Treetop Adventure Golf at the Metrocentre in Gateshead

A new Treetop Adventure Golf venue is opening at the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

The latest location from Treetop Adventure Golf will be home to two indoor 18-hole minigolf courses.

You can find other Treetop Adventure Golf courses in Cardiff, Manchester, Leicester and Birmingham.

Visit the Treetop Adventure Golf website for more information.

The Tyne & Wear Metro turns 40 today

The Tyne and Wear Metro light rail system is 40 years old today.

The The Tyne & Wear Metro system opened on this day in 1980. The network was opened in stages between 1980 and 1984 with the trains running on a mixture of old railway routes and new track to bespoke stations.

A Tyne & Wear Metro train crossing the Queen Elizabeth II bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne

The first route to open was Haymarket to Tynemouth.

A Tyne & Wear Metro service heading into Newcastle from Byker

Street art on the Tyne & Wear Metro

We were in Newcastle and Gateshead for the World Transplant Games last year and while in the area went Space Invader hunting. Three of the mosaic tile pieces by the French street artist Invader can be found at Gateshead Interchange Tyne & Wear Metro station.

Space Invader NCL_21 downstairs in Gateshead Interchange metro station

A closer look at Invader NCL_21

NCL_19 is above ground at Gateshead Interchange

Invader NCL_20 is deep underground at Gateshead Interchange

Art and sculpture trails

A look at some of the art and and sculpture trails we've followed this year.

This summer we've seen a number of different art and sculpture trails pop-up in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Last year there was the Bee in the City trail in Manchester with 100 big bees and 130 little bees to spot. Some of those are still in situ.

A bee in Didsbury

There was also an ice sculpture trail in Stockport town centre last December and this summer the town has had a very popular frog trail with 22 decorated frogs to spot on the Giant Leap.

A froggy character was part of the Stockport Ice Trail last December

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

As fans of tickable lists, wandering and exploring we've enjoyed the different art and sculpture trails we've taken part in.

Earlier this summer the Trafford Centre had a Big Bug Tour and on a recent trip to the Lowry Outlet mall in Media City we saw there was a Bear Hunt.

Meadow grasshopper - number 8 on the Big Bug Tour

Sitting on a sitting Grizzly Bear - number 2 on the Lowry Outlet's Bear Hunt

The latest trail we followed was quite unexpected. On a trip to visit family and friends in Ipswich we noticed an elephant sculpture at the side of the road and soon noticed a lot more of them on the drive to our hotel.

Elephant number 1 - Pip - the first of the elephants we saw

They were part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice with 139 placed around Ipswich. In the short time we were in town we managed to find 55 of them.

Nine of the elephants on parade in Ipswich

We've also found quite a few more of the Space Invader pieces of street art by the French artist Invader on our trips to London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as seeing some reactivated pieces in Manchester city centre.

The seven Invaders in Gateshead

A selection of the Invaders in Manchester

The various trails and maps we've followed have seen us explore new places, see different things and also rediscover parts of towns and cities.

They're a nice way to bring communities together, attract and retain visitors to towns, shopping centres and malls, as well as raising money for good causes.

Do you have a favourite art-trail, or know of others? Do let us know in the comments.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Sculptures
- Tickable Lists

Space Invaders in Gateshead

A look at the seven Gateshead Invaders.

The French street artist known as Invader has invaded London, Manchester and Newcastle. On our trip to the World Transplant Games in Newcastle last weekend we were able to add to our tally of Invaders spotted.

Clockwise from top left - NCL_21, NCL_19, NCL_20, NCL_14, NCL_25, NCL_05 and NCL_06

There were originally 25 Space Invaders in Newcastle and Gateshead. Made during the INVASION of Newcastle in 2006. One has since been destroyed. We've found the remaining 24, with seven of these 'Newcastle Invaders' over the border in Gateshead.

• NCL_05
• NCL_06
• NCL_14
• NCL_19
• NCL_20
• NCL_21
• NCL_25

You can find them at Gateshead Interchange, on the approach to the Sage Gateshead and at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Invader has so far invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3785 pieces.

