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Working in Whitby
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade
Oct 2023 – Aug 2024

Working in Whitby

A working sojourn in the beautiful North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby. Read more
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  • Working in Whitby

    The walking tour continues

    May 31, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Our next stop was at Gay Village and the iconic New Union Hotel. There were bee images and symbols everywhere - on walls, on public transport, in wall art, in sculptures and street furniture - everywhere! Megan explained that the Manchester worker bee is one of the city's best-known symbols and has been an emblem for Manchester for over 150 years. The bee denotes Mancunians' hard work ethic and the city being a hive of activity. It has also come to represent the sense of unity in this great city. I don't remember it being so prominent when I lived here in the eighties - perhaps I went around with my eyes shut!

    As we were walking to our next stop, I tripped over a paving slab and fell really hard! I completely winded myself and was in an awful lot of pain. Mark, Gill, and Paul were ahead of me and completely oblivious that I had fallen! Luckily, a couple of strangers helped me up and I was able to rejoin the group at a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst. I can't remember much of what Megan had to say about it!!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    A break - and the walk continues

    May 31, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Luckily, at this point, Megan gave us a ten-minute break to get a drink and/or use the loo. Mark went off to get me some painkillers while I went to use the toilet in the basement of the Central Library. Despite the pain I was in, I was immediately transported back to my student days when I would spend hours in this library - it was so much grander and more conducive to study than the one on campus. I also used to love the lunchtime productions at the Library Theatre. I particularly remember seeing a powerful performance of Rent there. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I couldn't find the theatre, but then I saw a plaque saying it had closed down in 2010!

    Outside the library, we stopped to look at the Midland Hotel, allegedly where David and Victoria Beckham had their first date, and also where I had a job interview for a waitress position! I didn't get the job and ended up working at Wimpy instead!

    Our next stop was at the Free Trade Hall where my graduation ceremony took place back in 1988 - my last visit to Manchester! I really was taking a walk down Memory Lane!

    We also visited the Abraham Lincoln Statue and the Royal Exchange Theatre (another favourite haunt of mine back in the day!) before finishing the walk at The Shambles.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Manchester Cathedral

    May 31, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Having said our goodbyes to Megan, we walked across to the Old Wellington in Shambles Square. Established in 1552, it is one of the oldest pubs in Manchester. We sat outside in the sunshine enjoying a couple of drinks. Manchester Cathedral is located just behind the pub. I didn't remember the cathedral being so close to the Shambles 40 years ago! It turns out that I'm not going crazy! The pub and the oyster bar next door were moved 70 metres closer to the cathedral following the IRA bombing in central Manchester in 1996.

    While the others were enjoying a drink, I took the opportunity to have a look around the cathedral. They were just setting up for an event, but I was still able to see the magnificent post-war stained-glass windows which were part of the restoration after major bomb damage in 1940.

    Manchester Cathedral or Collegiate Church has been standing for over 600 years. In 1787 it was the scene of the first ever public meeting of the campaign to abolish the slave trade. Founded by royal charter in 1421, it became a cathedral in 1847. It is a classic example of English ‘Perpendicular’ architecture, with fine 15th and 16th-century carvings in the nave and quire. Over the four decades or so during which Manchester mutated into the world’s first-ever modern industrial city, ‘th’ owd church’ hosted mass-industrial baptisms and weddings: batches of up to thirty couples married simultaneously, day after day. Nowadays, it oscillates between being, on the one hand, a haven of peace in a frantic city centre and – on the other hand – in the judgement of the BBC, ‘Britain’s most rocking cathedral’.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Sam's Chop House

    May 31, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    From the cathedral, we made our way back in the direction of our apartment. We found a nice restaurant to have a meal on the way, and then went to Sam's Chop House, just next door to where we were staying, for a drink.

