Sunday 31 August - Bettys, pickled onions and more

We came back to the apartment this morning to find the paramedics attending to a young guy who had fallen over. There was blood all over the door step. 

 

Today we had Champagne Afternoon Tea at Bettys using a voucher Mary Burges so kindly gave us. Everything was splendid. The serving staff were all very good and the tea was excellent.

The room is decorated in the same manner as the Queen Mary, the owner travelled on the maiden voyage and was so impressed that he decided to fashion the room similarly.

 

After the champagne Mary had Bettys Afternoon Tea while I had the Darjeeling Afternoon Tea. There was a huge selection of teas. These were served with four different types of sandwich, I preferred the ham and mustard, then scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. To finish off there were some excellent pastries.

 

 

I then went to the Railway Museum. Mallard is now sandwiched between two good engines, 2500 and 737.

Click here to see all pictures taken at the National Railway Museum
One the way back I spent a little time at the station talking to the Assistant Station Manager. Although she is not wearing safety shoes she may go on to the track in an emergency.

The Blue Bell served up a dark treackly beer called Dave. Not bad. It is brewed at Great Heck from rock treacle from the Great Heck treacle mine.

 

I found a jar of pickled onions and some Stilton at Marks and Spencers.  Nanna Churcher liked these. Trouble was she only had one tooth of her own and didn't like using her false teeth. She would take in a pickled onion and chase it round her gums for several minutes before she succeeded in spearing it.

It turned into a lovely evening and the light was particularly good on the Minster and many other buildings.

Saturday 30 August - Scarborough - cockles, mussels, whelks - and Evensong

The train from York was pretty crowded but we had seat reservations and, in any case, the train emptied out at Malton. There was a cutting wind at York but this had settled down at the coast. The clouds gradually cleared to reveal a sunny hot day. The route to the beach was down a wide pedestrian boulevard with very busy shops.  

The tide was going out and the beach was beginning to get busy with families with dogs etc. There were a couple of donkey rides but they weren't doing very much business. Mary and I were both keen to haveca donkey ride but unfortunately there was a sign "No Adults".

After inspecting the Lifeboat we walked towards the north, past the shellfish stands and the harbour. We sampled a plate of cockles, mussels, whelks, scampi, fake crab etc.  The whelks were not very appetizing.

 

The speedboat and the pirate boat were giving rides and they were advertising rides to see the harbour dolphins although I would think the chances of seeing one  would be remote. There is a small fun fair with a ferris wheel. Walking back into town we were amazed at the number of fish restaurants and bars. We found a genuine fish and chip place that was not pretentious but which had good cod and chips at a pretty reasonable price. 

We then walked south along the prom. One of the attractions was a large tank of water on which two large transparent balls were floating. Children were zipped in and the ball was reinflated. The tide was a long way out and the dogs could race around to their hearts' content. 

There is one section with rocks and weeds which should satisfy curious youngsters.  The funicular railway was a convenient way to climb back into the town and we made our way back to the station.  The train was turned round and had to be cleaned.  Everyone was waiting to get into the train but we had to wait while one man put the seat reservation tags into their respective slots. One area where the bus company scores.
Click here to see all pictures taken at Scarborough

The trip back was through sunny pleasant country.

We went to Evensong in the York Minster this evening.  The choir was from Wolverhampton and sung very well. There were several very small children, maybe six or seven. One of them sang with a very clear voice that carried although another seemed to have difficulty concentrating. The organ was also impressive and we stood for some time listening to it afterwards.

We went to the Blue Bell this evening this time for a Wold top bitter. Pleasant enough with a hint of hops but not as good as either the Rooster or the Timothy Taylors

Spent a little time with two Canadian girls who were shortly to take Eurostar to Paris.

Friday 29 August - York

We slept reasonably well for the first night. The bedroom is at the back away from the street and is very quiet. There were a few conducted groups learning about the area but the are not around for long and are in the early evening.

The apartment is directly above the Art Shop

Another view of the Art Shop and the apartment above

A middle aged lady with large breasts and no bra came cycling past. At a critical point her left breast got out of control and over balanced her such that she had to stop and adjust her apparel.  Next time wear a bra. We did some errands and checked out the Friday Farmers Market which is just around the corner. I found a Yorkshire Pork Pie and a Battenburg Cake. 

Battenburg cake was a Marks and Spencer staple when I was young

I made some train reservations at the station and we dropped into the Blue Bell pub which is very close to the apartment. It is very small, filled with locals and only serves beer and a few snacks - no music, no games, no TV. 

This is inside the Smoke where you can get a beer through the low hatch.  there is very rarely room in the Public bar which is on the other side.

  

I had a Rooster dry hopped Yankee which was a strongly hopped bitter. I also tried a Bradfield Farmers Blonde from Sheffield, very smooth. There was a lot of chat in the bar and when I went up for my second beer I said:
"I'll take a pint of Farmers Blonde, please" to which the barmaid replied:
"I'll SELL you a pint of Farmers Blonde. I wouldn't even GIVE you the dirt under my fingernails."
Great atmosphere and we will certainly go back.

You don't have to go far to come across an unsalubrious canal area

It rained on and off later and we found ourselves back at the Blue Bell just before supper. This time the Timothy Taylors (Keithley) Landlord was excellent.

