FAMILY LIFE / NEWCASTLE / MOTHERHOOD AFTER 40

I took my boys to the NE1 Newcastle Motor Show for their birthdays, and it cost us nothing

With H turning 40, Cyrus approaching his first birthday and nursery fees eating through our bank balance, I needed a birthday treat that didn’t involve remortgaging the house. Enter Newcastle’s Grey Street, a fleet of supercars and two very happy boys.

NE1 MOTOR SHOW  /  FREE FAMILY DAYS OUT  /  NEWCASTLE

A 40th birthday apparently calls for a grand gesture, while a baby’s first birthday comes with the expectation of balloons, presents, a huge cake and enough photographs to embarrass them well into their 20s.

With H approaching 40 and little Cyrus about to turn one, I was determined to make both birthdays special. The problem was money. As a new mum over 40, I was discovering just how quickly a household budget could disappear once nursery fees, nappies and all the other necessities of raising a baby entered the equation.

A weekend away was out of the question. A fancy restaurant sounded appealing, although taking a nearly one-year-old somewhere expensive seemed a slightly ambitious way to spend money on food I probably wouldn’t get to finish. Even my blogging connections were of little use. My domain authority wasn’t high enough to attract complimentary luxury experiences, so there would be no press freebies riding to the rescue.

H, meanwhile, had made his feelings perfectly clear. He didn’t want me spending money on his birthday. I understood his reasoning, but I couldn’t bear the thought of letting his 40th pass without doing something memorable. After all, turning 40 deserved more than a card and a cup of tea, even if the tea was good.

Our solution came in the form of the NE1 Newcastle Motor Show, a free, open-air event that transformed the city centre into a showcase of some of the world’s most desirable cars. For a husband with a passion for engineering, a baby fascinated by anything with wheels and a new mum just determined to keep the bank balance intact, it was ideal.

Grey Street is impressive enough on an ordinary day. Its sweeping Georgian architecture gives Newcastle a grandeur that visitors sometimes overlook, especially if their experience of the city is limited to football crowds and Saturday-night revelry. Fill that same street with Lamborghinis, Porsches, Bentleys and McLarens, however, and it becomes a d completely different spectacle.

We arrived to find polished bonnets gleaming in the July sunshine, cameras clicking and crowds around cars that most of us would only ever admire through a showroom window. Every few steps brought another extraordinary piece of machinery, from sleek modern supercars to classics that had clearly lost none of their appeal.

What I liked most was how accessible it all felt. Nobody needed to own an expensive car or understand the finer points of engine performance to enjoy it. Families walked between the displays, children pointed excitedly at their favourites and enthusiasts stopped to examine the details. For once, admiring luxury didn’t come with a huge price tag.

Although H was the obvious motoring enthusiast in our family, Cyrus quickly established himself as a serious contender. At almost one year old, he was still discovering the world around him, but he appeared to have developed an early appreciation.

There were enormous wheels to inspect and steering wheels that looked a lot more interesting than anything in his toy box. When he had the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of one of the cars, his delight was unmistakable. Getting him back out was a little more difficult however.

Watching a baby behave as though he had just taken possession of a luxury vehicle was funny. He looked entirely at home in the driver’s seat, despite being several years away from understanding what a car actually did. I could already imagine our living room filling with toy vehicles and enthusiastic engine noises.

Cyrus wouldn’t remember his first motor show, but H and I would. That is one of things about a baby’s first birthday. Much of the celebration is for the parents, a chance to look back at the year that has passed and marvel at how much has changed.

I have always had a soft spot for Rolls-Royce. There is something excessive about a car designed to make its occupants feel amazing. My particular weakness is the Celestial Phantom, with its Starlight Headliner featuring more than 1,000 fibre-optic lights.

A miniature night sky above your head while travelling to the supermarket? Entirely unnecessary, of course, but I can think of worse ways to spend a fortune. Unfortunately, our family finances were more compatible with admiring Rolls-Royces than owning one.

