My only experience of the Queen’s visit to Newcastle yesterday was watching the 10 O’Clock news last night. Of course, the headlines weren’t just about the Queen’s tour of the north west east, they were also about the chap who decided to streak infront of the Royal entourage. Once again, Newcastle is put on the map for all the wrong reasons. A few weeks ago, there was a report on a local BBC news programme about Londoners’ perceptions of the north east of England; their response can be summarised by the following key words: unemployment, working mens clubs, grime, coal, drunk people and old geordie geezers in cloth caps. Of course, the north east just wouldn’t be the north east without some of those characteristics, but the general level of ignorance from these people was shocking. Even though I’m not originally from Newcastle, I’m proud to be living in a city that is moving forward so rapidly. Some of the reasons for the Queen’s visit - the Millenium Bridge and the redevelopment of the Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides - are really quite awesome achievements which those outside of the area should experience for themselves. Incidentally, last nights report on the national BBC news had interviews with locals about what they thought of the redevelopments; who was one of the interviewees? An old geordie geezer in a cloth cap, that’s who.