Thanks FTL and witchdoctor, didn't realise the weight limit would be as low as that. I agree it was decent of the Captain to explain why we had to move forward. I presume the majority of the backage must have been in the rear hold.
Its not that I was so much "surprised" of Newcastle, more of the fact that it was so busy at 1am in the morning. As far as I could see there were only 4 departing charter flights, 1 of which would have been handled by Groundstar, so that only leaves 3 (at most) for Servisair to handle. This is why I was suprised there was a "shortage" of stairs.
Thanks for your responses.