Beadnall Beach - Old Marley's harbour

phil • 2 June 2019

Beadnall Bay is a beautiful seaside destination in Northumberland, with long, clean beaches and a picturesque harbour. The lime kilns in the background date back to 1879 and were used to produce lime for farming and as mortar (cement) for buildings. There are many villages in Northumberland with harbours and I'm always amazed that the tiny fishing boats that you see there are able to go out to sea, knowing that some have been passed down through generations. They are a tourist attraction as well as a way of life. I love 'Deadliest Catch' and wouldn't trade what I do for them. Old Marley came from the thought of what their life might be like, and what could happen if someone took away their livelihood, linked with the possibility of disaster by trying to go to sea in a boat that you don't know how to control.

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The magic of Whitley Bay

by Phil • 11 June 2019

Living near the coast, after growing up an hour and a half away away is unbelievable. Knowing that you can be walking along the sand, listening to the waves in 15 minutes is perfect - even if you leave the house in glorious sunshine and arrive to see the sea fret hasn't yet rolled away and it's freezing ! A good silhouette against the sun is one of my favourite ways to take photos, this one seemed perfect for a magical story with the sand arching through the sky. It also led to me writing my first novel based upon this very picture and story starter - still waiting for a publisher though!

The Red Glove - a search for a missing person.

by phil • 11 May 2019

I'm always amazed by items of clothing left at the side of the road - has someone really gone home with only one shoe, or one glove and didn't realise? Seeing a glove, coat, or teddy stuck onto a fence or a wall always gives you hope that one day they will be reunited with their owners. This glove was stuck into the gap in a fence when I was on my way home from town - I'm hoping the owner found it and it wasn't actually there as a sign - other than a hint to get me to write another story starter.

Where it all began - The snake wall.

by Phil • 5 May 2019

So this is where it all began. We were staying just outside Dublin, Ireland, for the Irish dancing world championships and decided to make it into a mini holiday. The scenery was beautiful and there were many photos taken. It also gave me the impetus to start writing the story starters and putting them onto my facebook page. This was a wall close to the Guinness estate, in Wicklow, near to where they film the TV series Vikings. The weather was blowing a gale, it had just begun to rain when we came across this wall that looked like a gigantic snake stretching as far as the eye could see. A few photos later we were back in our cottage and the story writing began.

The story behind the stories

by phil • 28 April 2019

So while we were out for a drive one day, we decided to stop for something to eat at The Northumberland Arms in Felton, near Morpeth. While we were waiting for the food to arrive I spotted these unusual knots in the wood of the table we were sitting at, to me they looked like a polar bear face. A story was born.