Staithes, Beckhole and more pubs

31st August 2009

A day for visiting pubs.  Well after doing some walking of course.  We reached Staithes at  lunchtime in need of food and drink.  Drink came first – The Captain Cook Inn is currently having a bit of a refurb, we managed to get a seat in the window alcove and could see out towards the sea as we supped our drinks.  Having enjoyed a drink we then needed food. The only Fish & Chip ‘shop’ in Staithes is a van up near the pub.  We got ours wrapped and headed all the way down to the harbour where we ate our fish and chips, with a few people wondering where we’d managed to get them from – it’s strange that the fish and chip shop that used to be  in the Harbour closed down. It’s a steep climb back up to the car park, but worth the wander.

From there we headed to Beckhole, a cute hamlet tucked away. The Birchall Inn is the smallest pub I’ve ever visited, consisting of two tiny bar areas and (perfect for the kids) a little sweet shop. There’s a little garden area at the top of some steps which has a wide variety of feathered friends.

Beckhole walk

Sandsend, Cropton and another pub

30th August 2009

Having spent the day before visiting Robin Hoods Bay (which is a lovely quaint place to visit), we received an invite to go along with Carrie’s parents and be shown some of the local places. The first place we were introduced to was Sandsend – We parked in a little carpark at the far end of Sandsend and did a lovely walk that had some great views.

what a view - and I've learnt how to stand unaided

After wandering along the old train track (disused now) to the tunnel that had been blocked off we headed back to the car and was taken to our next destination. On the way we did a slight detour and was shown the most amazing view which looked down upon a man-made lake.

Now that's a stunning view

Then we arrived at Cropton – We stopped at the The New Inn pub and had the most delicious lunch (mmmm chips) and sampled a few of the beers which are brewed in the Cropton brewery that ‘s attached to the pub. And for the beers you don’t get to try, you can see if they’ve got any bottled to take away.

Whitby Pub, Grub and an old Abbey

28th August 2009

On our second day, having had a lazy start we walked to Whitby. Our plans were to have a wander round and walk the 199 steps to the Abbey.

Bob wonders if his legs can cope with the walk back down.

The view from which is great (if a little windy) and the excersise means they’ll be room for a fish and chip lunch mmmm. Obviously you’ll need to have a drink to wash down all the grub and our favourite place is The Jolly Sailor, which is a Samuel Smith’s Pub, so it means good beer at a bargain price.

MMMMMmmmmmm beer, that's what Bob likes best

Morris Wars!

Bob took a Round-trip walk from Stoke Bruerne to Shutlanger on Sunday. We normally park for free at the Navigation Inn but the place was heaving (hot summer Sundays and waterside pubs.…) so we gave an enterprising farmer a couple of quid to park in his field (along with around 50 other cars).

We found out that it wasn’t just boozehounds congregating in Stoke Bruerne but there was some kind of Morris dancing competition at the locks.

This amused the chihuaua and four year old that were walking with us for a good 10 minutes before we decided that mad people with big sticks drinking lots near deep water was probably going to end badly and headed of on our walk. Our four year old nephew knows the way we roll and there was bound to be a pub half way round the walk so conveniently timed the ‘i’m hungry, thirsty and need a wee routine with the approach to Shutlanger. Terrible shame then that we had to stop for a quick beer (nice little Charles Wells pub selling Rick Stein seafood menu).

The second leg of the walk went well with beer in our bellies, especially when we found a crop of broad beans that were so tasty when we were sampling them that we ‘rescued’ a few for our dinner (sorry Mr Farmer). Decided to watch a few boats go through the lock before returning home which meant we could sample the beer delights of the Boat Inn (fantastic little pub).

If you want an afternoon out walking, drinking and avoiding mad people with sticks check out Stoke Bruerne!

Bob loves Mr B’s

30th October 2008
Each year when Bob goes down to Hayle in Cornwall he has to visit Mr B’s – for Bob this actually means multiple visits, no matter how cold the weather gets.

Bob loves Mr B's - he thinks it's the best place to be.

Mr B’s has to be the best place to buy hand made (or any other way of making it) ice cream in Cornwall.   There are always so many delicious flavours to choose from (and they’re all handmade by the folks at Mr B’s).  And for those who find it hard to decide, you could have a selection of flavours.  You can have cones or a sundae and there’s a choice of toppings as well. The best thing is that the ice-cream contains bits of the flavour.   So if you choose a strawberry ice-cream, they’ll be bits of strawberries in it and if you choose a turkish delight one, you’ll have small bits of turkish delight in it.

Unfortunately this place does have to close (thankfully not when Bob visits though).  So over the winter months you won’t be able to visit, but they do open for a week at Christmas, so you can take home a tub of your favourite flavour and i’m sure it’ll make a great dessert for after christmas dinner.

