The Birds of Time

(heh - sounds like a Doctor Who adventure, doesn't it?)

We have a nice pier in Eastbourne. In fact, considering the fiery fates of the pier in Hastings and West Pier in Brighton, the town and city either side of Eastbourne, it's doing rather well.

Yes, it needs a coat of paint, but it still has that essential Victorian seaside charm. Having said that, when we went past it last time, I noticed something wrong...

No, even Julie didn't know what that meant, either. However, as she said, "it sounds good, though, doesn't it?"

Yes, because they're centrally heated, aren't they...

We live a couple of streets away from the sea front in our town and - being skint - we often walk along there on weekends. I have now taken to carrying a pen and a notepad around with me on these occasions, because Julie is bound to come up with something.

Like on this occasion. It's late February and the wind is more than a little nippy. The seagulls, however, are happy to bob up and down on the water or - more often than not - strut up and down the promenade, looking for a likely person to mug for food. We're strolling along and out of nowhere comes this Gem.

After a moment of stunned silence, all I could think of to say was "Don't they?"