HORSE TRADING

This is a picture of the village of Ravenglass on the south west Cumbrian coast. On a clear day, you can see the Isle of Man to the west and very distantly, Scotland to the north west.
We visited the area in the campervan together with M&D and their four dogs in their own campervan. The weather was variable as it usually is in the Lake District but the views are outstanding. We had a great drive over and enjoyed Lake Bassenthwaite, the port of Whitehaven and a walk along the beach at Ravenglass at low tide. The next day was wet and the drive home views were spoiled by very low cloud (ground level!)

Last Sunday's gathering of gypsies was apparently to buy and sell horses. There were many horse boxes and horses were being ridden, driven and led around. This lad rode his cob up and down the street as the one in the horsebox looked longingly on.

This group came down the road from the club, with beer glasses in hand to inspect a horse parked in the box across the road. A lot of shouting was followed by a slapping of hands as a deal was reached.

The horse in the last picture was also ridden bareback down the road to show it off, but was unhappy to leave its foal and stubbornly refused to go more than a few yards. The foal was untethered and had to be held back by a few of the lads. I was very glad when the two were re-united and the foal stuck like glue to Mum for the rest of the time. Eventually they all moved on. There have been a few covered wagons on the road lately as if they are being taken off to winter somewhere. The horses plod along so patiently coping with all sorts of traffic and are lovely to watch.

Bought a SatNav today! I have always been proud of my map reading skills and have resisted using a gadget. But the prospect of touring France on the righthandside of the road, reading the signs, getting the kilometres right and coping with the new and unknown, has resulted in the purchase of a Tomtom.

So... more to come of the road less travelled.

Cheers Gillian

Along The Road Less Travelled

Last week we drove along the coast of Yorkshire from Spurn Point to Scarborough and then over the moors to home. Spurn Point is the most easterly and southerly point in Yorkshire. It is quite bleak and although we walked right round the point, we saw little to please or amuse us. It seemed that all the rubbish thrown overboard, into the North Sea, ends up there. But I'm glad we went. It is one of the coastal features included in every Physical Geography book and I have taught the theory of Long Shore Drift using Spurn Point as an exemplar more often than I care to remember. This was the first time I had seen it in real life.

We stayed the night in Withernsea. Again, I'm afraid to say not much to please or amuse but a good meal at the pub.

The next day we drove on through villages and lovely countryside. The villages of SKEFFLING and FITLING did amuse. I saw the names as verbs and we passed the time wondering what sort of practices skeffling and fitling involved. Much innuendo and undeserved insults were suggested about the fine people of these villages.
Eventually we came to Flamborough Head. Probably in all the same aforementioned geography books. A great cliffscape of chalk. It was a lovely day and the sea was truly this colour. DJ sat and sunned himself.

He had been scaring me by walking right up to the edge of the cliffs. I could only get this close by hanging on to a fence and putting one foot out.

We were looking forward to climbing the lighthouse but sadly it was closed on Fridays. Obviously washday.

After an overnight stay in Sewerby, north of Bridlington we drove to Scarborough to buy lots of fish and then came home over the top. The moors are ablaze with the bright purple of the heather and were wonderful in the sunshine.

Today we are cleaning up and re-sorting the provisions, washing clothes and ironing ready for the next foray which will be a couple of weeks in France.

As I write this I'm also keeping an eye on the WMC up the road where the gypsies are gathered with horses and wagons and girls wearing as little as possible and boys walking around shirtless & with a swagger. Another series of "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" in the making maybe.

Cheers for now Gillian

High Force

After some rains a couple of weeks ago we went up to High Force in Teesdale to see how powerful it was and we were well impressed. But then after last weeks deluge we decided to re-visit. As you can see quite a few other people did too. The ones at the top are walking along the Pennine Way. We went in through the Raby Estate path and were on the other side.

A grand sight!

Cheers Gillian

Go Home Crowds!

Earlier this week Bishop Auckland was reported in the papers and on telly for having the cheapest fuel in England!
Until then not many people even knew where Bishop Auckland was.
Half the county and some of the rest of the country is now queued up for it.
The new Sainsbury's and Tesco's, which have been built to the west of us on the old coalmine site and some other wasteland, are having a local fuel price war in an attempt to lure the greater number of new shoppers to their site.
Well it has sort of worked and the cars/vans/caravans and lorries are all there stretching nearly all the way back to our house. I don't know that many of them are also shopping for food or whether they are just filling up and driving on but it has reminded us what much of the traffic in central and southern England is like. And we don't like it. We have spat the dummy and won't take our car out again today. We might have to go to the farm shop for meat supplies on our bike.
Got that off my chest!!!
Cheers Gillian

Even More Seasides

It has been a dry summer up until last week. Then it poured down for a couple of days. Enough rain to deserve a visit to High Force up in Teesdale. Some of the smaller valleys have been shaded enough to maintain their green velvet look and the main waterfall was indeed splendid. The brown colour from the upland peat shows in the rush of water over the Whin Sill and onto the sandstone below.

