A visit to Count Dracula....

"But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog  sprang up on deck from below ... and running forward, jumped from the bow on to the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier ... it disappeared in the darkness."

from Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

Is this the beach where Dracula landed?

Whitby harbour

This quote from Dracula  is actually a description of the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire where I have just returned from a short break with my husband.  Bram Stoker was inspired to write his book whilst staying in Whitby and the town still thrives on its Dracula heritage conducting ‘Dracula Tours’ around the town after dark and hosting a ‘Dracula experience’ attraction. The town is also quite a magnet for Goths who clearly like dressing up for the vampiric occasion particularly at the twice-yearly Goth festivals hosted here.

St Hilda's Abbey

The town is very old and atmospheric. The eastern skyline is dominated by an ancient Abbey (St Hilda's Abbey) which lies behind the church at the top of the hill and dates back to 657 AD. The Abbey fell to Viking attack in 867 and was re-founded in 1078 by a soldier-monk. It was finally destroyed by Henry V111 in 1540 and left to fall into ruin, which is how it remains today.

View of Abbey through the Whale bone arch
(on West Cliff)

Whaling used to be a big industry in Whitby and there used to be several of these whale jawbones around the town, though this is the only one left now. Whaling was introduced to Whitby in 1752 (ceasing in 1850) and the street lights were fuelled by whale oil. Whale bones were used in women's corsets as well as other things!

beach viewed from East Cliff (tide out)

Today Whitby is a tourist magnet, not just for its beauty and history but because of its beautiful unspoilt beach. I was amazed at how quickly the tide came in though. After taking this first photo of the beach from the East Cliff, we walked round to the beach and sat on the sand to read. After about 10 minutes my husband said we'd better move quick. I looked up and the sea was virtually lapping my toes. We headed for the cliff, where I took the second photo and you can see how far the tide has come in. 5 minutes later there was no beach to see!

Beach viewed from West Cliff (tide coming in)

Did I mention that I went on this break with my husband - and not the boys? Yep. We're finally at that stage where we can leave the boys at home alone! This was an experimental break to see how we all coped. At 16 and nearly 18 we decided they were ready to fend for themselves for a few days. We chose term time because we knew they would have a structured day at school and be kept busy.

They coped fine - even walking all the way to karate class one evening, what more can you ask?

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Karate Party

My karate club held an early Xmas party on Saturday in a small, local brewery. Yes, that's right, we had a p---up in a brewery! Adults only of course.

This is the second year running we've held our xmas party at this venue. Lucky for us the brewery (The Sheffield Brewery Co. Ltd) is part owned by one of our club members so we are always made to feel welcome. The bash included a pie and pea supper, beer on tap (wine for non-beer drinkers - not sure what tee-totallers had!) as well as a tour of the brewery, which is quite fascinating when you've no idea how beer is brewed - it's quite a scientific process really. Of course an evening like this is not complete without the proverbial pub quiz, with prizes - packets of crisps and pork scratchings of course!

The above picture shows my instructor Steve Hegarty pulling a pint with the owners of the brewery - he doesn't do all that training just to throw punches! The guy in the middle at the back is Pete - one of our karate members.

This is the karate girls! Katrine, Lucy and me









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As you can see the brewery is an interesting building - that's a beer cask in the background.


















More guests













Instructor Steve with our assistant instructor Paul Seamer







The Sheffield Brewery Company brews 10 beers currently and supplies both local and national pubs. It can be booked out for private parties, see it's website for more details: The Sheffield Brewery Company.




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Guy Fawkes Night - November 5th

Guy Fawkes Night or, more commonly, Bonfire Night is an annual British custom held on the evening of November 5th to celebrate the thwarting of the 'gunpowder plot' - an act of treason against the British government in 1605 by Guy Fawkes and his catholic co-conspirators whereby they attempted to blow up the Houses of parliament with barrels of gunpowder secretly placed in the cellars. They were caught, tried and executed using the particularly nasty method referred to as 'hanged, drawn and quartered' to reflect the particularly serious crime of treason.

In the UK, particularly in England the 5th of November is still commemorated each year with fireworks and bonfires culminating with the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes (the guy). The 'guys' are made by children by filling old clothes with crumpled newspapers to look like a man. Tradition allows British children to display their 'guys' to passers-by and asking for " A penny for the guy".

This video outlines the Guy Fawkes tradition (it's designed for 'English as a foreign language' students - so bear with it!)

The tradition and the 'Remember, remember' rhyme serves as a warning to each new generation that treason will never be forgotten.

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

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