I had an appointment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital this morning.  I walked down to the village and caught a bus at around 9.30am.  Its a once an hour bus that goes direct to the hospital. My appointment was for a DEXA scan.  I had one last year and needed another one as Ive finished the course of injections and the consultant wants to see if there has been any deterioration in my bone density over the year.  The scan only took 30 mins.

Then I got a bus to Gateshead.  Went to a few shops including the big Tesco. 

Took my blip shot in Gateahead - an entry for the Derelict Challenge.  This building started off life as a branch of Doggarts.It was opened in 1933 at a cost of £30,000. It was part of a chain of shops owned by Arthur Doggart since 1895.. A lots of his shops were in mining communities and he set up The Doggarts Club where poor mining  families could buy things from his stores and pay back in instalments - interest free.  There were 800 staff travelling around the area collecting payments from customers. I remember the " Doggarts Man " calling on my Grandma who lived next door.  And I remember as a child shopping in Doggarts with my Mam.  At Christmas we always went there to buy my party dress to wear at the school Christmas party and also the childrens Christmas party at the factory where my Dad worked. Happy memories.   Ive added an Extra of the shop when it was a department store.

After Doggarts closed in around 1980 the shop became a branch of Kwiksave,  There was a ladies gym upstairs.  When Kwiksave closed it became a Tesco until they moved to their new shop.  Then it was a mattress shop.... then its just been left empty and derelict. Thanks to Marlieske for hosting the challenge

Steps today - 9,994