Cullercoats

CULLERCOATS * Warm brown sandstone cottage walls Doors and windows very old Shelter face from sea-wind squalls: Inside, tales of sea are told Toy shops there with spinning windmills Fisher - women selling show me Big-clawed crabs and periwinkles: Willicks and pin hinny? * Twisting road clings on with ease To the cliff edge way up high Salty seaweed on the breeze : Speaks of rocks and sand and sky And though just a tiny cove It has a brand-new shining lifeboat For those who go to sea to rove: It tells of men that cannot float The fish, the salt, the boat, the rock The storms and wrecks and tiny boats I love to hear the fish-folk talk : Their touching magic anecdotes Notes * Willicks : Geordie argot for periwinkles. The pin was needed to pry out the tiny fish from its shell. Cullercoats is a small fishing village on the east coast of England, near Newcastle.