Last few days at Whitby

Thursday was another lovely morning. Nothing particularly I wanted to go to, so had a wander round the shops, and met everyone in The Shambles for lunch.

Then off to the storytelling - first one I've been to - Pete Gritton and Gill Redmond - an excellent hour of stories and music.

In the evening it was the traditional themed ceilidh, and this year it was "Narnia". Not an easy one to think of costumes for, but we had an excellent wardrobe and a Lucy.

I made the mistake of letting someone loose on my face and hair with silver make up, and went as the White Witch

A great night and of course the band entered into the swing of things as well

And even Newcastle Kingsmen did a rapper dance featuring Will the Wardrobe Hampson. If this link works, watch it - it's hilarious!

Friday started with a talk on the life and times of Orkney's  John Rae, a Victorian Arctic explorer who went by the nickname of Long Strider. Told in story, song, verse and music by Bob Pegg. Very entertaining.

Then I went for a walk, over the new bridge and along the estuary. The view from the bridge into Whtiby is one of my favourites.

Met Stuart who was in a music session with the Longhill Ramblers, and then walked out along the pier. although the sun was out, it was pretty windy and cold - couldn't believe some people were in the sea!

Had a really good view of some cormorants sitting on the pier

and then caught some dancing at the bandstand on the way back - the colourful Gog Magog Molly

and Mortimers Morris

Then it was up for our traditional pint in the Elsinore to watch the procession go past, lead by Goathland Plough stots carrying the garland

Pie and mash from the pie and mash shop (where else) for tea, and our usual attempt to finish off what we had left in the drinks cabinet (not much by now!)

Jez Lowe was on in the Spa Theatre, so we caught a great concert from him

before the final ceilidh where as usual everyone gathers. Not as lively as usual, but we had a good dance anyway, and then it was time for the garland to be carried out, and the singing of Wild Mountain Thyme before we all got a piece of heather to take home.




Late night walk back and a final nightcap.

Saturday is an early start, coffee in town, walk round the shops, and lunch in the Crooked Billet on the way home.

Great week again - fantastic weather, good acts, and of course the lovely town that is Whitby. Just realised I haven't mentioned the Yards this year, so here's a picture of one. They're all over. So called because they're a yard wide apparently

Whitby - costumes, walks and salad!

Tuesday

Long walk up to the Rugby Club in the morning for a talk on traditional dress in the North East. Never quite sure what you're going to get in these talks, but this was really interesting. It was about the fisher women of a village in the North East called Cullercoats, and the lady giving the talk had researched their costume. Lots of petticoats, thick skirt, blouse, shawl and bonnet. And of course, open drawers. Called either easy access if they were in two pieces, or harvesters if they were in one piece. As in all is gathered in :-). Very interesting talk.

After that we headed for a rather fine crab salad at The Shambles

And then a walk to the Spa. The sun was shining and got some great views of this beautiful town.

On at the spa was a concert from John Kirkpatrick who was doing "Tunes from the Trenches" in commemoration of 100 years since WW1 started. He sang a mixture of songs from both wars, some of them music hall based, some from the soldiers, some funny, some very sad. Excellent concert.

After that it was Family Folk Tunes where a 100 folkies really are asked an assortment of questions - I know, I'm one of them :-) - which the two teams have to guess the answers to. Another fine event MCd by Stanley Accrington,

Then back home for a very nice beef stew cooked in the slow cooker, and a bit of a rest before setting off to the spa again where we had a few dances and watched Mortimers Morris do the floor spot.

It was also the annual Speed Ploughing Championship were various people see how fast they can play 2As and 2Bs of the speed the plough. Winners are normally around 15/16 seconds, with additional prizes given for humour!

Wednesday
We'd agreed that this was going to be our annual seafood salad day so I started by going shopping. Very few lobsters or crabs to be got, probably the seas were too choppy. But I managed to hunt some down, and some other tasty things. Then a walk up Caedmon's Trod which used to lead us to our holiday cottage. Quite a trek but it did give us amazing views every morning and evening.

Of course the cottages fell down a couple of years ago, which is really sad

Then onto the abbey where I had a great ice cream. Not the wisest thing to do when you've walked up three to burn off some calories.



Great view from up there, and I watched the Bark Endeavour being tossed all over the place on the choppy seas. Glad I wasn't on it - felt sick just watching 



Then walked down and discovered that the Abbey steps had a marker on every 10th step. Who knew???

On my way down I discovered a lonely Morris Dancer dancing his way up to the Abbey, and he made it to the top. The others cheated and walked!




Cheeky pint in The Angel and then to the Coliseum to here Graham Pirt give his excellent history in slides and songs of the Miners Union in the North East which although we've heard it before is excellent.

Back for tea!!

It was quite a salad and Beka, Paul and family came to help us eat it. Lots of good food, fizz and wine.
Then a few dances at the late night extra, and back for the usual nightcap.


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Whitby part 2

Sunday
Lovely bright sunny morning, and we went to a workshop on songs of the North East. Ably and hilariously compared by Johnny Handle, it featured several singers from Tyneside and Teeside explain gin how they'd got into singing local songs, and giving us some examples. The Mighty Wilsons were there again, and it was a great concert. At the end they gave a joint rendition of Union Miners, a great way to finish.


