Spirits lift at our town's magical transformation

It was Whitley Bay Carnival at the weekend and the procession gets more colourful and more musical every year.

- Peter Mortimer

OK, it's still not quite up to Rio standards, but it’s difficult to remain glum while witnessing this procession and the numbers taking part (plus the number of spectators) seems to grow annually. Thus what is normally a fairly non-aesthetic town centre is transformed for a few hours into something magical.

Hundreds are involved in the procession itself; they're togged up as all manner of animals, insects and fish in every colour imaginable and in contrast to such a technicolor profusion, the giant black-garbed figure of George Stephenson glowers down at us from a great height.

George wears a tall black stove hat giving him even more presence, height and gravitas and one of those poor slaves bent over and pushing his giant feet along is Richard Broderick, known as Brod to his friends.

Brod is a technical whizz-kid and has been responsible for creating many of the carnival’s leading attractions over the years, including George. He also created the metal and neon version of my small poem that is mounted over the front door lintel.