The lift doors at the Jarrow portal of the Tyne cycle tunnel from the other week's ride.
This was only the second time I've ever used the tunnel, the first being a long time ago on a club run. We'd gone from our usual start in Crook, over to Seaburn for our first stop, then headed up the coast to South Shields and back inland a bit, going through the tunnel on our way north. I can't recall there being a lift back then so we must have all clomped down the stairs / escalator! After that we'd headed into Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, looking for an accommodating cafe but everywhere was busy so we headed further north eventually ending up in a pub somewhere up Seaton Delaval way, returning via Ponteland, Hexham for a tea & scone stop and through Blanchland.
It was quite a lucky ride as it turned out..... as we'd left Whitley bay along the coast road a police car had come tearing past us and gone into the car park over the other side of the road at great speed, obviously something serious up, but we rode past and carried on. This was Sunday 30th April 1989, the day of the Monkseaton shootings, which we must have just missed, and one of the people shot was on a bike! It was bit of a shock seeing the news later on that evening, the shooter being arrested in that car park as we rode past.