1919 Three nights by the Leeds and Bradford Airport

I am in a room at the Bradford Leeds Airport Travel Lodge having watched the gut wrenching first episode of Five Daughters, a series of three interconnected dramas based on the killing of five young prostitutes in Suffolk in 2006, all of whom were also dependent on illegal drug use. I had intended to watch the second on the BBC i player and then the final live on the Television. Sometimes I cannot cope with more than one sad, tragic and sickening event, real to the parents, brothers and sisters, friends and the local community where they lived.

At the front of the Travel Lodge it is possible to see and planes taking off or landing at the airport, just across the roadway. yet from my open window at the rear of the building there is occasional sound of traffic on the main road from Leeds to Harrogate, and silence as soon as it is closed as the evening cools and dusk descends across the green farmland across a valley with not a dwelling in view.

I had no idea the location would be so good when I booked up in December to attend the Championship cricket game at the Yorkshire County ground Headingley and worked out that this was the nearest lodge at the amazing cost of £29 for the three nights.

The day went well until Yorkshire won the toss.

I decided not to set the alarm and trust that when I woke for the second time it would be around dawn between 5 and 7 am. It was just before 5 so after making myself comfortable I returned to bed and relaxed for just over half an hour before rising and completing preparations commenced the previous evening. Monday had been a solid working day in which the kitchen was given a great clean after its use for repairing and redecorating the garage and patio area, then the day room floor and surfaces, while the washing and drying was taking place. Late afternoon I called in at Azda for ‘pain au chocolate’ breakfasts and Danish pastries plus another tub of coleslaw, Milano salami and liquorice twists. At filling up the petrol tank at 118 pence a litre, a horrendous price, I called in at Morrison’s with my £5 voucher from using the supermarket petrol station and bought grapes, two melons and coffee, putting the extra on the credit card. After making up the sandwiches for the day and slicing a cucumber for picnic meals over the following three days, I enjoyed a bacon steak in a sesame seed bun. Later I was too look in the mirror and it was not the size of my tum which shocked but the double chin. I have become so different what I had always anticipated.

There was time to play a few rounds of Mahjong before packing the car and making a thermos of coffee.

I set off a little later that intended, just after eight arriving outside the cricket ground just after ten after an eventless journey in partial sunshine. I knew from previous experience it was wise to arrive between 9.30 and 10 to be sure of parking close to the ground and with relief I secured a place within a few metres of the Headingley entrance which remained a building site as the finishing touches were being put on the new Carnegie Pavilion and University teaching complex about six storeys high in a not unpleasant green and with a solar panel multi arched roof. I remain to be convinced of the building design or how it fits into the already makeshift of cricket ground after the Yorkshire members refused to move to a new ground on a Greenfield site outside the city boundaries.

Before the weekend Nicholas Clegg, or should I say David Cameron mark II, was being pressed by the media commentators to say who he would support and not support in the event of the increasingly likely unbalanced House of Commons, unbalanced because the number of seats for the Liberal democrats will not reflect the percentage of the popular vote.

He then said what everyone else had been saying that a continuing Labour Government who came last in the popular vote but held the greatest number of seats was not democratic and as a Liberal Democrat he would not support. This increased speculation that if Gordon Brown made way for someone else he might be able to do a deal but as was also pointed out the Lib Dems have been able to join with the Tories in running several councils to keep Labour out. The big issue was electoral reform and David Cameron Change Man mark I said he did support first past the post, well Turkey’s do not vote for Christmas or Thanks Giving, do they?

This led the politicians and the some media to accuse Change Man mark II of being arrogant and assuming how the public would vote. As soon as one media follows one track the rest follow like bleating sheep, unscrupulous and dishonest and living in their own curious world cut off from everyone else who on the whole is keeping their own Council until they are able to deliver what they hope is a coup de grass.

The continuation of the Lib Dem surge of over 10 percentage points is the problem. If the pollster employed by already politically committed newspapers and media organisations to the two party system of confrontational government and opposition are still admitting the Lib Dem surge than it can be assume it is greater than the figures being shown. Remember the first indication was a Twitter leak of the actual results which where they “corrected,” by increasing the number of don’t knows. All the subsequent polls admit the results are within a 5% margin of error and have between 8 to 10% undecided. This means that if the Lib Dems gained a swing of 10% to them after one broadcast they can pick up another 10% or more with the final broadcast and the last few days when it will be difficult for the Pollsters and media to sustain presenting a false position because of the discredit which will follow when the actual result is shown to be significantly different from what they are showing. No one is now likely to switch to Labour or Tories who was not previously committed and likelihood is that the hard core vote will swing to Cameron Mark II in order to punish the two main parties who they feel are responsible for our economic situation and genuine dissatisfaction with the political state. The media and the pundits got it run in the lead up to the broadcasts and therefore nothing they say since means anything until the final broadcast and people make up their minds over the weekend.

Time is also running out for my review of the Party political manifesto’s with over 150 pages to go of the Tory and Labour works of aspiration.

Starting with the Tory Change society section they mention that Carers provide some £87 billion ongoing free service, a sum twice that is immediately required to deal with the Banker’s debt. As previously mentioned the great new Tory idea is that those who are not already caring for individuals should care in the form of national and other services for everyone else. In my view this will cover for the reduction in public expenditure and which in turn will alter the balance between the public and private sector in the economy without any dramatic increase in commercial activity.
The other associated approach is to ensure that fewer people become dependent on NHS paid for drugs and care by insisting no one smokes, drinks or eats too well. This seems to me to construct the model citizen of the future as someone who will work longer and harder, use the majority of any free time in providing personal care and other good works, and stops drinking, smoking and over eating thus closing more pubs, tobacco manufacturing and junk food restaurants, reducing supermarket profits and staffing levels. It will be OK to spend more money on profit making entertainments though.

