Coastal summers of Tyneside past

NORTH East summers from childhood were always better - or at least that's what people usually remember.

- DAVE MORTON

Talk about memories of summers of long ago and they're almost invariably sunny. Heatwaves in the 1970s; non-stop sunshine in the 1950s. Hearing the ice cream van playing Greensleeves across the fields (now a housing estate).

And eeeh, the Tyneside beaches were packed with people. Children riding shuggy boats while eating Funny Feet or a lager and lime lolly. We're lucky here in the North East to have some of the finest coastline in Britain.