Whitby by steam train

After several busy weeks, we started the long weekend quietly with a trip on the steam train from Pickering to Whitby. The scenery was like that in the 'Railway Children'. We stopped in Whitby for fish and chips. The afternoon was a little rainy but when it cleared we had a quick game of football (soccer) and rounders catching practice in the local park in Terrington. Soph and Will must be very tired from starting at a new school as they have been watching the world snooker championships on tellie. We have now worked out how to unlock other channels on the TV!

Bridge opening at Whitby for tall masted yachts

Paying a busker at Whitby

Fish and chips at Whitby

North Yorkshire Railway steam engine

A race along the tracks

Inside a 'dog box' on the Whitby train

Returned to Pickering

Snow and the Spring Fair

The weather cleared on Wednesday morning for a walk near Stillington, with great views of Crayke in the distance. We dropped into Easingwold to pick up ingredients to bake ANZAC biscuits for the school Spring Fair. John is heading back to Australia for a couple of weeks for his nephew's wedding. So, Thursday became an 'office day' organising phone plans, etc... for when John is away, cooking and organising tombola jars. The snow has continued to fall in between sunny breaks. It is very rare to have weather like this at this time of year.

The Spring Fair was moved into the school hall. Sophie and Will had a great time and John and I made trips up to the canteen for a constant supply of warm drinks. The weather cleared late this arvo (7pm) so we have been out in the local park practising catching for rounders and kicking a soccer ball. We may head up to Whitby on the steam train tomorrow, depending on the weather. Sophie and Will have a long weekend for exeat this weekend!

Another walk - Crayke in the distance

The snow starts up again! 

Snow, cherry tree and school in the background

Face painting at the Spring Fair

Bobbing for apples

Sophie versus Jasmine pillow fight

Will versus Lucky pillow fight

Snow and Lake District

After the drive to Ampleforth for choir last Thursday, we spent Friday morning walking from Sheriff Hutton to Farlington, initially along parts of Foss Way, through the back of horse studs and across sheep paddocks, returning along the road.

On Saturday we went into Malton to pick up groceries, followed by a trip out to Harrogate Ladies College to see a small part of Sophie's rounders game. I dropped John back at Terrington so that he could meet Sophie on her return and dashed off to Pickering to take Will to another rollerskating birthday party, this time for George. On Sunday Sophie and Will caught up on homework and went to the local park for some rounders catching practice. We then attempted to find a rounders bat at several sports stores around York, without any luck! After several google searches, we found a mail order sports store that operates locally. So, on Monday morning we went through the mail order process, went into Clifton Moor shops and Monks Cross then back out to the mail order store. We finished the day with a trip to historic Helmsley and Riveaux, followed by dinner with Soph and Will at the Crown and Thistle at Welburn.

Today (Tuesday) began with Sophie and Will very excited about walking to school in the snow. We decided that it wasn't going to be a good walking day, so headed off on a massive sight seeing road trip across to the Lake District and back. I was particularly keen to see Kendal, which is where my grandmother's family was from. We returned across Sutton Bank past the white horse where the groundcover has been removed from a limestone cliff face. With rounders and tennis practice until 7.30pm, Sophie and Will boarded at school, so we didn't need to rush back and had time for dinner at an Indian restaurant at Thirsk. The pictures below show the diverse scenery as we crossed to the other side of England.

Barnard Castle (Tuesday)

Crown and Thistle (Monday night)

Snow at Cold Kirby (Tuesday)

Kendal (Tuesday)

Lake Windermere (Tuesday)

Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales (Tuesday)

Riveaux (last Friday)

Snowy Yorkshire Dales (Tuesday)

Cold Kirby (Tuesday)

Cold Kirby (Tuesday)

Cold Kirby (Tuesday)

Snowy drive in the Dales (Tuesday)

Snowy start to school in Terrington

Snow above Sutton Bank (Tuesday)

The white horse near Sutton Bank

  

Ampleforth

Sophie thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to sing as part of a choir at Ampleforth, which the parents at Terrington have been describing as the Catholic equivalent of Eton. It is surprising how all of the denominations seem to share their schooling. John and I went on another two hour walk this morning and Will tried rounders, scoring two rounders (ie. home runs) at school today.

Ampleforth Abbey for choir

Byland Abbey ruins near Ampleforth

Choir at Ampleforth

Choir - Sophie next to those in red

Centenary Way walking trail crosses paddocks

Walking track at Kirkham

Welburn Church decorated for the Queen's 90th birthday today

Will at cricket yesterday

Scarborough, cricket and rounders

Sophie and Will came home to a different house after their Saturday morning at school. We have been able to negotiate a cheaper long term stay in a little two bedroom cottage in Terrington. We then went to Malton shops, mostly to pick up groceries and also to buy fountain pens for the kids to use at school.

On Sunday, we took Will to a roller skating birthday party at Pickering which gave Sophie, John and I a chance to have lunch at a local bakery. Then, across to Scarborough, where we wandered through some very touristy amusement park areas and along the breakwall. The kids liked their ride on the ferris wheel which was the main highlight.

We spent most of Monday walking around Castle Howard then on Tuesday went into York shops followed by dinner at the White Swan at Ampleforth. A fantastic meal at a reasonable price! I watched Sophie play rounders at Pocklington on Wednesday afternoon and John stayed in Terrington to watch Will play cricket. This morning we continued with our long walks, taking a little over two hours to walk from Welburn to Kirkham. Sophie is singing at Ampleforth this afternoon.

Castle Howard

White Swan at Ampleforth

Pyramid on a walk near Castle Howard

Fireplace at Castle Howard

Mausoleum at Castle Howard

Pocklington bakery

Sophie batting at rounders

Scarborough ferris wheel and castle

First week in Terrington

Last Sunday, we took the road from Pickering up to Whitby across the North Yorkshire Moors. On the way, we went to Grosmount to see where the steam train passes through, visited the cottage where Captain Cook undertook his apprenticeship (now a museum) and walked to the Abbey ruins.

Sophie and Will had a great start to school on Monday and have made plenty of friends. They were both given 'looker-afterers' who made settling in easy. They are coping with a few subjects that they haven't faced before, including Latin and Sophie is learning to play rounders, which is like softball. Will is enjoying cricket and spent an hour or so in the nets this afternoon. He has been invited to two different roller skating birthday parties.

We have been exploring the walking trails and ended up out at Sheriff Hutton, where there are castle ruins. We originally hired a medium sized car to fit all of our bags and went into York on Wednesday to swap it over to a longer term lease on a smaller car. John's cousin, David, came to visit today and took us out to Castle Howard to see a veteran car rally. Some of the cars were worth up to 1m pounds and were driven by people from all over Europe and even the US. David brought his two spaniel dogs with him and Sophie enjoyed playing with them after school.

The moors railway

The moors

The moors

Driving through the moors

Red grouse on the moors

Captain Cook Museum

Captain Cook Museum

Whitby Abbey

Whitby

Wet foggy walking trail

Starting school

Driven from 'Peking to Paris' in 1997

John and his cousin David at the rally