Posts Tagged ‘yorkshire’

Last month we had relatives visiting us from Canada, so we spent quite a bit of time doing all the Yorkshire things. Such as Whitby.

As ever, there were lots of seagulls.

And the tourist shops of course.

Those ice cream dogs. They melt and leave a pile of hair all over the floor.

Earlier this month, Yorkshire welcomed the Tour de France to Yorkshire for the Grand Depart. Or “T’ Big Setting Off” as we call it in Yorkshire.

People have gone all out for it. There are bikes, artwork, banners, signs everywhere. Even people nowhere near the route have a bike on the wall and a transfer on their shop window.

The turnout was incredible too. So much so that an hour before the race started the police closed off the road to pedestrians and stopped letting anyone else through. All along the route it was stacked with people half a dozen deep.

You would have to have a heart of stone to suggest seeing that wasn’t worth waiting for.

When I was twelve I spent six hours in 35 degree heat waiting for a Space Shuttle to take off. Finally we saw this little dot disappear into the distance and then in the silence some kid said “is that it?” As good as that was, it can’t really compare to seeing the photo above.

Nevertheless, it makes you proud to be Yorkshire. If you have a fancy bike ride you need hosting, we’re your people.

For the February meeting of the Humanist Society of West Yorkshire we had a talk on highwaymen. The first half looked at the practice in general and the second half focused on Dick Turpin and how he ended up in Yorkshire. With some myth-debunking along the way too!

What was a little confusing though is that the speaker the last recorded case was in the nineteenth century. Has nobody been robbed then? Because my understanding was that it still happened…

Last month I went to Hull Speakers to provide a bit of peer review on their meetings. It seems like a lovely club and I felt very warmly welcomed. On the way back, we stopped at the Humber Bridge to take some photos. Click to see full size.

Earlier this month, we headed to Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It’s fairly small, no where near the size of Chester Zoo or even Helsinki Zoo, but it does have “contact areas” in which you can go in and pet the animals.

A wallaby comes jumping across the path.

A capybara hides under a bridge after it was chased into the water by a rhea.

A lemur diving through the air.

A lemur jumping off the top of its house.

Elina holding hands with a wallaby.

On the way back from Flamborough we drove up to Filey to explore the brigg.

In an age where you can fly to Barcelona for £30, Bridlington is not faring well.

Whitby Abbey

The harbour

Streets

The sea

National speed limit on the breakwater

People

I say rivers, it’s just one river. In Goathland.