It's grim here up North. When I told my parents almost 16 years ago I was moving to England and more specifically to the North East, they admit to imagining a rough, industrialised area of little beauty or charm. It didn't take more than one visit to change their mind. We are lucky to live along the beautiful North East coast of England. Although for around 360 days of the year we could use a few more degrees Celsius, it only takes a day like this when the sky is blue, the sun is out and the beaches are clear to make me feel like this is the place to be. We headed to the King Edward's Bay in Cullercoats after school this week with the crucial supplies of Malteser ice creams - carefully selected by the children - to one of my favourite little beaches for a round of "let them run around and work off some energy so I can have a relaxing evening". As luck would have it, we had the whole beach to ourselves. A rare treat and probably explained by the fact ...