Post waterworks excavations we took delivery of two dumpy bags of gravel to resurface the yard drive entry. The driver showed me the stones before using the hydraulic crane to lift and drop the load. They’ve recently changed suppliers to one that sources its stones from the beach at Seaham on the Durham coast. There is a very small amount of crushed shells amongst the aggregate. (Less than 1% by my calculation) Consequently some very fussy customers have refused to take delivery. Our young driver was bemused as we were. He’d even joked with one such customer that she should look on the bright side and encourage her children to look out for fossils that might be in there too. She was not amused.
Boxing day saw us in company with the Newcastle branch of our extended family taking to the coast road on an impromptu trip to the seaside at Tynemouth. Not being the only folk to have the same idea we were lucky to find a parking space on Grand Parade. Wearing sunglasses against the sharp low light, we descended the narrow set of concrete steps to the welcome freedom of Longsands beach.
A panoramic picture captures a mass of walkers and only the fact that everyone was dressed for warmth would differentiate us from a mid-summer crowd of holidaymakers. A group of hardy surfers in wetsuits were out among the gentle waves, optimistically seeking enough impetus for the ride back to shore. Spotted a lone metal detectorist in conversation with one of the scores of dog walkers striding the strand. A lone oil tanker riding out its wait before coming in to dock on the Tyne, was the focal point to all this human perambulation, set on the calm sea under a near cloudless sky.
At the other end of the long wide beach we climbed back up, overlooking the old tidal lido, to emerge by the silhoutted remains of castle and priory that dominate the headland here. A clutch of deserted striped deckchairs and varnished benches cluster here with commemorative bunches of flowers strapped to them.
We ambled down one side of the old high street before returning on the other. Cue fish & chips. A well practised team of cheerful Geordie lasses dispensed them to the a patient queue at Marshalls and we elected to eat in. I loved the formica tables and green plastic bucket seats, not to mention their old great packaging (above) Most of all, the elegant round plaque in the window put up by the town’s historical association. It informed us that ‘ Rock star guitarist Jimmi Hendrix bought fish & chips here to eat on a bench outside after playing the Club A-Go Go in Pilgrim Street Newcastle on 10th March 1967’…. Enough said.
STEPHEN TOMLIN 