SES, London a Universal result, Matt Bailey and the Angel of the North...

I thought I'd just upload a few words of thanks to all involved in SES, London. I have to say, there's a lot more work involved in chairing a show than you might think.

However, I worked with a sooper-dooper team and the show seems to have been a tremendous success, I'm delighted to say.

One of the really interesting panels was the Orion panel on Universal and blended search. More interesting, in that, I got my own Universal result in the same week as the conference. A search for mike grehan ses has a short video I recorded just before the show, at number 1

And next it's SES, New York. Be sure to be there. This is a monster of a show!

Following the show, I was exhausted and headed back home for a relaxing weekend... In the company of Matt Bailey and his wife Stacey, no less.

It's not very often I get friends from the US travelling up north, so I always look forward to being a tour guide. It's the only time I ever get to see my own city and the surrounding area, actually!

Here they are in front of Grey's Monument. Yes, the very man who invented the tea with Bergamot (although it is said in these parts he actually got the recipe from a Chinese Mandarin he knew). Not many people know that he was from this area. Earl Grey was Prime Minister back in 1830.

But Newcastle's history goes way back when. The picture above has Matt and Stacey standing by the Black Gate, the last part of the defences to the (New) castle which dates back to 1247. And in the background you can see St Nicholas Cathedral which dates back to the 15th century.

Newcastle Quayside goes back hundreds of years and has some wonderful architecture.

But there's a certain change going on the Quayside with some outstanding, yet very unusual looks.

The building you can see behind Matt and Stacey is the new Sage Music Centre. Even though it does look like something from space.

The newest bridge on the Quayside is the Millennium bridge.

On the far side of the bridge you can see the Baltic. I's an old warehouse transformed into a modern art gallery. And sitting right at the top is a very posh restaurant rather like the one at the top of the Oxo Tower in London.

Standing on the new bridge you get an excellent view of the older bridges further up river.
However, perhaps, the most striking piece of architecture in the region is still the Angel of the North.
In the picture above, Matt, Stacey and Tatiana are dwarfed by this huge statue. It's actually the tenth anniversary of the Angel of the North this year,. In ten years it really has become iconic. You can't miss it no matter which way you come into the city from the south.

It's 65 feet high and has a wingspan of 175 feet. It's also thought to be the most viewed pieces of art in the world.

You can't come to the north east without a visit to the sea. So, for Sunday lunch I drove Matt and Stacey down to a favourite beach front restaurant.

And that gave them a chance to go have a little walk on the beach.

It was so nice to have matt and Stacey come and hang out with us for the weekend. It reminded me so much of something that only ever occurs when I tour guests around... I sure do live in a very pretty part of the world