John Holmes

I am fortunate to live near the Sunderland coast, where the beach welcomes you with open arms, the seagulls harmoniously serenade (and pinch your chips) and the rain tends to your garden, on a regular basis.

I moved here in 1988, having previously taught in London, Blackpool (where the seagulls are even greedier) and Runcorn. For ten years, I was the head teacher at Holley Park School, here in Washington.  

Much of my educational career has been spent abroad, working in the Kenyan state schools, in Australia and nine years on Borneo Island. One thing travel has highlighted to me, is how beautiful the area is that we live in. 

I am married to a Dutch lady (who thankfully speaks perfect English, as my Dutch is at the 'two beers, please' level). Apart from the odd pair of clogs scattered in the hallway, being with a person from the flatlands involves something else that is compulsory, cycling.  

Although well into retirement age, we cycle at least once a day. If there is anywhere, we need to go to that's within a few miles, the car is never considered to be an option.  

Sunderland does support bike riding with the cycle lanes it has, but a lot more can be done. With the ever-lowering prices of electric bikes, the option for cycling the 'not so flatlands' has increased tremendously. I've not gone 'electric' yet, but realise those days are coming; the hills around here are definitely getting steeper and longer. 

During lockdown, I enrolled on a writing course, which was being run by a north eastern organisation. This rekindled my love of the written word. On the course, I discovered a new format of writing that I hadn't come across before, Flash Fiction.  

This is basically story writing in the short form - complete stories in 100 words, or even less. With encouragement from my family, I had a book published earlier this year with over 200 stories in it. It was a real 'learning curve' experience and certainly kept me entertained during those days when you had to 'keep your distance'.  

Two of my three children live in Morpeth, as do all three of the grand kids. My son lives and works in Manchester, but he's forgiven. 

There is another advantage of living in Sunderland, near the sea you become very good at cleaning windows. Those seagulls sure know how to change stolen chips into excellent bombing material." 

You can read examples of John's work here: JohnHolmesWriter.com