Realise what we have got

How wonderful it is to see so many of our local attractions and tourist “magnets” re-opening – all be it with restrictions in place.

It’s only when you miss something that you realise what we have here in the North East, in the way of great places to visit.

I was overjoyed to learn that Beamish Museum has opened its grounds to the public; it’s one of my favourite locations to head off to.

Okay, the buildings and entertainment aren’t there yet, but so long as the weather is fine, it’s still worth a visit.

Another of the places I love to go to is the National Museum of the Royal Navy, in Hartlepool.

It’s brilliant to see so much history being brought back, so spectacularly, to life.

I’ll be first in the queue when it reopens on May 17.

In the meantime, I’ve just taken the family to the Washington Wetland Centre, and what a fabulous day that proved to be.

Even with the restrictions in place, and some of the centre closed to the public, we still had three hours of fun, watching the birds and otters.

Over the past months we’ve enjoyed walks along the North East coast, from Seaburn, to Seaham and to the Headland in Hartlepool, but it’s nice to be able to go back to these places of entertainment and education.

I only hope that this is not a brief respite from what we’ve had to endure and that the recent restrictions are the last.

I also hope that people don’t forget the hard times and go silly - and we all end up back to square one.

Robert Jameson. Sent via email.