The Journey / Kitchen's Music Store

Having anticipated the opening of a new cafe on the Blue Carpet for some time (http://novumcastellum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/new-cafe-bar-for-blue-carpet-square.html) and, in particular, the opening of the Sustrans/ ColoorCoffee/Recyke Y'Bikejoint venture, I was pleased get the chance to pop in for a cuppa after work recently.

As I sat enjoying my coffee, I reminisced that it was in this very spot, about 35 years ago, that I bought my first guitar - a Fender FC20 Classic - when the cafe was once a music shop called "Kitchens".

Now, I have scoured the internet (well a couple of Google and forum searches) for images of this music store but cannot find any at all.  I had begun to think that I was imagining it, when I stumbled on an article from a couple of years ago on the Evening Chronicle site.  Not only am I right and there was such a store here,  it seems I am in good company buying a guitar from Kitchens.  The article containing an interview where Dire Straits legend Mark Knopfler reveal that it was Kitchen's music shop where he picked up his first guitar. He revealed that the shop manager who handed the instrument over had some sage advice for the would-be megastar: “He told me to stick at it,” said. “I should have taken his advice!”  He had  bought the guitar was bought from Kitchen’s music store, in the mid-1960s, when it occupied the corner unit of Higham House, on New Bridge Street West, where The Journey is now.

Come to think of it, I wish I had stuck at the guitar as well.

Anyway, The Journey opened its doors a few weeks ago now, and comprises a cafe serving great coffee in pleasant surroundings - great decor with glass fronted exterior providing views on to the 'Blue' Carpet and the historic Lying-In Hostipital (and former BBC) building.

Sustrans Cafe - The Journey Newcastle opens today

"The Journey" active travel centre and cafe has opened today, 18 May 2015, on the Blue Carpet, New Bridge Street, Newcastle.  After lots of activity over last couple of months, the place is looking fantastic!  Can't wait to pop in.

"Sustrans, Colour Coffee and Recyke Y'Bike working together to create an exciting new venue."

https://www.facebook.com/TheJourneyNCL

https://twitter.com/TheJourneyNCL

http://novumcastellum.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/sustrans-to-open-bike-workshop-and-cafe.html

finishing touches getting ready for 18 May 2015 opening

Work commences on Sustrans cycling hub

You heard it here first.  Back in January I told you that Sustrans was set to open a cycling hub and cafe on the Blue Carpet Square in Newcastle:

http://novumcastellum.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/sustrans-to-open-bike-workshop-and-cafe.html

"Sustrans - the "leading charity enabling people to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys" are set to open up a bicycle hub where cyclists can leave their bikes securely and have a shower."

Well, the builders are in, and they are in the process of stripping out the old fittings of Fusion Bar and commencing the necessary alterations.  

John Dobson Street to become a tree-lined boulevard

Tree-lined boulevards are not something I normally associate with Newcastle City Centre, and the track record of the council in respect of greenery in the city has not been good.  OK they probably tick all the boxes on urban green spaces, in no small part due to the Town Moor - a park which according to Wikipedia is larger than Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath combined (and larger than New York's Central Park), but greenery in the city centre is generally pretty sparse.  The last attempt of something coming anywhere close to resembling a tree-line boulevard was the planting of trees outside the central libary when it opened in 2009.  These were soon vandalised and destroyed, probably after a NUFC derby defeat, but were never replaced (nor are there plans to - the trees are absent on the above video).  

This could be about to change!  John Dobson Street is to become a Tree Lined Boulevard. Newcastle City Council has announced what they call as the “biggest investment in its roads for a generation”, with ambitious plans to turn John Dobson Street into an attractive  tree-lined boulevard. The plans include widened pavements, a dedicated two-way cycle track with limited vehicle access.

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/re-newcastle-transport-improvements/john-dobson-street-improvements

The soon-to-open Sustrans cycle hub and cafe on the Blue Carpet will complement the flagship cycling route.  They have already installed new bike racks outside the proposed 'hub'.

