With the weather improving and the winter blues firmly behind us, many are starting to make plans on what to do with lighter nights and warmer weekends.
And what better way than to sample some fine food and drinks outside with friends and family. Across the region, we have a range of pubs and restaurants with outdoor dining. Some overlook spectacular views of the Northumberland countryside, while others offer dramatic vistas of the Northumberland coast.
There are a fair few of those on the banks of the River Tyne too, two of which have made it into a list of the best riverside restaurants and pubs in The Times. Trakol, under the Tyne Bridge on the Gateshead side of the river was named alongside Riley's Fish Shack - though it's a very big stretch to say that's on the banks of the River Tyne, considering its separated from the river by a headland topped by Tynemouth Priory.
