SCARBOROUGH

 MEANDERTHALS GO FOREIGN (Yorkshire)

Explorers :- John R, John W, Anthony, 

                      Mike, Danny, and Martin.

As this was not a "Meanderthal "activity  each of us (some with our wives) took each day in our own way.  I hope. dear reader, you will forgive the fact that this report  is based mostly on the writer's experience and is perhaps a little disjointed.

Scarborough - the sea front was just  a short walk from our hotel

No walk this week as six of our regular walkers joined a holiday group for five days in Scarborough.

                   Mike       John W    Danny     Martin     Anthony   John R

"The Meanderthals on Tour"

We stayed at the excellent "New Southlands Hotel"

Hotel in the "Red Light District" ? Surely not.     It seems that the red Traffic Lights stay on until a vehicle comes along. As there was very little traffic in the evenings. The lights seemed to be red most of  the time.

The evenings after our excellent meals meant a visit to the bar. 

Meanderthals Anthony , Martin and Mike with his wife Kath,

 

Meanderthal John R with his wife Dorothy and Val W.

DAY ONE.

After leaving Preston we first stopped at Ripley for a break and to explore the old and very attractive tiny town with it's churches, castle and gardens...........  and of course ...cafes.     Unfortunately your writer took no photographs in this town.

Next stop Scarborough and the Hotel "New Southland"  See above.. The day ended with an entertaining quiz prepared by Bernard one of the group. The Meanderthal sections did very well. Of course !

DAY TWO

The following morning, Tuesday, we went off to "Castle Howard" . Here we all had tickets to visit the vast acreage of grounds and the hugely magnificent house itself.  Some visited the House first others preferred to stroll around the estate first . 

Being of a left wing persuasion I am always disturbed by the thought that such a huge and incredible building and hundreds of acres of land should be privately owned. This thought is somewhat ameliorated when one sees the number of people for whom it provides employment.

The cafe, through the open door, was busy but a chill breeze left the outdoor tables empty in the main.

Each one of the group was given a map of the grounds. With so much to explore this came in very useful.

However, in true Meanderthal style......... a cafe and toilets came first.

Martin and John's wife Val chatting over a cup of coffee and a pot of tea.

The grounds were beautifully tended as you can see from this oh so neatly trimmed hedge

A search for  "The Temple of the four winds" (marked on the map) only led us to this large "Water feature".

The grounds were so extensive that a "Meanderthal walk" almost occurred by default. Our Smart watches indicated that we walked 2/3 miles each day.

The inside of the house was, as you would expect , quite magnificent. John is looking at a model of the house. "I think he's looking the wrong way then "  I hear you think.

Inside the house there were plenty of helpful guides to tell all about the area you were  in.

 

The house has featured in many films and TV shows . The dresses on display were mainly from "Brideshead Revisited".

The grand piano on the left of picture was being played by a young lady. 

I would have liked to take a photo. of her but she never stopped long enough for me to ask her permission. After seeing hundreds of paintings and tapestries .....    .........I have to confess to being something of a philistine when it comes to Art appreciation to the extent that I find abstract art actually irritating.

Inside one of the outbuildings was this display. It was demonstrating the number of birds either native or visitors to our island  which are endangered.

Each of these rather strange models was in the shape of an endangered species.

I was surprised to see a "Starling" on display but on reflection realised that this year there have been far fewer starlings visiting our garden birdfeeders.

It was also somewhat ironic that such a display should be set up on a large estate as in many such estates shooting the wildlife is " de rigeur ".  

Day two ended with entertainment from a guitar player cum singer. Guitar playing superb. Singing not quite so.

DAY THREE

Wednesday saw us exploring Scarborough itself. We visited North Bay briefly before being dropped off close to the Victorian Tramway up into the town.

We took the Tramway up to the top of the cliff. On a window ledge was a carved mouse.......... The Mouse Man involved ?

From here several routes led towards the High Street. Unfortunately it began to rain though it was fairly light and sporadic

The lady in white is not a Wilkie Collins character but rather the wonderful leader and organiser of our trips. (more usually abroad ) She is also a faithful reader of our weekly blog.

It was a grey, wet day in Scarborough.

The famous Grand Hotel at the top of the cliff is apparently now used to house asylum seekers.

We pottered around the high street in and out of shops (and cafes) every so often bumping in to others in the party. As our appointed time to rejoin the coach approached  groups could be found waiting in shelters were they discussed their purchases.........

.....and watched the waves tumbling onto the beach.

Day three again ended with entertainment from a very good Singer/Entertainer who also ran a quiz as part of his act. Again the Meanderthals did well............... BUT BEFORE THAT !😟😟😟

Half way through our evening meal the fire alarm went off.  "Sorry everyone" said the manager  "Leave your meals and walk calmly out to the car park".  Here we stood around as a member of staff took our room numbers to check that everyone was out of the building. So here we were standing in shirt sleeves (it was a rather "Cool" evening,) waiting for the fire brigade to arrive and check the building. Wailing sirens and blue lights bouncing off the neighbouring walls announced their arrival and about 15 minutes later we were allowed back into the dining room. Meals were sorted out (cold) and later a free drink for each guest was served in the bar.

DAY FOUR.

Thursday was our day to visit WHITBY

Three Meanderthals, John R, Anthony and Martin as well as Dorothy

Mary, who plays a major role in the organisation of our holidays, is also the "Unofficial"  official photographer

The legend of Count Dracula arriving in Whitby with no-one else aboard his ship didn't seem to be much vaunted in the Port today. Maybe it was me being unobservant.  So we had to make do with this ship. The first Dracula film was "NOSFERATU". This was unlicensed and had to be withdrawn for many years when it  eventually resurfaced it became a "Cult" film of the Horror genre,

John W and his wife Val.

After a delicious piece of carrot cake and a coffee/tea in the obligatory cafe we decided to cross the river in the direction of the Abbey.    NO ! NO !  We had no intention of climbing the 199 steps to visit it.

But look something is happening to the bridge.

It's opening. Crowds were gathering on either side to watch. The man in the Hi-Vis Jacket stays on the bridge to operate the controls.

Here come the boats wanting to pass through it into the inner harbour.

JW looks quite put out at having to wait, He wasn't really.

Slowly the bridge closed and throngs of people crossed either way. We crossed over to explore the quaint streets on the other side. Many of the shops were selling the famous "Whitby Jet" jewelry. 

DAY FIVE

A final excellent breakfast before we boarded the coach to come home.  The plan was to stop off in York for an hour or so en route.

Arriving in York the coach was parked only a short distance from the Minster.

John W pretending to be looking at something interesting "It's BEHIND you !"

The weather in York was fine as we arrived but soon turned to fairly continuous heavy rain,

Having visited York on several occasions I have never seen the streets so quiet. If you look carefully you may see dark figures lurking ( sheltering) in shop doorways.

The rain was so heavy that water was literally spurting out of the pavements (See bottom of picture ). Val is holding BOTH our umbrellas.  

Two of our ladies sensibly sheltering from the downpour in a cosy cafe.

As we passed one shop the mannequins in the window suddenly came to life, gathered together and waved at us. What an imaginative bit of fun.

Really brightened a soggy, grey visit.

Leaving York behind we set off towards home. As we passed Cleckheaton we ran into a snarl up on the motorway and just crawled along for well over an hour. passing Bradford and Leeds.

At last we arrived at Our Lady and St Edwards,

I must , before finishing, pay tribute to our driver, a lady called Gill whose planning of each days drives and visits greatly enhanced our week. Well Done and Thanks.

THE END

JW