turnrightoutofportsmouth

The Yorkshire Dales – Paradise Found :) Day 1

I know I’m out of sync (I’ve not yet written about Bolsover and York, Harrogate and Knaresborough), but this can’t wait!

We arrived in the Dales on Tuesday and as we drove towards our campsite near Aysgarth my breath was quite simply taken away by the beauty all around us. I could have cried 🙂 This was even though it was raining when we arrived!

Once settled in we set off further along the B road (and deeper into the countryside) to explore a little. We were just completely blown away by what we were seeing – water rushing along beside the road, falling over rocks and dropping from height – all around us! We had to keep stopping to wonder at it all and, of course, take photos 🙂

Eventually we found ourselves stopping just past the White Lion Inn at Cray, alongside part of Buckden Pike (712m). There were stepping stones across the water and a National Trust public footpath signposted up the pike, so, naturally, we decided to follow it.

I had it in mind to follow a shorter path towards Cray Bridge (1/2 mile) but Calv had other ideas, went the other way and kept on walking…! We almost made it to the top of what we could see, but were scuppered by a drystone wall (as we had veered dramatically off the path – and didn’t we know it!) This was quite hard walking (for me anyway!) and I was really proud to have got so far. Coming back down was at least as hard as going up.

One of the disinctive stile gates on Buckden Pike

View across Buckden Pike

Calv scrabbling up Buckden Pike (I did follow him 🙂 )

We had come out without a drink (not expecting to go for a long walk of course) so decided to have a drink in the pub. Naively I was expecting a pub in the heart of the Dales to be a little cheaper. Right….!! We’ll take our own drinks out with us in future!!

There was an interesting game on the wall here though, called Bull Ook, which involved swinging a ring to be caught on the hook of the bull’s nose. It was very difficult – in fact we found it impossible!

From here we carried on along the main road for just a short while before we saw a single track lane on the right pointing towards a pub, JB Priestley’s favourite watering hole according to a sign. So we headed this way, which brought us to the tiny village of Hubberholme, the main features of which are an unusual church, a lovely stone bridge over the fast running river and a pub (that doesn’t really look like a pub) with a history.

Hubberholme Church

Note the telephone number.. 🙂

Bridge over the river at Hubberholme with The George in the background

They call it the Hubberholme Parliament and, so my Rough Guide tells me, this relates to the practice of local farmers bidding to use 16 acres of church land for the year, the proceeds of which are used for the poor of the parish. A candle is lit and the auction overseen by the vicar in the dining room (The House of Lords), the farmers place their bids in the bar (The House of Commons) and the highest bid when the candle goes out is the winner! The auction is still held today – on the 1st Monday of the New Year.

The fact that the pub, having started life as a farm, was at one point the vicarage might explain why some church furniture had to be rescued from the pub where it was being used as a bar.

We continued along this back road, with no idea where we were heading! We ended up driving up and up, over cattle grids and finding ourselves in a completely empty landscape. By which I mean very few properties!

What we did see though were numerous birds of prey; sparrow hawks, kestrels and owls! Yes owls, 3 of them, in daylight! And the views!! Unfortunately we just couldn’t get any usable photos 😦

This road eventually brought us back to civilisation via Gayle, a village with some history as a mill area – there is a restored mill here which is open to the public. The road brought us out to Hawes, with a couple of museums – Dales Countryside Museum and Ropemakers as well as the Wensleydale Creamery where you can watch the cheese being made.

Tired now we headed back to the van, exhausted by taking in all the views along the way. But we couldn’t wait to get back out into the countryside the next day when we’d already decided to visit Aysgarth Falls themselves.

On the way back we found an excellent shop by Aysgarth Garage (although the fuel itself was very expensive), and also a shortcut back to the van through Thoralby village.

On the way up this lane we were held up by a herd of cattle being moved from the farmyard out to the field, at the back of which was one that clearly had a very bad hoof. I felt so sorry for her 😦

We’re also now back to feeding ourselves properly in the van, which saw me making a chicken, leek and bacon pie for tea 🙂

All in all ready for our bed! Day 2 will see me tell you about our walk to Aysgarth Falls 🙂

Finding a little gem right on our doorstep – Warblington & cycling the Hayling Billy

During our time at home, as well as meeting with family, friends & work colleagues and helping Louise to celebrate her birthday on the actual day, we also managed to find a hidden gem right on our doorstep.

