Day 7 Sunday 14/6/2026 Stockton, 13 – 23 grey, muggy

We both went walking today, in different directions and modes. There are some houses that are worthy of a sketch, so I’m off. The local women’s rugby is on at the footy ground and cars circle the field, as always supporters are making a picnic of it. The same park has a pair of weathered gate posts honouring the men who lost their lives in the Stockton colliery in 1896. In all eleven lives were lost, both miners and rescuers.

I wander through the streets looking for chimneys and turrets, anything that denotes something sketchable and find myself on the Pitt Street Reserve. A large coal ship, the Sarah, glides out of the river, Newcastle city is the backdrop. Eventually finding a vacant seat I discover that I’m on the site of a World War 2 Anti-Aircraft Battery. In June of 1942 Newcastle came under fire from a Japanese submarine. The target was the steelworks and shipyards. Thankfully the damage was minimal, the submarine slipped away and nobody was killed.

After lunch I take a short walk along the beach and breakwater while Woody hitches the van up ready for a quick getaway tomorrow. Rain threatens and we have soup and soldiers (toast cut into strips) for dinner.

Accom: $38.00