Then when the weather brightened up we took off north to find puffins. Boats travel out from Seahouses to skirt and land on the Farne Islands offshore. The season for puffins is about over and fewer seals are to be seen too, but it was our last chance for this year so we booked a trip the next morning to the Grace Darling Lighthouse Museum and a tour of the islands.

The next day, the sea was a bit choppy and it was with smile of relief that DJ was informed that there would be no boats that day. We headed off to "do" Bamburgh castle instead. The puffins will return next year and so shall we.

The sparrow hawk hunted happily in the dunes as we walked along. The tide was out and another enormous expanse of British beach spread before us with the castle in the background.

The UFO in this picture is the sparrowhawk again, or maybe one of its relatives.

The weekend was spent in the mobile conservatory at Seaton Carew. Sunshine, big waves, picnics and the weekend papers! DJ even got the TV working so that he could watch the Grand Prix.

It's a great life... if you stay on your bike. I rode my new one along the promenade. I did well until I was two metres from the van. I glimpsed a section of kerb and panicked. (I can only ride in straight lines on flat surfaces).

I jammed on both brakes and came to a very abrupt stop. My bike was unhurt except for a broken bell. But my knees are still sore and there are bruises on most arm and leg corners.

Cheers for now Gillian

Florida Fell Off

The pebble resembling North America also had a small piece, shaped like Florida, but it fell off. I then looked for the other continents but only the South American pebble came close. I shall continue the search next time we visit the same beach. The lovely limestone and marine fossil pebble was washed up in the same area. These pebbles are really dark grey, not blue like in the picture. The area is the delightful Sandsend village and beach just north west of Whitby. We took the camper and parked on the coast road overlooking the lovely beach. We walked around the village and then went back to the beach and walked along it to Whitby for a fish and chip lunch at the "Quayside". It was a really lovely day.

A lot of the village of Sandsend seems to belong to the Mulgrave Estate which has a large logging plantation behind the pretty cottages.

It was all a very idyllic spot and we plan to return again....and again. It is less than an hour and a half from home and an early start will ensure a pretty parking spot. Next time I hope to catch a really low tide so that can explore the cliff to the north which is famous for fossils and I also need to find out how to identify jet as opposed to other small bits of black rock which litter the beach.

A walk along the footpath at the base of Brussleton Hill provided us with a feast of raspberries and a visit to the farm shop on the way home for some eggs gave us these enormous double yolkers which we had for tea last night.

The one at the bottom is a normal extra large egg!!!

Cheers Gillian

Bits and Pieces and Out and About

We have just got back from visiting friends for a couple of days. Apart from the lovely time we had, we also acquired a few kilos of fabulous cherries from their tree. We received bounteous amounts from them last year as well and it inspired us to plant a cherry tree in our yard. There are fourteen cherries on it. One branch has half of them and I nearly pruned it off! It stuck out a bit and I will need to espalier the tree as it grows. This branch will now be carefully trained.

Yesterday we went to a Country show at Raby Castle. These lovely alpacas were first past the entrance gate and stopped us all in our tracks. The Suri at the front has just been shorn and their babies are so very adorable. There was plenty on to do with "Huntin', Shootin' & Fishin'" and almost every dog in Durham was there on a lead. We watched the Springer Spaniels and Labradors find, fetch and retrieve, all with their tails wagging non stop and enjoying it so much.

Then the Scurrie racing was more exciting to watch than I had expected and the beautifully matched pairs of ponies a delight to see.

Last week we went to Binchester with P and M. They were up north for a week and Sunday was so lovely we needed an excursion. Binchester is the remains of one of the Roman Settlements on the Roman road from York to Hadrians Wall and it is just up the road from us. These remains have only recently been exposed.

The main dwelling on the site had a bath house with under floor heating as shown here.

And last but not least this is Tittybottle Park in Bishop Auckland. It is a short walk from the hospital and was used in the "old days" by the midwives from the hospital who took the babies out for some air and sat here to give them their bottles. The old double ended glass feeding bottles gave their nick-name to the park.
The weather is still mild but unexciting so the next good day will be a day out in the campervan. I hear Sandsend near Whitby has fossils on the beach at low tide.

Cheers Gillian