This happened on our very last day at home, the very hot Bank Holiday Monday 🙂 We were to meet up with Calv’s daughter, husband and grandchildren at the beach in Hayling, and Calv thought it would be a good idea to cycle there.

He had often told me that the little lane on the left, just before you joined the A27 from Emsworth towards Portscmouth, had a house that had ruins in it’s garden. So we decided to start our ride from there.

We found that the lane stopped where the church, St Thomas a Beckett, and cemetery are located. The church was a huge surprise, and rather special. The huts in the graveyard (with the blue doors) were commissioned in the early 19th Century to enable a close eye to be kept on the churchyard to deter graverobbers – read more about this fascinating history here.

Warblington Church

Ruins of Warblington Castle, now in the garden of a private house

The watch hut in the graveyard of Warblington Church

From here we headed back up the lane and took another lane (the only 1) on the left. Going left again at the end we came to the beach where it was possible to cycle across (even when we returned at high tide there was enough beach left – I don’t believe that would necessarily be the case in the winter though!)

The path after the beach is quite busy and we did have to push our bikes for most of it. But it takes you past a couple of duck ponds, an old mill (now a private house) before you come to a lovely pub, The Royal Oak, fronting the water. When you reach the main road cross over and cross the bridge – this is where the Hayling Billy starts. Click here for the route (although it’s easy to follow and is completely off-road.

View from The Royal Oak back towards Warblington

On the route of the Hayling Billy

Views along the Hayling Billy

The trail ends at the old station, now a theatre. It is a very popular trail, and was particularly busy on this hot August Bank Holiday. It’s wonderful to see so many families out enjoying themselves.

We continued on to the beach – also very busy! We weren’t to stay too long as we had to get ready for leaving the following day, but it was a lovely afternoon with Calv spending time on the paddle board with his grandson and me making sandcastles (only for them to be immediately knocked over!)

My point is that we may well all be able to find a hidden gem, or two, on our doorstep – if we would only but look 🙂

Happy hunting!

Cornwall – the most beautiful place in the world :)

After Yorkshire we headed for Cornwall… Yes, a slight deviation from our route around the coast, but necessary to attend my friend’s Very Important birthday celebrations 🙂 Louise had rented a house for the week in Rock where she was staying with her family, so we took the van and had my sister & brother-in-law to stay for a couple of nights + another friend and her husband in their tent for a couple of nights (as it happened due to the weather they put their tent away and stayed in the van with us for their 2nd night).

Now, I have spent a lot of time in Cornwall throughout my life and it remains my favourite place in the world. I did think that perhaps I wouldn’t feel the same when I returned, what with all the wonderful places we have seen over the last couple of years, but no, as ever, it felt like I was coming home 🙂

On this trip we managed to visit 3 of my favourite spots in the county, Tintagel, Bedruthen Steps and Port Isaac. Unfortunately we ran out of time and couldn’t get to Boscastle this time (if you’re visiting Cornwall for the 1st time it’s a must). We also managed to visit several places that I’ve somehow missed on previous visits, although it’s always possible that I went to any of them as a child and have simply forgotten; Rock itself, Trevone, Trebarwith Strand and Port Gaverne – a short walk from Port Isaac.

Rather than write in detail about each I’ve simply decided to put pictures up! They really speak for themselves 🙂

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We had such a wonderful weekend with the focus being on birthday celebrations. On the Friday evening the ladies were all heading over to Padstow to eat at Rick Stein’s Fish Restaurant. We went over on the ferry and came back on the water taxi (which you have to call, but is basically a ferry as well).

I have to be honest here and admit that I wasn’t looking forward to this particularly as I’m not overly keen on seafood, I knew it would be fairly expensive and, shock, horror, I’m not actually a fan of Rick Stein. However, the food was exquisite, the atmosphere was very laid back and the bill wasn’t actually as expensive as expected. On top of that, on discovering it was Lou’s birthday, an additional dessert was brought out with 6 mini desserts on a plate on which happy birthday had been written in chocolate 🙂

We had such a lovely evening, made even better when we received a text from Calv with a picture of the menu from the pub the boys had gone to in Rock (see below for extract!)

