I WENT TO THE SEASIDE

I saw the Nurse at 11.30am. Bad news - blood pressure still high. Good news - I don't have another leg ulcer.

I was only in with the Nurse for about 10 mins and then I got the bus to Gateshead and then another bus to Whitley Bay. Quite a long journey as the bus called at loads of places before it got to Whitley Bay. I wandered down to the sea. It started raining but it wasn't too heavy.

My blip shows St. Mary's Lighthouse which stands on the tiny St. Mary's Island. The small rocky tidal island is linked to the mainland by a short concrete causeway which is submerged at periods of high tide. It no longer functions as a working lighthouse but it is easily accessible (when the tide is out) and is open to visitors - it has a small museum and visitor's centre.

The lighthouse and adjacent keeper's cottages were built in 1898 by the John Miller company of Tynemouth, using 645 blocks of stone and 750,000 bricks. It was built on the site of a monastery where a small sanctuary light would have acted as a guide to passing ships. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1984 and stands at 120 foot in height.

Haven't been to Whitley Bay for about 10 years. Some things were familiar but there had also been quite a few changes. I enjoyed my day out at the coast. Now I have my OAP bus pass I think I will make the effort to have more days out in the future.