Great place for kids and adults. Plenty of educational and interest lectures…read more Outdoor ice rink in winter.

My first visit to this place was a few years back during my brief stint at Sunderland Uni aka my…read morelost weekend. On my last encounter I got to play with vials of nandrolone and learned how to drug test people/evade detection depending on your ethical leanings. It was forthright, educational and cool. I visited again at the weekend to see the Bodyworlds exhibition. Unlike my last visit which pertained to anatomical learnings, functions of the body, human performance and errr doping, this one did not. I admit, my visit was more out of some kind of fucking morbid curiosity following a documentary I watched about Gunther Von Hagens in 2010. I am not even going to bother masking this under the pretence of wishing to learn more about the motor functions of the human anatomy, which many will, and which is their right. So, got their lunchtime. The exhibition begins pretty mundanely. A few skeletons which is fairly standard 'anatomy class' shit, before Gunther begins to ease you towards a skeleton holding a relay baton, which stands upright behind the plasticised ligaments and tendons of what once presumably made up part of its outer shell. I was not entirely sure what I was meant to be making of this anatomically, and in all honesty - after some considerable thought - I'm still not sure. Nice plasticisation (?) of the patella. And the 'pose' really brings out the array of tendons surrounding the scapula I suppose. Thumbs up. The exhibition ultimately climaxes in several displays seemingly curated to pay homage to amongst others, Da Vinci's 'Vitruvian Man,' and Rembrandt's 'Autopsy of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp' but they subsequently have the affect of making you feel like you are caught up in a particularly grotesque episode of fucking Hannibal. Nonetheless, the part of the exhibition which summed the whole things up for me, was the several millimetre thin cross sections of the human anatomy which have ended up resembling something like prosciutto ham. And that's kind of what it all is. The cadavers have been 'processed' to the point where you don't feel like you are looking at human beings. At all. In the same way looking at a slice of bacon or ham, doesn't cause you to think of a pig. Because essentially, it isn't. Any kind of character, distinguishing feature, or anything identifiable as particularly sentient has been stripped, and bio-chemically altered beyond any recognition. Ultimately, any insights into anatomy are inevitably outweighed by what is seemingly part art-exhibition, part unintentional satire on human gastronomic habits played out on processed corpses. It's all very strange and leaves you wondering what you've witnessed for days afterwards. To be honest, I'm still not sure.

I love the exterior of this building but the interior is a major disappointment with 5 floors of…read morenothing, a total waste of space. This is supposed to be a building to house contemporary art but the art was very minimal and nothing that excited or inspired or touched me in any way. The only good thing I can say about this gallery is the roof top terrace gives a fabulous view of the bridges and the shop has some cool things but apart from that, it left me uninspired and disappointed.

I came across it by accident. It was a very foggy Saturday morning in Newcastle and my head was…read morebegging for a cup of coffee. First I spotted the cafe, then the bookstore, which was a treasure trove of sorts, then I noticed the label Free Entry and I was already walking towards the reception desk. The receptionist met me with a very warm smile eager to welcome me and tell me about the exhibitions - from all five floors, only two were open. The ground floor contained an installation by Jordan Baseman and the second floor had a pharmacy exhibit by Damien Hirst. Baseman's work consisted of three audio/video clips with disturbing stories of people being sexually harressed or somehow psychologically damaged or scarred. The second exhibition was a bit disappointing: in a very small room the whole arrangement was that of a pharmacy store with the counter installed in too. Only after reading the brochure I realized the artist's idea behind it, which I found a bit fa-fetched and untruthful. I spent almost an hour inside because of the shop and the cafe which treated me with a great service: I bought a melting chocolate flapjack and a hot cup of espresso. For such a lovely architectural design, I though it was a bit of a shame that they do not to use the whole space for art, I am sure there is a lot of interesting art that could be and should be made available to the public.

