(10 Apr 2015, 2:16 pm)MurdnunoC wrote It may have been the 61/62 circular service you remember, however it didn't serve Southend Road, Whinlatter Road, Whinbury Road or Church Road.
The 'Big Orange' services may have been operated by a company called Easyway. Initially, they had services 60 and 61 which operated between Gateshead and Metrocentre only but I do recall the route being extended towards Felling Square at some point so it is possible, I guess, that one of these services went via the High Fell area.
I also vaguley recall the 60 being operated by North Eastern with an extension to the Team Valley Retail World via Durham Road and Low Fell. GNE may have also ran another service in competition with this but, unfortunately, I don't have the timetables to corroborate.
It was definitely a service via those roads I mentioned and it was when Go-ahead were painting a lot of the nationals Orange. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=leyland+national+gateshead&tbm=isch&ei=OQkoVdOXI4TXasu1gIAN&start=40&sa=N#mhpiv=12
I can't remember Easyway at all, but remember these services (in their different guises) all going the way of the QE and Felling.
Eventually, they ended up at the Minilink services, going down Belle Vue Bank, Racecourse Est and Gateshead Interchange.