Seaside fun at glorious beaches

NORTH East summers from childhood were always better - or at least that's what people usually remember. In our Newcastle summer gallery, we put on our rose-tinted sunglasses and enjoyed the endless sun that used to bathe our childhood summers.

- By DAVID MORTON

Talk about memories of Newcastle 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've gathered some pictures from the Chronicle archives of Newcastle and Tyneside coastal summers long ago.