Dunston Staithes

Out of the house at 9am to go to Morrisons with my friend Jan.

Neil had stayed here overnight and when I got home with the shopping he left to go back to his own place. I caught a bus around 2.30pm and went to Neils house to meet him. Then we walked alongside the River Tyne, crossed the river over The Swing Bridge to Newcastle and walked up into town. We had a meal in Cafe Rouge. It was an early birthday celebration for Neil. His birthday is on Saturday but he is at work on that day so we decided to go out today. He had Boeuf Bourguignon and I had Salade Niçoise with chargrilled chicken. It was very tasty.

After the meal we went to Argos to buy a laptop - a birthday gift for Neil. Neil then went home with his laptop and I went to Waitrose for cat food.

Just had a cosy evening watching TV. Dramatic scenes on The Bake Off - couldn't believe it when that Baked Alaska went in the bin!.

The August Challenge today is Water Wednesday.. My shot shows Dunston Staithes which is very near to where Neil lives.

These wooden staithes first opened in 1893 as a structure for loading coal from the North Durham coalfield onto ships. In the 1920s 140,000 tons of coal per week were loaded from the staithes, and they continued to be used until the 1970s. Their use gradually declined with the contraction of the coal industry and they were finally closed and partially dismantled in 1980.

The staithes were restored and reopened for the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990. I remember walking on them when I visited The Garden Festival.

The staithes are reputed to be the largest wooden structure in Europe and are protected as a Listed Building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

In 2002 work began on a development of riverside apartments and houses designed by Wayne Hemingway. This development celebrates the area's heritage as well as improving the setting for the historic structure. This is where Neil lives.

In the early hours of 20 November 2003 a section of the staithes was destroyed by fire. As a result access onto the Staithes themselves is not possible.

The Staithes suffered further fire damage in July 2010. Following the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of almost £420,000 restoration of the structure is currently taking place.

At the moment there is a piece of artwork on The Staithes - a nine-metre high cone with a six-metre base designed by Wolfgang Weileder a Professor of Contemporary Sculpture at Newcastle University. The cone is based on the bottle-making kilns which were once part of the North East’s industrial landscape.

Dunston is the birthplace of Gazza - the footballer Paul Gascoigne - and Brian Johnson - lead singer of AC/DC.

Total steps today - 12,448