Stockton High Street

For all its other shortcomings Stockton High Street still hosts plenty of financial institutions, including the two building societies I need to frequent most often, so taking advantage of the free one hour parking I did the business then took a stroll up and down, vaguely aware that something was missing; it was the road works, workmen and mechanical diggers that were absent, as the latest renovation, three years in the making, appears to have been completed, leaving the legendarily wide thoroughfare looking quite smart but still largely deserted.