We woke to another drizzly and windy (although less so than last night!) morning. We ran out of gas last night and I couldn’t be arsed to swap over this morning. This meant no cuppa in bed and no breakfast in Brunnehilda. It did mean we got out early though - at about 10.30am. On the way out I finally managed to track down Emma and pay her the £70 for the 5 nights. Darn good value really.
We parked at The Abbey car park on top of the headland next to the Abbey - strangely enough?!? Most of the car parks around here are free until 1st March so we enjoyed our last day of free parking.
We walked down the steep steps (different ones to the 199 steps we walked up on Thursday) and entered town right next to a cafe called Creations. They did a veggie breakfast so we popped in and ordered a couple. They weren’t the best in the world but they were good value and the lady owner was very pleasant. Although our visit necessitated us popping out to the Post Office next door - cash only in the cafe!!
By this time the grey clouds had gone and we were treated to some sun and blue skies - Indeed they lasted most of the afternoon. - interspersed with a couple of sleet showers where the sky turned dark grey. The cold strong wind was consistent throughout though! Jings .. that’s enough about the bloody weather! Next i’ll be rabbitting on about Coronavirus!!
After brunch we headed off to Fortunes to get some smoked kippers. The town guide on Thursday had recommended them and said that people come from far and near - including celebrity chefs. Ironically when we got there there was a film crew just setting up outside the small shop.
The owner was great - not only did he tell us how to cook and eat the kippers, he also walked us out the shop and across the road to point out where on the beach we might find some Whitby Jet.
We spent a very pleasant hour or so on the beach as the tide was going out. We found no Jet and no fossils - I remember sister Jenny having more luck!
We settled for the next best thing and went up to the town to buy Kim a pair of Jet earrings. We also squeezed in another cup of coffee and a not very impressive scone from Sandgate Cafe.
We then tackled the 199 steps again up to the Abbey. We firstly looked around St Mary’s church - a really odd building with lots of high cased Victorian pews but all higgeldy piggeldy. Very scruffy too - not a hit.
When we got into the Abbey the weather / light was fantastic - one minute bright blue skies, one minute grey and sleet then right back to blue skies! Got some nice photos ...
St Hilda was the famous Abbey prioress back in the 7th century. Apparently she oversaw an important Sinad that agreed on the calculation of the date of Easter. I have to admit when I saw these impressive ruins I found myself, as usual, having more sympathy for Henry and his dissolution activities than the antics of the privileged religious types!
Back to the car. We got a new gas cylinder and continued our tradition of buying a local plant by tracking down a Monkey Puzzle Tree at a local garden centre. These are everywhere up here and it turns out that fossilised monkey puzzle tree is the source of Jet! Amazing but true!
After a cup of tea in Brunnehilda, we walked down the farm lane to the Hare and Hounds pub just over the road. It came with a number of recommendations. The menu was rubbish for Vegetarians but I managed a very nice fish pie - not so good for Kim though!
Back to the van for Kim to thrash me again - this time at backgammon! I have to say, and this isn’t an excuse, our minds were on other things ...
Storm Jorge is kicking in with winds now gusting at 80 mph and likely to get worst overnight. The caravan is shaking all the time but when the gusts come it is quite scary. Kim read on the internet that it was a good idea to position your car to act as a bit of a windbreak. Even though it involved driving on the sodden grass, this is what I did. It seems to have helped - a little!
We spoke with Laura back home and she’s broken her finger- very painful! So it’s going to a long night for both her and us!
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