Who Gives A Duck??

I'm not sure what the reason is or, indeed, who is behind all this ducking about, but during a visit to Botany Bay in Chorley another giant duck was spotted.
This one appears to be a Pirate.

Rovers Duck

"The Mall" shopping centre in Blackburn has acquired a giant duck. It has, fabulously, been painted in the colours of the most successful and famous, town based football club that the world has ever known.... Blackburn Rovers FC.

Little Trains.

Well, small engines, actually. The train is the rake of carriages or wagons being pulled along. The locomotive is the engine.
Anyways, the daytime photo of 2014 LION was taken outside Filey Railway Station (which can be seen in the background).
Evening photos of 1931 AVENA were taken in front of the North Bay Railway at Newstead Gardens, Scarborough. Rather than a wooden replica, as at Filey, this engine appears to be one of the early working loco"s used on the railway which is now being used as a static display.

Six Fish Fingers and Chips, please.

Barden Lane Chippy, Dingledom.

We have waited around 3 years for the latest incarnation of the local Chip Shop to finally open. 

Gone are the halcyon days of Ronnie (who, legend has it, used to spit into the fat to test that it was hot enough to fry the fish).

There was a brief reign of 'Bo Shin' (following Ronnie's retirement/death)  whose Chinese takeaway meals were undoubtedly better than their attempts at the staple English Fish and Chips. 

The 'Min Hui' was the next replacement and fared better on both types of menu, (but memory fades as to which establishment had the guy with the extra little finger who served up the food. In either case it turns out to have been an inbreeding omen of future ownership...)
The Min Hui closed and the shop was idle for many years. 

Eager excitement was stirred when the SOLD sign finally went up after years on the market.
Fish & Chips for dinner again! Thank goodness it wasn't going to be a curry house!! 

But over 2 years then passed as much refurbishment was undertaken (transforming the inside at seemingly great cost into being exactly the same as it always has been). 
What a blow, therefore, to discover the new colour scheme and signage to be vomit inducing.... Shite & light blue are a worrying and nauseating combination in any circumstance.
Worst fears were confirmed when it finally opened this week... It IS a Dinglefest. 

Unfortunately the new owners appear to be linking themselves to the Bastard Football Club of Dingledom. 
So after all the waiting and anticipation, it turns out that we will never actually buy anything from there after all.  

Ghost Signs

I recently stumbled across the Twitter account for @ghostsignsuk.
Ghost signs represent an opportunity to experience social history in the present time.
They are something I had previously been aware of, but had never thought to record.
Until now!!
This one is for "K Boots and Shoes" and was found in Murray Street, Filey, North Yorkshire.(if you llook closely there's even a 'flying Hoover', but as this isn't painted onto the brickwork, I'm not sure that it counts.....) 

....... not so sure who the rather stunned looking fat bloke is, he wasn't there when I took the picture!  

In The Splosh Pit

Scarborough Open Air Theatre is situated in the North Bay public park. It is a 6000 seat outdoor concert area with the stage protected by a moat. It hosts many top name acts during the summer months but not, as yet, local heroes The Little Angels.

Are they Too Posh To Splosh?

Room With A View.

The old Royal Hotel on The Crescent at the top of West Cliff in Whitby. One time holiday retreat of Bram Stoker and the inspiration, along with the rest of the town, for his novel, Dracula.
Nowadays, no longer a hotel (and not looking very Royal}, it has been converted into apartments and is available for purchase complete with a nice blue plaque on the outside wall.

Moneyball

Central Park in Haworth, Yorkshire.
A piece of civic furniture made from hundreds of 2p pieces. Not sure what the relevance is, but the total amount of tuppences is probably greater than the value of the 'art'.

A Tale Of Two Chippies....

It has to be said that Yorkshire just cannot do Fish & Chips. 

Over 20 years of visiting the Yorkshire Coast (at least 3 times per year) and we have still to find a decent Chip 'ole. 

I don't know what the problem is. They should be good, (with fish fresh from the North Sea that very day), THEY even say that they ARE good but (like cricket & tea) this is proven to be simply self publicity and the reality is that they are, in fact, fairly poor at them indeed. 

As if the actual fish and chips in the region weren't bad enough, there appears to be a highly desirable custom (amongst locals) of 'scraps' which, as far as I can see, involves dumping a load of dregs from the fryer onto your food. I fell foul of this practice once but never again. 

The next occasion they were offered I declined and the guy behind me nearly exploded in delight saying that they could put mine onto his order if they liked. He looked like he had just won the lottery and was chuckling to himself : "hee hee!, double scraps!! hee hee!" 

So, lacking any 'decent' (never mind 'good') Chipperies the most adequate places we have managed to find in all this time of searching the Coast are The Magpie at Whitby and North Bay Fisheries at Scarborough.
The Magpie, however, does seem to live on its reputation and charges excessively for small portions. 

For some reason the restaurant has aquired a cult following (the darling of TV travel shows) and people are, unbelievably, prepared to queue outside in all weathers whilst waiting for a table. The photo, for example, was taken from across the road in a designated 'waiting area', such is the need to keep the road clear from those desperate to eat there. 

