Geordie Snow

SNOW has been THE feature of life in Geordieland this last week and has affected almost every aspect of it - 300+ schools closed, traffic chaos, etc. - not helped by Newcastle City Council's refusal to clear footpaths in the city centre - which makes even walking in the city centre treacherous, not least for the elderly (see the photo above, as an example of the treacherous conditions). We pay our council taxes but Newcastle City Council do not deem it necessary to clear snow from any public footpaths, even though there is 15 cm of ice and snow on them. This just cannot be right. Perhaps it'll take someone's death, caused by a fall, to make the Council do something.

The Daily Mail (once again, as they do each year) enjoyed the chance to engage in a bit of social-classism by mocking Geordie girls' legendary dislike of winter coats when out on 'The Toon' - in this article entitled

'Howay man, it's not cold!' As Britain shivers, Newcastle girls prove they're not frightened of a bit of snow

Readers' comments to the article were mixed, with large doses of regionalism/social-classism (which the article panders to):

"The cheap gets even cheaper. Thank god I am a Londoner!"

Tolerance:

"GO GIRLS - you're mad, who cares!!!! :-))"

"I love these pics. I think that those girls know that a good time means. the girl on the 2nd pic on the right side looks fab."

and intolerance - even amongst Newcastle locals themselves, who distance themselves from the girls in the photographs:

"I think this article makes us all look cheap with no class. I'm sick of being lumped in with that lot."

Otherwise it's a good opportunity to take photographs of stunningly-transformed urban scenes:

I took this Lowry-like scene on way home from the Newcastle-Chelsea match at the weekend:

Gateshead: