I was bought up in Whitley Bay and have lived on the coast for most of my life. As a young lad I spent a lot of my days down the amusement arcades and the Spanish City and as I got older I began listening to Dire Straits. The book is titled after the first line of the song 'Tunnel of Love' which is about how a boy meets a girl in the Spanish City and then they decide not to take things further and how he regrets it and later searches for her through the rides and arcades. As I got older, the bars and clubs of South Parade became my stamping ground and it's here, and a few other local bars and places that the book is set. Anyone who was there in the 'Whitley Bay Days' will recognise the bars and clubs and hopefully it will bring back happy memories of a sadly long gone chapter of this wonderful town's life. Enjoy