Back on track - Whitby, United Kingdom
Whitby, United Kingdom
Where I stayed
High Normanby campsite
Although today is a 'moving on day' we are back at Beamish. We got up early and packed up the trailer then headed back to the museum. There are a couple of things we missed yesterday so we decided to return this morning. We are on a different tram today, it dates back to 1920, although they are also running the 1901 model we were on yesterday. It's another lovely day so we go upstairs and enjoy the sunshine. We head for The Town to explore the shops at a more leisurely pace - yesterday was a bit of a rush. We visit the co-op first. Here we are treated to another demonstration of the money movement system. We learn that the co-op dividend was something like the supermarket loyalty card system except that Tesco and Sainsbury only give 1p back for every £1 you spend. The modern day equivalent of the co-op would be 20p in the £1, four shillings for those of us old enough to remember! We also see a 1920 photograph of the co-op store in its original location - every building in the museum has been taken down brick by brick at its original location and rebuilt on site. The museum has just completed a bakery shop and they have recently acquired a pharmacy and a photographer's studio which will be added to the town when they have sufficient funds. We cross the street to visit the sweet shop. Today boiled sweet making is in full production in the back room behind the shop. We watch as the confectioners expertly kneed the bright red and green mixture hot out of the coppers and then stretch and spin it. Finally the mixtures are added together and put through a moulding machine. They come out in strips which are broken up into individual sweets. They make it look effortless although I am sure it is not! Now it's back to the tram for a circuit of the site in the sunshine. On the way we witness a cartload of hay with a broken wheel - I don't think this was supposed to happen! We visit the Pit Village. Inside one of the cottages they are baking bread, a special kind of Geordie bread called Stottie. The lady tells us that Greggs the bakers sell Stottie bread but generally only in the North East. BUT, she tells us, it is due to be re-introduced to Greggs nationwide due to outrage by 'displaced Geordies'. We roar with laughter and can't wait to tell our friend Garrie and ask him if he regards himself as a displaced Geordie :-) :-) :-) We walk from the Pit Village through the woods to The Colliery and The Wagonery. Today Puffing Billy has been replaced by the Steaming Elephant. We take our place in an open carriage on the back and listen to the history along with some gruesome tales about the gibbet that we will be passing on our ride. We can't understand where the time has gone but it's getting on for 2pm and we need to leave. One more ride on the tram up to the entrance and we are are on our way, back to retrieve the trailer and drive on to Whitby. During our journey I have been entertaining Ian with songs from 'Junior Choice' appropriate to the region. Since we are entering the North York Moors he is given a rendition of 'On Ilkley Moor Bah Tat' even though we're nowhere remotely near Ilkley. He doesn't seem to be enjoying it, but I can't think of any other Yorkshire ditties at the moment so it will have to do.