FRONT STREET

The Wide Wednesday theme today is " Buildings and Architecture".  I decided to stay local and I had a few buildings in the village in mind for a blip.  However by the time I walked to the village it was getting dark and the buildings I wanted to blip were in darkness.  So I had to have a rethink.

Because The Gibside Hotel is lit up in the evenings it was the best choice.  This hotel was built in early 1982. It started off quite small but over the years a 3 storey 30 bed extension was added.  To the right of the Gibside is Deanos Italian Restaurant and then the shops which form St Mary's Green - these were built in the early 1970's.   A lot of fine old stone built houses and shops were demolished to make room for St Mary's Green and The Gibside.  This demolition was frowned upon at the time.  

As I have lived in Whickham since 1957 ( apart from  6 months living across the river in Newcastle ) I remember the old houses and shops which were demolished.  The shops included a post office, a couple of drapers shops, a fresh fish shop, a butchers and an electrical shop.  

So even though this isn't the blip shot I wanted its still a wide shot of buildings - thanks to Freyjad for hosting the challenge.

No big shop in Morrisons today.  In fact I haven't shopped in Morrisons since 23rd December.  My friend Jan has been away on a cruise ( Amsterdam, Belgium etc ).  She returned a couple of days ago.  Tomorrow she is off on her travels again - she flies to Dubai then on a cruise to Abu Dhabi.  So I have just been trying to shop day by day but I think an online shop might have to be done soon.

Steps today - 7,326