Down Plessey Road

     

     We’ve been staying in the mid-sized/small town of Blyth, Northumberland.  So far I’ve noticed that it seems to generally be a pretty average community.  There are obviously people here who are doing very well financially, and people who are doing better than average, and a lot of average people.  We are staying at a house on Plessey Road.  Yesterday we traversed the length of that road and found that it starts near the North Sea and ends less than 100 yards from where we are staying.  The houses near the ocean are clearly a more well heeled neighborhood than where our friends, Jimmy and Val live.  That’s not to say that Jimmy and Val are living in any kind of inadequate housing.  They live very much the same as we do.  As a matter of fact both of us live in neighborhoods that are known to be occupied by economically challenged humans.

      Another interesting fact that we hold in common is that Jimmy and Val were advised that there is a neighborhood in Blyth where they were not to move in any circumstance as we were warned about the heart of the “Hilltop” neighborhood in Tacoma.  I have yet to examine in any depth the reasons for the undesirability factor.  

Down by the ocean - other end of Plessy Rd.

     Jimmy said they looked at one house in the neighborhood they were advised against, and it was run down beyond what they wished to purchase.  Kristi and I, on the other hand, found a house that was run down just the right amount for us to live in for the next 17 years.  We did see a lot of houses that were unacceptable to us before we found the right amount of "run down" that was acceptable.  The population of Blyth is only 36,000 or so.  Of course Tacoma is 250,000, a much larger metropolis. 

South to North on Sprague Ave. (our street) 

     I am aware that my view of things here is myopic, and subjective.  On the other hand, life in Blyth is good from our viewpoint.  There are many interesting places with a rich history in the area.  One of the places is Tynemouth where there is an old Monastery on a point jutting into the mouth of the Tyne River.  Kristi and I first discovered this on our own, and later returned on a sunny day with Jimmy and Val a few years ago for a visit.  There are myriad castles in Northumberland, which we have seen a few of, and may see more of before we leave.  Some of them are new (19^th century), and others date back to the 13^th, or 14^th century, maybe earlier.  

     There is a daily life that is much more immediate here on Plessey Road.  There is a green grocer, and Co_op grocery story, and a bakery/sandwich shop down at the corner.  You can live here without an automobile.

Green Grocer, Sandwich shop on Plessy Road

     I think that you would find that generally life is very much more automobile oriented in anyplace in the U.S., and certainly on the west coast than in the U.K.  That is not to say that people don't have cars, because they certainly do, and on a Saturday you'll see them all parked on Plessey Road.

The Cooperative

     I think it's only fair that I give you a firsthand look at the urban decay evident just down our street.  Here's a house that is in disrepair, and if I'm not mistaken they had some visits from the local police department before the house was condemned.  I don't know the story, just have seen the evidence.

Condemned house on our block in Tacoma

    I'm trying to draw some kind of comparison here.  Life is different here, but maybe only in a superficial sense.  There is a much greater density of population, and I think there has been a good deal more planning that has gone into the development of land here in general.  Right now there is new housing being built (I heard a report about it on the BBC radio yesterday).   I have seen it here in Blyth.  

The end of Plessy Road

    The ocean is always attractive (to me at any rate).  There is a very large wind generator that is at the very end of Plessey Road.  The waterfront has a pretty impressive sculpture, and if you walk down far enough there is lots of sandy beach available to walk on, have a polar bear dip in the winter, a good swim in the summer, or sit out in the rain under your umbrella at any time of year.  

The other end of Plessey Road

Blyth Pilot Boat

    This is what the pilot boat was piloting.  It came a dieseling into Blyth about 5 minutes behind the pilot boat.  You can see there is industry going on here.  Blyth was at one time one of the major ports in England.  

  Beach Vendor

  At the beach

     These last pictures are really from 2011 when we visited Blyth.  It looks the same only more grey at this time of year.  There were people out in force even in March.  You had to "queue" in order to get some fish and chips, or some ice cream even in March on a Sunday afternoon.