Timothy Taylors was a standard at the Three Fishes in Shrewsbury

Yorkshire Pork Pie with a lot of congealed fat on the top

Thursday 28 August - Ottawa to London to York

Our trip started the day before. OC Transpo route 97 was completely out of sync. First there came two short turn trips to South Keys. Then two Airport buses came along 2 minutes apart. The bus was uncomfortable and there is no provision for cases. The second one overtook us  of course. Ottawa Airport was dead in the evening. Everything shut down as there are few flights out. The Air Canada flight to Heathfrow, although full, was great. The babies all slept and we arrived 20 minutes early. The refurbished Terminal 2 is great. Light and airy and the crowd movement has been well thought out. The corridors are wide and there is a lot of room around the baggage carousels so that everyone can look for their bags without blocking anyone else. Immigration was very quick. We only had to wait six minutes for the Heathrow Express - I had bought our tickets in advance on line.  There was quite a bit of activity in Acton Aggregate Terminal and I saw a preserved Warship diesel hydraulic in maroon at Old Oak Common. I went to the back of the train at the Airport so that we got out right at the steps for the Hammersmith and City Line. Our Oyster cards gave us access and we were in one of the new trains which are quiet and comfortable. The net result of all this is that we arrived at Kings Cross with 1 hour and 40 minutes to spare before our 1300 train to York.  We had an excellent meal at the Parcels Office and I had a Fullers London Pride - by far my favorite bitter beer. Kings Cross is the only station I know that has a platform 0 and our train left from here. It was punctual but the ride was very lively at times and quite unpleasant over pointwork. Sadly the beautiful curved York train shed is filthy with diesel fumes. The beautiful cast iron scroll work with railway company crests was painted in many colors at one time. It has been allowed to deteriorate just like at Paddington.

At York there was time visit the bus and train information offices and to get an unlimited sim card for Mary's iPhone (I had already bought mine at Heathrow) before getting to our 1530 appointment at the apartment on the Shambles. The timetables for the various bus companies were readily available. However the railway companies seen to have difficulty in producing timetables jointly. The lady seemed horrified that I wanted to get to Whitby via Middlesborough and even worse that I had thought of coming back via Pickering and bus from there.

Just across the street from the apartment

The apartment is excellent. Well furnished and well located above an art shop and close to everything. There is an enormous Marks and Spencer with a food hall right next door. We bought some staples and then went for a drink at the Red Lion. I had a pint of EPA which was quite good but a little tame compared to London Pride.

Modified gas lamp on the wall across from our window in the Shambles,

Tuesday 19 August - Return to Ottawa

Rimouski had a serious fire which gutted the whole of the downtown area. Unfortunately the town was rebuilt in the form of a gigantic parking lot into which buildings, such as hotels, were sprinkled. To make it worse, a divided highway was built along the pleasant river front to cut off the water from the town. A board walk was constructed from which pedestrians, having braved the traffic, can admire the river on one side and the traffic on the other. A good example of a lack of town planning - shades of Seattle.
We left the hotel after a good, well organized, buffet breakfast. It was a little misty but the sun quickly burnt off the fog and we had good weather.
We spent the entire day on the road apart from a stop at St-Jean-Port-Joli, Drummondville for lunch and Hudson.

St-Jean-Port-Joli

The church at St-Jean-Port-Joli was attractive although the garish red roof did it no favors

An interesting visit to the Gaspe but a lot of traveling.  Travac Tours came up to their usual high standard to give us the opportunity to see as much as possible.
Click here to see all pictures taken on this trip 

Monday 18 August - Reford Gardens and Rimouski

The weather really closed in as we left the hotel and the morning was spent in rain, heavy at times, and with dense fog patches. The ride through Gaspe and along the coast was not very pleasant because of the weather. Lunch was at a greasy spoon in Ste. Anne des Monts where service was slow but it had Murphy's stout. The sun came out and we had a pleasant ride along the northern Gaspe coast to Reford Gardens. Although they have a micro climate this only brings them equivalent to Montreal. The gardens were great and our guide was able to fill in the historical details. The area along the stream was the most interesting so far as I was concerned.
Reford Garden Web Site

 Click here to see all pictures taken at Reford Gardens
We stopped briefly at Pointe-au-Pere where a museum commemorates the sinking of the Empress of Ireland.

We watched this heron catch and gulp down a fish at Pointe-au-Pere

The hotel was good but the restaurant service was abominable.
Click here to see all pictures taken at Reford Gardens

Click here to see all pictures taken on this trip 

Sunday 17 August - Perce

Today started out fine but the cloud closed in during breakfast and there was heavy rain and poor visibility on the way to the dock. There was a possibility that the boat would be cancelled but they decided to go despite the poor visibility.

The boat took us first to the rock.  Two types of cormorant live here, one high up and the other lower down. The top ones were silhouetted against the sky.

We went around Bonaventure Island to see the gannets nesting in the rock strata. It seems there are some 200,000 in this colony. They are really graceful as they glide through the air. There were two seals in the water just off shore. Apart from gannets, there were many other sea birds, gulls, kittiwakes and a few shore waders etc.

 We landed on the island where the Parks Canada Manager, Carol, gave an excellent, humorous, presentation on the Gannet and how Parks Canada manages this park.
By this time the weather had improved considerably and we decided to walk across to see the gannet colony. The walk took 45 minutes starting up a fairly steep climb through thick forest with some burnt areas and several streams. The colony was amazing. The birds are very close together and the noise was very loud. It stank a bit. We could get very close.  Many of the chicks seem to have been abandoned. Several birds were fighting, in some cases to the death.

 Click here for video of the gannet colony

By this time the sun had come out and the return walk, although mainly downhill, was quite hot. We saw a fox walking in the undergrowth.

The boat back was uneventful but pleasant in good sun.

I am sure everyone took too many pictures of this famous rock but it is impressive

We had a drink in the pub, a heavily hopped IPA was excellent, and then went on a short tour of Perce.

Dinner this evening was at an excellent fish restaurant with scallops. Walking back we enjoyed watching the gannets diving into the water in a feeding frenzy very close to shore.

Click here to see all pictures taken along the Baie des Chaleurs, Perce and Bonaventure Island

Click here to see all pictures taken on this trip