Heading north - Tuesday 27th September

I started the day in Stamford – it’s a very pretty town that wears its Georgian past well and has been used as the site of many BBC literary adaptations. It looks and feels like an affluent town – lots of upmarket independent shops and gift shops run by expensive looking women in white jeans and extensive jewellery. Little sign of recession here, although who knows how life looks on the edge of town.

Stamford seems to be place for the ‘comfortable middle class’. No-one ever seems to think they are rich – ‘we’re comfortable’ seems to be the way that the rich (not the super-rich) like to describe themselves. Nothing too flashy, just ‘comfortable’. These are the people who seem to be least affected by the downturn. Although there has been lots of discussion about what an easy the Boomer generation have had, it seems to be the generation before who have benefited most and who are most comfortable. They are the people who are on holiday now – older, no kids at home, ‘comfortable’. Homes paid off long ago and worth vastly more than they paid, final salary pensions, savings. They lived through tough times when they were young but as adults their timing was perfect.

My plan was to head north and I needed to make a faster start than the day before. The A1 was close and the perfect road north. By lunchtime I was on Teeside – I love the view as you drive towards Middlesbrough. There isn’t much industry left in Britain, or at least what there is tends to be small scale. But not Middlesbrough – here the scale is still mass. I’m not sure how much is still operating but the scale of the buildings is vast. Still making steel as far as I can tell. Corus with a large banner at the gate saying ‘Passionate about steel’. Owned by Tata and now an Indian company, but that needn’t stop the passion.

I stopped off in Saltburn – a different world to Stamford. The average age is about the same but Saltburn is a Victorian town, one man’s vision of a town built onto a village known to smugglers. There now seem to be lots of retirement flats and nursing homes. Things look a bit tatty but the sea air is tough on buildings and it seems a cheery place. There are plenty of walking sticks, a sign of hips and knees worn and torn by a lifetime of physical work. But there are also lots of chatting and laughter and people walking their dogs on the beach. If the owners are slower than they used to be, the dogs are not. They are doing enough leaping and bounding for everyone.

Back on the road and heading north towards the border. It’s a beautiful autumn day and the coast road seems a good idea. It’s a slowed but prettier drive but it’s a long way and I’m glad to get to Seahouses and find a room for the night. The views are spectacular – I can see Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island and the Farne Islands along the horizon.