Northumbria Police

A letter arrives from Northumbria police addressed to me and D pales .
Those longstanding followers of the blog will recognise that his keen interest in performance cars is also linked with a tendency for Speed which has not gone unremarked by more than one police force in the North of England and only last year I accompanied him to a hearing which might have resulted in the loss of licence . However he escaped by promising to turn over a new leaf and indeed selling the WRX Impreza .
Thus his fear that he may have again exceeded the limit , this time in my car .
I opened the letter with curiosity . Anyone who knows me will confirm that my driving speeds are twofold , slow and slower . I reduce obsessively to 30mph when anywhere near houses , streets , shops or people . The advertising campaign with the little girl telling us she dies if we hit her at forty mph worked for me . That coupled with the fact that I was myself hit by a car as a toddler is enough to slow me almost to a standstill at times .
So , what a shock ! the speeding was my misdeameanour , last Friday , when I drove out of Haydon Bridge at 35mph .
D's colour returns and he offers his genuine condolences about my bad luck , how unfair it is that I am to be prosecuted when only five over the limit etc , blah blah . But he can't help grinning with relief that this time its not him and .... even possibly some slight amusement that its Ms Holier Than Thou to face the music .
For half an hour I'm mortified , then I see the funny side . But from now on my driving will be Even Slower .

Cockle Picking ..?

What are the men picking at low tide ? This morning they carry buckets and pick into those . Some days though they are out deep in the water , up to their waists , and they apparently carry nothing . They bend , pick something up , bend again , but impossible to see where they store the catch .. in deep ( wet ?) pockets somewhere , possibly ? Once I sat in the rain for several minutes hoping they would emerge from the sea and I could ask them about it . But they were out there for the duration and I was drenched .

The skies stormy this morning and the seabirds shouting loudly and circling inland . A bad weather sign apparently . Not looking good for the mouth of the Tyne festival in the village today ......

(Enlarge the photo and spot the shopping trolley in the water ? Only in the North Sea ...)