Also, here’s a picture of my dessert 🙂 Very nice it was too!

We struggled to get a taxi to take us back to our campsite 2 miles away from the house (as in, it was impossible!) so we had to walk back on both Friday night and Saturday night – after the barbeque.

As the bbq didn’t start until mid-afternoon those of us staying at the campsite headed out to Port Isaac in the morning after Emma and Chris arrived. In fact they arrived before Debbie and I actually got back from our walk to pick the car up – we went the long way across the fields and the golf course so that we could have a look at the historic church that’s right in the middle of the golf course, St Endenoc. This then took us across the dunes and down onto either the beach or into the car-park – depending on which of numerous paths you choose!

Watch out for the parking wardens – a ticket was received by 1 of the cars for being parked partly on the grass of the packed car park. As ever Port Isaac didn’t disappoint and, this time, I walked up to the headland beyond the Doc’s surgery with Calv 🙂

On the road down to Rock there are a number of individual shops including a butchers and a bakers. We used both of them and they were wonderful! We also used the fish and chip shop on Sunday night when we headed again to the house to harass Lou and her family! This was a bit of a special evening actually culminating as it did with a sing-along with Lou’s grandparents; an amazing couple , married 68 years and still going strong 🙂

After a boules match, that saw both Calv and Debbie beat the mega competitive Chris (!) Don’t worry I played him after Debbie and Paul left and I let him win…. Haha 🙂

We then headed off on a trip down towards Newquay to Bedruthen Steps, a beautiful beach with natural caves and rock formations, accessed by some brutal steps! I was very happy the next day to find that I am obviously much fitter than I was 3 years ago when we first visited – in that I was able to actually move and walk the next day with no problems whatsoever (it took me days to get over it last time, and I struggled to get into and out of the van!)

On Monday we had to move sites (we were moving to a certificated site a mile or so away that was £13 per night. In August. In Cornwall….!) Other than that we did very little apart from head into Wadebridge to do a little bit of shopping. It pretty much rained all day.

Tuesday dawned much nicer and we headed back to Rock for a day on the beach with Lou and her brother & his family. We took the kayak with us and the girls loved it! Louise and I failed miserably at the first attempt of climbing the dunes – they were far too high to tackle in flip-flops… We finished the day with a wonderfully competitive game of French cricket (proper rules!)

One thing we noticed both at Bedruthen and Rock were the number of jelly-fish washed up on the beach – they were everywhere!

On Wednesday we headed for Tintagel but took a wrong turn just before we arrived and found ourselves at Trebarwith Strand. We decided to take a look which ended up with Calv going into the water to get a little girl out who’d slipped off the rocks, and was in danger of being swept away down the narrow channel into the sea. All he got for his efforts was a deep cut above his eye and blood all over his face – no thank you from her father when he turned up….

As he was soaking wet and more than a little shocked we headed back to the van – Calv with massive pasty in hand.

We did make it to wonderful Tintagel the following day before we left for home, via Bridport. Or so we thought…

We intended to stop in a free car-park by the police station in Bridport, but got there to find that the fun-fair had moved in for 3 days 😦

We stopped to try to find a motorhome stopover and found a pub, but on phoning them there was a problem with them enabling us to fulfil the condition of having a meal in the pub, so we abandoned that plan. We eventually found a certificated site that could take us and headed there. We missed the turn though so had to continue along the road, which took us past the pub we’d tried to get into (the car park was far too small for us anyway), but I realised that Lou’s nan and granddad actually lived opposite the pub! Lou later told me that they were all eating in there that evening, AND, the site we ended up at was, quite literally, behind here mum and dad’s house!

1 final coincidence was that there was a couple in a motorhome on the same site as us that night. We arrived late and only said ‘hello’, and they had left before we got up the next morning. When we pulled up at Kia Ora, our ‘home’ site in Nutbourne near Emsworth, this same couple had just pulled in… You couldn’t make it up!

