Stories
Where to start in the North East.
Stories and guides: the dishes worth knowing round here, and the places that serve them. Researched with AI help, checked by the Bucketdish team.
City guides: London, Manchester, Glasgow and more-
Local legends · Gosforth, Newcastle
Before the sausage roll: Greggs began on a pushbike in Gosforth
There were 2,739 Greggs at the end of 2025. The first was a shop on Gosforth High Street in 1951, and before that there was a man on a bike with eggs and yeast.
Photo: mohamed hassouna, Unsplash
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Know your bread · Newcastle
Stottie and pease pudding: the North East’s oldest double act
A flat, dense loaf baked on the bottom of the oven and a thick yellow pea spread. Together, they’re the North East’s sandwich.
Photo: Pille R. Priske, Unsplash
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Market day · Grainger Market, Newcastle
Lunch at the Grainger Market: built in 1835, still trading
Richard Grainger built it for butchers and greengrocers. It still has them, and now it has dumplings, bao, Korean corn dogs and Thai street food too.
Photo: Andy Li, CC0
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Teesside export · Newcastle and Gateshead
The parmo crosses the Tees: where to find Middlesbrough’s finest up here
Breaded chicken, béchamel and melted cheese, invented in Middlesbrough in 1958 (probably). It has made it to the Tyne. Here’s where.
Photo: J84115, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Chinatown · Stowell Street, Newcastle
Stowell Street: how a supermarket started Newcastle’s Chinatown
A drab street by the town wall got its first Chinese business in 1978. Now it has an 11-metre arch, dim sum, hotpot and Uyghur food.
Photo: Orijit Chatterjee, Unsplash
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Club land · Stanley
Sunday dinner at the club: the Fed, the committee and a carvery
A century ago, North East clubs were so fed up with the brewers’ beer that they built their own brewery. That story, and where to find Sunday dinner.
Photo: Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0
The photos are stock images that illustrate each story. They aren’t pictures of the places in it.
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