I think the plans look good. Widened footpaths, improved crossings, raised junctions, cycle routes, reducing unnecessary traffic, are all good measures to improve the experience for pedestrians and cyclists alike. But, unless something is done about the number of buses speeding through the city centre, these measures may not have the desired impact.

End of an era for Newcastle city night spot

Possibly. 

You can guess someone's age or generation at least by the name they use to refer to the night club on New Bridge Street, the one currently known as Liquid (or it it just LQ nowadays?) Me, I only went there when it was the Studio, Ritzy and then Ikon, but I'm from the younger end of the Tiffany's generation. For my parents generation, it was, of course, the Oxford, or The Oxford Galleries - named after a street which ran alongside, roughly parallel to the central motorway, called Oxford Street.   But the long-standing Newcastle nightspot is set to become history under redevelopment plans that have been submitted to the council.

There are plans afoot to demolish much of the club, leaving the listed entrance building and portico, intact. In its place, the developers plan to build student accommodation - a modern development in three blocks of increasing height, stepping up away from the rear of the Grade II listed John Dobson House (which currently houses the club entrance, cloakroom and "back-office" space).

Many will have happy memories of this place, the Oxford holds a special place in the hearts of many of my parents generation; the same is true for subsequent generations who have enjoyed nights at the various incarnations of nightclubs that followed.  But over the past twenty years, the reputation of night clubs here has deteriorated. Unfortunately, violent incidents, glassings and murders even will be the overriding memories of some.

While it is sad to see the end of the club, it's a great opportunity to restore the John Dobson house to its former glory. The plans include stripping back the white paint to reveal its original stone facade. The restored building will house a cafe / restaurant with outside seating on the Blue Carpet. 

I'm not quite so sure about the designs for the student accommodation blocks though - it's seems to be a design which is very much of this time (based on similar modernist design concepts popular in the 1960s) - and very similar to other buildings that are going up across the city.  I do like modern and modernist architecture, but I can't help thinking that another T Dan Smith-esque silhouette is looming across the city again, just when many of the monstrosities from the 60s and 70s have been demolished.

New cafe-bar for the Blue Carpet square

I hesitate in celebrating the closure of any business in the north east- not just because of the impact it has on the lives of those people affected, but because I want to see a vibrant, thriving and well developed retail sector (and economy) in the north east, and take no pleasure in any set backs or failures.

However, some economists argue that recessions can be good for clearing out 'dead wood' to make room for strong new growth. I .e. - failing businesses can hog resources and finance (customers even?) which could be better employed elsewhere - they crowd out investment which could be supporting the development of new or stronger businesses. In this respect, I am glad to see the back of these two businesses: Fusion bar and Supashop newsagents and takeaway.

Back in year 2000, or so, there were two thriving businesses on what is now the (abysmal) blue carpet square on New Bridge Street. One was a newsagents, which had expanded from a small narrow unit with little stock to a larger unit with quality wooden shop fittings and an extended range of stock which included alcohol and some food. Next door was a cafe called The Sour Pickle. This cafe also sold takeaway sandwiches and other food. On a lunchtime, the cafe would be jam packed- all tables occupied and a queue of people waiting to be served. and there would be a queue of people out of the door, most days, wanting to buy sandwiches. The bacon, chicken, cheese, and coleslaw in a sun dried tomato ciabatta bun was my favourite - a bit of mouthful to order, but I rattled the order off like a New Yorker, I was tempted to ask for a cuorrfee to go.

I say they were thriving businesses, but they both no doubt suffered from the long period of disruption caused by construction work and delays when the blue carpet was being installed. This affected both visibility and access to the premises for up to two years (the project ran into funding difficulties and there were technical problems in creating that right shade of yellow-grey tile - so essential for a blue carpet).