We did notice that there were more foreign visitors in Cornwall than anywhere else we have visited (and there have been plenty). All nationalities here as well, but lots of Italians for some reason…

We have just had 10 days at home and today have moved back up country – we’re just south of Sheffield. Check back for my next post which will deal with a cycle ride along the Hayling Billy yesterday 🙂

On ‘How Time Flies’..

Time is precious. We all know that. We also know that life’s too short. This is why we embarked on this adventure – taking a year out and travelling.

We are struggling to believe that we are already nearing the end of this year (I know we still have 4 months of the year remaining, but remember we ARE in the UK and we WILL lose the weather sooner rather than later. We are however desperately wishing for a prolonged Indian Summer so that we can keep travelling through to later November. We understand that we have a maximum, therefore, of 3 months travelling in the UK.

Being at the end of August we were expecting to be in Scotland by now… Actually, we expected to have almost finished Scotland by now! The furthest north we have got, however, is Whitby in North Yorkshire – there is so much to see and do in this wonderful country of ours.

Back to the point of this post though. Time is indeed flying by, but what I have found is that when we spend time with family and friends it flies even quicker. The last 2 weeks have seen us spending a week in Cornwall (my favourite spot in the whole world – keep an eye out for my post on this) to celebrate my friend’s 40th birthday, followed by a return ‘home’ to catch up with family (in particular to make sure that Calv’s grandchildren still recognise him!), and to celebrate my friend’s birthday again (on the actual day this time 🙂 ).

This time is going by so quickly that it simply emphasises the point of our travels, of our year off, of doing this before we run out of the energy or the desire to do anything.

Everyone tells themselves that this is something that they would love to do in some capacity (i.e. not necessarily in a motorhome!), but there is always a reason not to take the plunge. They don’t have enough money, they need to keep an eye on the kids (adult kids even), they just need to see through this big project at work, they couldn’t possibly give up work…

All valid reasons of course, and, don’t forget, we all have different motivations and desires.

However (and it is a big however), we truly believe that we have changed our lives for the better. Despite the fact that there have been a few bumps along the way (I shan’t go into that now!) which meant we had less money available than we initially thought, this hasn’t detracted from our enjoyment of our time on the road together. We have found that we want for a lot less, we have become far less materialistic if you like.

I didn’t actually consider myself overly so to begin with to be fair, but even I have noticed that I want for less – apart from reading material and the occasional new (but useful) gadget for the van! Even our grocery shops have declined (although they’re still more expensive when we’re meeting up with people. Alcohol. Of course…!)

Even with all the time in the world that we have gifted ourselves we still never seem to have time to do everything. We have learned to relax (even Calv, it might surprise some of you to learn), although it doesn’t seem that we actually do that very often. We only realised this yesterday when we did actually relax for the whole day. We sat reading (well, I did – he hasn’t changed that much!), drinking tea (yes, tea), enjoying the sunshine and then went on a lovely walk in the countryside to a local country pub (The Old House at Home in Chidham, well worth a visit, and actually much older than it appears from the outside).

20170825_134515 — Looking over towards Emsworth on our walk to the pub

20170825_152444 — Looking over the water towards Bosham on our walk home from the pub

We have loved spending time with friends and family, apart from the fact that we also put weight back on when we see them – so in 2 1/2 weeks our waistlines have taken a definite hit!

But we are also looking forward to getting back on the road. On Tuesday we will be heading north again, taking in the Yorkshire Dales and the top of the North York Moors via York itself, before heading into Northumberland – which we believe (and hope) will be the highlight of our trip so far. We suspect that by the time Northumberland has finished with us, and us with it, it may be time to cross over a little to the west coast and start making our way home.

We are sad that we won’t make Scotland this year but, if all our plans come together, we would like to think that we’ll head straight there for some time next year. We have lots of plans going forward – another by-product of this time is that we really talk to each other. A lot!

Please stay with us as we tell you about our adventures yet to come over the next few months, as we visit yet more places that we have never been to before and create more wonderful memories – trust me, we will always have something to talk to each other about!! Please feel free to comment with your own thoughts and experiences – we love to hear from you!

I will aim to tell you about Cornwall as soon as possible – but we are busy seeing people over the next few days before we head off again!

