Whitley Bay,Seaside

Whitley Bay is a coastal town in Northumberland/ Tyneside. It has a fine stretch of golden sandy beach forming a bay stretching from St. Mary's Island in the north to Cullercoats in the south ! - (Memories of our Glorious Seaside past). .

www.whitleybayonline.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitley_Bay



The Town That I Grew Up In:
By: Steve Payne

I took a stroll through my home town
On the way from work today
And it didn’t make a happy trip
I think it’s fair to say
This place that I have always loved
Is such a dreadful mess
Despite the constant talk of more
It seems we just have less
I trudged back home past boarded shops
past closed down pubs and halls
Through litter piles and vomit stains
Past sad graffiti’d walls
And later on I made a brew
And fetched my self a cup in
And let my mind go drifting back
Through the town that I grew up in
The summers then were long and hot
The night skies washed with stars
And every street was full of kids
And never full of cars
The seafront heaved in summer time
As thousands filled the beach
And kids built walls of stone and sand
For the rising tide to breach
The Spanish City pulsed with noise
The pop songs of the day
Blasted from the speakers
As the Waltzer whirled away
The blinding Dome stood proud and white
The arcades plied their trade
And everywhere was clean and bright
Not dirty and decayed
On Sundays in the summer time
The ‘Scotchies’ came to play
Raising hairs upon my neck
As they marched along their way
With banging drums and wailing pipes
They called us to the coast
And the dancing girls, with their whirling kilts
Were the part I liked the most
Sea coal smoked the chimneys
Then curled away to sky
As the lighthouse flashed it warning beam
To the trawlers passing by
The nightclubs filled with punters
The Alletsa Ballroom danced
As neon drove the darkness back
And the girls all got romanced
I know it wasn’t perfect then
‘Cos nothing ever could be
But the Council Tax takes more than rates
So maybe now it should be
And Whitley Bay should wear its pride
But there’s very little showing
So the one’s in charge had best look out
Because the winds of change keep blowing
My town seemed so much better then
An exciting place I’d say
And I filled with pride, when I replied
“I come from Whitley Bay”
But as I sat and ate my meal
And gave my tea a ‘suppin’
I could only sigh for the days gone by
In the town that I grew up in .(End)