Born and raised in North Shields, 1971, my childhood was filled with happy times; from building tyre swings over streams to doing ''dodgy deals'' in bike parts with my friends. Some days I''d play football for so long that I''d hardly have the energy to walk home; arriving back to my dinner plated up and shrivelled to a crisp- my mam would never mind though. Memories of my father working in the shipyards (when they were still running) with other proud hard grafting men also sit clearly in my mind. Sadly all that remains today are ''fading ghosts'' of cranes and sheds!