Whitby

So on the 22nd of June i took a day trip to the coastal town of Whitby in Yorkshire. I used Andrews and found it a comfortable (if long) ride to the town.

As we headed up the weather was becoming increasingly worse and by the time we reached the Yorkshire moors visibility was next to zero and a constant drizzle welcomed me as i stepped out of the coach. But no matter! This is my first visit so i was going to have a fun day regardless of weather.

The town of Whitby is most definitely coastal and the area around the docks and piers in particular have retained the older style of buildings and kept the charm that fishing ports tend to have. It had been some time since i've visited a coastal area and i must confess to enjoying the sea air and calls of the gulls. I made my way past the shop fronts and loading areas of the East side of town and headed towards the Memorial in honor of Captain Cook, who received his apprenticeship in Whitby before his voyages to the East. The memorial is quite impressive with the base surrounding it in the form of a compass, while Cook himself gazes out to the ports. Shortly before the statue you pass through the now iconic Whale Bone Arch. This is actually more modern than i first believed with the two bones (Blue Whale Jaw Bones) being delivered to Whitby by Thor Dhal and Graham Leach before being erected in 1963 in honor of Whitby sailors who ventured and explored the polar regions.
The viewpoint around there would have been impressive on a clear day but sadly that was not a day i was having!

Slightly further along i found a small memorial garden that is based around a ruined house from the bombardment of the second world war. Further from that i came to the world sign post, showing the many islands explored by Cook and other sailers in nautical miles.

As i headed back down into the main part of town (after a wander on the piers)  the heavens truly opened  and so i decided it was a good time for lunch! Ended up in the "Skippers Cafe" and highly recommend it.After lunch and with the weather still being vile, i decided to stop at the Captain Cook Museum on the other side of town. The museum is set in a house where Cook and other apprentices would have rested between sea travel and although small in size was well laid out and featured several artifacts aswell as many letters and paintings form Cook's three voyages.  I can easily recommend popping into the museum if you find yourself in town.

With time beginning to run out i carried on through the old part of town, past the old Market Hall and found the 199 steps. I went up these bloody things and i will be honest they were annoying! Not difficult or tiring just slow going as the steps are very shallow and not particularly wide. As such it always felt like 199 half steps with me looking down to check my footing! With that said the views (even in the gloom) were impressive and it felt good to make it to the top. I went past the Church (St. Marys) without stopping and went straight on to  the Abbey itself.
The price for entry is a little high but completely worth it, before you get back outside to the abbey grounds you past through a mini museum showing various items from digs and such. The Abbey itself is simply stunning even as a ruin and i loved being there, some people say there's an eerie feel to the place but i disagree and found it very peaceful and oddly cut off from the rest of the world. I went round the outside then through the old hall, admiring the carvings and stone works while making notes of future images should i return. I felt a little sad that i had to leave the Abbey in order to catch the coach back home as i could easily spend the day up there.

I managed a few images as i headed back to the pick up point (now that i was leaving the weather turned nice - typical!) but discovered something about those Lego steps. Coming down is, quite simply, weird. Very disorientating and setting off my fear of heights - very odd as it was not exposed but i guess the fact i had to keep stopping and looking down didn't help. May take the secondary path when coming down in future!
All in all i found Whitby to be a curious place, filled with intriguing shops, snickleways and old buildings. I could easily spend a few days here and hope to return :D

York February 2017

York! The medieval city with a Viking following and quite a few stone cats.

Having visited way back in the 90s as a kid, i was determined to return and so for a day and half i did. Travelling by train i arrived about 11am and after a bite to eat had a wander. I timed the trip to catch the tail end of the Viking festival and first port of call was the small but interesting exhibition Vikings: Home and Abroad. It featured several displays and cases of artifacts and also had around 4-5 actors who were all very friendly and great to talk to. With Jorvik still closed (due to the floods) it was a nice way to enjoy the Viking history.

After watching a couple of demonstrations outside the exhibit, wood working and combat, i drifted towards the Minster and what a building!  It was huge, impossible to see it through my lens as too many buildings close by to isolate it. But was great to see and later on i managed some decent captures from the walls. I returned in the evening however and did manage a couple of nice captures.

The second and only full day saw me running about! First i checked out the Shambles, wonderful and delightfully quirky area that looked like something from Discworld. Of-course back when it was mostly the butchers yard it would have been a different story!! Managed some nice captures but hope to return and try some different ideas out.
Next was Barley Hall, a Tudor town house and museum. Initially i wasn't going to bother but i had to walk past so i headed in. Really glad i did too, fascinating and enjoyable experience! The Tudors were crafty little buggers and the house was beautifully laid out with a highlight being the Horn Window. The staff deserve a mention too especially the red haired lass in the main hall, all were really enthusiastic and knowledgeable and were fantastic people to talk too :)

Next was......er.... Oh right the market! Saw a Viking coin maker and a couple of boats, very cool indeed. It was then time for the Viking March, ha ha! Fantastic display as some 300 fully dressed and armored vikings march down the streets to Coppergate. Loud, mad and great fun to watch! Following on from that i headed to the Richard 3rd experience (another great little museum) before i headed to the Yorkshire Museum. The Yorkshire Museum in particular was impressive and well worth a visit and i was especially happy as i finally got to see a Dodo skeleton plus a stuffed Great Ark. Also on display was a Moa skeleton, another example of humans arrogance and recklessness towards nature. Other displays included various fossils of ancient reptiles, Romans and of-course Yorks Vikings.

Finally it was the main Viking event - the last stand of Bloodaxe!  Never seen a battle like this before and it was amazing! Good fights, great marches, fantastic music and incredible firework display. I enjoyed every moment - even if i didn't manage to photograph any of it as it was too dark.

Well thats the highlights, and i can safely say i will be returning to further explore the city and its sights.

Local Tourist - February

February has much like January been wet and windy, even by British standards it's been a tad damp! However damp or no i was still out and about as often as i could and made a start on my new project "a local tourist" as i visit local towns and attractions.

As such i started with the Pic Tor memorial in Matlock. I wonder how many times i've been to Matlock now? countless trips and pretty much zero images but that should change during the course of the year.  Pic Tor has been on my visit list for some time and when there was a rare sunny day, i walked into town and finally saw the memorial and surprising view.

A lovely memorial, i also checked out the large grave yard by St. Giles Church and will return to that another day.

Next up was the Snowdrop walk at Hopton hall. Incredible displays and the Rose Garden (in summer) will be a riot of color and a good place for my macro work :D The walk was a delight and the small cafe was cosy with good food and pleasant staff.  I was amazed by how well maintained the garden and paths were and would say they are a good place for kids too as they had a play area. The walk is circular and relatively short but in truth you could waste a morning there taking shots and come summer bring a picnic and enjoy the flowers!

My final outing was a castle! Bolsover castle to be precise and what a place that turned out to be.  Like many castles and houses it was pretty expensive to enter but unlike many others of it's kind there was almost full access to the rooms - no ropes!!  The castle is really 2 in one with a far older ruin being one attraction and the "little castle" being the slightly newer build that was designed by the playboy of his day William Cavendish. He spared no expense and even now the place is dripping with the most expensive of materials.  I won't bore you with a history (i recommend the guide book for that if you visit) but will say that i was very impressed by the ruins and little castle rooms. The whole place was clearly built and designed to be a show off house! There are several events run throughout the year here and i hope to make it to at least one of them this year, anyway enough talk!

 
And thats it for this blog, hope you enjoyed. My next one will concern my short trip to the city of York so stay tuned for that - Bye bye!!