Not exactly Newcastle but Derwent reservoir nr consett (30 mins) is a good spot for SUP.

They offer day tickets (£10 I think) or you can join sailing club for a year and have unlimited visits.

Some info here https://www.drsc.co.uk/

I’ve only ever had one but it was horrible and I ended up in hospital with a ’suspected stroke’.
I lost my speech at one point, but then once I vomited the symptoms started to ease. I’ve narrowed it down to either being caused by stress or an old shoulder/neck injury (a family member had similar injury and migraine) or possibly both.

Star-ski sports have always been really helpful when we have hired .€59 per day for a kona precept 150 last year .

Our fleet and equipment

A good route for getting all the trail sections in is to go along the grove link and climb up to transmission , accelerator and nitrous . Then head up to section 13 and do bone shaker , brain freeze and Special K on way back to car park .

Lots of unofficial stuff which can be found using strava – highlights including southern comfort and golden owl . Also some good routes over the moors which can be linked in with hamsterley trails like doctors gate descent .

Maybe not the best trail centre in the land but a lot of work has gone into trails in the last 10 years and is improving all the time .

Whereabouts in the uk are you planning to swim /surf ?I live in the north east where you can get away with 3/2 mm from June to October , but if you are on the west or south coast I’m sure you could use it for longer .

The sea is warmest in September and usually stays bearable till Xmas . 5mm suits with hood and gloves are needed jan – March .

You can’t go far wrong with oneill wetsuits . Best to buy first wetsuit from a shop and try a few on , then when you need a knew one you will know your size you can get the best price on web .

Hope this helps

V interested in this . Keep posts/pics coming .

Think I did that link wrong , search ‘beyond hamsterley’ on amazon

Some good routes for the area here :

Beyond hamsterley

The edmundbyers route can be extended by heading down the bolts laws bridle way , it’s a great bit of singletrack but probably needs a bit of dry weather to be fully enjoyed .

Maradona – for being able to do anything in shorts that tight !

Another vote for Mad Men , class TV , though i have only seen first two seasons .

Piemonster could you be thinking of this ??

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vid clip

you tube children of green knowe

I developed lower back pain from cycling around xmas time , which led to 7 weeks off work as unable to sit at a desk . I tried a chiropractor but the progress was very slow and expensive .

My back only really started to recover once i had been to a sports physio , who gave me a couple of simple stretches (tight hamstrings again) and very basic deep tissue exercises .

One of the best things i changed is holding a stretch for 30 seconds rather than 15 as this seems to be a lot more effective.

Also ,i exacerbated my injury by trying pilates exercises too soon ,which my back wasn’t strong enough for , so take your time . My back seems to benefit from keeping moving and only still get problems if sit still for a long time , but everyone is different !

I gave up 5 years ago as i started having panic attacks when hungover and figured wasn’t worth it anymore. Think i have stuck with it as found i was more chilled person after a while off the booze .

Alcohol can be great fun and can make some social events a lot more relaxing/enjoyable .Tempted now and again by a cold crisp beer on a summers eve ,but it passes pretty quick .

One of the best things about being t-total is amount of time you free up to bike,windsurf,snowboard etc .Stuff i never did when drinking was only hobby