Anyway, around this time, the owners of the newsagents and the cafe separately decided to sell up, and a single buyer bought both businesses. The new owner gutted the cafe, rearranged the layout, painted a royal blue colour and renamed the cafe "Cafe Blue". He got rid of all the friendly young fit lasses who worked in the Sour Pickle, and kept on the miserable old boiler. The place died on its arse. In the meantime, the newsagents was similarly gutted and then went through a 13 year period of constant renovation and reorganisation without any obvious improvements resulting - the phrase "you can't polish a turd" springs to mind here as being an apt description of the result of their efforts.

Cafe Blue closed down and the premises were refurbished - initially to a decent standard. Fusion Bar opened in its place and it first it seemed to be quite a pleasant place to have a drink, although it was a bit on the small side. Unfortunately, it was not long before it started to go down hill. A website called The Burglars Dog (which hilariously but viciously provided reviews of all the pubs in Newcastle - tracking their constants changes and fortunes) described the change as if it were a crack den where anything decent or of value and been ripped out and sold for drugs - leaving a depressing shitty hole in its place - I paraphrase here cos i can't find the original review, so I am not doing justice to the Burglars Dog reviewers description). Further developments saw the partial merger of both premises - they knocked a hole in the wall for a door, but access between the two premises was impeded by a supporting column.

Unbelievably, both business limped on for many years until they finally closed earlier this year. I have now heard that the original owner of the newsagents is hoping to open a cafe bar here in October, which will be called "The Laughing Tiger". It's a bit of an odd choice of name, especially since there is a cafe nearby, on the base of block of flats above John Dobson Street, called The Laughing Cat. Is he trying to prove that he is the top cat in town?

Why Newcastle?

Im Washington born and bred, neither a Makem nor a Geordie, my footballing allegiance is to Sunderland, proud of heritage of my home town, love Sunderland but feel a closer connection to the city of Newcastle.

My affiliation and affection with Newcastle the city goes back a long way, for as long as I can remember: shopping trips, as a child, being dragged around various department stores eg Fenwicks, Binns, Bainbridges and the Grainger market - one of my favourite places and one if my earliest memories of Newcastle is drinking in a cafe here.  I remember also trying to make sense of all the construction work - it seemed at one time, in the Seventies, that Newcastle streets were like maze of blue wooden construction hoardings when Eldon Square and the Metro were being built .

My dad is from Newcastle and I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents home in the west of the city - with the journey back home all along the Westgate Road - excitedly looking out for the Vagas style lights on the bingo hall on the corner of Clayton street (now the O2 Academy).

As a teenager, I gravitated towards Newcastle as a shopping centre, frequenting places such as Handyside arcade, music shops (Igot my first acoustic guitar in Kitchens music store which was located in the now defunct Fusion bar on the Blue Carpet, and my first electric guitar from Paul Garvey(?) music shop which was situated in some prefab units located next to the round multi-storey car park at the Haymarket), buying records from the Kard Bar (as well as pachoili oil an incense sticks), HMV (where Scott's is now on Northumberland street) and on the top floor of Callers Pegasus shop which was located where SuperDrug and HMV are now.

And of course I loved the City Hall which was a venue for many of the heavy rock acts I went to see from about the age of 12 onwards.

In my twenties and thirties I gravitated towards Newcastle for the nightlife - the Studio, Mayfair, Bigg market, Quayside, Jesmond and latterly the Central Station area and "Diamond Strip" of Collingwood Street and Mosley Street.

I have worked in Newcastle city centre now for well over 20 years, and have enjoyed exploring the city centre - finding new places, rediscovering ones I'd forgotten about; lamenting the loss of some old buildings and new dodgy developments. I like to explore the town when out running on a lunch time: the Quayside, Ouseburn valley, Spillers Wharf, St. Peter's Basin, Byker, Jesmond Dene, Exhibition Park, Gateshead Quays, Dunston, Gateshead Stadium and riverside.

There is some great architecture in Newcastle and Gateshead, old and new, and many attractions. This blog is not intended to be a tourist advert nor it it intended to cover every notable site or attraction, so I make no apology for things that I might be expected to include but haven't.