Being responsible for Archie - no pressure at all

You have met John and Irene on here before. You have also met their rather important Lakeland Terrier, Archie (he came over to Guernsey with us earlier this year for example). Well, the poor lad was abandoned to our care by his strangely trusting owners who went off for a family wedding on the other side of the world. What do you do to amuse a typical nearly 9 years old terrier? Well, first of all, you give him a 2 year old girl to play with:

Yes, Anne came along for a few days and then left Izzy the spoodle with us. Somehow having a younger woman around seemed to put a spring in Archie's step. No comment.

Then we tried to offer lots of stimulation - John and Irene live in Hamsterley Mill (Google it!) near Newcastle and there are many great walks in the area. Also nearby lives Colin the BA Captain who owns another Nordhavn 47 (Albatross) and who let us see his splendid riverside flat at North Shields.

Plenty of dog walking followed. One wander near Wylam along the river was particularly good, taking in an impressive disused railway bridge  :

The Boathouse pub at the end of the walk was interesting. The lunch menu was a toasted sandwich or Pie and mushy peas (no potato involved). The choice was a no brainer - and a good decision too as the pie was stuffed full of meat. As were we afterwards.

Both dogs love the beach of course and there are some excellent ones on the local coastline. Izzy enjoyed digging at South Shields:

although Archie treated her efforts as a toilet afterwards:

We didn't know the area at all well and so we felt the need to explore a little. Durham is such a lovely city and the cathedral is quite something - although with two dogs in tow it has to be admired from the outside:

Corbridge suffers from having a must visit spot - the Bike cafe that we were introduced to a couple of years ago by John and Irene. A repeat visit with Anne and then Andrew and Linda (who also came "up north" to see us) was a must do. Why? Well, here is the cranberry, white chocolate and pumpkin seed scone:

No more proof needed - although the savoury stuff is excellent too. What else, well, the poor Defender had a moment - starting became hit and miss so he was recovered by the Land Rover Assistance service and taken to the best local dealer, Team Valley Land Rover.  We had a loan car from Land Rover:

A Range Rover sport autobiography at about £83K. Frankly, no! Typical example of a modern "sports" suspension SUV with huge low profile tyres and an unnecessarily harsh ride. Much prefer the normal Range Rover - perhaps age is something to do with the desire for a better ride quality on our crowded and poorly maintained roads. Mind you, we own a Defender......

Archie liked the back of the Range Rover though:

However, he also loves his nest in the back of the Defender:

which the good guys at Team Valley fixed. What was wrong?  The wiring for the Tracker system that was put in by the Edinburgh dealer at purchase time had caused the ignition switch to have burnt contacts. Thanks Pentland Land Rover. Thanks a lot.

As part of the "keeping the dogs stimulated" approach, the river walk at Hexham was fun too.  Someone with a Tonka Toy Japanese truck seemed to have either a sense of humour or was very sick indeed:

We did wonder why they hadn't claimed any mobility scooters - they would be a prime target for us.

A trip to Newcastle and walk along the river showed the Tyne bridges at their best:

and the rather futuristic Sage building:

On the river, we saw one white ensigned craft that we doubt is a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron or the Royal Navy:

Wonder where they got the ensign from. Might look impressive, if slightly illegal, on our Nordhavn.