Update: full set of photos are now in the album
As I mentioned recently, this weekend is the last opportunity for the public to get access to the normally closed upper levels of Gateshead’s multi story car park. Opening hours are 10am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm. What with shopping and the like, I knew I wouldn’t make it for the morning session, but I managed to get it together to get into Gateshead by around 2:45. There were no signs or arrows or indeed anything to indicate that there was anything going on, so I started going up the stairs, taking pictures of the view as I went. Finally, I reached level 7 (that’s not actually seven floors, the levels are split, so level 7 is sort of third or fourth floor height), and found The Queue.

Lots of people all lined up, patiently waiting for their turn to be allowed in. The first bit of the wait (must have been 20 minutes or so) was a bit dull, as I was in the depths of the place, but the next bit was better, as we slowly moved along right by the wall, which offered a great view. Everyone had to sign a waiver thingy, basically saying that if the car park fell down on us, we wouldn’t sue anybody, and that we’d let Gateshead Council have rights for non-commercial use of any pictures taken. Eventually, the queue got round the corner, where I could see what was happening. To keep things safe, they were keeping the numbers of people allowed up at any time within a moderate range. I don’t think it was a rigid limit, but it was pretty much a case of letting some more people in when some people left. We had to wear hard hats, too.

Once my turn came, I handed in my signed form, got my hard hat and joined a small group of other visitors. We were given a safety briefing – basically “don’t go beyond any safety barriers, the concrete might collapse”. It was also confirmed that the never used restaurant at the top was closed off, as it had been condemned. Shame – it would have been interesting to see the inside of that.

As you might expect, I took lots of pictures of the building and the great view. I’ll be sorting out lots of them tomorrow and putting them up for your amusement, but here’s one to be going on with.