'You've got to get on with it' - a day for only the brave at Gosforth Park

If there is anywhere that you will find folk able to withstand the cold in scanty clothing it is Newcastle.

Local young gentlemen are renowned for parading topless in the depths of winter across town at St James' Park while their female contemporaries are equally renowned for their minimal approach to clothing at this time of year.

But it is fair to say that each group tends to be insulated against the chill by the odd drink or several and none of them are athletes, risking life and limb and protected from desperate temperatures by the skimpiest of silks.