McDonald’s

March 15, 2010  |  Newcastle upon Tyne

mcds

I remember when McDonalds buildings were all a bit tacky and plasticky. The one in York when I lived there was a bit classier, but I heard tell that that was because it was the only way they were allowed to have a branch there at all. Then, when I wasn’t looking, they smartened up, and suddenly the outsides all look very smart and subtle.

The one in Newcastle does have a head start though. Look up (my constant refrain!); this is a lovely building.

Come back towards the end of the week for some pics of the illumination of Hadrian’s Wall – or check out facebook or flickr for a sneak preview.


12 Comments


  1. It does look magnificent looking up and the shop front is a big improvement too. A little bit of trivia about Bradburn House, when Tyne Tees TV was set up in 1958 its offices were housed in this building until they moved to the converted warehouses on City Road.

  2. What can we say about McDonalds….not a lot….. except to comment that this fast food chain front is a huge improvement from the usual McDonalds standard bright colors. I am very glad city planning keeps a close eye on aesthetics, new construction etc. in and around the city.
    The colonial type building above, I like very much. A nice regal address for television offices in the center of it all.

  3. wow, really alf? that’s really strange – i never would have thought of Tyne Tees being right in the centre of town.

    not bad, is it ash?!

  4. I know that this is off-topic but we just watched coverage of Hadrian’s Wall 1600th anniversary and it was just great. Here is a link to a piece I found from our international news, Reuters. Must have felt amazing to be there in person.

    http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/line-of-light-at-hadrian-s-wall-18630667

  5. it’s not exactly off topic ash if you read the last paragraph of my post… or click on one of my links!

    the vid is really good, but nearly everything she says is inaccurate. the fireworks shown are the ones i saw in wallsend. and the wall didn’t separate north and south england. and it wasn’t something to celebrate 1600 years since roman rule ended. but watch the vid with the sound off – it’s really good! :)

  6. That is something, Beth. When I said off topic, I meant with respect to your McDonalds photograph. I did click on your flickr link which made me think of the news cast I had just seen earlier and I was excited to see. I will have to do my own “facts check ” before I post a link again I guess…at least the video was decent.

  7. hope i didn’t upset you ash… i said all that with a smile on my face! but rereading this morning that’s not necessarily obvious.

    there is no off-topic here.. i always like to hear stories or see new links/vids/pictures. and i did really like seeing the vid!

  8. Great building, especially for a Maccy-D’s…

    What a great piece of info about Tyne Tees TV – hard to believe isn’t it?!

  9. Beth…not at all! I was disappointed in the inaccurate news reporting, that’s all. We were hoping to see much more reporting about the Hadrians Wall event from our international news channel and that was about it. I’ll punch around more on the internet to see more on the anniversary….it’s all good! :) !!!

  10. Tis Dave isn’t it?

    Ash – glad to hear that :) one of the things i saw today seemed to say that it WAS for 1600 years after Roman rule ended – but the leaflet about the event that was put through my door last week didn’t say a thing about it. (You can see the leaflet here) So now I’m completely confused :)

    There are LOADS of links and vids and the like – I’ll share them when I post pics later in the week, but for the minute I’ll give you this from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8566618.stm and this group that anyone can post to on flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/hadrian/

    Hope you like! :)

  11. Wow- very enjoyable pictures and video of the festivities! Thank you for that! :)
    Here in California, we watched BBC America, report minimally on Hadrian Wall events…it left us wanting more!
    A once in a life time, local historical community gathering… I’m sorry to keep posting, but history for me is exciting.

  12. there are loads more ash! will share them soon :)
    i found it really exciting too! not often that something so exciting happens so close to where i live :)

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