On the way out we spotted our local dance team, Sheffield City Morris Men who were dancing at what used to be called the Scoresby Monument until it blew down a couple of years ago.


With them were Mortimers Morris, another of my favourite teams


So I stayed and watched and chatted to friends in the sun. then off to the Station for a pork pie and a pint!
After that I did a bit of concert dashing. Up to the Rifle Club to see Jim woodland, a singer songwriter who I remember from many years ago when he used to come to the Hefts and Blades folk club with the Salami Brothers. he was an absolute joy to listen to.



Then a dash to the Spa Theatre where I caught Tich Frier, who was excellent and gave a passionate tribute to the centenary of the First World War singing some great songs from the trenches, including When This Lousy War is Over, and At The end of The Road.
The Foxglove Trio were up next, and I really enjoyed them. A singer, and guitar and melodeon player, and a wonderful cellist.


Then it was back to the flat for dinner, and then out to the Spa for another dance.

Monday
This morning's workshop was on Songs in South Yorkshire Customs from Ruaridh Greig. He'd done a lot of research on "house visiting" customs including the Tup, Old Horse, Wassailing and Caking. Unfortunately most of them have died out know, but I was surprised how prevalent they used to be in villages around Sheffield, and how local they are. I'd always assumed they were fairly national ones. A great talk.
Up to the Rifle Club again for lunch, and then down to The Coliseum to Cath John Kirkpatrick, who gave a great performance as always.


I came straight out and got in the queue for the next concert which was the April Verch Trio. A Canadian fiddle player and step dancer with a bass player and guitarist. Wow, they were fantastic. Lots of bluegrass, Appalachian, old fashioned swing, and some amazing step dancing.





Back into the queue again for Dance Adversity Challenge, two dance teams in a spoof of University challenge.

Back to the flat for a rest and some fish and chips ( second so far, good job we get plenty of walking in!), then we all went our different ways to concerts, and I went up to the spa to see April Verch again. Unfortunately as I left the flat, the heavens opened and I got thoroughly drenched. My jeans were soaked, and were still wet four hours later. Despite sitting steaming int he audience, I Really enjoyed it, and her step dancing was some of the fastest I've seen, even whilst playing the fiddle!
The the Welsh band Calan were on, who were also very good.


And they had some clog dancing to accompany them


All met up in the late night extra for more dancing, and a spot from another Sheffield team, Boggarts Breakfast, who had decorated themselves with blue lights for the occasion.

It's Whitby time again

It's Whitby time of year again, Folk Week is something we don't like to miss! As usual, it took us 2 days to get here :)

Thursday
Set off with our fiends Andrea and Donald, stopped for coffee in Tadcaster, home of many good breweries,where we learnt that the water, so important for brewing, comes out of "popple wells".
Arrived in Pickering at lunchtime and checked in to our lovely but rather quirky hotel where there were sweets and biscuits in the rooms, and the tea and coffee were in empty herb and spice jars. Lunch in the Black Swan, and then a walk round town which is really pretty.
Dinner in the evening was in the White Swan.


Friday
Up bright and early, and off on the steam train to Goathland


Half way there we heard the engine getting slower and eventually it stopped, having run out of steam. We had to wait for about 20 minutes whilst presumably more coal was shovelled in and steam built up again. Goathland of course was the setting for Hogsmeade, and is also Aidensfield in the Heartbeat series.

We had a pint in The Goathland Hotel, aka The Aidensfield Arms, and then walked to Beck Hole, where there is the wonderful pub, The Birch Hall Inn, home of good beer and pork pies and pickle. To our delight, this time we were treated to a corned beef and pickle sandwich!


A lovely walk then to Grosmont, which involves a bit of hill over a tunnel, but you get a great view of the town.


Train back to Pickering, this time a diesel, and dinner was a curry in a local Indian restaurant which was very good.

Saturday
Checked out , and drove to Thornton le Dale to get some chocolate from the lovely little chocolate factory in the village, and then off over the moors to Whitby. Normally the heather is bright purple, but a lot of it looked dead this year. Still got the wonderful view of Whitby as we came over the moors though.

We have a bit of a routine from this point:-)
Coffee in Sherlocks



Shopping in the co-op, lunch in the Duke of York

Which for me, has to be a Whitby crab sandwich


Then pick up the tickets, which this year a wristbands, horrid!! Have to fasten mine so it's easy to remove. Can't abide wearing them all the time.
Then of course the parade of all the dance teams. Gog Magog Molly were the most colourful



And Sheffield City Morris the rudest!


Back for Whitby fish and chips in the cottage, then out to the Spa Theatre to see the Doonans and The Wilsons in concert together. Missed the first bit because it was full, but managed to get in to see The Wilsons, and then the best bit, both families together. What a sound! This isn't the best quality video, but gives you an idea of the sound




Into the ceilidh for the last hour, where the band were Steamchicken, excellent. Then the shortish walk home for a nightcap before bed. We've got quite an assortment of night caps in our drinks cabinet this year.


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