Keep travelling! xx

Discovering more delights in Scarborough – North Bay and the Castle

This is a final mop-up of our time, so far, in Yorkshire (we’re heading back via York next week..), and it will cover a 2nd visit to Scarborough – to the North Bay area and the castle, a flying visit to Burton Agnes & the Rudston Monolith, the Muston scarecrow festival and Boggle Hole (visited on the way home from Whitby).

So let’s start with Boggle Hole (where the main picture was taken). We just saw the sign on the way home and thought it was a good name and we’d have a look! We took the lane, which turned out to be long and narrow, until we came to a small parking area – keep going, says Calv. Only we couldn’t as there was a sign up advising against it! The lane that we walked down was steep and led to a YHA hostel and the Quarterdeck café. These were nestled at the top of a rocky cove where fossil hunts are regularly held Continue reading “Discovering more delights in Scarborough – North Bay and the Castle”

Spurn Head via Patrington, the Meridian Line and a reminder of the gunpowder plot

Spurn Head is a constantly changing spit that reaches out into the Humber like a bent finger. It’s formed from the erosion further up the coast and, whilst once it had a proper road connecting it to the mainland, it is now cut off at high tide and connected by a causeway at other times.

We took the A165 south and then headed along the road from Hull towards Spurn. As we entered one of the villages on the way I remembered that our neighbour who had left the campsite the day before lived there.

“John and Mary live here” I said. As I said this I look to my right. “There’s John!” He was out weeding his garden! So in we went for a cuppa and some stories from John about strange goings on in his garage…! This isn’t the only coincidence we’ve experienced in the last couple of weeks either.

They told us about a couple of things to look out for on our way to Spurn Head, including a stone denoting the meridian line, and the memorial to 2 of the gunpowder plotters who were brothers who lived on a farm in the area. This is done in the same style as the memorial to the airmen at Lisset.

The Meridian Line Stone just outside of Patrington

Gunpowder Plotters just outside of Patrington

We then visited the church at Patrington, otherwise known as The Queen of Holderness. Chatting to a man inside we found out that the column that looked out of place was, in fact, part of a much earlier church that had been on the site.

Patrington – The Queen of Holderness

Inside the church at Patrington

Finally we made it to Spurn Head. Or at least we thought we had! We parked just past the café by the toilets and were confused that we couldn’t see anything obvious to suggest we were about to cross a causeway. Well, this was because we weren’t there yet! We should have turned right at the café….

We parked on the road outside the car park, unloaded the bikes and set off. It wasn’t long before we came to sand; sand that you couldn’t cycle over unless you had those special fat tyres. Why we hadn’t realised that the causeway would be sand I really don’t know!

It therefore took a while to cross this 3/4 mile stretch! Luckily we made it to the other side and the 1st shelter before the heavens opened! The shelter was just big enough to fit 4 people in ‘cosily’. There were just the 2 of us so that meant that Calv was able to bring his bike in too…. It was great fun sharing that space for about 20 minutes!

Luckily the one couple who passed by were so soaked already that they decided to just continue. Once you’ve got past the last bit of sand (and the bit of the path that’s fallen into the sea) the path isn’t bad at all (although we had an awful lot of big puddles after the rainstorms we were dealing with!)

There are several nature trails to follow along the spit, a lighthouse that is open at certain times and the RNLI station. This is also where the river pilots operate from.

You cannot drive onto Spurn Head. However, you can book onto a Spurn Safari, ride your bike or walk. The authorised vehicles use the same narrow paths as walkers and cyclists so be aware!

The total cycle from the car park is 3.5 miles. On the way back the sun came out for us and we were delighted to spot a number of seals bobbing their heads out of the water close to the shore. And then we had a rainbow 🙂

Being late home we eventually realised that we were going to have to eat on the way. We followed the coast road back and driving through Aldbrough we spotted a fish and chip shop that had a café – The Frying Farmer. What a find – the best fish and chips we have ever had. And I had a slice of gorgeous Victoria sponge to take away!

Despite the weather we had a wonderful day out when we visited Spurn Head and would highly recommend it – don’t forget to check the tides, but there is plenty of information available when you get there 🙂

Day trips to Hull and Beverley. Surprises all round :) If you think you don’t want to visit Hull – it’s time to think again!

