I can't let the update go too far without a photo of the new little car in our life. It is a delight to drive, and yes I do fit in it. 
It has a disappointing Satellite Navigation girl in the dash though, we have called her 'Sandy". Sandy does not have the same level of pleasant if annoying directions nor the same amount of map information as "Beryl" in the old Astra . We are occasionally seen doing U turns, having missed or wrongly interpreted an oblique or indistinct direction from the bitch in the box,,er,,, Sandy..
It has a disappointing Satellite Navigation girl in the dash though, we have called her 'Sandy". Sandy does not have the same level of pleasant if annoying directions nor the same amount of map information as "Beryl" in the old Astra . We are occasionally seen doing U turns, having missed or wrongly interpreted an oblique or indistinct direction from the bitch in the box,,er,,, Sandy.. Despite the wrong turns we did get to see lots of things this month. We had a couple of house guests too. James, our friend who lives in the Caribbean and occasionally visits his family in Liverpool, dropped in for a night and a couple of days. We enjoyed some very nice ale sampling in local establishments and a lot of catch up chat, very nice to see him again and hear of his plans to open a cafe on the island.....tempting us to visit. We also had a visit for a couple of nights and days from our mates John and Sarah from Kendall NSW. Had quite a few good meals out 
and a day trip to Whitby which saw me sit in the car mostly due to a bit of illness unfortunately. Whitby is a lovely town if a bit crowded with tourists.
It is the port where Captain James Cook was apprenticed onto the Whitby coal ships by a kindly Quaker ship owner and from where he was to leave for London and his famous career in the Royal Navy. Gail and I returned to Whitby two weeks later on Cook's birthday as it turned out and we saw the Australian flag flying in his honour.
Bought a lump to the throat seeing the Oz rag flying proud in Yorkshire. Whitby is also known as the source for the UK gemstone Jet, a black stone which is petrified monkey-puzzle tree some many millions of years old. It soared in popularity when Queen Victoria started to wear it as part of her enduring black ensemble she wore continuously after the death of her Albert. Every fasionable lady of course had to wear Jet from then on. Gail now has a nice pair of modern jet earrings. We also trailed north up the coast a bit to visit Staiths where Cook was first employed and where he was attracted to the life of sail while working for a local trader in what was a typical smugglers coastal port.
It is interesting to walk streets and bays older than the written history of Australia and to ponder Cook's life in those times.... Except for technology nothing much has changed, the challenge of study for a career, the dedication necessary for success, the importance of establishing good relationships and the challenges outlined in the history of Cook's life are all similar to current times...Having said that, a stroll through the Cook museum in Whitby does give you an idea of the extreme levels of commitment and challenge he faced and the hardships he and his family had to endure.
and a day trip to Whitby which saw me sit in the car mostly due to a bit of illness unfortunately. Whitby is a lovely town if a bit crowded with tourists.
It is the port where Captain James Cook was apprenticed onto the Whitby coal ships by a kindly Quaker ship owner and from where he was to leave for London and his famous career in the Royal Navy. Gail and I returned to Whitby two weeks later on Cook's birthday as it turned out and we saw the Australian flag flying in his honour.
Bought a lump to the throat seeing the Oz rag flying proud in Yorkshire. Whitby is also known as the source for the UK gemstone Jet, a black stone which is petrified monkey-puzzle tree some many millions of years old. It soared in popularity when Queen Victoria started to wear it as part of her enduring black ensemble she wore continuously after the death of her Albert. Every fasionable lady of course had to wear Jet from then on. Gail now has a nice pair of modern jet earrings. We also trailed north up the coast a bit to visit Staiths where Cook was first employed and where he was attracted to the life of sail while working for a local trader in what was a typical smugglers coastal port.
It is interesting to walk streets and bays older than the written history of Australia and to ponder Cook's life in those times.... Except for technology nothing much has changed, the challenge of study for a career, the dedication necessary for success, the importance of establishing good relationships and the challenges outlined in the history of Cook's life are all similar to current times...Having said that, a stroll through the Cook museum in Whitby does give you an idea of the extreme levels of commitment and challenge he faced and the hardships he and his family had to endure. During John and Sarah's stay we also visited the Inglby family's home, Ripley Castle which is just up the road a bit from Wetherby.
We enjoyed a very interesting tour by the well informed guide through five rooms of this ancient home and among many other things we were told of a recently discovered link to the NSW Webster family name in the Ingleby history, dating back to the gold rush years in Victoria.....
. A coincidence I am sure, but I was a bit tempted to look into my genealogy to see if there was a personal link, not so tempted to actually do anything , but tempted a bit as it is a lovely and historic home...with ties back to Cromwell and to royalty. Later on in the month, as Gail had yet another couple of days off in a row, we set off to walk the walls of York. Ended up only doing a small stretch as we decided to pop over to the rail museum and ride the giant wheel and get a look at York from up high.
