June 29 - Newcastle Upon Tyne 🇬🇧

United by 7 bridges across a spectacular riverscape, Newcastle is a diverse & extremely vibrant visitor destination. The city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conqueror’s eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the wool trade in the 14th century & later became a major coal mining area. Today the city is home to several corporate headquarters, learning (Newcastle University), digital technology, retail, & tourism. It’s also home to the only inland colony of Kittywakes, a marine bird in the seagull family, that normally lives on rocky seaside cliffs but in Newcastle it has made a rookery in the Baltic Flour Mill building.

Downtown Newcastle Upon Tyne

One of the 7 bridges across the River Tyne

The “new castle” for which the city was named, was built in 1080

The Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas peaking out behind

The Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle Upon Tyne and the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle, the most northerly diocese of the Anglican Church in England.

Mother Kittywake and baby on the Baltic Flour Mill building