As we were within 30 miles we knew that we had to visit Hull, it being the European City of Culture for 2017. Our expectations weren’t great but we wanted to go anyway.

Before Hull though we decided to visit Beverley, for which our expectations were higher. And it was nearer to where we were staying of course!

We parked on the road by the police station and 1st impressions were great as we walked into town. Lovely, big houses lined the route + some very unusual smaller properties. Approaching the town centre we found the only remaining town gate, North Bar (which is Grade I listed) – the streets leading up to and from it are called North Bar Without and North Bar Within…

There were originally many more gates, bars and ditches protecting the town, but all that are left nowadays are some wonderful street names – Newbegingate, Lairgate and Keldgate . There is also Flemingate, now a regenerated area of shops, cinemas, bars and restaurants.

North Bar, Beverley

Old pub on North Bar Without, Beverley

It was market day so there was a lot going on in the town centre. As well as the minster itself there is another beautiful church, St Marys . I’m sorry but it’s impossible to write about Beverley or Hull without mentioning a church! I’ll keep it short and just show you via photos 🙂

When we made it to the Minster itself we couldn’t actually go in straight away as there was a wedding in progress. Once we were able to go in we could see what an amazing venue this was for such an occasion!

Beverley Minster

The ‘Hanging’ Font of Beverley Minster

A little more wandering and we found the guildhall and some almshouses and also the bandstand became more visible as the market packed up!

Almshouses in Beverley

The bandstand in Beverley

The following day, Sunday, we headed back out to Hull. With low expectations we were very, very pleasantly surprised by what awaited us.

We found our way to Princes Quay Shopping Centre to park – which cost us just £2 to park for about 4 hours (I think this was just because it was Sunday, but we were still happy with it!) The shopping centre itself was very good and included restaurants that were open into the evening, so no problem with the car park closing…)

We emerged into Queen Victoria Square, dominated by a statue of Queen Victoria, but also with spouting pavement fountains being enjoyed by children and parents alike Continue reading “Day trips to Hull and Beverley. Surprises all round 🙂 If you think you don’t want to visit Hull – it’s time to think again!”

Yorkshire Coastal Resorts – Which is your favourite?? Filey, Scarborough, Robin Hoods Bay or Whitby…

What a delight it’s been discovering that there are even more beautiful beaches in our amazing country than we were aware of! These resorts tend to be a little quieter than their counterparts in Cornwall – with the exception perhaps of Whitby 🙂

I thought I’d pop this poll on to see if people agree with our personal favourites 🙂

Okay, so over the course of the last week or so we have visited all 4 of these resorts from our base in Flamborough – meaning that Filey is closest to us, then Scarborough, then Robin Hoods Bay and finally Whitby. (You might want to get a cuppa before continuing with this post! Or read it in shifts. Sorry…!)

The first resort we visited was Filey over a week ago now. We were totally charmed by this place. We parked by the side of the road in Church Ravine (there are parking charges, and make sure to keep those kids safely in the car until you’re ready to cross over to the pavement). Walking down towards the beach one of the 1st things we saw were the donkeys taking kids for rides – it’s been years since I saw donkeys on the beach. I also have a feeling that my own kids may never have experienced this particular delight – put me right boys if I’m wrong here!

To the left of this entrance to the beach, and the donkeys, is the area where you will find a small number of amusements and traditional seaside shops and cafes, as well as another section of beach (not quite so sandy) and the traditional fishing cobles parked up. The lifeboat station is also here.

Donkeys at Filey

Fishing boats at Coble Landing, Filey

Tractors for launching the boats at Coble Landing, Filey

We turned right for a very pleasant wander along the seafront. Along here there was a crazy golf course, a number of sculptures, a paddling pool, a hopscotch outline with fish sculptures to jump on and deckchairs & beach huts for hire!

I think this is Finlay… in Filey

The beach at Filey

Hopscotch on the promenade – Filey

Filey Beach

Part of Filey’s history involves early planes taking off and landing on the beach, and an early flying school being established here. The following information board is really interesting and well worth a read 🙂 Continue reading “Yorkshire Coastal Resorts – Which is your favourite?? Filey, Scarborough, Robin Hoods Bay or Whitby…”

Tattershall Castle, with an impromptu air display. Then enjoying a film in the Kinema in the Woods

The day after we discovered Woodhall Spa we returned to watch a film, Dunkirk, in the Kinema in the Woods.

