Yorkshire, Linolnshire 10- 14 Aug 2016

We chinwagged the next morning till well after 10 o’clock when we set off for Newcastle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_upon_Tyne The route chosen by Eileen was perfect and avoided nearly all traffic. On the edge of Newcastle we got puncture number 3 of the trip ( all on Sally’s rear wheel) so in the rain we replaced the inner tube and went on our way. Not even the most puncture resistant tyre would have stopped the enormous sliver of ceramic we removed.

In Newcastle we lost an hour looking for the tourist office before we found the empty shop where it had resided. Nothing has replaced it so we stopped at Starbucks and drank a disgusting cup of coffee while we tracked down a bed and breakfast for the night on the outskirts of town, at Hebburn. It was a pleasant place to stay and Sally ordered a full cooked breakfast the next morning.

We returned to town the next morning and we caught the train to Middlesbrough, http://visitmiddlesbrough.com/ where we visited the birthplace of Captain James Cook to have lunch. After donning our wet weather gear we set off for Whitby to stay at the hostel. One massive hill slowed us down so we considered camping, but it was cold and wet. Sally went like a bat out of hell as we pushed on to Whitby, http://www.visitwhitby.com/ where we found the hostel was booked out by a group.

We found a backpackers literally on the harbours edge. If the weather was good you could eat dinner admiring the yachts and fishing boats. Assuming of course that you were not attacked by hoards of seagulls who have a bad reputation for swiping packets of fish and chips out of the hands of unsuspecting visitors. The next day we put on our summer clothes ( read cold weather clothes) and visited the town. Sally had fresh cheese cake and coffee for morning tea. It was not cheap but for once the quality was excellent so we felt we have received value for our money. We wandered around amongst many tourists and several times heard the steam whistle from the railway. http://www.nymr.co.uk/.

There is a museum which honours the local Lifeboat Institute with all the history and an old rowing lifeboat from years ago. It was fascinating the way that the whole organisation and technology had changed over the years. Whitby is at the mouth of a river so crossing

the bar is hazardous. The coastline is littered with ship wrecks and diving is now a popular pastime.

The afternoon was spent sleeping and updating the blog. A most refreshing time.

Suddenly our holiday is becoming much more relaxing. We have more time, we visit more museums and churches, the weather is intermittently bad interspersed with outbreaks of sunshine. The weather is warm. And we spend untold time chin-wagging with the locals.

While waiting for Sally who was shopping I struck up a conversation with a lady whose husband had been in the Tour of Britain in 1956.

He later appeared and we discussed his racing career and his later exploits on the bike.
He said he could no longer cycle and I asked “why not?”.
“ I am 80” was the reply.
“So” I asked.
A little light lit in his eyes and he said “I will ask my doctor on my next visit if there is any reason I cannot take up cycling again!”

Bingo. Another motivated punter.

We had decided to follow the cinder trail, http://www.gatewaywhitby.co.uk/projects+and+developments/the+cinder+track a former railway line that was constructed not with a base of rock, but with a base if cinder from the many factories in the area. It meandered through the Yorkshire coastal countryside before mounting slowly to Ravenscar which was the high point of the

railway. The path was in parts fantastic, in parts muddy , in parts rough and in parts unrideable. The descent was even worse as we had a severe cross wind to contend with and several times I dismounted and walked a little. Added to the problem was potholes and large rocks on the path that required intense concentration for about an hour and a half after which we were both shattered.

For the first time on trip we got separated as Sally had gone on ahead and I missed a turning. We met up again after a quick phone call and stayed at the Hostel in Scarborough. http://www.visitscarborough.com/ We never did find the fair!
The town was playing host to Simply Red in one of their summer outdoor concerts of which they are proud.

The sun reared its head the next morning and we followed the seaside promenade between North Bay and South Bay and into town. It was

rather stereotypical.
We followed the lines of caravans out of town and headed for the dreaded Staxton Hill which we had noted on the map was rather steep. We were right. It went straight up at 17% to 150 metres and after 30 minutes walking we had a break at a picnic ground at the top. 30 kms later we came to the edge of the hills and we could see the plains stretch to the horizon. We were in for some flat riding for a few days. Just south of Driffield we stumbled across a campground and at 6 pound was very good value.

During the night a helicopter flew over and circled just down the road for about a quarter hour then vanished into the night. We found out the next morning while chatting to the owner, that there was an RAF base nearby and they were probably doing night flying training. He also told us that one of his customers worked for the RAF and every Christmas the helicopter would bring Santa the next field. He

wondered what passing motorists would have thought as it rose up from behind the tress as it departed.

Sunshine accompanied us again as we set of for the Humber Bridge our next waypoint. Along the way we discovered Beverley.

http://www.visithullandeastyorkshire.com/beverley/default.aspx We entered through North Bar the original gate in the walls and found a nice little cafe. At the owner's beckoning we wheeled our bikes into the Tearooms and left them at our sides while we had tea for two. I broke the rules and used our mobile WIFI to upload a picture to Facebook I was so impressed. The food was good as well. Teacakes, freshly toasted with clotted cream. (My combination, not theirs).

WOW. It is just like York with a pretty village, churches and a minster but without the hoards of tourists. At the suggestion of the door

keeper at the minster we locked our bikes in her view so she could keep an eye on them as we wandered through the church. And we chatted to yet more locals outside. The minster was just stunning inside and we passed a long time enjoying the environment. Sally loved the musical carvings in stone set all along one side of the minster. I queried why one wall was leaning so much.

Beverley is a must go town for those of you who like history, architecture and small crowds.

We stopped in Hull at a supermarket and we both remarked at the number of bicycles parked outside. There were about 10. And from the inside you see another 10 parked by another door. Amazing! We also noticed how easy it was to cycle in Hull. It still needs a tweak or 2 but we enjoyed our voyage through town.

At the Humber bridge http://www.humberbridge.co.uk/explore_the_bridge/bridge_history_and_detail/history.php we crossed over the worlds 3rd longest single span. In the middle Sally stopped to watch the dolphins before realising it was in fact a bunch of swimmers crossing just upstream with a support vessel. We found a campground by chance ( it was becoming a habit by now) and put up our tent for 5 pounds a night.