I'm going to miss my jaunts on the North York Moors! They finish this weekend - the last one is on Sunday, then the bus shuts up shop till April next year. :(
So I've been looking for alternatives! One idea I had was to join the Mature Students Group at uni. They are planning to hold a number of activities during the year. I could do with some things to enjoy! Meet new people to talk to etc. They were looking for ideas - so I emailed them a Word document with lots of ideas from my jaunts! Don't think they're quite the Group's thing though...
Anyway, they're now planning the first jaunt of the year. A trip to Blackpool! It's on Nov 1st. A Saturday, which means I might be able to invite my friend Marie to go along with me (she never has anything planned for Saturdays). I'm waiting for more details at the moment (when we leave, get back etc). The trip is reasonably priced - £5. So I expect I'll be going, unles I have to leave my warm, cosy bed at some unearthly hour! Is anybody else like me? Now the nights are cold, when I wake in the morning I snuggle back umder and fall back asleep for another hour or two! Maybe I've turned into a tortoise without realising it? I think this trip is more Marie's taste than mine - she loves going shopping! Never mind, a change is as good as a rest doin't they say?
Jaunt to Blackpool maybe?
Only just found this thread Diane, so you're probably half way to Blackpool as I write this! Anyway, hope you have a good day and look forward to hearing about it :)
I've never been to Blackpool :O
No Philomel, it's next weekend! Haven't booked it yet even. Had a good weekend though - had a couple more jaunts to the North York Moors before the bus services changed and the clocks were set back.
Ah - I can't read LOL!
The North York Moors must be lovely with all the autumn colour at the moment. Hope you've been having the blue skies to go with it
Yes, the Moors were lovely at the weekend with their autumn colours. But sadly the weather wasn't too kind. On Saturday I took the bus from Stokesely to Northallerton but it was dull and came on to rain in Northallerton.
On Sunday I'd hoped to go to Mount Grace Priory but decided to psotpone my visit for a better day. I went instead to Sawinby and had a look at Whorlton Castle. Then had lunch at Osmotherley. In the afternoon the sun came out as I took the bus over to Helmsley - oh the Moors were beautiful! And then wetn on to an excursion round the Howardain Hills. The country side was lovely - the trees were changing red and looked magnificent! It was a lovely ride and one I intend to repeat sometime with better weather!
This is where I went on Sunday!
http://www.northallerton-online.co.uk/Picture_Gallery/Swainby.htm
I've booked my ticket to Blackpool. It'll make a change for me, and the coach sounds comfortable and I don't have to do any planning for it. I asked my friend Marie to go with me but she thought it sounded too long a day. And she used to go to Blackpool with her husband - she said it would have brought back sad memories for her. We have different approaches to revisiting places we went to with loved ones. I find it helpful to bite the bullet and revisit places I used to go to with my family. It's sad the first time, but after that the sadness recedes and I enjoy revisiting them again. So I'll go on my own to Blackpool but there'll be people on the coach to chat to. I'll probably enjoy it!
This message was edited Oct 28, 2003 10:54 AM
Swainby looks very pretty, with the stream!
Yes, I'm sure you'll enjoy Blackpool and it's good to meet new people too. Look forward to hearing about it...
Yes, Swainby IS pretty! No tea-rooms unfortunately but THREE pubs! I took several photos (never seem to have the time to process many of them to upload!) but it was a bit rainy so they could be better! I took several of Whorlton Castle, that's about half a mile out of the village. Whorlton is a plague village (abandoned and in ruins now). When the plague hit the area the old village of Whorlton was abandoned and the villages all moved to what became Swainby. Whorlton Old Church eventually started falling down but is still used for occasional services. There's a very fine new church (Victorian) in Swainby now, but the villagers are still sentimental about their old church.
I only spent about an hour in Swainby cos it was slightly rainy, and caught the bus on to Osmotherly which has several tea-rooms as well as pubs. I'll enjoy returning to Swainby on a sunny day, and maybe stopping off at one of the pubs. Although I used the Moorsbus service to get to Swainby there is also a local bus service that operates all the year around, though the route isn't as large or as flexible as the Moorsbus one.
You must be storing up a surprising amount of local knowledge Diane. It's fascinating to find the background to all these places
Ever thought of writing a book northener.You could do something on the lines of Bill Bryson, how about it?
Hmm, yes, maybe I'll write a book some day. Don't think it pays very well really, not straightforward travel books anyway.
Now, interesting autobographies, that's a good way to go! I read one of James Herriot's recently - what a nice book! And several by Gervaise Phinn (a school-inspector, writing in a similar vein to Herriot, ie Yorkshire true-life with humour and a bit of sentiment). Ah, if I could just find something good to hang my tales on - I could make my fortune! I HAD thought of writing something autobiographical myself one day. After all, my life does HAS been an interesting journey.
I read and enjoyed the James Herriot book too.Not read the ones by Gervaisse Phinn though, must write that down for when I go to the library next.My sisters would probably enjoy those too, as one was a teacher, and one a head.
I enjoy reading biographicals, as its interesting to see how other families tick.You always see what you grow up in as normal.
I've just read It,and his following two books(forgotton authors name)
I thoroughly enjoyed Gervaisse Phinn's books! They are very entertaining! Light and frothy!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140275428/ref%3Dbr%5Fac%5Ftop5%5F1%5F4/qid%3D1062473885/sr%3D1-4/202-4953455-5123804
He's a local author - I quite often see ads in bookshops to have a book signed by him. He's also a visiting Professor at my uni!
I expect I'll see him sooner or later.