Where's Maia

Walk at South Gare. The steel works blast furnace and the offshore wind farm sit alongside a beautiful expanse of sandy beach and the old fisherman's huts. You can see the boats queuing up to enter Teesport. A strangely beautiful and evocative of times gone by when this area was thriving with industry, not one of the more deprived areas in the UK. We'd been to the demonstration at Cleveland Fire Brigade headquarter where the Fire Authority were meeting to discuss cuts. Sadly we heard the news on the radio that they are closing a station, getting rid of 5 fire engines and cutting over a 100 firefighters jobs. Doesn't seem right in an area with such heavy industry, some of the highest risk chemical and industrial sights and a vulnerable high risk population. Sad times.