No snow, as forecast ...

... just more rain and a bitter easterly, blowing along the Tyne Valley.

This cheered me up: The poet John Cooper Clarke  is often described as caustic and spiky, and his work certainly can be, says Judith Woods in The Daily Telegraph. But in person he is genial, funny and down to earth. “I don’t write poetry to achieve any sort of catharsis, I’m just earning a crust,” he says. “I’ve never suffered from clinical depression. I’m not wrestling with inner demons or trying to overthrow capitalism. I don’t even follow world politics. I’m a neighbourhood sort of guy. I keep my beady eye on the local council; that’s where the sharks swim. I ride a bike, without a helmet, so I care about potholes deeply.” Academics, he says, “are always looking for the author in the work, but sometimes I’m not there. I’m at home watching telly!”


And, playing on Radio Sandhoe today: Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs - Fast Car