We're celebrating the people and places that make us proud to be from the North East, the spectacular sights, the scenery and the 'only here' traditions, jokes and idiosyncrasies that make us smile.
It's part of our revival of the Passionate People, Passionate Places campaign, which re-launches this week for 2020 in our newspapers and websites. It aims to champion everything that's great about our region. Here's how you can get involved.
Every day this week we'll add ten more things to the list - but we want your suggestions too so please share these with us either in the comments below or via our new social media platforms for the campaign, which can be found on Twitter here, Facebook here and Instagram here.
Here are the first 20 which tap into our Geordie humour as well as some of the views that make us proud.
1. Because Greggs made Piers Morgan cry with a sausage roll.
2. Because Vic and Bob have made having a daft laugh an art form.
3. Because the young people on The Mighty Redcar are the perfect antidote to insulting the young as ‘snowflakes’.
4. Because there is no better train view than the arrival into Durham...
5. ...unless you count the journey North through Northumberland.
6. Because people run around Allendale on New Year’s Eve with burning tar on their heads and no-one really knows why.
7. Because Little Mix are fierce.
8. Because thousands of stags and hens come here for their last night of freedom.
9. Because Harry Pearson’s The Far Corner is the best book about football ever.
10. Because Auf Wiedersehen Pet contained the line “Sex is in its infancy in Gateshead”.
11. Because it says “Made in Middlesbrough” on the Sydney Harbour Bridge
12. Because we’ve still got red squirrels...
13. ...and seals and puffins...
14. Because one of Bruce Springsteen’s main inspirations was The Animals.
15. Because Barter Books is the country’s best second hand bookshop.
16. Because Come Out 2Nite by Kenickie is one minute and 58 seconds of pop perfection.
17. Because there is no better place in the UK for stargazing...
18. ...or mountain biking.
19. Because most of England’s women football stars are from here.
20. Because the ham and pease pudding stottie is the king of all sandwiches.
21. Because the new Minecraft game is being made in a room in Middlesbrough.
22. Because of the Top Tips page in Viz.
23. Because Ben Stokes.
24. Because of the view from the Free Trade Inn.
25. Because the Angel of the North is still the yardstick by which all other public art in the UK is judged (and mostly fails).
26. Because we make all the Rolos in the world.
27. Because you haven’t lived until you’ve had a lemontop.
28. Because our football fans are really loyal (trust us, their loyalty has been tested...)
29. Because of the views from Roseberry Topping.
30. Because of the wind-up swan at Bowes Museum
31. Because innovation is in our blood (and has been for centuries).
32. Because Ashington keeps producing sporting heroes.
33. Because Hexham has been voted the happiest place to live in the UK.
34. Because there are cows grazing just outside Newcastle city centre.
35. Because there is a statue of Andy Capp.
36. Because we have the best beaches...
37. ...and the best castles...
38. ...and the best bridges.
39. Because there’s a vampire rabbit behind Newcastle Cathedral.
40. Because Berwick is still at war with Russia (sort of...)
41. Because of the Lego cathedral inside Durham Cathedral.
42. Because the Teesside chemicals industry inspired the opening of Blade Runner.
43. Because David Olusoga’s House Through Time in Newcastle was a love poem to his home town.
44. Because Jonathan Edwards is the UK’s only athletics world record holder.
45. Because Ant and Dec have been the nation’s favourite entertainers for about 300 years.
46. Because there is a place called No Place.
47. Because walking up to Penshaw Monument is unbeatable.
48. Because Hartlepool introduced Peter Mandelson to the concept of mushy peas.
49. Because London eventually caught up with Durham and staged Lumiere.
50. Because we’re dead canny.
We'll add 10 more to the list tomorrow and every day this week - but in the meantime please do comment and let us know the North East people, places, organisations and traditions that you're passionate about.
