Whitby Goth Weekend Halloween

 

Whitby Goth Weekend Halloween 

I finally made it to Whitby for Halloween, and wow, it didn't disappoint. The place is so very atmospheric. First we walked up the 199 steps to the Abbey where I saw someone impressively dressed up like Vampire Lestat, and he had a baby vampire following him around! Aww. We then went to the Abbey itself, where they had organised an outdoor play of Bram Stokers Dracula. There were just three actors who played all the characters.

I love watching live performances as I feel part of the show, even if you're just watching, but the crowds interaction, and the actors ab-libs made the show very funny, and very entertaining indeed. We watched the last performance of the day, and so were treated to watching the Abbey lights switch on, which only happens for Halloween. When looking up at the stone ruins lit with blues, greens, and reds as dusk falls, it takes on a whole new eerie ambience.

We then did a ghost walk, which I still love, even if I think the person taking me on the ghost walk isn’t that fantastic, one still gets a sense of local myths and legends, and to walk through the small, winding, cobbled streets in the dark is always atmospheric and creepy, especially at Halloween.

On Halloween itself, we walked around Robin Hoods Bay, which was rife with smugglers in its day. The best way to describe the place is a miniature fishing village on a very, very steep hill. I can see why smugglers and pirates liked the place. Back in its time, unless you lived there you probably wouldn’t have bothered to negotiate the steep hills, cliffs, and tight winding streets. The place is very quaint though.

In the evening we went back into Whitby, and it was bonkers busy! There were goths and steampunkers dressed up to the nines, people like myself who wanted to join in, and dress up a little bit and be a part of the scene, and then there were the people who just came to watch the shenanigans. There were some amazing outfits and then there were some really creepy ones, like the clown IT from Steven Kings film, or the guy whose makeup looked like he had reptilian skin under his human face, like the sci-fi series ‘V' and Death came to the pub for a few drinkies! Very good and very creepy. Naturally the place was bursting at the seams with people, but we managed to stay out until past midnight. 

The amount of pimped out hearses parked up there was amazing, and I guess some people just love living the whole undead lifestyle for real. For me though, I’m quite happy to just write about it.

The place was so atmospheric, I was even inspired by a new horror story as part of the Fifth Book in The Beyond Series and I'm so excited because I've also come up with a new trilogy of spooky books for teens and young adults, purely from last night’s dream.

Yep, I woke this morning, leapt out of bed and wrote the full synopsis and book titles for three, yes three new books and a whole new series. I'm not giving anything away just yet and that’s all I’m going to say for now,

Highlights of Our Travels

 Highlights of Our Travels

I have my favourite places and memories and my worst, so here's our highlights:
Ben Nevis - The trip up the mountain in the middle of winter and the fresh, crisp snow whilst staying in a Youth Hostel seemed so wholesome and lovely.

Scottish Highlands - The tiniest hotel in Melness, - John O Groats the end of the Earth, Isle of Arran and in this picture the beautiful Ullapool, where the ferry docked outside the town’s main street!

Inverness at Christmas - Royal Hotel and our Christmas Day walk around the city. Hogmanay in Edinburgh.... I loved Scotland in December, something quite magical about the place.

Beamish Museum - An open air museum rebuilt towns of 1900 England, 1920's and 1940's. All the buildings were decorated in period times and the tram ride around the place was just fantastic! Tour of Liverpool with Lions - Over the past twelve months we have visited many places and met some amazing people. We have been raising money through our Lions Club and were invited to attend Liverpool Lions Club Charter evening.

We were looked after and given a fascinating tour of Liverpool. To say I've been there a few times, I saw a side to the place I'd never have seen but for the kind generosity of Lion Eric Boyd and his wife Jean for their personal tour of their Home city.

Cornwall - Lizard Point, Lands End. I love Cornwall, but never seen all of the famous landmarks in one go before. We also had friends come over and visit us on various stages of the tour and Cornwall was one such time when we could share some of the best moments of our trip with friends.
There are a lot of great moments - especially confirming my psychic abilities on St Michael's Mount Castle, finding two of the most haunted spots without evening knowing!! And watching The Seagull at the open air Minnack Theatre.

Devon - Widdecombe on the Moor, Brixham, Looe, the pretty tucked away villages of Lynmouth and Clovelly, our day out to Paignton Zoo and High Tea at the very posh Bovey Castle. So many great times in Devon, but for me the absolute highlight was to fly a glider! Another lifetime dream fulfilled. Going to do again someday, I think.

I enjoyed returning to Scarborough and the little cottage at Humanby in Yorkshire, where I stayed as a kid with my grandparents, but the best place in Yorkshire was Whitby Goth Weekend last Halloween. Fascinating town with even more fascinating people, a local drama group even performed an open air version of Bram Stokers Dracula in and around Whitby Abbey grounds for free! Brilliant Weekend.

Naturally, I love Wales and have been visiting there all my life, so I will leave that area out of the mix. In North Wales we have Porthmadog, Criccieth, Angelsey and Caernarfon - Mid Wales - New Quay and Tenby and Pendine Sands in South Wales. So many to choose from I struggled to find just one photo to sum it all up, but as my Beyond Series of Novels began here in Criccieth, I guess the Castle that spawned my story Didikai Witch had to be the one to post here.
Disappointments were few, but I disliked parts of Kent especially Margate and Ramsgate, South Shields and Tyneside in general - depressing places and I'm not going to post photos either!
I'd like to return to certain parts of East Anglia especially Sandringham as it was shut when we got there, but was lovely in early December.

