2005 - Jesus Mound - Uncle Erling

August.... I'd not long left the Agency and was now free wheeling into unrestricted waters. I was working on the new novel, Edge, and a complete rebuild of Game rules into post-apocalyptic future... called Yellow Dawn.

It was only two weeks since I was last in Newcastle with Tony, Dom and Simon. Special reason for this visit, much of my Norweigan family had arrived for a long stay. Mum was chuffed as chips.

Best of all... the house was finished. Dad was back at home. And there was room for everybody.

I last saw Erling the previous year, in Oslo, with Kelvin.

2005 - Jesus Mound - Uncle Rune & mum

I last saw Rune the previous year, in Fauske, with Kelvin. But I don't think he's seen my mum for years.

2005 - Jesus Mound

August... when I was a teenager any kind of heavy rain was a thrill for me. I'd grab my longcoat, trillby and Walkman cassette player, and head out into the downpour, listening to Eurythmics Touch Dance and getting into the whole atmosphere of Jesmond and the Dene.

Well... there was such an almighty downpour this day. I had been sitting into Kitschen Cafe on Acorn road when the sky went black and the rain and wind came down in a fury. The rain came swirling into the cafe horizontally. And water started creeping up past the pavement as the road flooded. I grabbed a lift back home with Sam (dimple chin) and saw our garage flooded. Went for a walk round corner and saw part of the road had been washed away. (pictured above)

2005 - Jesmond Dene - Uncle Rune

August... when I was a small boy I used to sit on my uncle's lap and tug on his beard. Great to see that beard still in full effect.

One of my favourite memories of this trip were the early morning walks with my Uncle down into the Dean. Rune has been forced to use crutches to move around for a number of years. Barrel chested, with Ox like shoulders and massive arms, that man can moooooove. We were speeding over uneven surfaces and up steep inclines without bother. We also visited Pets Corner in the morning, and got friendly with a minor bird that would say 'Hello' and 'WoWWWW!'.... and best of all, "I spoke... I spoke!"

2005 - Jesmond - Squirt & Tobias

August... Uncle Rune brought his grandson with him. Lovely teenage lad with his head screwed properly onto his shoulders. Unfortunately, I did a Dave and got into a strop one day about not having space - peace - to write, even after I went to Kitsch'n Cafe to "get away".

This caused a sullen mood between my sister and I. Another low point in our sibling relationship's decline since 2001.

2005 - Tynemouth - Marshalls Chippy - Tobias

August... Tobias being a healthy lad from the Arctic, he's never enjoyed battered fish and chips before. "An English speciality" he enthused, keen to try it from the day he stepped off the boat.

This was the day I, Tobias, Rune and Erling took the Metro to the coast and walked along the Pier.

2005 - Return to Bristol

August... so I left Newcastle with some bad blood between my sister & mum and I. Strange and pointless squabbles. Looking back on it now, it was all symptomatic of the extreme stresses I'd been going through since October 2004.

Bristol had to deliver a "new me". I'd spent 8 years in the Agency and like it or not, I'd gotten very used to a particular way of life. I knew a challenging time lay ahead of me.

2005 - Happy Flat - Djr

A bubble world, maybe. But I was happy. Money in the bank and time to be true to my creativity. Memories of buying sets of 1930's horror films, the old Lugosi and Karloff classics. Late nights for me, staying up watching them... just over 20 years since I did the same when staying late in the office, watching them on a small portable whilst my father worked and burned midnight oil.

2005 - Bristol - Zed

September: Baristas Cafe, at the bottom of Corn Street. Zed and I hooked up for coffee, like old days. She's not long from leaving these shores for Australia, and in my heart of hearts, I know she won't be coming back. So a little bit of the magic of Bristol is going to fade soon.

2005 - Bristol - Zed

September: Baristas Cafe.

2005 - Bristol - Goblin Coombe - Oj & Djr

September... Jo and I went for a fab walk one afternoon, only a few miles from the Happy Flat. Quite quickly got lost - some tense moments as we found ourselves in middle of dense forest with multiple routes leading off the map. But highlights were stepping out of a clearing, over a crumbling dry stone wall to find yourself on a precarious cliff with several hundred metres drop.... then the roar and scream of an aeroplane as it takes off from just over the other side of a hill... and you find yourself standing level with the plane as it streaks past. This picture was taken near the end, after crossing open fields and finding ourselves on a road and back on the map. Fab walk. I wanted to do it again the next day.