July 6, 2024 Love…read morelove love The Biscuit Factory! Located in an old biscuit (cookie) factory, this beautiful old building displays contemporary art over several floors. Wide, open staircases carry you to each floor where your eyes take in the tastefully planned displays. Little benches here and there invite you to sit and soak in all the art. All the artwork is for sale. The best part for us - we enjoyed Afternoon Tea in the Biscuit Factory Cafe. We were able to choose from their regular offerings, vegetarian or vegan. Our delicious food included mini quiches, mini sandwiches, avocado toast, lemon blueberry cake, brownie bites and cherry scones with Chantilly cream. I know how much my partner loves me when when he gave me his little pot of that incredible cream! Free admission to the gallery. Really nice gift shop. Beautiful art!

It was not what I had expected going in, but I was pleasantly surprised! The Biscuit Factory is set…read moreup like an art gallery where all the pieces are for purchase. On the outside, it looks rather small but once you are inside, the rooms actually extend really far back and it is a lot bigger than you'd expect on both floors. One of my favorite things about this gallery is that most (if not all?) pieces here are made by local artists and a lot of the pieces they had were all tied to a Newcastle theme which is one of the reasons why I am very drawn to this gallery! The Biscuit Factory features so many unique pieces that you just aren't able to see in any musem or gallery.

A real ale bar, this place has had a great refurbish in recent years and really brought the pub…read moreback to how it should be. A friendly atmosphere and great staff make this place an excellent place to have a drink in Sunderland.

Brilliant place, beers are excellent and the atmosphere is spot on. Massive selection of real ales,…read morethe only place to rival Fitzys in town for your hard earned coin. staff are friendly, the bar is clean, bright and always well staffed. There is a terrace drinking area if you fancy a bit of fresh air with your pint, and whilst the view isn't the greatest the terrace itself is a nice spot to chill. have yet to find anything bad about the place, although I have only been here three times tbh!

Its a good day out in there and if the weather is fine Mowbray park is interesting also.read more

Only popped in as we were short of time and had a quick look around spending most of our time in…read morethe house. A definite longer visit next time we visit Sunderland.

Great day out packed full of interesting things to see. I've been coming here since I was a kid,…read moreand always enjoy a visit, learning something new about the local history each time. With free entry, and in town, it's definitely worth including it in your day travels.

Another nice and interesting museum in Newcastle, definitely a city of cultural delights. The…read moreDiscovery Museum mostly focuses on telling the story of the city and of the Northeast in general. It goes through the good times and the bad times in the city, including the coal mining boom, the poverty, the World Wars, the politics, everything is covered. There are real life examples- interviews with real Newcastle people over the years, and plenty of interesting memorabilia as well. It's a very cool place. There are also sections devoted to science and technology, and the discoveries made by people from the area. There is a good café with excellent prices, and a nice little shop too. A big advantage of this museum for families is that the exhibits are quite interactive, and should keep children interested as well. Best of all, it's all free. However, if you can, please do donate to keep important institutions like this one accessible to all.

The picturesque location beside Capability Brown's old home gives an initially nice impression on…read morethe drive off the main road to the courtyard. Service in the cafe was pretty swift and the Ploughman's lunch was good value for money and pretty filling. The menu overall seemed quite comprehensive so you could do a lot worse than breaking a journey up with a stop off here.

This has a really nice cafe doing some main meals as well as light snacks, there is also a good…read morefarm shiop There is a place that does nice silver jewerlly. a sculpture place a glass place and a place selling furniture from when I went recently and the sheperd walks are stil there The shops do tend to change around a bit when you go so check the website if your going for a certain shops

The Customs House in South Shields is a building by the riverside which is used for many cultural…read moreactivities such as stage performances as well as it being used as a cinema, though they only have one cinema screen and therefore do not show such wide a variety of films as some of the larger cinema chains screen. The seating facilities are also quite cramped. The ticket prices for the cinema are quite cheap though so it's good for entertaining kids in the holidays. They also hold smaller performances such as variety shows featuring dance troupes from around the South Tyneside borough, along with local comedians and some singing acts. Last year their Christmas pantomime was particularly popular. It featured ex-Scooch band member and Eurovision star David Ducasse. They also have a website so you can see what is currently being shown and you can request a brochure which outlines all the upcoming shows. It is: http://www.customshouse.co.uk/

The Customs House is where posh people in the north east go when they want to see theatre, and…read morerecital, and ballet and when it comes to it, pantomime at Christmas too. It's a nice place to be and they have a decent amount of shows on.