Loe Pool

26th October 2008

A great way to spend the afternoon when you can’t decide if you fancy a walk by the sea or near a lake.

The beach which is a shingle one – seperates the sea and lake like a natural dam.

The freshwater lake entices a huge quantity of birds and is home to several species of fish.

If the day is a stormy one – don’t be put off, the waves are amazing to look at.

bob at loe pool

Bournemouth Air Show

30th August 2008
The last weekend before the summer holiday finished and a beautiful sunny day, perfect for spending on the beach. 

Bob at the Beach in Bournemouth (with his new face!)

Even better, the beach we were off to was Bournemouth and we were going to see the Air Festival on the seafront. The downside of going to somewhere like Bournemouth on a beautiful day was that it was sure to be busy, Bob said it was busier than a mosquito at a nudist colony, but I’m not sure what that means… 

The display that the Red Arrows put on was brilliant (they got so close!) and there were many other fantastic displays as well, it made it definately worth putting up with the crowds.

The Red Arrows - Weeeeeee!

We’ll be back for Bournemouth Air Festival 2009 and promise not sneak off to the pub halfway through the show next year, we’ll be pick-a-nicking!

Bob’s walk in Harlestone

17th August 2008

The best walks start and end at a pub.

There’s a walk in Harlestone village that starts at The Fox and Hounds (was named The Dusty Fox prior to it being refurbished). It’s a great circular walk that takes about between 1 and 1.5hrs depending on how fast you walk (and how long you spend scaring yourself on the tree swing). The cutest bit of the walk is when you come out of a wooded area onto a bridge overlooking a lake. The balustrade is really nice and there are always ducks, swans and moorhens waiting in the hope of getting a bit of duck food from any passer-by.

Bob rummaging in the foliage for Hoi-Sin sauce and pancakes.

After the walk threatens to stray onto the local golf club a couple of times you get to the tree swing. It’s on a steep hill so you’re suddenly a few metres off the ground. Bob loves it.

The walk ends up where it started – The pub looks great, however it’s not cheap (Want to pay a £3 premium to discover the difference between ‘Begian frites’ and chips?) There was a couple of real ales, Aspall Cyder and plenty of wines. A nice pub that’s a little pretentious

Bob goes to Durdle Door and Man-of-War Bay

7th August 2008

I hope Bob’s wooly outfit is waterproof…. Durdle Door is reall impressive, equally as impressive is the less talked about Man-of-War Bay. We parked in the Durdle Door Holiday Park car park, there’s a ten minute walk that leads down to the beach, however the steps are a bit steep. The weather was really nice, so armed with swimming costumes etc we headed down to see whether Durdle Door was as good as people have said – It didn’t fail to impress us.

Durdle Door from the cliff above - don't slip Bob!

However we actually decided to go down to the beach on the side which didn’t give you a view of durdle door, there were 2 sets of steps that went down each side of the viewpoint. Man-of-War bay is amazing – the water was so clear and once you got in it wasn’t as cold as was expected. Our son made a cool discovery in the bay whilst diving under the water.

Found in the sea (not by Bob - he says diving will ruin his hair).

We threw it back into the sea and hopefully someone else will discover it.
The only downside of the beach is that it’s pebbly – which was uncomforatble to walk on, but that was definetly compensated for by the sea.

Having left Durdle Door we were in need of food and drink – so we headed to Worth Matravers in search of the fabled ‘Square and Compass’ We parked in the public car park 100 yards along the Corfe Castle road which has a £1 honesty box. The only food you can get here is pasties – which were like traditional Cornish pasties we paid £2.60 ea and they were served until they run out and on paper plates. The beers and ciders here taste great and there’s plenty of choice. you queue up in the corridor and served through a serving hatch. We sat inside, the room was really nice and a cool retreat on a hot day there also seemed to be plenty of wasps eager to share food and drink if you sat outside. There was a small museum attached, but we didn’t get to visit it.

Square and compass - pub and museum

Meet Bob

Say Hi to Bob.

Bob is a Guatamalan worry doll that’s been with me since I was a teenager.

Bob and his family were bought in a little ethnic store in Northampton England and lived happily in their pouch in my bedside drawer, popping out from time to time to help solve my teenage worries.

I don’t know what became of Bob’s family or the little pouch they called home, but one day I found him looking lonely in my bedside drawer and decided he deserved freedom. He was going bald, so Carrie got a little offcut of carpet and stuck it on his little bonce and we drew his face back on.

For the past few years he’s sat on the dashboard of the family car and travelled with us. We chat to him regularly and he is a great listener. Bob may look odd, but we love him.

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