31: FriendshipThey began meeting two or three times a week. They would walk on the beach, along the banks of the Tees or cross over the river on the steam ferry to walk on the sands or beside the salt marshes. On these walks they saw no one, except for the odd fisherman, all the men of the town being occupied inside the foundries or shipyards and the women working in their homes.
When the weather was fine they would sit side by side on a sand dune or a stone wall to watch the oystercatchers wading in the shallows and dipping their long orange bills to pick up cockles. Sometimes they would sit quietly as the grey seals basked on the sandbanks, soaking in the sunshine at low tide. Gertrude encouraged Jack to listen to the birdsong and taught him to distinguish between the different species.
