IN Tynemouth: North Shields Fish Quay

Showing posts with label North Shields Fish Quay. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Larrys Fishcakes

I met Craig in my favourite local pub The Low Lights Tavern earlier this year. I have been meaning to write about his family business 'Larrys Fishcakes' for some time but only just got round to visiting their unit this week. Through a commission I have undertaken to photograph people with businesses connected to the Fish Quay I knew I wanted to pay Craig and his mum Jean a visit.

Jean's Father 'Larry' started the business in 1960 and the company has grown into the oldest manufacturer of Fishcakes in the UK whilst remaining a family firm that is well loved by its customers. I had never met Jean before but I think I have a new friend as she is such a bubbly person and has even written and published a book about growing up on the Fish Quay and North Shields. I am going to post about this later.

After chatting with Jean and Craig they kindly gave me some fishcakes to take away for my lunch. I should have posted and image of them but my fiancee and I wolfed them down before I could take a photograph. I can tell you that they were lovely and that I will be back for some more soon and also for some of the other savoury products on offer.

It's great to see a local business doing well in such tough times. Perhaps the legacy that was started by Larry and lovingly continued by Jean and Craig was built on the best ingredients both as a foodstuff and a business. I'm a great beliver in people and that good people show their goodness in their faces. Both Craig and Jean are great honest people who are not only proud of their business but their area.

For more information about larrys Fishcakes please visit this link:

http://www.larrysfishcakes.co.uk/

In Tynemouth now Tweets: http://twitter.com/#!/intynemouth

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Martineau Guest House (Breakfast fit for a King or Queen)

A recent TV program featuring Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his Fish Fight Campaign featured a locally filmed scene in which Sally the owner of Martineau Guest House was choosing some some locally fished produce. This reminded me that I had not posted about Sally's amazing Breakfast that she cooked for me and my girlfriend Rachael earlier this year.

Because food is such a large part of the Martineau Guest House experience I thought the breakfast deserved its own post. My 'Big Geordie' breakfast was amazing - I loved the sausages which are produced for Sally by a local butcher and also the home baked bread - mmmmmmm. If you are thinking of visiting Tynemouth I can recommend the Martineau as do a number of people giving great reviews on Trip Advisor.

To see my earlier post featuring info on the rooms and further links follow this link here:

http://intynemouth.blogspot.com/2011/05/martineau-guest-house.html

In Tynemouth also Tweets: http://twitter.com/#!/INTynemouth

Saturday, 18 June 2011

The Low Lights Tavern

In January this year I ventured inside the Low Lights Tavern for the very first time. I was there to meet someone to discuss a photo shoot and as soon as I walked in I realised I had found a true local gem. The first thing you will notice when entering this fantastic old pub situated on North Shields Fish Quay is the welcome you receive.

Marek 41/100 "100 Strangers Project" by Anthony Dorman (View the project here)

On my first and every visit since I have been welcomed warmly and made to feel at home, not just from the staff but the regulars who always say hello. So many bars these days are stuffy or pretentious, I don't drink in those, I like character, warmth and charm. The pub has been around since 1834 however there is evidence that there has been a pub in that location for some 400 years. Once you get through the low front door (5ft 8 or so) you will find the bar and two side rooms both with real fires.

It is such a lovely old pub and a real slice of local history, the walls are covered in old photographs of the surrounding fish quay as well as a number of brilliant real ale beer mats with great names like 'Wylam Dognobbler'. The pub is known for its selection of real ales and has a great reputation for the quality and range on offer. I overheard two real ale aficionados one day who were touring the regions 'real ale pubs' who were raving about the fine quality of the ale on offer.

Another thing the pub is know for is its music, there will often be a buskers night featuring local musicians. These nights are great, fun lively and the music is great, I heard a fantastic version of Mumford and sons 'Winter Winds' one night. It is a song that has a very special emotional meaning to me and I was chuffed to hear it played so well in my favourite local bar.

