It was Coronation Day today for Kingie Charlie and his missus. R's Sister 1 had strung some bunting, including on her neighbour's fence but there was barely any bunting or flags anywhere to be seen.
A huge coronation street party in 1953 is R's first memory of his childhood. There were white table clothes covering trestle tables out on the court, laden down with more food than R had ever seen. He remembers it as been a wonderful fine day and a great time for children. He hoped to see a repeat of this either today or on the public (bank) holiday on the Monday. I warned him in advance that I didn't think there would be much in the way of celebrations, but I did think there would be something. There was nothing. They are not particularly royalist in the north of England. As Sister 1 succinctly once said to me, 'They have nothing to do with us', and I think that feeling is widespread 'up north'.
We returned our hire car and Sister 1's partner picked us up and took us home. We were slightly under the fuel level from we picked the car up but management said that as we looked after the car so well, he would overlook that. I saw one house with a flag displayed and one woman dressed like she might be going to Coronation Party.
We were within the greater city boundaries as we returned so it was a bit strange to see cows next to what I think was a school, but why not.
Sister 1's bunting.
I'm afraid these two places are out of order of when we visited. We were watching the Coronation on the box but we were getting restless and bored. Sister 1 proclaimed, 'How about fish and chips for lunch?'
After lunch we drove on to the lighthouse on St Mary's Island. It is not shown as an island on Google Maps I guess because there is walking causeway linking it to the mainland. But for mine, it is an island and the causeway can only be crossed at low tides, and many were doing just that.
My first photo of the leaning tower of St Mary's Lighthouse was bad enough, but R excelled with this lean.
This is more like it.
Earlier was terrific fish and chips at Cullercoats Beach. We were warned one serve would be enough for two and it was.
WWII remnants, with Dad's Army ready to repel the enemy.
It was all very nice but just a wee bit cold so close to the shoreline to hang around for too long.
When R was a child, his parents would take their children to Cullercoats Beach for the day. A bus to Central Station, a train to Cullercoats and a short walk to the beach. R's mother liked the beach because it was a small contained bay and she could keep an eye on all of her children. R's father would disappear to the local pub. The railway station is now part of the Newcastle Metro line.
Then we visited the afore mentioned St Mary's Lighthouse.
I think we stopped off at the shops on the way home and no sooner had the shopping bag been emptied than Sister 1's cat decided it was a cozy place.
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That looks like it was a good day, if a little chilly.
ReplyDeleteThe Coronation celebrations were quite muted in most places I think, except for London and the Home Counties.
Jay Cee, I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that 70 years later, coronation street parties have ceased. Yes, it was a nice day indeed.
DeleteCats and bag (or boxes) is almost a rule. It does look like a lovely day - packed with memories for R. Interesting that the festivities were so limited (like here).
ReplyDeleteI am pleased to see other people struggle with keeping their photos level.
EC, it was a lovely day and nice memories for R. I don't normally wear my reading glasses when I am out and so it is a bit hard to see the grid lines on my phone to ensure tall things look straight.
Deletethecontemplativecat here. I have watched many modern royal's events, like the wedding, the funeral honoring Diane....that is about it. It is a nod to what history did. Did not watch the coronation.
ReplyDeleteCC, what I thought it might be an exciting day turned out to be just another day. Just some more royal stuff.
DeleteThe light house is a photography subject I could spend the whole day at. Looks rustic and so tilted for my obsession on this structure. I wonder if the causeway during low tide would expose a lot of interesting terrain, This is a great spot to visit.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, it is not tilted. The tilt was photographer skill, ah hem. Not the causeway itself but the rocks beside were of great interest, examined carefully by children with just bought butterfly looking nets.
DeleteYour photos even look chilly. Cat had the right idea.
ReplyDeleteCaro, it wasn't too bad. We sat outside at a table to eat our fish and chips and all tables were occupied. Really close to the sea was cool.
DeleteWas a little surprised there was no celebrating in that area. You know I love the cat in the bag:)
ReplyDeleteSandra, as we were also surprised. Yes, I know my cat loving blogmates.
