It is roughly eight hours drive from Brighton to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (not to be confused with Newcastle-under-Lyme) and it is all heading north. Thus I was not surprised to find it really cold up there. On Sunday morning I went for a walk along the bridge over Jesmond Dene (I think it is called the Archer's Bridge) to see the crafts for sale. There were some great photographs of local landmarks, and some from further abroad. I also really liked the giant mirrors one lady was selling. The frames seemed to be carved MDF and then painted to look like flowers, dolphins, starbursts etc etc. I think Jo is going to need one for her downstairs loo.

An icy leaf

   It was about noon when I got down into the Dene, and the grass was still frozen. It was slightly crispy to walk on and the ground beneath it was solid. It didn't take long for me to start losing the use of my fingers after I took my hands out of my gloves to use my camera. I can't remember the last time I ran along a street and had to slow down at the corner because it was icy. Such were the simple pleasures of my youth. It totally has to snow this year, if it doesn't land in Brighton I am going to go find it.

   I took a look around Killingworth, Jenny's home ground and liked the place. Most of it seems to have been designed as one super-estate, which apparently looks like a castle from the air. There is a ring road around the outside acting as a moat, and Garths (blocks of houses) as the turrets. The big man-made lake looks pretty well done too, I can imagine that place freezing over quite soon and it becoming a skating rink. But possibly the best part of it is hidden from most routes. The Village, as it is known by locals, is the old part of town and has suitably old buildings in it. A far cry from the recent development a few streets away this place looks like it should be miles away in the country side, not a quick bus trip from Newcastle. The have a big wheel there too. It commemorates George Stephenson who pretty much invented rail travel. So I guess I owe him thanks for all the trains I took in Europe.

Cherrytree Close

   Later that night (well it was only about 6pm but totally dark) we went walking to Cherrytree Close. Here all the residents put on a big light display for christmas that would impress Tim Allen. There was even a dancing Santa to collect money for charity.

Glowing reindeer

   I left on Monday night after a catalogue of disasters that I couldn't help but laugh at. Rory was going to drive me to the bus station but since he had missed rugby practice he went on a bike ride for exercise. Along the way he got a flat and had to run back pushing the bike all the way. Then his car wouldn't start. We gave it a few pushes up and down his street but nothing was happening so I decided to take the bus. As we were standing there at the stop, me laden down with my big back-pack, the bus came up. The driver shrugged his shoulders and kept going! There was one other person on it, so it wasn't out of service, nor too full. grrr! I had allowed plenty of time and got there early anyway. The ride was good, seeing as I could sleep through most of it, apart from when the driver announced our stops along the way. At about 3 am I was staggering around some motorway services looking for a vending machine.

   I am back in Brighton now and hoping to finally put up a selection of photos from Europe, the only thing stopping me is me, I'll have to get over that.