Our Day Trip to Beamish

Question? How do we introduce the culture and past of the North East to Walking With clients? Answer: We take them on a visit to Beamish Museum.

On the 17th April 2015, 17 clients and volunteers and our chairperson Fr. Alex set out with our packed lunches on an adventure to Beamish Museum and we were lucky to be blessed with fabulous weather. The group included people from Algeria, Iran, Nigeria, Chad, Russia and the UK. All of whom were enthusiastic at the prospect of taking a step back in time.

We arrived just after 10 am and after checking in, the adventure began. After the excitement of the tram rides the group split up arranging to meet for a communal picnic at lunch time.

The most popular attractions appeared to be the farm, bank, bakery and especially the sweet shop and the free samples of cinder toffee!

This generated a lot of discussion about the differences and similarities between the North East and their country of birth. The visit to the pit village and in particular the school, caused amusement at how we used to be educated. For those brave enough to venture underground at the pit there was a lot of surprise at the conditions that people used to work in.

The volunteers were amazed at the questions generated by the clients and the consensus of opinion was that it was a worthwhile and enjoyable day and we all had fun!

Our Visit to Blue Reef Aquarium

On 16th April, 16 Adults and 15 children went to an eagerly anticipated trip to the aquarium at Tynemouth.

Most of us travelled from Wallsend by Metro and the journey gave us good opportunity to chat and get to know each other a little better. At Cullercoats Station we met up with the rest of the families. We set off walk to Tynemouth in the sunshine and were overtaken by perhaps the most important person in our party – Jim, who had brought the picnics in his car. Jim, Ken and Margaret had packed them the day before, with plenty of chocolate eggs and bunnies for the children – a perfect end to Easter holidays.

It’s hard to know if the adults or children enjoyed it most. There were loads of beautifully coloured fish, a few scary-looking ones and some which were so camouflaged, we had wait until they moved to see them. We were a bit disappointed to hear that the shark had gone holiday to Scotland while his tank was repaired.

There were other animals too. The otters were hard to spot as they were curled up asleep but the cute tiny monkeys and marmosets in The Amazon Experience were livelier.

We collected everyone and headed outside to see the seal and the sea lions at feeding time. It was fascinating to watch them catch their lunch of fish which the keepers threw to them – they never missed. We learned the difference between a seal and a sea lion and were also told that if we saw a seal on the beach (it definitely wouldn’t be a sea lion in the North Sea) it did not need ‘rescued’. It would go back into the sea when was hungry – and it would bite if we got too close.

After that it was our feeding time so we took over all the picnic tables and enjoyed our lunch. It was still sunny.

Next, off to the education centre for a hands-on experience with starfish, a variety of crabs and lobsters, and other sea creatures. Lots of photographs were taken by the proud parents as their intrepid children held these strange and fascinating creatures.

As we walked backed to the station, we talked about everything we had seen and done, and looked forward to the next family day out.

Most people went back to Wallsend on the Metro, but Margaret went home in the opposite direction. As her train left, everyone waved to her from the opposite platform, to the delight of her and her fellow passengers.

Thanks to Carole for organising yet another lovely day out.

Contact Details:We are based within St Luke’s Church. Frank Street. WallsendOpening hours: Monday and Wednesday 10am – 3pmPostal address: c/o The Rectory. North Terrace. Wallsend NE29 6PYTelephone 0191 6498974Email address: walkingwitwcwt@msn.comWebsite: www.WalkingWith-NT.btck.com

Walking with In North Tyneside

WALKING WITH

Newsletter June/July 2015

AGMOur Annual General Meeting is to be held on Wednesday

1st July 2015In Saint Luke’s Church Station Road Wallsend at 6:30pm

All are welcome to attend

FOOD- Can you help?We are in urgent need of the following food items:

Tinned tomatoesTinned sweetcorn

Tinned fruitTinned hot dogs

Tinned meatTinned fish

Packets of biscuitsToilet rolls

Washing powder

Thank you for your support