As the photos show, it was a pleasant if chilly day. We have been fortunate that the sun has shone quite a bit in October but without anything resembling warmth accompanying it.
Still it is nice to have bright light instead of grey sky which is aptly referred to as leaden, an expression I had not related to before I experienced so may dull days. Wetherby continues to surprise us by the events that get held here. Last weekend for example we has a Ploughing Challenge organised in one of the local fields..
... This involves ancient and modern tractors and some horse and even some man powered ploughs and seed drills all competing to win prize money of up to 20 pounds! 
You can gather it is not therefore an event for the money, rather the tradition and pride in straight and even ploughing skills and mechanical/ horsemanship ability .
The programme book of the day's events laid out the judging criteria and went to some lengths to lay damnation on the Government for declaring ploughing events 'non-agricultural' and therefore not eligible for rural fuel discounts..
.. As you can see it seems rather agricultural to us. 
We enjoyed a very interesting tour by the well informed guide through five rooms of this ancient home and among many other things we were told of a recently discovered link to the NSW Webster family name in the Ingleby history, dating back to the gold rush years in Victoria.....
. A coincidence I am sure, but I was a bit tempted to look into my genealogy to see if there was a personal link, not so tempted to actually do anything , but tempted a bit as it is a lovely and historic home...with ties back to Cromwell and to royalty. Later on in the month, as Gail had yet another couple of days off in a row, we set off to walk the walls of York. Ended up only doing a small stretch as we decided to pop over to the rail museum and ride the giant wheel and get a look at York from up high. As the photos show, it was a pleasant if chilly day. We have been fortunate that the sun has shone quite a bit in October but without anything resembling warmth accompanying it. Still it is nice to have bright light instead of grey sky which is aptly referred to as leaden, an expression I had not related to before I experienced so may dull days. Wetherby continues to surprise us by the events that get held here. Last weekend for example we has a Ploughing Challenge organised in one of the local fields..... This involves ancient and modern tractors and some horse and even some man powered ploughs and seed drills all competing to win prize money of up to 20 pounds! You can gather it is not therefore an event for the money, rather the tradition and pride in straight and even ploughing skills and mechanical/ horsemanship ability . The programme book of the day's events laid out the judging criteria and went to some lengths to lay damnation on the Government for declaring ploughing events 'non-agricultural' and therefore not eligible for rural fuel discounts.... As you can see it seems rather agricultural to us. One other event was a night out with Tina and Rod, Tina works with Gail occasionally and we were invited to their place for an evening meal to thank us for looking after Rosco their dog..... Well, that dog minding never happenned because of plans changing but that didn't stop us going for dinner. Tina and Rod are restoring/converting an old barn into a very swank and charming home. All oak beams, stone floors and "period features". Very beautiful home and located in a small Pennines village about an hours drive from us and to the south west of Leeds City, closer to Manchester really. A very pleasant night and a chance to play with Rosco and a much needed doggy experience for us. Tina laid on a great meal and Rod hosted us to the local Pub for a quiet ale prior.
On the theme of a quiet ale, Gail and I headed off today for one at the Morrisey/Fox pub I spoke of a few months ago, Neil Morrisey is the skinny bloke from the 'Men Behaving Badly"comedy series on the tele... the Fox bloke is a good Yorkshire chef. The pub, Ye Old Punch Bowl, has been open for about four months now so we thought it would be good to go and taste their ale and food hoping they will have settled into their routine. The pub is in a little place called Martin-cum-Grafton, sort of half way between those two villages if you like and about 15 minutes north of Wetherby. Their ale and food was very good, service on the day was a bit off and the place was cold and crowded..... It seems last night the first of a TV series all about the two of them setting up the pub was aired on Channel 4 and the whole of Yorkshire decided to come for lunch.... I'd recommend the place in summer (no heating in the pub) and after the TV crowds have settled down, we had a good chat to the manager who was a nice bloke and got a peek into the micro brewery they have set up.....I don't think the ale is sufficiently good enough to win them the hoped for national distribution but it is ok ,,so with the TV show, his celebrity status and the genuinely good food, maybe there will be Morrisey-Fox ale available widely.... I am pleased to say they resisted the temptation to call the ales MoFo .... Blonde and Best Bitter are good enough identifiers. The pub has a great selection of ales on tap and a huge bottled beer selection.
So that is about as much as we could jamb into October, between the rainy days. November and December will see us enjoying Wetherby's Folk festival where Jazz and Folk musicians from all around come to perform in our little town, art shows are scheduled and who knows what else... Of course the town centre will be getting decked out with the annual christmas lights and there is Halloween and Guy Falkes nights, fireworks and bonfires so all that will be in the next few blogs... Hopefully we will continue to enjoy some sunny days and warm company!
