Hello and Happy New Year from the Best Wee City in the North of England: NewcastleGateshead

“Are ye aalreet pet?”

Don’t worry, my spellcheck isn’t broken. It’s just that this issue of the Sky Blue newsletter is beaming to you from my hometown—NewcastleGateshead—so I thought I’d share some of the local lingo with you.

Image: flickr.com/photos/91146686@N02/

Living in Vancouver, I’m a Canadian convert through and through, but I hail from the best wee city in the north of England, so when someone asks me if I’m “aalreet pet”, I know to answer in the affirmative with a friendly “Aye, I’m gannin’ canny, pet.”

Translation: “How are you today, dear heart?” Answer: “I’m simply wonderful, sweetie.”

But it doesn’t end there. In NewcastleGateshead, honey is “hinny”, the bathroom is the “netty”, your lunch is your “bait” and a pretty girl is a “bonnie lass”.

It all makes perfect sense when you’re born here. Honestly.

Image: flickr.com/photos/mikehawkwind/

But it’s not just the lingo that’s colourful. We’re friendly, we’re fun and we’re full of passion in NewcastleGateshead. We have a musical heritage to die for (The Animals, Sting, Dire Straits, Brian Johnson of ACDC, Bryan Ferry) and our scientists and inventors include Sir Joseph Swan (the incandescent light bulb), Peter Higgs (contributions to the discovery of the Higgs boson) and George Stephenson (the first public railway in the world).

We’re a city of firsts through and through. The city’s High Level Bridge was the first combined road and rail bridge in the world; Mosley Street was the first street in the world to be lit by electricity; and our Millennium Bridge is the only tilting bridge of its kind in the world.

We’re regularly voted among the top 10 party cities in the world, as well as the friendliest city in the UK. But then, our crazy accents (known as “Geordie”) could have something to do with that, because our accents are often voted to be the sexiest in Britain!

And who am I to argue with that?

Image: flickr.com/photos/conchur/

And this year, the best wee city in the north of England is coming into its own. NewcastleGateshead has been chosen to host the Great Exhibition of the North this summer; a £10 million program that’s set to celebrate all the amazing innovation and creativity of the north of England.

So it’s a big year ahead for the best little city in the north of England – so much so that the Rough Guide 2018 has placed NewcastleGateshead in the number one spot on its list of the top ‘18 Places that should be on your Radar in 2018’.

It looks like things will be even better than “aalreet pet” in my hometown in 2018. It’s our time to shine, so spread the word, because this little Geordie couldn’t be happier.

Main image: flickr.com/photos/100769237@N03/