Super Sports Car Driving Experience - Silverstone

 

Super Sports Car Driving Experience

This had to be one of my great experiences and something ticked off my bucket list. My wonderful friends chipped in and bought me a three car driving experience day for my birthday. got to drive an Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari and Lamborghini.

About to drive the DB9, this was the first super car and it was such a shame because it turned out to be the nicest of the three and as I wasn't sure of the track or the fact that I hadn't driven something so fast before I was a little bit cautious. And you only get to go around the track twice. If I'd have gone around more than that I probably would've got past 6o miles an hour!!!

A Stig looky likey, for those wanting a photo opportunity!
The Lamborghini. I was looking forward to the most, after seeing those two gorgeous women drive one in "The Cannonball Run" when I was a kid, I'd always dreamed of owing one!

But I was actually really disappointed, it wasn't smooth or sleek and I certainly didn't feel like the hot totty from the film. Maybe I'd built it up in my mind to be more than I thought it would be.

The Ferrari was actually a pleasing surprise. The oldest of all the cars I drove, and I thought this was very rickerty with a few cracks in the leather seats and I was like "god I'll have to get towed round by a horse!" But pleasantly it was the fastest and I actually got past 80mph on some parts of the track. (I know it probably doesn't sound fast, but when you're driving a super car around tight bends it's pretty scary! Anyway the instructor said I was a natural and very good, so there. Next dare devil experience, either flying a light aircarft or a glider!! Watch this space.

A Year in a Motorhome - Week 48 - Lulworth - Durdles Door - Southampton

 

TUESDAY 22 JULY 2015 Week 48

As we approach the last leg of the journey we stopped off at Lulworth. I had been here before, but it was so long ago I'd actually forgotten until we made the visit again and I vaguely remember bits and pieces of that last holiday.

This was the very pretty stable courtyard at Lulworth Castle. I was hoping for a fully furnished functioning castle with lots of rooms on several floors to enjoy, but alas it was an empty shell.

Del's King of the castle, and to look at it from the outside it looks fantastically preserved for a five-hundred-year-old building, but sadly there was a fire in 1929 that spread through the entire building and is now a large empty space inside. The conservationists have made it safe and stopped it from crumbling to the ground, but they have no intentions of restoring it to its former glory. I guess you could say this is now the biggest folly on an English Country Estate. Such a shame.

Ghost story for you though, As I was walking through the castle I stopped by an old staircase and looked up to take some pictures of an arched doorway on the first floor, as I did some plaster came flying through the doorway and landed at my side.... Was it aimed at me? I've never known plaster to fall from a wall in a sideways direction before (especially when there was definitely no one up on the first floor because there is no floor to walk on! Creepy.
There is still a complex network of cellar rooms that are still intact today and as I walked into one room I could smell a musky floral aroma whereas the rest of the cellars just smelt damp and musty!

Enough of Ghosts, here's Durdles door on Lulworth cove. I vaguely remember coming here about fourteen years ago, but I don't recall the steep hills across the headland so arduous a walk before. I think I nearly had a heart attack getting up this hill. In fact, when we reached the bottom again two ambulance drivers were stood around doing nothing, Del jokingly told them they should fit a public defibrillator at the top of the hill. We didn't walk down to the door, we were both too knackered.

Lulworth Cove, where I had an old Geography lesson about Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rock formations... Ah, it brought back memories of my first year at High School flooding back... Anyhoo, the cove didn't always look like this and will continue to change due to the rigours of nature, but as the coastline continues to recede it give up more fossils and its Jurassic history.

And an aerial view of the very pretty, but overcrowded village of Lulworth. I wouldn't have liked to have lived there with all us tourists wandering about all day. Also, this was on the death walk to Durdles Door, I kept stopping to take photos, so I could get my breath back. When we get home in two weeks I'm so joining a gym!

Although we did beat a couple up the hill who were probably ten years younger and a lot thinner than us - the hubby even said, "come on we can't let them beat us," as we over took them, so maybe we're weren't that unfit after all.

We were staying at Park Sead Sandford, great park in a forest. One night we went to a curry house for a meal - The best curry house ever 29029. And that's what it was called 29029! Weird name, but fantastic food. Just thought I'd put that in there.

A chilly, drizzly dismal day, Del looking a bit windswept here, but we are just leaving Southampton docks to spend a week on the Isle of Wight. Such a shame the weather wasn't better, we couldn't even see the land we were docking into at Cowes it was that foggy.

This was the Royal cruise liner docked in Southampton too, it was enormous! I can't really express just how gargantuan this beast of a ship was, but trust me, it was BIG!

To give you some idea of its true size, the black spot on the roof was a full sized outdoor cinema screen, which we could see clearly from our ferry, and if you look closely on the dock there are three HGV lorries with trailers lined up and they just look like specks next to this floating hotel.

We were so impressed, I think I've managed to convince Del to go on a cruise with me someday as it's been my dream since I was a kid. Yay, Canadian Cruise next year me thinks!

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