It seems to be a case of the Emperor's New Clothes as far as self perpetuating praise goes. But, hey ho, I suppose, given the standard of stuff available elsewhere in the county, you can understand the clamour to be ripped off in return for something edible. 

North Bay Fisheries, across the road from Peasholm Park in Scarborough, is more realistically priced and actually provides a decent amount of chips with a fish worthy of the name (Magpie should take note). 

Both these oulets avoid floating your food in a sea of grease which seems to be the norm everywhere else. 

In reality, however, the best and nearest Chip 'ole to the Yorkshire Coast is Vic's Fountain Chippy in Blackburn. (Go for "John Bull & chips") 

Cholmley House, Whitby.

A view of Whitby Hall/Cholmley House from Whitby Abbey (and of The Abbey from Cholmley House).
The banqueting hall was built for Sir Hugh Chomeley using materials 'borrowed' from the Abbey following its dissolution (by order of King Henry VIII) in 1539.
The bronze statue in the centre of the courtyard is of the Borghese Gladiator and is a replica of the original (which itself was a replica of a sculpture from c100 BC) which stood on that spot.

To Boldly Go......

The Southern Hemisphere, the final frontier.
The voyages of Captain James T. Cook, his mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to discover intelligence in new lands.....

Unfortunately, he only found Australia.

This statue is on West Cliff, Whitby (the town where he lived and which built his ships - the Bark HMS Endeavour and the Sloop HMS Resolution).

Dracula's Grave, Whitby??

In the graveyard of St Marys Church, next to the Abbey, in Whitby is a gravestone marked with a scull and crossbones. It is heavily weathered but the carving can still be seen.

Some say that this is the grave of Dracula.

There are, however, other graves in the cemetery which are also marked with a deaths head and it is said that these mark the final resting places of pirates.

Those who died in poverty and were subject to a paupers funeral were believed also to have their graves identified in this way.

Others (hereafter referred to as 'spoilsports') insist that these graves belong to Puritans and that the scull and bones is simply a reference to death from a time before any macabre meaning became applied to the symbol, much in the same way Angels are regarded today.

Take your pick as to which you choose to believe, but I vote pirates!

T'Tour!!

The start of a cycling race is taking place in Northern England this summer. 

According to my rough translation this initial part is known as "The Big Set Off", and it is the first stage of some annual event that passes through foreign lands such as France and West Yorkshire. 

The residents of Skipton seem to be getting quite excited about it and, doubtlessly, the local Lycra vendors and drug dealears will make a fortune over the course of the activities. 

Here's a sheep painted to celebrate the event.

A horse, a horse... where can I park my horse?

There must be something about King Richard III and car parks....

King Richard III, defeated at Bosworth Field - his body was found in Leicester under a car park last year. 

King Richard III Wall (the old town wall), Scarborough, North Yorkshire - now a car park. 

I know there is a big debate at the moment as to whether KR3's remains should be left in Leicestershire (at Leicester Cathedral) , or returned to his Yorkist roots (to York Minster). 

Here, however, is the ideal compromise. Stick him under the Pay & Display at the end of Castle Road in Scarborough......just next to that black Astra should be fine.  

Pier to Pier #2

Walking out to the harbour lighthouse on the Scarborough inner East Pier, we found a mini bridge. Although it looked as though it belonged in a scene from Raiders Of The Lost Ark, we risked it and returned via the outer East Pier.
Photo of lighthouse, naval gun, Bathing Belle & St. Mary's church.

Time (for a brew) Team

Whitby Abbey excavation of suspected medieval chapel and graves. Radio Carbon Dating indicates that the site dates to circa 640ad which is around the time of the Whitby Synod and means Anglicans were present earlier than originally thought.
It appeared to be brew time as none of the archaeologists could be found and trowels had been well and truly downed.

Pier to Pier

Whitby panoramas.
Across the harbour and town towards the West Pier, whilst standing on the East Pier.
Whitby from the graveyard of St. Marys Church.
The Abbey from the inside.

Scalby Mills

North of Scarborough, where the freshwater Scalby Beck runs into the North Sea.

Munch's Scream, or Munch Ice Cream??

Spotted on the Promenade at Bridlington East Yorkshire. 

Amongst a collection of paintings with a seaside theme by local schoolchildren, is this fantastic play on words. 

Panoramic Viewpoints Resurrect The Chilling Cold.

Not quite as warm as it looks, thanks to the 'Wind Chill Factor', two shots of Scarborough using the newly discovered Panoramic Photo feature of my Sony Xperia z1.
One is the town between the bays from the Castle, the other is South Bay from the beach (Grand Hotel centre, Spa/Suicide Bridge to the left, Olympia Leisure/Fantasy Forest to the right). 

Actually, it's quicker to plummet......

...... but that's not advised.

At the top of the McBean Steps on St. Nicholas Cliff in Scarborough, is this rather impressive wall painting. Presented in the style of 1930's British Railway posters, it is a giant advert for the Cliff Lift (or Tram) service to the beach.
Not as quick as throwing yourself off the top, but certainly less messy when you arrive.