Tuesday 25 August 2015

Humber on Holidays!

The Pay and Display at Bridlington Pier is currently hosting the RNLI lifeboat "The Pride of The Humber" which seems to have come for a short holiday.

Actually it seems that use is being made of the Pier boat lift to allow a bit of hull painting and maintenance to be undertaken.

The usual home base for this craft is Spurn Point which is a long stretch of the country that tapers into the North Sea and forms the northerly bank of the River Humber.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a volunteer maritime lifesaving service funded entirely from public donations.
The team at Spurn Head are the only professionally paid crew in the RNLI and have accommodation near to the boathouse.

All the other crews are volunteers who often have to rush from their normal occupations in order to launch for an emergency.

"The Pride of The Humber" carries the registration 17-05.
The RNLI mark their All Weather Lifeboats with two sets of numbers.
The first set refers to the length of the craft in metres which the second set indicates the number of the boat in the series for that class/length.

So in this case "The Pride of The Humber" is 17m long and was the 5th boat put into service.

Other RNLI AW Lifeboats on the East Coast are,
Bridlington, 12-12
Filey, 12-13
Scarborough, 12-18
Whitby, 14-14


Sunday 16 August 2015

End of the Line

Pickering railway station.
Southern terminus of the preserved North York Moors Railway.
There is no more.


It's a strange place, is Beverley.....





Most towns you have heard of achieve their recognition due to their sporting teams.
Usually this takes the form of football or rugby.
In Beverley's case, however, the sporting prowess came via the 1970's TV show "It's a Knockout". Along with Swanage and Cwmbran, Beverley seemed to be on every other week.
I think they may even have qualified for the International version, representing GB in "Jeux Sans Frontièrs".

Being within the catchment area of Kingston upon Hull, Beverley is connected to the local, independent telecommunications service that Hull has always had.
The rest of the country being supplied by British Telecom, with their red telephone boxes, Humberside underlined their independence with white ones.

I'm not sure why the signpost at the top of the town has a jesters hat on top (the only one which seems to be decorated with one).
Possibly a nod in the direction of the achievements in "It's a Knockout"?
Or maybe the joke is that the directions are all pointing the wrong way??


Beverley Minster

Beverley is like a mini version of York. Even down to having a smaller Minster.
Unlike the larger version in York, however,  Beverley Minster is free to enter and have a look around (as opposed to £15 to go through the doors at York).
They do tend to be very keen on prevention of photography inside at Beverley though, unless you pay for a permit (£3).
I wasn't sure if this related to 'proper' cameras (SLR & tripod, etc.) or if they wanted payment for my pitiful attempts with the Oneplus.
So I only managed to sneak a couple in whilst they weren't looking......
The Gift Shop was placed inside the Minster and, as well as having gravestones inlaid in the floor, it also contained a couple of stone caskets (of, presumably, previous important members of the Church).
One had his dog carved at his feet too! (although he was tucked away behind a computer desk & out of the way in the corner, so he probably needed the company).


A Tale Of Two Soldiers







Towards the Northern end of Beverley town centre lies the old and impressive church of St Mary's.
Along the Southern wall, there is an inscribed tablet set into the stonework.
It appears to tell the tale of, possibly, a military duel and the consequences thereof?
Some of the letters haven't stood the onset of time and weather too well but, from what I can make out, it reads......

"Here two young (?) soldiers lye
The one in quarrel chanced to die
The others head by their own law
With sword was sever'd (??) blow

December the 25'd 1689"


Fretful in Filey

Filey Bay when the sea frets have descended. Visibility is limited for the duration of the fret which, sometimes, can cloak the coast for up to a week.
Towards the Brigg end of the bay, old cobble launching carriages have been washed up and are slowly rusting away.