I reckon that some of you reading this will be thinking that this bar is my hideaway - not quite, I have introduced this bar to friends and family who love it. I never have to twist my girlfriends arm to go there for a drink as she loves the place too. The image below is of my girlfriend at a 'Pirates and Wenches' night that was simply the most hilarious night out I have had in ages. This image was early in the evening and for the sake of my camera I stopped shooting and simply enjoyed the atmosphere, many fine pints of Guinness and a great laugh with our friends Simon and Amanda. There may or may not be video of me as Captain Jack Sparrow to be found somewhere on the Internet!!!

I cant stress how much I love this bar, If they would let me live there I would. Considering the pub provides brilliant food and free WiFi as well as warm comfortable friendly surroundings and great beer it has everything you need. I will do more features on the pub in this blog soon focusing on the food and also the newly refurbished rooms upstairs where you can buy art and antiques.

View 'Spot On' by Anthony Dorman here © Anthony Dorman

If you have never been inside the bar simply pop in and enjoy the experience. You may fancy a quiet pint next to the real fire or some scrummy food and live music. Whatever you are looking for in a bar I guarantee that you will enjoy your visit. I now try and get into the bar whenever I can, the only danger is that I never want to leave when I get there. Always a great time to be had in the Low Lights Tavern.

The images in this post have been taken at different times throughout 2011. (The pub now takes cards)

Visit the pub website here: http://lowlightstavern.co.uk/default.aspx

and they also tweet here: http://twitter.com/#!/Lowlightstavern

www.anthonydorman.com http://twitter.com/#!/INTynemouth

Monday, 30 May 2011

Taylors Seafood and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I decided last week that I wanted to include more features about the North Shields Fish Quay into the blog. After all this blog is written about the places, people and events that are on my doorstep and I can walk to the Fish Quay as quickly as I can walk to Longsands.

A few people had told me that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was going to be filming at various locations in the area including Taylors Seafood based in the heart of the Fish Quay. I checked their facebook page which confirmed this and decided to pop down the day before his visit to check if I could pop down on the day and take some photos for the blog. I was invited down the following morning to snap away. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a morning person so a 5.30am start to my day came as a shock to the system. I walked from my flat down to the Fish Quay in some brilliant morning sunlight and saw a side to the fish quay that I had never seen before - I even managed to get a coffee and a bacon sandwich at 6.15am (but that's a story for a different time). Tony and his crew at Taylors Seafood opened up just before 7am and began preparations for their day ahead which would include selling the latest seafood catch as usual but also to welcome Bafta Award winning TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to their premises. What struck me about Taylors Seafood straight away was two things - atmosphere and quality. The guys made me feel very welcome with a nice mug of tea and a friendly chat about what they do whilst they were setting up. The variety of seafood on offer was quiet astonishing; from locally sourced fish, just landed into the quay side from the trawlers, to more exotic items like Canadian lobsters and more seafood that you would find on TV's 'The Deadliest Catch' (which happened to be playing on a plasma screen).

It was not long before a the shop began to fill up with a mixture of local restaurants and fish merchants to locals with an appetite for great seafood at affordable prices. I will not buy fish from a supermarket after witnessing the quality, expertise and selection on offer here. Sally who owns the Martineau Guest House, featured earlier in the blog, is a regular customer and popped in to buy her fish while I was there, she showed me a whopping great whale of a fish for £4 - now when I say whale - I mean Moby Dick sized.

Before long Hugh and his film crew turned up at Taylors with their own catch (the fish that is normally wasted because of bureaucratic laws as mentioned in my previous two posts). I made myself known to Hugh and his team and promised to keep out of the way whilst they were filming. One of the few problems with my camera is that I look like press and it makes people wary at times. After speaking with the sound engineer I decided that I should keep my distance and shoot with a long lens (70-200mm for camera buffs). This meant that my shutter clicks would not be audible on the mike.

