{"title":"Shades4Seasons Book Corner","description":"\u003cp\u003eShades4Seasons creative director Stephen Watson is also a twice published author of poetry collections \"The Milling Street Tales\" and \"Spanish City Slickers\". Explore his books here.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-milling-street-tales","title":"The Milling Street Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Milling Street Tales\u003c\/strong\u003e is a playful, nostalgic collection of poems set in the North East during the late 1960s, celebrating childhood adventures, family mishaps, and community spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor \u003cstrong\u003eStephen Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e evokes the warmth and wonder of a bygone era as his young parents “learn on the job” bringing up baby in their first home on Milling Street. Each poem brims with character, charm, and gentle humour — from flooded flats and mischievous mishaps to everyday scenes of working-class life that generations will instantly recognise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeautifully illustrated by \u003cstrong\u003ePeter Redden\u003c\/strong\u003e, the collection combines rhythmic, read-aloud storytelling with vivid artwork, creating a window into the world of post-war terraces, corner shops, coal staiths, and close-knit neighbours.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glossary of terms and local phrases — from “pinny” to “Hinnie” — makes \u003cem\u003eThe Milling Street Tales\u003c\/em\u003e especially engaging for \u003cstrong\u003eyounger readers\u003c\/strong\u003e, inviting them to discover the meaning of Geordie words and forgotten customs, while \u003cstrong\u003egrandparents\u003c\/strong\u003e will delight in revisiting a landscape that feels comfortingly familiar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s a book made to be shared: the humour and heart of the poems bridge generations, sparking memories for older readers and curiosity for children discovering a different kind of childhood — one without mobile phones, but rich in imagination, family, and community.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEqual parts funny, wistful, and tender, \u003cem\u003eThe Milling Street Tales\u003c\/em\u003e is both a love letter to growing up in the North East and a celebration of family storytelling — the kind of tales best read aloud, together, and passed down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eBook details:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul style=\"margin-top: 0cm;\" type=\"disc\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eTitle:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e The Milling Street Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eFormat:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e Paperback, 24 pages, full-colour illustrations\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eRRP:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e £9.99\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eISBN:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e 978-1-0369-3467-5\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"color: black;margin-bottom: 0cm;line-height: normal;background-image: initial;background-position-x: initial;background-position-y: initial;background-size: initial;background-repeat: initial;background-attachment: initial;background-origin: initial;background-clip: initial;background-color: white;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eMy second book \"Spanish City Slickers\" is available \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shades4seasons.com\/products\/spanish-city-slickers\" title=\"spanish-city-slickers\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e or you can buy both books at a special discount \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shades4seasons.com\/products\/spanish-city-slickers-the-milling-street-tales\" title=\"spanish-city-slickers-the-milling-street-tales\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shades 4 Seasons","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56768084377984,"sku":"SW-MILLING-STREET-01","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0570\/4679\/4403\/files\/the-milling-street-tales-stephen-watson-cover-art-_1.jpg?v=1765127042"},{"product_id":"spanish-city-slickers","title":"Spanish City Slickers","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eI’m delighted to say that my next book \"\u003ci\u003eSpanish City Slickers\"\u003c\/i\u003e is now available!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe book is a collection of poems about growing up around Tynemouth, Whitley Bay and Spanish City in the 1970s — the Lido, Arnold Palmer’s crazy golf, the fairground, the Dome arcade, shellfish stalls, summer holidays, sea-fret, mischief and memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eBetween 1975 and 1979, from about the age of eight to twelve, I spent a good part of my school summer holidays living a temporary second life on the North East coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eMy parents both worked full time — my dad in the steelworks, my mam in the Civil Service — and, inconveniently, school holidays lasted much longer than annual leave. So each summer I was packed off for two or three weeks to my Aunty’s house on the Marden Farm Estate, near Tynemouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eMy Aunty had a son, my cousin, who was five years older than me. At that age, five years is not a gap; it is a geological era. He tolerated me in the way a sophisticated teenager might tolerate a small, excitable dog. A board game or two, perhaps. A brief display of cousinly duty. Then he would vanish to meet people his own age, leaving me to make my own entertainment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eWhich, as it turned out, was the making of me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eIf the weather was glorious — and the summer of 1976 seemed to last for roughly three years — I would head down to Tynemouth Lido, then on to Arnold Palmer’s crazy golf course for a round. Or twelve. Or twenty-seven, depending on how badly the wind, the lighthouse, or my own incompetence had treated me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eIf the weather was less kind, I drifted towards Spanish City, spending my money on the Dodgems, the Jets, the Waltzer and anything else that promised speed, danger or mild injury.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eAnd if the weather was truly North Eastern — horizontal rain, bruised skies, the sort of day that made August feel like November in a cardigan — I was pulled into the arcade inside the Spanish City Dome like a small planet disappearing into a black hole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThis book is about those summers. Not exactly as they were, but as they remain: half-memory, half-myth, lit by fairground bulbs, sea-fret and childhood imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eBook details:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul style=\"margin-top: 0cm;\" type=\"disc\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eTitle:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e The Milling Street Tales\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eFormat:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e Paperback, 32 pages, full-colour illustrations\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eRRP:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e £9.99\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; background: white;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eISBN:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e 978-1-80867-046-6\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eMy first book \"The Milling Street Tales\" is available \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shades4seasons.com\/products\/the-milling-street-tales\" title=\"the-milling-street-tales\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e or you can buy both books at a special discount \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/shades4seasons.com\/products\/spanish-city-slickers-the-milling-street-tales\" title=\"spanish-city-slickers-the-milling-street-tales\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shades 4 Seasons","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58830745043328,"sku":null,"price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0570\/4679\/4403\/files\/spanish-city-slickers-book-cover-poems-thematic.png?v=1789057009"},{"product_id":"spanish-city-slickers-the-milling-street-tales","title":"Two Book Set: Spanish City Slickers and The Milling Street Tales","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwo book set featuring:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpanish City Slickers\u003c\/strong\u003e - a collection of poems about growing up around Tynemouth, Whitley Bay and Spanish City in the 1970s — the Lido, Arnold Palmer’s crazy golf, the fairground, the Dome arcade, shellfish stalls, summer holidays, sea-fret, mischief and memory.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe Milling Street Tales\u003c\/strong\u003e - a playful, nostalgic collection of poems set in the North East during the late 1960s, celebrating childhood adventures, family mishaps, and community spirit.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeautifully illustrated by \u003cstrong\u003ePeter Redden\u003c\/strong\u003e, the collection combines rhythmic, read-aloud storytelling with vivid artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shades 4 Seasons","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58840775852416,"sku":null,"price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0570\/4679\/4403\/files\/spanish-city-slickers-book-cover-stephen-watson-poems-_1.png?v=1789146511"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0570\/4679\/4403\/collections\/Front-Cover-SW_60fc3d47-c74d-4e69-9f2c-bdb00cf3e38e.png?v=1789663324","url":"https:\/\/shades4seasons.com\/collections\/shades4seasons-book-corner.oembed","provider":"Shades 4 Seasons","version":"1.0","type":"link"}