Castleside.

This is a kind of historical blog, not really the kind of historical musical one that some of you crave it does start with a musical start but it doesn’t stay, bear with me, here goes. About 40ish years ago I sang for a friends band in Durham, nothing serious just for fun we would take songs we liked and, to be honest we bastardised them, think of a song with a destination in its title we would just make it fit to our locale, little changes we were usually pissed and we all picked a song each, I wasn’t there often so I only got one song, and I chose Abilene a B side by Yes, me obscure hell yeah!

 Something's goin' on, I don't know what it is

But my phone just rang and I didn't get no call

No call, just waiting here

Castleside, it's got a lot of what you don't need

It's got lots of space, still nothing seems misplaced

You've got a face, you are spacey….

Now nothing major simply, the location, but hey I was a teenager and a Yes fan! We had fun and drink was usually in play.

What has brought this to my mind, well and this is why its not really a historical blog, The Kraken is coming to the end of her life and the wife has been by her side every step of the way, I have stayed away so that her mum has had some dignity, I have been there when called upon, but now we are getting to the business end of life and the wife needs some moral support so I have been heading over after work to give a couple of hours support, the kids have been in attendance and its going slowly, the end is in sight but when exactly only the Kraken has the answer and she’s not telling, we have had some testing times over the years, but there has been mutual respect and a cease fire for a longtime I think she realised I love her daughter and I wasn’t a waster, and though I didn’t always  agree with the support she offered but it was always done with the family’s best interest at heart!

What has this got to do with the title, well its where the Kraken lives, and it’s a big part of my young life, I went to school close to it, I dated girls (yes real girls) in the summer I hung around the countryside, I had a lot of friends in the area, I liked the place, I still do, I wish I could afford to live there, I can’t so I will go with my memories, sometimes I get the bus home, the bus route has so many happy memories, friends houses, seeing older people who I didn’t know personally but I “knew” them and its been good to see them, especially when I realise they are probably only 6 or 7 years older than me WTF!

My old school doesn’t exist anymore, it’s been demolished and I had many happy memories, there friends, lessons (yes, I enjoyed school I wasn’t very good, but I enjoyed it) music the list goes on. The bus journey continues into The Grove where my second family lived, as did I as often as I could, and yes, I could write a book on some of the things we got up to, it would be explosive, quite literally! Pass the Club, along to Mutton Clog and back and through the old steel works site yes it glows in my mind, but they were good times with great people, obviously I really must have been a dick because I have so little contact with people I went to school with, sad but true, maybe that’s a blog for down the road, I’m soon brought back to Earth/Gimpsville town centre is full of little cherubs who basically act like scum, a big stick would be so much fun, I despair for the youth of today, I understand that times are hard, they were when we were the same age, but we were simply not as feral as these little brats.

So, over the coming days I shall enjoy my time on the bus being homeward bound, remembering a time when things where so much simpler and better times, to continue to support the woman of my life who has supported me every step of the way, in the time I have been with her. She will need all the help the family can give the hard times start afterwards, when we try and reintegrate back into a life in the big world, after Co Vid and the Kraken’s illness, and reintroduce ourselves to those people we call friends!

So, there you go, slightly historical, I intend to spend some time with some Yes (even now I can’t help myself LOL) not the blog I promised, but although I polished two, I prefer this one over both, that’s not to say that won’t appear soon! So, stay safe stay alive, keep spreading the word someone has done a good job as there over 300 views just yesterday, until the next time be nice it costs nothing……………Toodles!

Something's goin' on, I don't know what it is

But my phone just rang and I didn't get no call

No call, just waiting here

Castleside, it's got a lot of what you don't need

It's got lots of space, still nothing seems misplaced

You've got a face, you are spacey…