As a photographer I am forever trying to find local hotspots at specific times of year. And now it's early May, I'm on the hunt for cherry blossom. I'm based in North Tyneside, which is Tyne & Wear, so we don't have much woodland nearby so no carpets of bluebells in April, or farmland with wild poppies, sunflower or lavender fields in the summer. But I was hopeful I could find some decent cherry blossom tress to photograph.
The ULTIMATE place to see cherry blossom has to be at the Alnwick Gardens in Northumberland, and in fact I wrote a whole blog post about their trees: Nothing shouts SPRING more than the world's largest Taihaku cherry orchard
However, this post is all about my TOP THREE locations to see cherry blossom in Tyne & Wear
Location 1:
There is a housing estate in Whitley Bay called Whitley Lodge, built in the 1950s. The streets are quite and leafy. There is one particular street though, that at the end of April and early May comes alive with stunning pink cherry blossom. "Pink Street" in Whitley Lodge (so named by one of the residents I got chatting to) is really very pretty street and the cherry blossoms are beautiful and definitely worth a visit.
Location 2:
The second location I would recommend you visiting is Preston Crematorium and Tynemouth Cemetery. It must be one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen. How brilliant to see the grass growing long and the bluebells carpeting the ground near the church. At the far end, near the War Memorial, are some really pretty cherry blossom trees. There are a few of them that run parallel to the path, but my favourite are the two that stand alone. Try and go when the sky is blue as the sunlight really makes the pink zing! You can park within the grounds, so drive right in from the entrance on Walton Avenue. Enjoy walking around the old cemetery and church, and if go end April/early May you will also see lots of bluebells.
Location 3: My final location is the Cherry Walk at Saltwell Park in Gateshead, a Victorian garden and park that surrounds Saltwell Towers built in in 1862 by renowned stained glass manufacturer William Wailes. William specialised in stained glass for churches, but his business grew to quite an enterprise. Sadly he went in serious debt 16 years after building his house so sold it to the Gateshead Corporation. The park has won many awards and is one of Britain's finest examples of a Victorian park.
I had seen photos of the Cherry Walk on instagram, so I was a little underwhelmed when I found it as I thought it would be "bigger" - that's instagram for you, it really can distort the reality. I sat down on the pathway and waited ages to take a few shots. I was sitting down for maybe half an hour and managed one shot with no people. It was fun watching the instagrammers skipping down the path and throwing blossom petals over themselves. It is certainly worth seeing, but I found the entire park itself actually prettier than the cherry trees, so it is definitely worth a visit and take a few hours to relax and enjoy the open space!
Hope you enjoyed seeing some local cherry blossoms - let me know if you find any new spots!
Emma x