These fresh, colourful figures seem to embody the spirit of the sea up here in the wild, rugged and beautiful north of England. I don’t know why I bothered to travel anywhere when I already had a wealth of breathtaking inspiration right on my own doorstep.

Neptune and his mermaids overlook Seaton Sluice and the sea beyond like water nymphs and spirits of the forests and rocks.

Stumbling on them unexpectedly you have to smile in delight, and you can even catch the faintest echo of how our distant ancestors must have experienced nature as being shot through and through with gods and other supernatural forces.

It must have been a hell of a lot more fun believing that you were surrounded by fairies and magic rather than by the con-men, crooks and white-collar criminals we have to make do with now.