I grew up on the Geordie Riviera. It’s one of the UK’s best-kept secrets

Berlin, Barcelona, London… North Shields? Before launching into the summer festival circuit and his solo tour, former Beastie Boy Mike D played a gig at an old working men’s club in my hometown – a fishing port on England’s northeast coast. It might seem a peculiar choice, but those of us who know the area are aware of its allure. On Tyneside, the interlinked towns of North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay, with their combined 8km stretch of sand, are simply “the Coast” – the Geordie Riviera if you like. Growing up, I’d beach and bay crawl here through the summer, occasionally venturing north to Northumberland’s secluded castles. In later years I’d take the half-hour Metro into Newcastle for its infamous nightlife. Yes, the region’s economic woes were close by (with riots erupting in 1991 amid deep deprivation stemming from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in traditional industries), but we felt content in our coastal retreat. Shorts And it’s now earning national attention; Tynemouth was recently ranked Britain’s second-best seaside town by Which? – beaten only by Bamburgh, up the coast in Northumberland. Work has taken me all over the place. Yet, having walked more than 5,000km of trails – including most of England’s Channel coast – I’m still to find a coastline quite like home. Viewed from the new King Charles III Path, Cullercoats Bay is still the perfect craggy crescent. The sandy beach at Cullercoats (Photo: Abstract Aerial Art/Getty Images) Endless weekends were spent rock-pooling here at low tide, clambering through the sandstone rock arch and exploring old smugglers’ caves. The bold lads who dared jump from the old, sea-worn piers are still there – and they’re joined by a new generation of seafarers. Local outfit CBK Adventures has been introducing visitors to this coastline by paddleboard, kayak and coasteering for the past 13 years. CBK’s Kara Riall has noticed a huge renaissance here since the pandemic – thanks in part to a surge in therapeutic cold-water swimming. She tells me of regular interactions with dolphin pods and seals, and even a minke whale sighting. The nearby Tynemouth Aquarium now hosts one of the UK’s few seal hospitals. The aquarium looks over Tynemouth Longsands – a kilometre-long sweep of dune-backed sands. Growing up within earshot, I regret never graduating from the bodyboard. “Surfing has exploded in the North East,” says third-generation Tynemouth surfer Louis Hudson, of Tynemouth Surf Co. He adds that visitors “love the castles and the sand”, combined with a friendly surf scene and conditions well-suited to beginners. Surfer at Tynemouth (Photo: North Tyneside Council) The salty sea air has always been a tonic, only I’ve now ditched the bucket and spade in favour of the bucket and ladle. Maggie Guneyogullari founded Steam & Salt from a makeshift tent – open “come snow or shine” – but her new Scandinavian-style saunas on Longsands just won the Best Community Sauna at the UK Sauna Awards. Born out of personal grief and a mission to bring relief through heat and cold water – she draws palpable emotion seeing her people come sceptical and leave, as she says, “high as a kite” – something I can attest to. A short walk (or paddle) round the peninsula is King Edward’s Bay. The ruins of Tynemouth Priory and Castle rise above precipitous cliffs that teem with seabirds, including kittiwakes and blackcaps. Simmie Harper (right) at North Shields Fish Quay (Photo: Ben Eley) It’s a backdrop fit for a one-time theatre designer and his wife, Adam and Lucy Riley, who have transformed a dilapidated container into one of the UK’s most critically acclaimed seafood destinations. Riley’s Fish Shack – which has both sheltered seating and deckchairs around a firepit on the sand – serves a menu of fresh, sustainable local catch. At the top of the bay is Tynemouth Front Street – today a haven of independent bars, shops and restaurants, where the music-and-arts Mouth of the Tyne Festival is held each summer. Beyond the secluded neighbouring bay, Prior’s Haven, and the River Tyne estuary is North Shields Fish Quay, where the produce for Riley’s is bought each day. As a child, this area was a no go, particularly after dark – but now alongside the gutted fish are creative maker spaces, craft ale, breweries, bars and food outlets. I sit down with local influencer Simmie Harper overlooking Fish Quay Sands, where trawlers return to port amid a squabble of screeching gulls. A passerby thanks Simmie for giving North Shields back its pride. Half-Dutch, she spent her early years in the Netherlands, but since moving to the area in 2024 she’s been looking past the unemployment (the North East has the lowest employment levels in England) to celebrate “normal people doing amazing things” locally, and telling those stories across her I love North Shields Instagram feed, now also a quarterly print publication. Everyone from Dayne Henderson, Lady Gaga’s costume designer, to Brit-award winning musician Sam Fender – who’s not the only one making soundwaves here. North Shields Fish Quay (Photo: iStockphoto) Just up the steep Tyne Valley, past where my nan was born (now lost to slum clearance), is a blink-and-you-miss-it 1970s working men’s club. Geoff Kirkwood grew up locally and went from, in his own words, “smoking tabs and picking fights” to DJing internationally under the name Man Power. Post-Covid, he felt the local party scene had lost its sense of community, so he set up Are You Affiliated – a grassroots music venue based out of the old King’s Street Social Club’s concert hall. Importantly, he says, the project supports rather than replaces the old venue. He describes a “beautiful alchemy” within his authentic community of clubbers, who range in age from 18 to 72. This is what attracted artists including Caribou, Django Django and Mike D, who opened his first-ever run of solo European shows here this summer. But, Geoff tells me, it’s the people that make the place special, not the artists – although many of the performers are reminded of why they entered music in the first place. And it was never about emulating anywhere else. “We’re not Hackney Wick,” he says with a smile, referring to London’s hipster nightlife hub. “We’re North Shields.” How to get there North Shields, Tynemouth, Cullercoats and Whitley Bay are all on the Tyne & Wear Metro, roughly 30 minutes’ ride from Newcastle Central. Where to stay Grand Hotel Tynemouth overlooks Longsands, with doubles from £110, while Tynemouth 61 is a guesthouse and tea room on Front Street with B&B doubles from £115. More information Tynemouth Tours runs guided walks.