This poor chap's busy life continued a pace, but I'm not complaining as it has been a great time.

A visit to Newcastle found me exploring old haunts from fifty years ago,

I had family to stay, the weather changed from good to bad and back again several times,

but the month ended on a real high as my youngest daughter gave birth to a daughter of her own.

I'm a grandfather . . . again !

Firstly a trip over to Newcastle, and a flying visit to Whitley Bay, a place I haven't really visited for nearly fifty years.

During college I spent six months working as advertising rep for the Newcastle Journal, Chronicle and Sunday Sun.

This was part of "my patch".

My memories are vague but there used to be a huge fun fare based around the promenade and the Spanish City Dome.

For those of a certain age, The Spanish City famously featured in Mark Knopfler's Dire Straights song "Tunnel of Love".

The Funfair has gone, victim of time and the overseas travel industry,

but in 2018 an investment of £10m saw the dome and the buildings come back to life.

Read all about it here including a fine article on the history of the site.

The seafront has been improved and on a great day like today it offers fine views over the North Sea,

south towards Tynemouth and north to St Mary's Lighthouse in the Blyth direction.

Carved out of stone and still in use today . . .  the Table Rocks Bathing Pool at Brown's Bay.

Just up the coast is the delightfully named Seaton Sluice.

The name refers to a boating inlet and harbour rather than anything unsavoury.

It was a great place to take the dogs for a run on the beach today.

Tucked under the buildings on the last photo is the good sized, small-boat harbour.

However access is difficult at low tide due to the sand bar at the entrance,

as this small boat was to find out while I was watching.

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Back home now and a canine portrait on Scale Hill summit.

It was a windy day and the precursor to a period of bad weather.

Down by Crummock Water a few days later and the cloud was down, the rain was falling and the water levels rising.

Gusts of wind whipped the water into waves,

complete with the occasional whirl of spray lifting water from the surface.

Still, it didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of this cold water swimmer !

The three of us had a walk around Loweswater, but I'll not repeat the photos which were similar to those on recent walks in September.

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My daughter was due to have her first child on October 21st . . . and on the 21st she duly arrived.

She was delivered in the Sheffield Maternity Hospital, a healthy 6lb baby girl.

Matt loaded up and ready for home . . .	. . . where Emily settled in beautifully for this family photo.