To date I've managed to find 120 Invaders, worth 3040 points on the Flash Invaders app. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13640 in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 34485. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2544 of them!

Looking for the Space Invaders has been great fun and we've seen lots of the parts of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader hunting.

The 2019 World Transplant Games in Newcastle Gateshead

We had a brilliant time in Newcastle and Gateshead at the weekend. We were visiting to cheer on our friend, minigolf rival and GB international athlete John Moore in the 2019 World Transplant Games.

The World Transplant Games is a multi-sports event with thousands of athletes from 53 countries competing in 16 sports. Sporting events range from Archery and Athletics to Darts, Football and Golf to Tenpin Bowling, Squash, Swimming and Volleyball.

It was brilliant to see all of the World Transplant Games signs, banners and activity around Newcastle and Gateshead

The 2019 World Transplant Games are the 22nd edition and the first in the UK since the Manchester Games in 1995.

We've previously been to the British Transplant Games in Newcastle, Liverpool and Birmingham.

The Games were created to be a celebration of a second chance of life, and to demonstrate the success of transplant surgery while also promoting the need to raise public awareness of organ and tissue donation.

I got some very nice pins for my sporting badge collection at the Games

There are currently around 6,080 people on the transplant waiting list including around 150 children and teenagers. On average three people die every day who could have benefited from an organ transplant.

If you want to save lives through organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register it only takes a few minutes to sign up. Do ask your family and friends whether they want to be donors too.

After a healthy walk it was nice to get to heart of the city to see the Athlete's Parade through Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.

A snap with the Games mascot Hope at the Athlete's Parade

With the athletics getting underway on Sunday John got off to a winning start, with victory in the 5k Road Race in both the individual and team categories.

Emily and I also took part in the Gift of Life 5k Run at Exhibition Park and the Town Moor on Sunday.

After the 5k run

The Gift of Life Run was my second 5k, after the Donor Run at last year's British Transplant Games in Birmingham. I felt a lot better this time and really need to run some more

Another day and another photo with Hope the mascot

While having a lovely walk around Newcastle and Gateshead on Saturday we found the Petanque Boulodrome and watched a bit of the practice.

The upper terrain

Petanque players practicing on the middle terrain

We enjoy playing petanque and it was superb to see the game being played at the World Transplant Games.

Australian players practicing on the third terrain

The petanque terrains had been created on a car park and the approach to the Sage Gateshead music centre. It looked like it had been turned into a really good spot to play the tournament. A great use of a car park.

Our friend Kay, John's sister, is a volunteer at the Games and one of the sports she has been assigned is Petanque.

A view of the two lower terrains

Events are taking place across Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland until Friday 23rd August. For more information visit the World Transplant Games website.

Links:
- World Transplant Games 2019
- Join the NHS Organ Donor Register

Angry Birds Adventure Golf at intu Metrocentre in Gateshead

New Angry Birds Adventure Golf opening at the intu Metrocentre in Gateshead this Autumn.

While we were in Newcastle and Gateshead for the World Transplant Games we called in to the intu Metrocentre in Gateshead as it'll soon be home to the first of the new Angry Birds Adventure Golf courses.

Just a few months too early to play

The Angry Birds Adventure Golf centre in Gateshead will have 18-hole two courses.

Some of the advertising for the course

The team at Rovio Entertainment, owners of the Angry Birds brand, are teaming up with Namco Funscape to create the new minigolf courses. Five locations are planned to open over the next three years.

We really enjoying our visit to the intu Metrocentre and are looking forward to returning to play the Angry Birds Adventure Golf

36-holes of Adventure Golf are being built behind this hoarding

For more info check out the Angry Birds Adventure Golf website.

Related blog posts:
- New Angry Birds Adventure Golf courses opening in the UK
- Angry Birds

Links:
- Angry Birds Adventure Golf
- Rovio Entertainment
- Namco Funscape
- intu Metrocentre