    One of Manchester's most iconic restaurants. Sam's Chop House is the home of the famous Corned Beef Hash and a bronze L. S. Lowry seated at the bar - it's quite disconcerting when you first see it!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Farewells and a visit to Rusholme

    June 1, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After breakfast this morning we got packed up. It had been an enjoyable stay, albeit brief. Gill and Paul had booked an earlier train than us so, after seeing them off at Piccadilly, we caught a bus to Rusholme to visit the house I lived in for the first two years I was in Manchester. I struggled to recognise much from the bus! The Corner House where I worked in my second and fourth years at uni is no more. The student union building has been completely rebuilt since my day. However, when we walked down Brighton Grove to my former home, suddenly everything was very familiar. The trees had certainly grown a lot, but the house was still there and the routes I used to take, both to uni and to work, were the same.

    We then walked down the main road through Rusholme to catch the bus back into the city centre. 'Curry Mile', as it was known locally, was little changed. There are still loads of Indian restaurants, clothes shops, and convenience stores, although I was disappointed not to see rows of colourful buckets on the pavement full of spices and unusual ingredients that I remember from my student days. Back in 1984, with no experience of Indian food, these shops and restaurants were an education into a cuisine and type of cooking that I love to this day.

    Having reminisced and probably bored Mark stupid with my stories, we returned to Shambles Square for lunch. Afterwards, we walked to Victoria Station to catch the train back to Scarborough. On the way, we stopped to admire a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Angel of the North

    June 11, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    After a couple of weeks at work, this morning we set off on our next trip - to stay with Rob and Ann in Newcastle for a couple of nights.

    On the way, we stopped to visit the Angel of the North. We've passed it before but never stopped to photograph it. It is immense!

    The artwork was commissioned by Gateshead Council and created by Sir Antony Gormley, the internationally renowned sculptor.

    Work began in 1997. It took 20 people 6 months to complete the sculpture, which is made up of 3153 individual steel pieces. To withstand the wind and the weight of the structure, holes were drilled 33 metres down through the rock, and 8 re-inforced concrete piles were installed. The sculpture was assembled on site in one day in February 1998.

    A few facts about the Angel of the North:
    - It stands 20 metres high (the height of 4 double-decker buses)
    - It has a wing span of 54 metres (almost the same width as a jumbo jet)
    - It weighs 208 tonnes
    - It cost £800,000
    - It can withstand winds of over 100 miles per hour    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Cragside

    June 11, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    After our brief stop at the Angel of the North, we drove on to Cragside, a National Trust property.

    Cragside was created by two remarkable individuals, William and Margaret Armstrong.

    William George Armstrong was a Victorian industrialist, inventor and philanthropist. He is best known for his pioneering work in engineering and the development of hydraulic cranes, which revolutionised the construction industry.

    Margaret Armstrong, née Ramshaw, was William's second wife and lifelong partner. She shared his passion for innovation and engineering, and together they built Cragside into a magnificent estate that would become a symbol of their success.

    Cragside is not only known for its impressive architecture and stunning landscape, but also for its many technological advancements. The most notable being that it was the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. The Armstrongs installed a turbine on their property's waterfall and used it to power the entire house with electricity.

    Armstrong was the first engineer to be raised to the peerage. When he died, on 27 December 1900, at the age of 90, The Times said in its obituary: 'With his death Newcastle loses her greatest citizen and the country at large one of the worthies of the expiring century.'

    We loved our visit to Cragside - despite the drizzly weather! The innovative house and the extensive gardens were both well worth spending a few hours in.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    A day out in Newcastle

    June 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    From Cragside, we drove on to Rob and Ann's house in Newcastle. It's been three years since we last saw them, so it was great to catch up. Ann cooked a delicious chilli for dinner and we spent the evening reminiscing about the season we all worked together on Yole.

    This morning, we got up late and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before catching the Metro into Newcastle city centre. Neither of us have visited the city before, so we had no idea what to expect. In the event, it was a pleasant surprise!

    Our first stop was the Great North Museum: Hancock. It is a a museum of natural history and ancient civilisations. Rob had never been, so it was a new experience for him, too! The museum was established in 1884 and was formerly known as the Hancock Museum. In 2006, it merged with Newcastle University's Museum of Antiquities and Shefton Museum to form the Great North Museum. It reopened as the Great North Museum: Hancock in May 2009 following a major extension and refurbishment of the original Victorian building. It now stands on the campus of Newcastle University.

