Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Coastal Capers....Cod and Chips
For the past three days we have been in coastal overdrive, it has been fun, at least I have had fun and I think that Mrs. Currin has also had the odd moment. We started our coastal odyssey on Monday following a warm up in Scarborough on Sunday. We headed north over the moors national park and made it to Whitby in time for lunch from the winner of the "Best in Britain" fish and chip shop. One cod and chips each and $25 lighter in the pocket later we regretted having made this particular decision, the chips now gluggy in our stomachs. The cod , I must admit, was very nice indeed but I would have to say even MacDonalds chips would have been better.
Whitby, though , is a great place to visit and before we knew it time was marching on and we knew that we should be as well. Actually, to be honest, we had arrived in time for morning tea and after finding the coffee shop, that we had read about, closed we were very lucky to find what is probably the quaintest tea rooms that we had yet to come across. And so it was that tea was taken in the Holmes teashop.
Whitby, though , is a great place to visit and before we knew it time was marching on and we knew that we should be as well. Actually, to be honest, we had arrived in time for morning tea and after finding the coffee shop, that we had read about, closed we were very lucky to find what is probably the quaintest tea rooms that we had yet to come across. And so it was that tea was taken in the Holmes teashop.
Out the back in Holmes Tearooms.
A Steam Bus plying for trade in Whitby.
It may be Smaller but it is still called Endeavour.
After lunch time was also found for a wander around the narrow cobbled streets to check out the shopping, no goodies here were deemed suitable to deprive us of our hard earned cash though.
From Whitby we drove north, keeping to the coast as much as possible, finding a host of tiny little villages in secluded bays and requiring steep, narrow roads to negotiated in the process. This continued until we came to Hartlepool and then the grey matter clicked in , we recalled from Timothy Spall's circumnavigation of Britain he had told of a very good maritime museum in Hartlepool and this time Mrs. Currin showed some enthusiasm in having a look. I must say it was very well done and showed all aspects of life at sea a couple of hundred years ago.
Wax figures showing all aspects of Naval life.
HMS Trincomalee
HMS Trincomalee.
The highlight of the visit is HMS Tricomalee built early in the 1800s and is the oldest British Naval vessel still afloat, it has been fully restored and is correct in every detail. Add the many wax figures and one could be back at Trafalgar or some such.
A little late home but quite content with our days outing.
Tuesday we wanted to continue the coastal theme and so we headed right up to the Holy Island (Lindesfarne), right up by the Scotish boarder, not quite knowing what to expect from this, the holiest site in Brtain. It was in about ad 600 that a Monastery was first built here and was the first really Christian settlement in Britain.
The Remains of Lindesfarne Abbey.
A modern carving in St. Mary's, Lindesfarne
Lindisfarne Castle.
Dining Room Lindesfarne Castle
To gain access to the Holy Island one needs to cross a few miles of causeway, making sure first that it is low tide and won't be high tide for a wee while because that would see you on the island until the next low one and the authorities are not to keen on this as accommodation is at a premium. Now part of this " attraction " is in the portfolio of English Heritage and part under National Trust jurisdiction. If one is a member of NZs Historic Places Trust we get to go in both of these organizations properties so do very well in this situation.
The castle started life as a coastal fort and was later bought by the founder of Country Life magazine as a holiday home, it is now a fantastic is property to visit.
From Lindesfarne we started to make our way back down the coast getting close and personal with many towns and other sites on the way.
Bamburgh Castle.
One of these places was Bamburgh Castle and is still the holiday home for the Armstrong family whose main home we were to visit the next day.
By this time it was getting on a bit and we decided to become Mr. and Mrs. Smith and book into a B&B for the night. Nearby was the town of Alnwick (Pr. Anick ) and Mrs Wilson 's boarding establishment, actually a respectable B&B and so we spent a comfortable night in this most remarkable walled town. The street names here are simalar to other called towns in that if a street passes from inside the wall, through a gate, to outside it will change its name from, in this case, Baliff Gate Street Within to Baliff Gate Street Without. I just thought it quaint that's all, oh well, never mind. Had a great Indian meal at a restaurant in this town. Wish we could get as good in Palmy.
Up bright and early to an enormous cooked breaky and on the road south once more. The main attraction this morning was William Armstrong's home, this is the gentleman who had Bamburgh Castle as his weekender, and estate.
The Armstrong Home
Mrs Currin at full gallop, well almost, up to the formal garden.
The clock up by the formal garden.
When entering this property it is best to take the Estate Drive which follows a road around the perimeter of estate and is several miles in length. This must be absolutely spectacular in winter and spring as there are 10s of thousands of rhododendrons planted around this road, also there are some 80km of walking tracks in the estate.
It seems that Mr Armstrong was something of an engineer in the 18th c. and built his own hydro power station, his home being the first in the country to be lit by hydro generated electricity. This home also had a number of other inovations not common in the 19th c. such as a dishwasher and Turkish bath.
Another home visited today was that belonging to a Mr Trevathylin ( sp. ? ) an early socialist. It seems that the good gentleman's socialist leanings became most acute upon his death when he deprived his heirs this magnificent home, that he had earlier inherited from his father and he from his and so on, by leaving it to the National Trust.
"Typical Socialist's Home" Yeh right
Humble interior.
I was interested to hear one of the trust members explain how the family never had a lot of money and would have had to make do with what the 10,000 acre estate could bring in.
Well it is late and I am tired so must off to bed so goodnight and take care.
David
e&oe
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