May 25th 2014

As the anonymous poem ends; "But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day, is bonny and blithe and good and gay".

Well we may not have been born on the Sabbath Day but we were good and gay down the seaside this morning. Vague plans were made to venture into Northumberland this morning, plans mothballed by the announcement by my parents that they were kindly taking us for lunch in the village, the Black Horse to be exact owned and run by Zulu, earstwhile lead singer of the Toy Dolls. There is only so much one can do then before a 1pm feast awaits. Down to the beach at Roker near Sunderland we ventured for a coffee and a sit in the sun. This part of the North East coast despite being hemmed in by the rivers Tyne to the north and the Wear to the south is unspoilt and is where as a child I spent many a happy hour. It has hardly changed, except the sea is a lot cleaner now that those two mighty rivers of the Industrial Revolution are now so clean they attract salmon and otters into the city centre.  At a point called the 'Cat and Dog's steps there is a cafe, actually a storage container offering teas, coffees and bovril with a bacon sandwich thrown in. Seating is along the promenade and so as we walked there I text'd my long time friend Andrew who lives nearby who came and joined us for a sit in the sun. A very pleasant way to spend an hour before lunch, watching the North Sea tide rise and fall.