    The new museum includes displays on natural history and geology, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, Romans and Hadrian's Wall, World Cultures, and Pre-History. It also includes an interactive study zone, an under 5's space, and a digital Planetarium, as well as new learning facilities, a new temporary exhibition space, and a study garden. It was fascinating to look around, although our visit was marred somewhat by hordes of screaming schoolchildren! I've no idea why the teachers weren't telling them to be quiet!!    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Grey Street, Newcastle

    June 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    From the museum, we walked up to Grey's Monument, a Grade I-listed monument built in 1838 in recognition of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. In particular, it celebrates the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832, one of Grey's most important legislative achievements. The act reorganised the system of parliamentary constituencies and increased the number of those eligible to vote.

    We then walked down Grey Street. Despite the city being a target for air raids during World War II which killed 141 people and injured a further 587, Newcastle's extensive neoclassical centre referred to as Tyneside Classical, was largely untouched. The area was developed in the 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson. More recently, it has been extensively restored. The German-born British scholar of architecture, Nikolaus Pevsner, described Grey Street as one of the finest streets in England. In 1948 the poet John Betjeman said of Grey Street, "As for the curve of Grey Street, I shall never forget seeing it to perfection, traffic-less on a misty Sunday morning." The street curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne and was voted England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. In the Google Street View awards of 2010, Grey Street came 3rd in the British picturesque category.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Newcastle Cathedral

    June 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Our next stop was Newcastle Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas. It is the seat of the Bishop of Newcastle and is the mother church of the Diocese of Newcastle, the most northerly diocese of the Anglican Church in England, reaching from the River Tyne as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed and as far west as Alston in Cumbria. The cathedral is a grade I listed building.

    Founded in 1091 during the same period as the nearby castle, the Norman church was destroyed by fire in 1216 and the current building was completed in 1350, so is mostly of the Perpendicular style of the 14th century. Its tower is noted for its 15th-century lantern spire. Heavily restored in 1777, the building was raised to cathedral status in 1882, when it became known as the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    A walk around old Newcastle

    June 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    In large parts, Newcastle still retains a medieval street layout. Narrow alleys or 'chares', most of which can only be traversed by foot, still exist in abundance, particularly around the riverside. Stairs from the riverside to higher parts of the city centre and the extant Castle Keep, originally recorded in the 14th century, remain intact in places. I hadn't expected to find such picturesque streets in Newcastle!

    We didn't go in the castle, but admired the keep and Black Gate from the outside.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Quayside, Newcastle

    June 12, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    From the old part of the city, we walked along the banks of the Tyne. We were in Newcastle on the north bank and then crossed over to Gateshead on the south bank. Quayside is famed for its series of dramatic bridges, including the Tyne Bridge of 1928 which was built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, Robert Stephenson's High Level Bridge of 1849, the first road/rail bridge in the world, and the Swing Bridge of 1876.

    Large-scale regeneration efforts have led to the replacement of former shipping premises with modern new office developments and an innovative tilting bridge - the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. We crossed here to visit the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (the venue for the Turner Prize 2011) and have a closer look at the Norman Foster-designed Sage Gateshead music centre.

    The Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides are now a thriving, cosmopolitan area with bars, restaurants, hotels and public spaces. We ate in a lovely Italian restaurant, and then finished our day in the city with a drink in Spoons 😊    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Whitley Bay, Whitby, and work!

    June 20, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    On our way back from our stay in Newcastle with Rob and Ann, we visited Whitley Bay to see Trisha. We spent a lovely afternoon with her - it was great to catch up! Unusually, I didn't take any photos on the day, but, when we left, Trisha gave us a framed photo that she'd taken of the bay. It now has pride of place in the flat!

    Once back in Whitby, we had several long, busy days at work. We also got some admin done - including paying the final balance on our South America trip, sorting out travel insurance, and renewing our passports. They hadn't expired, but we had no pages left!! We've gone for the one with extra pages this time! It's all getting a bit exciting now! 😊

    We had some horrible weather during this time, but we were treated to a couple of stunning sunsets, including the one pictured here.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Return to Beamish Museum

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We spent our next few days off enjoying a return visit to Beamish. Fortunately, the weather was a lot better than on our last visit, and we still had so much more to see!

