As the songs goes ‘oh we do like to be beside the seaside’ and there’s a costal town just a short drive from Newcastle that has plenty to make your trip well worth it, with a nationally acclaimed chippy, its own ‘curry mile,’ a beach previously named ‘the best in the UK’ and a chic bar owned by a global pop icon.
ChronicleLive has written about South Shields on countless occasions over the years and, while it is one of the best places to be, should the weather play ball in summer; it has much to offer all year round and you don’t have to rely on warm and sunny attractions to enjoy them. Less than half an hour in the car from Newcastle city centre and also easily accessible by train, thanks to the Metro, South Shields is seen on the TV by millions of viewers every single year, thanks to it providing the backdrop to the finish of the Great North Run, as entrants make their way to the finish line of the famous 13.1 mile road race.
Even when it absolutely pours down, like in 2023, when flooding caused travel chaos for people trying to get home after the GNR, and last September when it was grey and misty, you can’t fail to be impressed by the breathtaking views captured by BBC cameras every single year.
world class athletes aside, you never know what celebrity you might bump into in Shields. South Tyneside has proved to be the breeding ground for some very successful stars. Little Mix icons Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall were both born and raised in the area, as was fellow X Factor winner Joe McElderry and Chris and Rosie Ramsey, the presenters of one of the country’s most listened to podcasts.
And, speaking of Jade, she is the proud owner of not one, but two venues right in the heart of Shields. The first to arrive was swish cocktail bar Red Door, which first opened in October 2019, before then having a rebrand to become Arbeia a few years later, in recognition of the Roman fort of the same name that’s a stone’s throw away. As well as both singing on stage and making a few drinks behind the bar in Arbeia, landlady Jade also owns nightclub Industry.
(Image: @jadethrirlwall)
Her musician other half, Rizzle Kicks; Jordan Stephans, is a huge fan of South Shields, talking about his love for it on a podcast with Alan Carr just a few days ago, where he said its main beach was a real ‘hidden gem.’ The beach in question is Sandhaven, which as well as being ‘just like Ibiza’ in the summer, was named the UK’s best beach by the Sunday Times in 2022.
A place right next to it has also come in for plenty of widespread praise, with Colmans Seafood Temple welcoming A-list diners like Hilary Clinton and James Corden, has often made UK’s best lists and attracted rave reviews from top food critics. Much followed food influencer Food Review Club declared he’s had the ‘best fish and chips of his life’ having enjoyed a meal there last summer, just along from Colmans original and still very popular restaurant and takeaway on Ocean Road.
And, on the subject of food and that very street, Ocean Road has often been referred to as Shields own ‘curry mile’, thanks to it being home to highly rated haunts like Delhi 6, Zeera, Radhuni and Spice Garden.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/travel-tourism/south-shields-beach-ocean-road-31084860
