Seaside dereliction

I took the seafront route when I was walking back from the library today (having had an enjoyable afternoon wading through their local history section) , but the scenic route it wasn't. Here's the old Alletsa Ballroom at the bottom of the Esplanade, very much saggy-porticoed, down-at-heel and feeling sorry for itself, the gaudy paint peeling from it's previous incarnation as a sleezy nightclub....the sight made doubly sad because I'd been reading about Whitley Bay's glory days for the previous 2 hours. Picked up the Whitley Bay News Guardian that was waiting for me on the doormat and it seems WB's regeneration plans are yet again in a state of flux, read stalled. What a waste!