Very close by lies Tattershall, a very pretty village with an impressive church and a magnificent castle (now managed by the National Trust).

The film was starting at 5.15pm so in the afternoon we decided to visit Tattershall first.

As we left the car park we saw that there was also a row of Bede Houses (almshouses) in front of the church. We’re convinced that these have each been doubled in size by knocking 2 into 1, as we thought we could see where some windows may have previously been doors. This has actually been borne out by the bit of research that we’ve done.

The church was a really open space and we were told that it was originally very dark as the windows made it so. It’s only been relatively recently that the windows were renewed and lightened.

Tattershall Church

Interior of Tattershall Church

Tattershall Church

The chancel of Tattershall Church

View of the outside of the chancel at Tattershall Church

After visiting the church we headed over to the castle (which is accessed on a path passing the church). The first building you see is the guardhouse which is now the ticket office.

20170726_151735 — The Guardhouse of Tattershall Castle

We started our visit in front of the castle exploring the moat and what did originally stand on the green area – there were actually many more buildings on the site, including the kitchens that were separate to the main castle.

Then before we went into the castle itself we heard the distinctive sound of a jet overhead. We proceeded to enjoy an impromptu display with the jet doing barrel rolls and flying over us several times in the course of the next 10 minutes or so. When he landed another one took off! This was from RAF Coningsby which is very nearby.

What’s left of the castle is very up together – even more so than Castle Rising. We’re convinced that you could hook up to the electricity, pop in a bathroom and move in..!

The only thing to spoil our visit was a group of screamy kids and extremely shouty adults with them. We just headed straight up to the roof so that we weren’t on the same floor at any time and then worked our way down..

Here’s a few pictures of the castle itself.

Tattershall Castle

2nd floor main room of Tattershall Castle

The spiral staircase with built in banister – Tattershall Castle

The main Salon on the top floor of Tattershall Castle

Dovecote built into one of the siderooms in the 19th century – Tattershall Castle

Roof detail. Corridor of Tattershall Castle.

20170726_155921 — View from the roof of Tattershall Castle

From here we headed back to Woodhall Spa and straight to the Kinema. We went straight in (having arrived hungry and cleared the shop out of sweets…). We were seated in Row E, about halfway back – literally.

When the adverts were finished and just before the film was to start the curtains were drawn across and then drawn back. And there was an interval! Halfway through the film it stopped, across came the curtains and off people went to get their ice-cream! What a wonderful experience it was seeing a film in this iconic building 🙂

Looking back from our seat in the Kinema in the Woods

The curtain at the Kinema in the Woods

From the back of the auditorium at the Kinema in the Woods

We had already decided to go into the village for something to eat, and we headed straight for the Indian restaurant. The food was great in the restaurant but we actually wished they had turned us away as they’d squeezed us in where people normally wait for their takeaway, and then pretty much ignored us.

This was a wonderful last day however, before we moved on to Flamborough Head in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Dribbling along the coast to Aldbrough and it’s disappearing road. Then Fabulous Filey the next day :)

It’s just over 35 miles from Bridlington to Spurn Head. We set out on Sunday with the idea that we might make it to Spurn Head, but also knowing that we would be taking in several sights along the way.

Our 1st stop was slightly away from the coast at Lisset, where we had been told about a memorial to 158 Squadron who were based nearby.

This is a really unusual sculpture, and really well done. I don’t know if you can see in the photo, but the name of every one of the 851 squadron members who died on active service. The 7 silhouettes are designed to represent a bomber crew.

Memorial to 158 Squadron at Lisset

Our 2nd stop was Ulrome. I said to Calv we can come off the main road and there’s a road that brings us back round to Skipsea and then back onto the main road….

Not anymore there’s not!! The mapbook we have in the car is from 2008 and the road has changed slightly since then.. Continue reading “Dribbling along the coast to Aldbrough and it’s disappearing road. Then Fabulous Filey the next day :)”