Shooting from such a distance is quite problematic, I was very far away and its hard to compose a scene but the guys had filming to get so I got what I could, when I could. I think that my adherence to the crew's wishes won me some respect as they began to talk to me about shooting some images at a local primary school (featured later). I think the filming at Taylors went well as there was a nice varied selection of people for Hugh to talk to and serve and the staff seamed to enjoy their visit too.

I will be popping into Taylor's tomorrow to say hello to everyone and to thank them for being so welcoming.

You can view Taylor Seafood's website here: http://taylorseafood.co.uk/

...and also view their facebook page (updated daily here) : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taylor-Seafood/271225799181?ref=ts#www.facebook.com/pages/Taylor-Seafood/271225799181?ref=ts#

Please take a look at Hugh's website here which has details of the Fish Fight Campaign: http://www.fishfight.net/

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (North Sheilds Fish Quay)

This image of the BAFTA award winning TV Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was taken today at Taylor Seafood at the Fish Quay in North shields.

This is one of a number of candid shots that I took whilst Hugh was filming the latest series of Fish Fight programmes today. The aim of the series is to highlight the food waste caused by EU and government regulations that make fishermen throw half of there catch back into the sea due to red-tape. I have experienced this myself when I embarked on my North Sea Adventure and witnessed first hand the amount of fish that is thrown back to die in the sea. The regulations set in place by government do not help conserve fish as it is impossible to select what enters a net. Hugh is trying to change the law to help the fishing industry and to also show that the wasted food can be used to help society. Today I shot some images at a local primary school who were being fed with today's fishing catch of fish that normally would be wasted. I was worried I would be in the way of Hugh and the crew today however they were very friendly and accommodating. I look forward to seeing the new series.

Check out Taylor Foods Website here: http://taylorseafood.co.uk/#

Check out The Fish Fight campaign here: http://www.fishfight.net/ Please sign the petition.

I will be posting more images of Hugh at both Taylor Foods and Priory Park Primary over the next few days.

www.anthonydorman.com

Sunday, 22 May 2011

North Sea Adventure

This post comes from my own personal blog www.anthonydormanphotography.blogspot.com which was posted in January. I am posting it today as I will be posting about the North Shields Fish Quay area in the next few days. The Fish Quay is a quick walk from my house and part of the immediate area and full of fascinating people, places and industry. It is so interlinked with Tynemouth that it deserves to be featured in the blog.

Earlier this year I took a walk along the Fish Quay at North Shields which is a place I really like because there is always someone or something interesting there to photograph. I noticed some fishermen making some repairs to their nets on the quayside and decided I would ask if they would be in my 100 Strangers Project. Philip pictured below agreed to having his photo taken as he said he really liked photography. I said how much I would like to go out on one of the trawlers to get some reportage style images. Within 5 minutes we had agreed that I would go out on his boat the 'Aspire'

The images below where taken in order and where shot using only natural light. The lighting conditions where extremely difficult from the early morning pitch dark to the below deck ambiance. I was determined not to distract the crew with flash photography so I shot with a large aperture and some very high grainy ISO settings. I also wanted to present un-edited real photos, I was not going to airbrush or remove unwanted items. I wanted to tell the real story including the wonky horizons caused by my land lubber legs and slight sea sickness.

For me the day was a success, I was still alive, had not thrown up and had some interesting reportage images and a lot of new knowledge. For Philip and the 'Aspire' crew it was another frustrating day with a poor catch and a damaged net costing £1000 to repair. I was really looked after and had some great conversations, especially with Philip about everything including fishing, religion and art. I wonder how many people will get the chance to do what I did that day considering how the industry is suffering through high costs and crazy regulations set by men wearing suits in Brussels? I hope that this industry survives unlike many others once essential the the North East economy and history.

I decided to post this today as I received a disk in the post from Martin (hands image and goatee images) as he is a keen photographer who wanted me to see his photos.