'This is one of my favourite places on earth, Staithes where my dad has a caravan. I love the permanency of the beck - it can be more or less ferocious than this but it never stops. Always consistent when all around feels chaotic. Especially at the moment there is the continuous song of blackbirds, chiff chaffs, song thrushes, blue- coal- great- and long tailed tits and at dawn and dusk, tawny owls. For a seaside village there's surprisingly few gulls! This is technically just in the Tees valley.'