    This time, once inside, we walked down to the 1820s village, an area we didn't get chance to explore at all the last time we were here.

    The first thing we stopped to watch was a re-enactment of a parade by the Durham Regiment of the Light Infantry. Their red uniforms looked stunning against the vibrant green grass and the vivid blue sky.

    We then made our way to Pockerley Old Hall which represents the home of a relatively wealthy tenant farmer and his family in the late 1820s. The farm's main focus would have been milk, cheese, and butter production from a dairy herd of Durham Shorthorn cattle. The farmer would have taken an active interest in improving the agricultural efficiency of his land.

    Unlike most other buildings at Beamish, Pockerley is original to the site. It has stood on its hilltop for several centuries.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Pockerley Old Hall

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We went inside to explore the main farmhouse of the Old Hall, confusingly called 'New House'! This is thought to date from the late 1700s. It was fascinating to see the kitchen and learn about the recipes being created by the volunteers on duty there. My favourite part of the visit, though, was in one of the upstairs bedrooms where a husband and wife team were demonstrating north country quilting, something which I have had a go at myself in the past. I spent a very happy half an hour chatting to them both about the craft while Mark went to explore the garden!Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Pockerley Old House & St Helen's Church

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    From 'New House', we ventured next door to explore the adjoining medieval strong house, known as 'Old House'. The building still retains its original roof timbers from the 1440s. Originally used for defence purposes, the building would later have been let to the family of the farm manager. Upstairs, the main living area was used for cooking, eating, sleeping, washing, spinning, and candle-making. The oak box bed, dated 1712, was a typical feature of many farmsteads and cottages in the region.

    Outside, we looked around the old farm buildings and the newly-opened Drovers Tavern before walking down the hill to the beautiful St Helen's Church. This medieval church from Eston, near Middlesborough, was taken down stone by stone and rebuilt at Beamish, opening in 2015. it is the oldest and most complex building ever moved by the museum. The whole process took several years.

    The church includes very rare Georgian box pews and has stones dating back to the 1100s. The tower dates to the late 1600s and has two bells, including a rare Tudor example. The nave was rebuilt in 1822 when a vestry was also added. The chancel dates to around 1450. Over 200 carved stones were found during dismantling. Some of these are on display, including a medieval gargoyle of a man eating a fish above the south doorway, and a gargoyle of a man with toothache above the south window!

    In Eston town, a pair of whalebones stood as an arch on the path from the church to the blacksmith's. The whalebones that have been erected at Beamish were originally part of an arch at Ashby in North Lincolnshire.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    More photos of the church & hearse house

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Beamish's collection includes the oldest known hearse in the world. It was built in Marrick in North Yorkshire in 1828. The hearse house next to St Helen's Church is a copy of the one from Marrick Priory which originally accommodated the hearse.Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    Pockerley Waggonway

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The waggonway, first appearing in Britain in about 1600, was a vital part of industry in the region right through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The majority of the coal mined in the north east was transported to the River Tyne and River Wear by waggonway, with over 2 million tons being moved in 1815 alone.

    Before 1800, all waggonways were powered by horses, gravity, or both. Iron rails, stationary steam engines, and locomotives came into use after this, and the modern railway was born. We watched a replica of William Hedley's Puffing Billy riding up and down the waggonway.

    We also explored the Great Shed which is based on railway pioneer Timothy Hackworth's erecting shop in Shildon, County Durham. It contains what is said to be George Stephenson's lathe which he used at Killingworth, as well as the engine used to drive machinery in the Stephenson's locomotive works in Newcastle.    Read more

  • Working in Whitby

    A ride around Beamish

    June 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Once we had finished our visit to the 1820s village, we hopped on a tram to do a complete loop of the museum. It gave us the chance to rest our legs for a while and it was lovely to see the place in the sunshine.Read more

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