DeleteI'm a fan of fish and chips.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on, and stay safe.
Dora, English fish and chips are supposed to the best, and these were very good.
DeleteThe main question is what were the fish and chips like at Coastline Fish and Chips? Secondly, did you have mushy peas?
ReplyDeleteYP, the fish and chips were excellent. No mushy peas though. I did eat them on other occasions. They are nice enough but don't excite me.
DeleteEr...are those cows on someone's lawn? I mean...they look like they're in someone's yard!
ReplyDeleteA school lawn perhaps Debby. Yes, is someone's yard is how they looked to me.
DeleteAt our place, Newcastle means "Vera." I'm particularly a fan of the music. Any landmarks/locations visited or recognized by you? (Actually I think I already spotted some in a previous post.)
ReplyDeleteLove the cat.
MC, none of noticed any Vera filming sites although R has mentioned over the years of places he has seen in the series he did recognise. I think I recently read that much of the filming was done in the nearby town of Hexham, which we know well enough. Clearly that wasn't anything at the seaside.
DeleteInteresting hardly anyone was celebrating in the northern area of King Charles being crowned, well I suppose not everyone in England enjoys that type of thing, each to his own. Must have been good for R to visit so many places of his childhood and memories too.
ReplyDeleteLove that cow! Andrew.
Margaret, quite a bit came from R about his childhood and the visits to Cullercoats, but also about other rather disturbing things. It was funny and good to see the cows.
DeleteMmm, fish and chips :) The lighthouse island looks nice, but cold as you said. I don't get it with cats getting into bags and boxes, everyone says they love this but none of my cats ever did.
ReplyDeleteRiver, that is strange your cats never liking being enclosed by a bag or box. Perhaps your cats felt so relaxed they never needed protection of cardboard or plastic walls.
DeleteCurry's Point is a bit grim, isn't it? I wonder if it's haunted.
ReplyDeleteThere were no street parties for the coronation round here. The last, the only one we had was for the Silver Jubilee.
I am not sure I know what you mean about Curry's Point JB. The road was lined by motorcycles perhaps back towards the lighthouse. I just looked at Google Maps and the photo there is accurate but just English seaside.
DeleteI just read the blue plaque, Andrew.
DeleteOf course, yes that had slipped my mind. I doubt it slipped from many peoples' minds at the time.
DeleteI was up early to watch the coronation, from afar. It has only happened once in my lifetime, may not happen again in my life. Cute cat!
ReplyDeleteYou never know TP. Charles is 75 and there is a well groomed heir in the waiting.
DeleteWhat is it with cats and bags?!
ReplyDeleteI like the bunting, even if there wasn't much of it! I did see quite a few coronation street parties in London, but most of them were a few days after the actual event. (Maybe because the weather wasn't great on coronation day itself.)
That DOES seem like a very strange place to see cows.
Bags or boxes, Steve. I think they feel safer in an enclosed space. An attack can only come in one direction.
DeleteCorrect about the weather. While it was nice in the north, it wasn't in the south.
"An attack can only come in one direction" leaving no escape option, probably why my cats all preferred open space around themselves. They could get away in a hurry if necessary.
DeleteRiver, I was only guessing. What you've said seems more logical, but cats do like to hide.
DeleteI looked up St. Mary's Island on google maps to see where you were. Then I became distracted and began looking at Scotland's coast and islands, then Wales, then Ireland and its islands. Google maps is addictive.
ReplyDeleteStrayer, maps in general are addictive to me. Coastal Britain and Ireland are pretty interesting.
DeleteOf course the cat has found the best place to nap ! I watched the whole show later I had recorded it. Because when for 15 min I see soldiers walking around even if they are dressed in red, I fall asleep. So I can make ff. The best is little Louis, I didn't watch the King or the Queen, I had my eyes on little Louis. He is so funny and cute.
ReplyDeleteThe new generation Gattina. We won't see them to maturity and I hope they do well in life. Not all Royals do.
DeleteAwesome images!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Delete