HA WAY THE SUN: Winter kicks in oop norf

Never really thought of Sunderland as being Coastal, even though I know it made its name in the glory days of shipbuilding, so it seemed a bit odd having a B&B with a sea view.

As we headed out in the morning, it was clear that the bitterly cold night spent on the terraces was not a one off, it was FREEZING. I was sort of pleased about this because it meant I could finally dig out the Hemp Hoodlamb coat I bought in Amsterdam but have not had a chance to wear yet because it has been so warm. We dropped down to the sea to be greeted by the most amazingly choppy sea ever. I can only assume there was a storm out at sea because it was not very windy but the waves were battering the coast as if there were a force 10 gale.

After spending over an hour taking photos of the sea, we wandered around to what I assume was once the ship yard, but is now a marina, pretty much like all those that seem to be springing up in the grave yards of all the old docks around the UK.

We did not hang around the sanitised marina area long, then we headed off to nearby Newcastle for a quick look around before we went home. Photographs of the Tyne bridge were a must, with the old bridge now complimented by the Millennium Footbridge and the contemporary architecture of the BALTIC Centre For Contemporary Art.

Then as we were heading south we just had to stop off and get a few shots of the amazing, humongous Angel of the North.