What's He Up To Now!

14 July 2013

Pickering summer break...

Our summer holiday this year is another return trip, this time to Pickering, North Yorkshire. We first visited this area just over a year ago, in April 2012. We had a good holiday then but the weather wasn't great. There was plenty of rain, some hail, sleet and even snow. But, we liked the area and had decided that we would give it a try at a warmer time of year. Little did we know that we'd be coming back during the heatwave of 2013! It was hot and dry for the full week - almost too hot!

Our base for this holiday was a lovely cottage at Southholme Lodges, just on the outskirts of town. It was far enough from the town centre, down a little country lane, to be very peaceful but close enough that we could enjoy an easy walk there for breakfast each day or to look around the shops etc. Ideal!

Our cottage and the gardens...

Our holiday cottage.

Just a small part of the gardens.

A little bit of shade.
We spent a lot of time here!

The stroll into town was not only nice and easy, and almost traffic free, it was rather scenic too. A lovely old mill building and a stream too. We often paused to watch the ducks and the fish!

Vivers Mill. The old water mill.

The old mill stream.

When we arrived in the town centre the traffic was still very light, the buildings rather nice and, much more importantly, the breakfast superb! Finding a good spot for breakfast is always a priority for us when on holiday! This time it was the Feast Deli & Cafe. We can highly recommend this place! They had a great range of local real ale for sale too!

St Peter's and St Paul's Church, Pickering.

Looking down Market Place, Pickering.

One of the cottages in the town.

On our last visit to Pickering we travelled on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Whitby and back. This time we only went as far as the village of Goathland - better known as Aidensfield in the TV series Heartbeat and as Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter films. As such, it is a tourist hot spot but even with all the crowds it was still a pleasant trip. Lunch, with beer, in the local pub was rather nice too!

Stanier Black Five 45428. Our loco on the day.

Goathland village.

Rush hour in Goathland village.

Lynda, being a tourist!

The local garage!

Enjoying an ice cream.

Just up the road from Pickering we came across the pretty little village of Thornton-le-Dale. This was only a brief visit but it was a very nice village. There was also a great garage here specialising in the sale of classic/vintage cars. I could have spent a lot of money there!

Thornton-le-Dale cottage.

Lynda and a Thornton-le-Dale cottage.

A rather nice little place, Thornton-le-Dale.

Thornton-le-Dale cottages.

Mum and the kids enjoying the sun.

The weather on our last visit to Pickering meant that when we took a drive up onto the moors we returned slightly disappointed. The only view we got was of low cloud, mist and rain. It certainly gave us a feel for how hard life could be living up there but it wasn't quiet what we had hoped for. This time we had no such problem! The weather was gorgeous, the views stunning. And the cotton grass was in full flower too - result!

In the middle of nowhere - Levisham Station.

Cotton Grass, up on the moors.

Moorland view.

Heather up on the moors.

We enjoyed some great days out and about during this holiday but, with such great weather, we kept on returning to one favourite spot... the garden back at the cottage! The picnic table and its umbrella were used day after day. We sat and read, we ate out there, we drank plenty. There was often a Little Owl hunting the fields close by and rabbits running around. We played Boules most evenings. We were even treated to a low-level helicopter flypast!

Lynda enjoying a bit of shade.

Low level flypast.

Ready for another game.

Game over... time for a drink!

A last night treat!

Thank you, Pickering. We will be back... please order some more great weather for us!

31 May 2013

Going large in May - cycling...

For 2013 I decided not to set myself any mileage target for the year. The plan was to just enjoy my cycling, riding as and when I wanted, for as far as I wanted. Well, that plan lasted until the beginning of May. I felt as though I was getting a little lazy. So, instead of a 12 month challenge I decided on a one month attack. 1,000 miles in the month of May!

This is how it played out...

May 1 - 5.
167.08 miles for the week. Longest ride 70.28 miles.

May 6 - 12.
146.00 miles for the week. Longest ride 27.51 miles.

May 13 - 19.
268.20 miles for the week. Longest ride 58.50 miles.

May 20 - 26.
262.42 miles for the week. Longest ride 41.71 miles.

May 27 - 31.
157.76 miles for the week. Longest ride 37.23 miles.

TOTAL MILES FOR THE MONTH... 1001.46.

With all that cycling there wasn't much time spent on photos but I did manage one or two....

My CAAD8 in the foreground;
Virgin balloon in the background.

Rudy Project Windmax helmet.
My new lid.

Ready for the off, with the road bike.

Starbucks Frappuccino break, with the mountain bike.

The final scores for May.

27 May 2013

Plane crazy...

Planes, I like planes. Not in a fanatical, anorak kind of way but I do like them. They're big, with big engines, and make lots of noise. My kind of engineering! So, with little else of importance to do, Lynda and I took ourselves off to East Midlands Areopark today.

First we spent a while walking around the exhibits on the ground before settling down, with a picnic lunch, on one of the picnic tables that overlook the runway at East Midlands Airport. As I said earlier, I'm not a plane spotter so just enjoy the photos for what they are as I have very little information to give!