Earl Grey

Went to Newcastle to do my christmas shopping which I'd been avoiding but actually had a wonderful morning with Andy, drifting around the shops and buying the girls silly presents. Overlooking us all was Earl Grey, a sight so familiar that I've almost stopped seeing him. When I first came to Newcastle, in 1984, I remember all the striking miners beneath his austere gaze and thinking that I'd come to a foreign country. He's always been a magnet for dissenters, protesters and dreamers, a safe place beneath which to shout about the injustices of life, of which, for many in this region, there have been plenty. Today though he looked calm and sanguine, much like I felt.