Darlington Skyline

With time on my hands between tutor sessions I took a lunchtime stroll around South Park which despite the inclusion of a MUGA and skateboard rink remains a Victorian gem with bandstand, bowling greens, run-down aviary, small lake with obligatory ducks and island, and mature trees now in full leaf, the latter providing a haven for birds and also for grey squirrels, two of which perched and calmly munched nuts yards from where I sat and watched the world go by; however the view of the town skyline, noticeable for the absence of both residential and commercial high rise blocks, had a new jarring note as the contest for highest building, up to now a tie between the spire of St Cuthbert’s and the clock tower of the station, seems to have been joined by a new mobile phone mast resembling a truncated Blackpool Tower.