Monday 4th January 2016

Sunday

And so the long dark Christmas and New Year vacation draws to an end, with just the long dark Sunday to come now. And so, with work looming in the morning, it is a usual Sunday: MOTD, visiting the old folk, washing clothes and the rest of the mundane stuff. I am aware that it is this stuff, which enables us to work, which in turn enables us to do all the fun stuff we love to do. Anyway, there are only so many sausage rolls, mince pies and slabs of Dundee Cake one can eat. Isn't it?

Oh well.

It seems these first few days on the New Year, the weather has been trying to down us, or at least leave us drip dry. As for the 3rd day, heavy rain for due mid-morning, so if we were to do anything, it would have to be early out. Thanks to the local history group I found out that one of the piers in Dover was being closed due to redevelopment, so why not go for one last walk along it? Why not indeed.

After coffee, we got dressed and drove down to the seafront, finding one of the few free spaces in which to leave the car. I take one more shot at the shrinking Burlington House the other side of Townwall Street, it is now lower than the roof of Gateway Flats, soon, the carbuncle will soon be history. Thankfully. It was also the first shot I took in the New Year.

At the base of the pier, the abandoned hoverport is almost unreconiseable, other than the propeller standing forlorn. The apron is now used as a store for road materials, other than for ranty BBC motoring presenters who want to drive over the sea to France. Sorry, ex-BBC presenters.

It was just past dawn, and just about avoiding being run over by an errant cyclist for whom the road was not enough and had to bring death to the pavement, we made our way down the pier, and it seemed pretty grim really. But what it lacks in comfort it makes up in views over the harbour to the Eastern Docks with the castle and Pharos above.

Past the end of the protecting wall which was shielding us from the keen weserly winds, the truncated dock from which the Seacat used to depart from, the linkspan having been removed a couple of years back.

The austere shelters, functional if not pretty, will probably be gone soon as will the miles of iron railings and ornate lamps lining the entire length of the pier.

The cafe already closed on New Year's Day, and most of its fittings stripped out. We go past it and under the shadow of the harbour light at the very end of the pier, then take shelter from the keen wind, blowing chill.

With that, we turn round and walk back down the pier for the last time.

Back at the car, we climb in, cranking the heating up for the short drive to Aycliffe to see how the work on the sea wall was going. Plenty of heavy plant and people dressed in bright orange doing stuff, as the latest storm was whipping the sea up behind into ever-higher waves.

I take a few shots before the light rain begins to fall.

Back to the car, then back home for late breakfast and for me to take to the sofa to watch the previous day's football, what with Norwich winning their third out of the four festive games. How very different the league table looks now.

We send mails to our tour organiser for the trip to Japan, now we have to wait to see what can be squeezed in and how much this will all cost.

With the rain falling outside, we fall into our default conditions: listening to the radio, beading and stroking the mogs. THe afternooon passes with two games on the radio. I cook steak and ale pie for dinner, using the last of the vegetables left from Christmas, and the last of the chicken gravy too. It is now dark outside but the weather is throwing the rain down, the cats don't want to go outside, and look sadly at the door as the rain pours in through the cat flap when the wind opens it.