Markets

For a true taste of North East England, nothing beats a farmers’ market. Piled with freshly baked breads, locally reared meats, hand-made chutneys and home-made cakes, they’re held regularly around the region. The free samples are plentiful and the friendly banter pure entertainment!
Alternatively, buy direct from a farm shop. For example, you can pick up local cheeses at Blagdon Farm Shop near Newcastle; dry-cured bacon from Broom Mill Farm in West Auckland and kippers from Robson’s smokehouses at Craster, while at Brocksbushes Farm, near Corbridge, you can pick your own fruit.
As a predominantly rural region, there are plenty of traditional weekly markets selling everything from clothes to homewares as well as, of course, fresh produce. At Hexham, recently voted England’s Favourite Market Town, the Tuesday market is held next to the Abbey while at Stockton on Tees, the High Street hosts a lively market every Wednesday. Alnwick’s cobbled market place hums with activity on Thursdays and Saturdays, the same days as pretty Guisborough’s main street is bustling with market stalls.
Both Durham and Newcastle have covered Victorian market halls crowded with characterful stalls. Equally popular is Newcastle’s Sunday Quayside Market, a centuries-old institution where you can pick up a bargain before popping into one of the riverfront restaurants for a leisurely brunch. If it’s a sunny Sunday, head to leafy Jesmond Dene for the Armstrong Bridge Arts and Crafts Market while any weekend you can browse for bargains at Tynemouth’s bric-a-brac market in the restored Victorian railway station.