Day 8: Travel Day
Welcome
Yesterday we drove from Newcastle to Whittlesford, a small town on the outskirts of Cambridge.
Tristan and I had budgeted ourselves an hour to enjoy a bridge and bagel before we needed to be at the van, ready to leave. The breakfast recommendation I had been given was inside Grainger Market, a covered marketplace that dates back to 1835, and although it has certainly struggled to compete with the city’s modern supermarkets and malls, the fact that it is council-owned means that small, independent businesses can survive in this vibrant space. King Baby Bagels is one of these businesses, tucked away in the corner of the building, and baking their own hand-rolled bagels upon which they serve up a range of different fillings and toppings. Tristan and I bought two and shared them; an 0901 with salted ham, pease pudding, dill pickles, and English mustard, and a The O.G., with smoked salmon lox, fresh tomatoes, and cream cheese.
The bridge recommendation had emerged from a crowd consensus at our show the evening before. Of course it was down on the River Tyne so we set off in that direction using a brisk walk to keep to our tight schedule. We passed the Bridge Hotel right before arriving and couldn’t resist stopping to take a closer look at the stained glass depicting some of these famous river structures. The imaginatively-named High Level Bridge was just past this hotel and turned out to be the perfect elevated viewing platform to catch a glimpse of the Swing Bridge, one of the more striking designs that crosses this busy stretch of river. It is a 171m long, cantilevered span, that uses oscillating hydraulic motors to turn it around a central axis of rotation, allowing vessels to pass either side of it. Famed engineer William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, designed and paid for its construction as it enabled larger ships to reach his Elswick ordinance works a couple of miles upstream. Despite weighing around 1450 tons it was such an efficient design that it reportedly moved ‘as quietly and apparently as easily as a parlour door upon its hinges’. See for yourself!
Another brisk walk had us back at the hotel just in time to pile into the van and sit back as Berend got us moving. Leaving the city we had one final glimpse down the river - a glimpse that provided a succinct lesson on bridging – and then we began the journey south, the M1 motorway carrying us faithfully without delay or incident.
Five hours later we pulled into the carpark of Holiday Inn Express Cambridge-Duxford M11, JCT.10, an IHG Hotel. These lodgings were perched right on the Greater Anglia Line, a fact which allowed Tristan, Liz and Jon to enjoy a 13 minute train journey into Cambridge City and escape for a couple of hours of bouldering. They made the most of their evening in this famous university town, and in keeping with the spirit of education and innovation they went to the pub and played a music quiz game.
Gabe, Berend, and Owen all ended up dining at the very dodgy looking pub right next to our hotel, but I decided to forgo that, instead deciding to walk fifteen minutes and find a meal in the nearby village of Duxford. I did get quite rained on during my walk, but I didn’t mind because my route took me past Welch’s Transport Ltd, a local freight company that were having an extremely loud celebration in the courtyard in front of their logistics base. Balloons were strewn around and the pumping disco music was audible from nearly a kilometre away; the rain had certainly not dampened their festivities. I wish now that I had ended my journey there, because after a small amount of research I now know that this was actually the company’s Road to Net Zero Festival, a day-long event with "food, drink, ice cream and live music into the evening to give it that festival feel and facilitate some relaxed discussion”.
It wasn’t a bad spot that I ended up, an old pub with a thatched roof called The John Barleycorn, and there I enjoyed a quiet meal and a chance to read my book.
Today for art corner I would like to present a piece that works on any orientation, and in any quantity. This particular example is from the restaurant of Holiday Inn Express Rotterdam Central, but one of these also adorned the room of my hotel room last night.