Ring in the New

Happy 2015. I hope everyone reading this had a great new years, because God knows New Years Eve has never been a disappointment for anyone. 

Me and the better half went to Tynemouth the other week, which is a pretty wee seaside village in North Tyneside. A nice day was had wandering around the market and the ruins of the priory, which also doubled as an anti aircraft installation back in the day. The only dampener was one rather bizarre incident when me and wor lass lass were sat waiting for a meal when a family of six came in, saw that there were no free seats and, rather than walk the ten yards to the next establishment, promptly sat down at our table. They sat with their backs to us and made no attempt to acknowledge our existence us or the weirdness of the situation, everybody that is except the children, who had obviously not got the memo and stared at us with the slack jawed intensity that only pre schoolers can summon. We were eventually moved to another table by the - very apologetic - bar-staff at which point one of the invading party decided.that we did actually exist and offered the limpest of apologies. Fear not anonymous table usurpers, I have now moved on, but I must warn you that as far as wor lass is concerned, you have made an enemy for life. 

We also went to Middlesbrough the other day, because apparently we are the sort of couple who go on day trips to Middlesbrough on purpose. One of the reasons for this was so we could visit the local Institute of Modern Art, which turned out to be a silly reason as the bugger was shut. The other reason was to have a wander around Middlehaven and hopefully scratch the girlfriend's photography itch. 

For those who don't know, Middlehaven is a large redevelopment area on the banks of the Tees. Middlehaven was for a long time, very literally, on the wrong side of the tracks (or "over the border" as the Smoggies would have it), home to the town's red light district and the skeletons of industries which were, at one point, world class. There were plans on the table to completely revamp the whole area in one big bang. Unfortunately the double whammy of the credit crunch hit and Tory led austerity meant that that went to shit and the local authority have had to move the whole thing forward piecemeal.  As such, at the time of writing, approximately 5% of the area is made up of restored classic buildings, 5% derelict buildings that are beyond saving and 15% shiny new office and college buildings. The remaining 75% is made up of deserted brownfield land with the wind whistling mournfully over it. Maybe some day they'll finish it and it'll be super smashing great, but at present the whole area stands as slightly mournful testament to the scale of the challenge facing many areas in the north

I've been busy with a distance learning course over the past couple of weeks so haven't done as much drawing as I'd like. Below's a panel from Rag and Bone because finishing the thing is as near as I've gotten to a new year's resolution (that and for the killing to finally stop).

I'm also still doing stupid Dryathalon thing. I spend my evenings stood at my window, watching the local winos roll around in their own filth, shouting incoherently at the seagulls, and I am green with envy. Any donation will, of course be gratefully received, but I am happy to accept a high five in lieu  of money.

Love and Fishes

Dave Denton