H approached the displays from a different perspective. As an engineer, he was interested in what happened beneath the polished bodywork. Where I admired the interiors and paintwork, he studied the design and technical details. One striking blue car drew plenty of attention, but it was a classic BMW 2002 that prompted a more personal reaction.

The BMW reminded him of his childhood, when motoring felt more mechanical than digital. Seeing it among the modern supercars brought back memories that no amount of horsepower could replace. It was a reminder that people’s attachment to cars isn’t always about status or price. It can be just about the vehicle you remember growing up, or the one you dreamed of owning.

I liked that an older BMW could hold its own among the modern giants. It goes to show that not everything improves because somebody adds a touchscreen.

The scale of the NE1 Newcastle Motor Show was impressive. Sponsored by DFDS, the event reportedly attracted around 100,000 visitors across two days, turning the city centre into a celebration of motoring history, design and technology.

Displays featured vehicles from different decades alongside live stunt demonstrations and appearances from manufacturers including McLaren, Bentley, Tesla, Infiniti and Lexus. Visitors could admire the cars at close quarters, speak to owners and experts, and discover the stories behind some remarkable machines.

The event had acquired the nickname the ‘Goodwood of the North’, an ambitious comparison perhaps, but one that captured the enthusiasm surrounding it. Newcastle might not have the rolling Sussex countryside, but it knew how to put on a show.

What struck me was the variety of people enjoying it. Serious motoring enthusiasts examined every detail, families dodged the crowds with pushchairs and older visitors stopped to reminisce about cars they remembered from years gone by. It wasn’t just an event for people who could afford the vehicles on display. It was an opportunity for everyone to enjoy them.

For families like ours, that made all the difference. There was no admission fee to worry about and no pressure to spend money once we arrived. We could explore and enjoy the atmosphere for as long as Cyrus’s patience allowed.

Near the Monument, the Mercedes-AMG driving simulator offered visitors a taste of virtual racing. Cyrus was far too small to take part, although judging by his enthusiasm for steering wheels, I suspect he would have been quite happy to try.

By the time we had finished exploring, H had enjoyed his engineering fix, Cyrus had inspected enough vehicles and I had taken more photographs than strictly necessary. It was the sort of afternoon that reminded me why I loved living in Newcastle.

The motoring theme continued when we returned home. Among Cyrus’s birthday presents were a VTech Toot-Toot Drivers Garage and a Playtime Bus, both more affordable than the vehicles we had spent the afternoon admiring.

The garage came with flashing lights, cheerful music and an assortment of enthusiastic sound effects. The bus introduced numbers, letters and songs, while Cyrus discovered the pleasure of pushing vehicles around and making as much noise as possible.

Within minutes, our living room sounded like a miniature transport depot. Engines revved and horns beeped at a volume that seemed slightly unnecessary. Cyrus was delighted.

Looking back, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate two important birthdays. H had spent the afternoon surrounded by engineering he admired, Cyrus had enjoyed his first encounter with the motoring world and I had the pleasure of watching them both without worrying about the cost.

Becoming a mother at 40 had already changed my relationship with money. Before Cyrus, I could justify the occasional indulgence without too much thought. Once nursery fees and family expenses entered the picture, every purchase took more consideration. I didn’t want to stop celebrating special occasions, but I was learning to be more inventive about how we marked them.

The NE1 Newcastle Motor Show reminded me that a memorable family day out doesn’t have to involve elaborate planning or an expensive admission ticket. We didn’t book a luxury hotel, organise a lavish party or spend hundreds of pounds on an experience that would be over in an hour. We walked through Newcastle, admired cars we would never own and watched our little boy have fun.

Cyrus won’t remember sitting behind that steering wheel, but we have the photographs to prove that his taste in cars was already more expensive than his parents’ budget. And that was the best birthday present of all. Not the cars, the toys or even the money we saved, but the chance to spend an afternoon together, making memories that would outlast anything we could have bought.

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