We survived our camping trip to North East Gothland. The weather was suitably goth (dismal grey and a little wet, with some fairly epic thunderstorms), but the tent managned to turn water ok, and we even all ended up with a bit of a tan. We got onto a few beaches and visited the legendary John Bull Rock factory in "Brid", where we saw where all those boxes of fudge you get with a postcard saying "A gift from Paignton/Dundee/Ulaanbaatar" are packed (no sniggering at the back there please!). They should basically all say "A gift from Bridlington bought in Torquay/Solihull/Jakarta". We also bought a few bags of broken rock of various flavours and sizes, with some quite obvious rejects with "Whatby" or "Crapton on Sea" running right through the middle. On the Friday we visited Goth Central (the oforementioned Whatby) and hung around the Abbey, before decending the steps to eat lots of very large fish and mooch around the strange hippy and goth shops. The one with the photo's of the owner posing with various C-list celebrities - mostly from Emmerdale - was my favourite. Where else could you buy a postcard with Lisa Riley or the barmaid from Heartbeat on it? I was also asked by a nice old lady what a long hollow stick thing was, as she was having an argument with her daughter. I identified it correctly as a digeridoo, and was pleased that, in the crowded shop, I looked like the most hippy person who would know what a digeridoo was. I also proudly declared that I had one at home, but didn't go as far as giving a demonstration. Anyway, we like Whatby!
We also very much enjoyed camping, even with a 10 minute trek to the toilets. This includes the young Ramonians, who after a few initial tears and declaring "I want to go home" when we first got there and had to sit in the hastily put-up tent and shelter from the first thunderstorm, really enjoyed themselves. They soon made friends with some kids from the next door "ring of tents", who told me (in that cheeky forthright 6 year old way) that I looked and sounded like a teenager. I think it was meant to be an insult, but considering the eldest of the young Ramonians thinks that I'm 54, I took it as a compliment. I assume it was because we played games with them, whilst their parents spent time hiding in the car to read the paper and get a bit of "Peace and Quiet" from the kids.
We also discovered, that there was a chip factory quite near, where they may need some help with testing. However, in a bizarre twist of fate relating to an earlier post , it was actually a McCains factory making the more traditional type of chip. Doh!
