nice day.  Really, it was just quite a few rocks.  Apparently it is one of the most important collection of Roman ruins in the UK (the fort entrance was re-built).  It was interesting for what it was.

 

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Beamish–The Living Museum of the North

Every time we talk about going up North, Chris always had good memories of visiting Beamish Museum as a school child.  He was SURE I would love it (he’d right I did – minus the migraine).  It is a museum set up on lots of land.  Its all connected by trollies and old busses.  Everything is historically correct – even the staff dress in period clothing.  There are different parts of the museum – first was Pockerly Old Hall and Pockerly Waggonway.  It was an old house and an old rail station.  I think this was my favourite part of the day (maybe because it was first and I wasn't so tired, but who knows!)

 

 

Next we took the bus to the town.  It had an old co-op (store), bank, houses, candy shop, newspaper press, etc.  There was even a Masonic Temple.  It was really interesting and it really felt like you had stepped back in time.  You could even watch them make sweets.  We got a free sample and it was horrible!

 

 

There were a few school groups visiting on the day we were there – but none so cute as the kids (and teachers) who dressed up as Victorians!

 

 

The we stopped by the railway station outside of the town and then headed to the Pit Village.  Mining is a huge part of Northern England’s history so there was a coal mine.

 

 

By now my migraine had kicked into high gear.  So there was one place left to visit – Home Farm.  I must admit I LOVE visiting farms and petting the animals – but this one, not so much!  It was up a huge hill and Chris and I aren't in the best of shape anyway – well, walking up the hill about did us in and by the time we made it to the top we couldn't be bothered to explore too much.  I did get to see a lamb – but that was about all.  We decided to head back home.  We’d been there over 4 hours!  It was such a great place and I think kids would LOVE it.  Its no wonder Chris has such happy memories of it. 

 

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Tynemouth Priory and Castle

Chris and I needed to get away so we headed North to South Shields.  We visited here a few years ago and since we didnt celebrate our anniversary we thought we’d do it all at once.  We went back to the same B and B that we stayed at last time and really enjoyed ourselves and, and managed to leave MOST of the drama at home.  On our last visit across the bay I saw some ruins and thought that it would be nice to go and see them this time.  So we went to North Shields to the Tynemouth Priory and Castle.  It didnt disappoint.  It was really amazing and we ended up getting a year membership to English Heritage while we were there (expect more historical exploring this year). Wanna see some pictures???

 

Yes, that sign does say 800 (AD).  It is hard for this American girl, who’s country isnt nearly that old, to imagine that we were somewhere surrounded by things with THAT much history.

 

 

They used the priory for a lot of things and it was heavily bombed during WWII.   The graved were almost all dated the 1800’s – but were really weathered because of being so close to the seaside.  Here is the album if you want to look at all of them -

 

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The Weekend

Hello Internet.  Chris and I are home, unpacked (mostly), and back to real life.  We got back from our mini-break Sunday night and were quite glad to be home.
The weekend was… how should I say it… ummm…. not what I had planned (to say the least).
We ended up leaving Friday around 10AM.  We were quite happy to finally get on our way.  About an hour into the drive the car started making really strange noises.  The steering wheel had been shaking a little (I figured it needed to be re-aligned).  We pulled off the motorway at a petrol station and checked the pressure in the tyres – but they were fine.  We decided to keep going and hopefully the car issues would work themselves out… no luck.  The shaking was getting worse and the noise louder but, by then, we were more than halfway and also would have been charged for the room so we carried on.
We made it to our first stop – North Allerton.  We stopped at the council offices and they directed us to the records office – where I could find some more information about my ancestors.  We went there and the woman was really nice and let us look through the records even though we hadn't made an appointment.
Once in among all the books we were very overwhelmed at where to start and where to look.  We finally decided on the books we needed and low and behold they were missing.  We tried looking through the micro films but couldn't read the writing and didn't know exactly where to look so we decided to leave and visit the church.
Once we got to the church I was confident I would find some headstones from my ancestors buried there but – the church yard was so poorly looked after we couldn't read the names on any of them.  We then went to have a look in the church which was locked (most of the churches here in England are either unlocked or have a key holder living nearby – not North Allerton).  We got some lovely pictures of the church though (the outside anyway):

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The weather was still agreeing with us as we made our way to South Shields.  I was getting more and more stressed with the car and very pleased to arrive at the B & B.
  
The room was so nice and the people who owned it were very friendly.  That night we decided to go and find some dinner and we found a great Italian restaurant with the best pasta I’ve had since I’ve been here in England.  As we were eating I remembered that I had not gotten any ear plugs (I had left my pair at home) and we needed to find some or else the weekend would be filled with a sleep deprived wife – no fun for anyone.  We walked quite far to ASDA and found some.  We went home (it was quite a walk) and relaxed and fell asleep early.
The next day was quite disappointing.  It rained and rained and rained.  We didn't want to venture to the beach but went to see Chris’ old school, get some mince pies, and visited with Chris’ Grandma and Aunties.  It was good to catch up with them and as we were headed back to the hotel the overheating light in the car and the oil light in the car both came on.  We stopped at the nearest petrol station and found, when I checked the oil, that there was none.  2 bottles of oil (£10.00 a piece – half of one I spilled all over the engine) later we drove back - on the way looking forward to visiting a Roman Fort – turns out it was just a pile of old stones so we didn't stop to look at that but took advantage of the short break in the rain to enjoy the view:

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It was started raining again so we decided to watch a movie.  We decided on The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas.  It was a good movie but probably not the best one to watch on a holiday – quite depressing.  After it was over Chris and I looked at each other and both agreed that we should probably get out of the hotel and do something.  Chris wanted to go to the Amusements (or arcades).  This seemed to cheer him up – as it always does, it is one of his favourite things!  By then the rain had become a drizzle and so we headed to the beach and sat on a bench and just enjoyed the view and chatted. 

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The next day we had to check out around 10AM so we decided to try the beach again and I am so glad I did.  I was looking forward to sun and the beach the whole trip and was disappointed that I wasn't going to see it – but, Sunday it was sunny (a little cold – but I didn't care)!  We spent several hours on the beach.  It was great because the sand was soft, the tide was coming in, and there weren't many people!

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We headed back home after spending some more time at the Amusements.  We decided at the last minute to drive again through North Allerton, thinking that it was a Sunday for sure the church would be open.  Plus I was getting more and more nervous/anxious about the car breaking down so I was glad for the break.  We got to the church and it was locked.  Chris called the Vicar and he said he’d be there around 5:30 to open it for the Evensong that evening.  We decided since it was almost 4:00 we would stay and in the meantime, look through another cemetery for headstones.  We didn't have any luck there either.
We finally got in to see the church and while it was very beautiful and the Vicar even got out some old plans for the grounds of the church to see if we could find names of the people buried there – we didn't have any luck.  It was getting later and we were supposed to be at a BBQ so we headed back out.
Within 5 minutes the car was really acting up and shaking so we decided to miss the BBQ and just get home as quick as possible.  I must say it was the MOST stressful drive I’ve ever done and I don't look forward to finding out what is wrong, thus finding out how much more we have to put into it.
All in all the trip was alright.  Not what I had planned but it was nice to get away and that last day at the beach was worth it.  I guess because I am not English I don't plan on bad weather – but I should.  Even with the rain we had a good time.  We look forward to going up again armed with more info about my ancestors (and maybe and umbrella)!