Vulcanised!!

Vulcan XH558 at Scarborough South Bay during the Armed Forces Day. This is the last flying example of the RAF's last dedicated bomber aircraft.

Manufactured by AVRO, who were also responsible for the Lancaster, - the finest bomber aircraft of any side during the Second World War.

The Vulcans made the longest bombing run in history during operation Black Buck (at 6800nm taking over 16hours).
Flying non stop from Ascension Island to Stanley Airport in The Falkland Islands, they prevented its use by the invading Diego's during the 1982 conflict.

It also served as timely proof that Argentina itself was also within range of RAF bombing strikes.

The Vulcan fleet spent much of the 1960's & 1970's at permanent readiness during the cold war, on call to deliver a nuclear payload should the Russians have continued to play silly bastards.

We could do with some modern Vulcans nowadays, I suppose.....

Yorked!

By the wonders of the Grimston Bar Park &  Ride and a rather smart bendy bus, we found ourselves in city centre York in under 45mins.
An old walled town with centuries of history, it's going to take a few visits to really get around all there is to see.

The Minster is probably the most famous building in York. Notable for the events of June 1984 when the Bishop of Durham was ordained there.
He had previously been outspoken about certain elements of The Bible and cast personal doubt about the truth of such things as the virgin birth and walking on water.
Two days after the ceremony, York Minster was struck by a thunderbolt, destroying much of the roof and causing £2.5m of damage.

Hmmmmm.....

York is a Minster. It's a Cathedral too, but the Minster part refers to a prior use as a teaching centre for a local monasteries. A sort of outpost of religion. Usually the first church in an area whose function was to introduce the idea to the locals and teach monks to go forth and do the same. 

Basically, it means it's VERY old. 

York is a medieval city, with many visible references to it's long past. A staging post for the Roman 6th Legion, a mooring on the River Ouse for Viking longships (ahead of the battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066), and the birthplace of Guy Fawkes who is fondly remembered every 5th November with the mass burning of his effigy.

More up to date, "Betty's Tea Rooms" on the corner of St.Helen's Square  remains in a 1940's timewarp, when it was the 'go to'  place for the RAF Air Crews on leave from the Bomber Airfields of North and East Yorkshire. 

The Village Pump (part 1)

Foxholes village pump and old style telephone box.

The pump is lacking a handle so I am unable to confirm if it still provides water.

I would guess not and that you probably wouldn't want to drink it even if it did.

Freedom Parade, Skipton.

We called into Skipton for lunch without realising that the main street was closed due to a Freedom Parade that afternoon.

I didn't know what a Freedom Parade was, but it sounded to me like a load of gays would be mincing around, protesting about wanting to be treated like normal people but to be able to continue acting like the deviants they obviously are.

So it came as a surprise to discover that the parade was actually the 'homecoming' of 2nd Batallion, The Yorkshire Regiment to their adopted town.

There was a massive police presence, with litter bins being made bomb proof (cling film and duct tape). Sadly, this was due to the possibility of disruption being caused by certain members of our community who only want to be British when the Social Security benefits are being dished out. 

Happily, everything passed off well and the soldiers simply reinforced the fact that this country has the best armed forces on the planet.

With the amount of assault rifles and fixed bayonets on display, I don't think that they would have needed to rely too much on the local Constabulary's protection.

199 Steps

A famous feature of Whitby is the route up from the Old Town to St. Marys Church and on to the Abbey. 

Comprising of 199 steps, they are much photographed and counted.

However, immediately to the side of them is the equally important, interesting but, sadly, mostly overlooked Donkey Road.

The Village Pump (part 2}

The nearby village of Butterwick has a rather impressive water pump, which has its own stage. I can exclusively reveal that if you move the handle, NO water comes out.

This is a photograph of it on recycling day, with the village bench in front.

Barry Sheene.

I saw Barry win his last race in Great Britain, probably his last race ever. It was a "classics" race after one of the Moto GP meetings at Donington Park.
He was unable to give an interview afterwards because of a sore throat. Within days it was announced that he had cancer, and within months he had died.
These photos are from the annual event held in his name at Olivers Mount Circuit in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.