July 2013 – England UK

Off to England again this month for Vistage UK and after visiting Newcastle in Australia last month, it seemed only fitting to speak with groups in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK!

The name and coal production are not the only things Newcastle upon Tyne has in common with Australia.  Check out this bridge with spans the Tyne River from Newcastle to Gateshead – remind you anything??

Tyne Bridge, Newcastle/Gateshead England

The design for the Tyne Bridge was based on that of the Sydney Harbour Bridge but it was actually completed 3 years earlier. Because of this, it is often thought the the one in Australia was actually based on English one, but sadly it was the other way around.

Nick also visited Vistage groups in Bath, where once upon a time, an 11-year-old Princess Victoria, opened the beautiful Royal Victoria Park. This was one of the only times that she visited Bath, because after a Bath resident commented that she had chubby ankles she vowed to never visit the city again.  We think she missed out – big time!!!

Next stop was Surrey.  Apparently there has only been one Duke of Surrey, Thomas Holland, who lived in the 1300s, and he came to such a sticky end that nobody seems to have wanted to follow him in the title.