Places features

Despite the best efforts of my online road maps and asking the locals - the night manager of the Hotel ("don’t ask me I’m not a driver"), the man cleaning the windows ("better ask the taxi driver"), and the taxi driver who was friendly and helpful but gave just a bit too much information - it took me a little while before I exited Newcastle and made my way out on.

The Coast Road

Lost again in North Shields and a very friendly newsagent gave me accurate directions which found me in Avon Avenue outside the Cedarwood, alongside the BBC Blue Bus.

It's approximately 7.15am. Not bad for a woman who’s not known for her map reading skills!

Mike Parr's on air and my first task is an unaccompanied tour of the Meadowell. The first thing that strikes me is the quantity of concrete balls left lying round like a giants been out playing marbles...

There's the Seine Boat pub, and a Santa Claus and his sledge, mounted on a nearby roof ridge.

BBC's Tony Jones investigates a workshop

I got as far as Riverside Park and spotted a kid's den, abandoned now as the kids all return to a new school year. Kids stream past with whiter than white shirts, looking smart in their school uniform.

Then I returned to the BBC Bus with the September sun promising good things for the rest of the day...

I'm on a mission this week with the BBC Blue Bus team to discover as much as possible about the Meadowell estate.

Tuesday

11pm

Tucked up in bed at home, its dead silent outside, no traffic not even the sound of a coughing sheep. Nothing like the night sounds of Newcastle.

This is the end of my second day in Meadowell, recording and listening to stories memories and opinion.

My brain is spinning with the range of responses to the retrospective transmitted on Inside Out last night. The BBC Bus was packed with people watching the DVD of the programme.

Some things keep being mentioned over and over again by BBC bus visitors as they talk to me about their community.

The lack of jobs, continuous unemployment, examples of strong community spirit, friendliness, curiosity about what I’m doing and the gradual trickle of local people coming in to talk to me about their thoughts and stories that reflect the wide range of living experiences on the Meadowell.

I visited The Barn Joinery and saw a load of lads finding out how to work with wood. I also saw a lovely set of stairs being made. I was tempted to order some for myself until I remembered that I live in a bungalow.

When I hit Meadowell again On Thursday morning I wonder how many people will turn up with their 250 word stories to tell me more about their lives?

Linda Taylor

Thursday’s diary

Food is an important part of my day. While I’ve been on the Meadowell I’ve sampled what has to be one of the best value breakfasts, only £2.00 at The Meadows.

I’ve scoffed fish and chips from the Magpie Chippie, they kept me going all day and I shared some of the chips with a visitor to the Cedarwood.

Today's treat was a bacon bap with red sauce, delivered straight from the bakers next door to the bus.

I recorded a story from Lynda who tells me about the pastoral care side of the Cedarwood Trust where we we’ve been parked with the bus.

The Cedarwood provides a lot more than a drop in and a cup of tea for the locals.

They can help with prison visiting, they run a women's writing group and the Project Leader can even officiate at weddings funerals and baptisms of local families.

While I wait for Lynda to find five minutes to record her story I sit in the Quiet room and compose my thoughts.

Being on the Meadowell has been something of a culture shock for me. The community I live in tends to be isolated and the people can be thought of as being difficult to get to know.

That hasn’t been my experience of the people living on the Meadowell. They’ve welcomed me into their homes, shared their most personal memories and treated me as though they had known me forever.