On a more serious note there is broad agreement to make doctors earn their money by providing a round the clock service and for doctors and nurses to stop killing those who enter hospital by reducing the amount of secondary infections.

The Conservative’s big idea on education is to encourage people to set up their own schools independently of local authority education departments. This might happen in a few areas where there are lots of stay at home parents whose other partner is earning sufficiently to enable them not to have to earn a living themselves. There is a plan to raise teaching standards which we all agree is a worthwhile objective but without overall increasing education expenditure will inevitably lead to larger class sizes in the short terms in order to pay existing teachers more and to attract new recruits. There is also a plan to convert soldiers into teachers and improve discipline in schools as a consequence. This sounds similar to the Hitler Youth and the Young Communist league programmes no less.

The Manifesto is full of contradictions having emphasised the need to encourage voluntarism, independence and deregulation the Tories want to improve quality against quantity and direct the teaching day into certain areas such as English, Maths Sciences and History, introducing a minimum standard reading test at the age of six. Yet if parents do not embrace the Big Society idea, who else will promote and effectively influence the young if is not primary and secondary teachers?

The Tory Party used to be party for law and order which tended to mean official covering up when things went wrong. Their main aim during the present election campaign is to show that crimes of violence have increased although the national crime figures do not bear this out, so they then resort to quoting individual examples from recent history of knife crime in particular, saying that the carrying of a knife should result in the presumption of a custodial sentence thus further removing the independence of the courts and filling up the increasingly ineffective prisons.

The contradiction is their subsequent statement of wanting to give the police greater discretion in who is charged and who is not and processing criminals more quickly by video linking to custody cells and courts. They are also suggesting that town and city centres have got worse on weekends when in fact no go areas for oldies were first created in the 1980’s, after youngsters brought back their two week annual holidays in Spain of drugs drinks and sex to the cold dark winter nights. The small amount of attention given to crime in all the manifesto’s indicates that this is not one of the key subjects in this election, except conspiracy among Members of Parliament to misuse their expenses while asking everyone else to accept cuts in their living standards.

The manifesto criticises the government’s decision to early release some prisoners because of severe overcrowding which had resulted being unable to focus on rehabilitation with the consequence that an increasing number of people re-offend within a short time of release up to over 90% from 25% in the early 1960’s, in part by filling up the prisons with drug addicts and mentally ill people. It costs over £150000 a year for a young offender to be looked after in a custodial centre and where there is no evidence that doing so prevents them from continuing to offend after they are released.

I can find very little about the creative arts in any of the manifestos but the Conservatives do praise Brighton as a creative and diverse city with 50 festivals year. Brighton is likely to send the first Green Party member to the House of Common this election which is why the traditional parties may not in fact be so keen on the creative arts, in fact.

The Conservatives will introduce a new agenda for Politics in the UK while remaining opposed to any change to the electoral system of first past the post which results in governments holding office with under fifty percent of the total votes cast and in this election under 40% as things stand. They want to take power away from the political elite yet the manifesto is full of a different set of targets and priorities so what is the point of the Tory Party or any other political party if is not to insist that its policies and programmes are put into practice by making even more laws than before? The Conservatives want to restore confidence in politics after is has been tarnished and broken, but who by? They want more transparency yet did not object to information on expenses being censored. I know I am being unfair but contemporary politics is about half truths and misrepresentations. A large number of voters are full of prejudices and bigotry but what happens t any politicians who calls it as it is?

I do like the idea of pubic hearings for the appointment of heads of advisory bodies and I am in favour of restricting their number to technical expertise and bodies which require political impartiality.

The Manifesto does admit that its last government was primarily responsible for dramatically reducing the powers of local government and centralizing power within individual authorities. I supported the idea of a City boss for London and would also support for Greater Manchester and Birmingham but I am less sure of Merseyside, Tyneside and Leeds unless it was in effect a sub regional elected controller but this would reintroduce a new tier of government in these areas. Having lost control of Newcastle the Tory plan suggests an attempt to gain power back, if it works for them in Tyneside as it has in London.

I fully support Tory proposals to cut back on the surveillance, particularly on the powers of local authorities. There is a commitment on having a free vote on repeal of the act banning Fox Hunting

In a section Strengthening the Union, The Manifesto declares that it does not oppose the proposed referendum on giving more powers to the Welsh Assembly. I support measures to also deal with the West Lothian Question. This will involve measures to ensure that only Members of Parliament for England and Wales vote on domestic matters excluding those from Scotland and Ireland.

I am puzzled by the section of the environment which appears to face in opposite directions at the same time. The document recognises the need for a greater emphasis on environmental protection but is not favour of retaining or extending enforcement measures.

The section on National defence and the role of the UK in the world supports the continuation of the Trident Missile system but supports strategic defence review which by implication means cutbacks in other areas which are not involved in combat situations. Labour has the same approach. This I suspect means the focus will be on cutting back on the navy and airforce hierarchy excluding helicopters, and also on some ships and aircraft.

The Manifesto leaves its most controversial subject until the end, Europe. On one hand Party Members remain anti European, and the Party is unable to join with other mainstream Conservatives parties such as those presently running France and Germany and instead allied itself with some curious parties some with fascist views. The basic problem is within the Party, The likely outcome is that disaffected Tories will vote for the United Kingdom Independence Party and Labour the National Front with in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland those of similar positioning will vote for the respective nationalist parties. So there is not much in the Manifesto that appeals although I admire Mr Cameron for the changes he has made and is making in those could well form the next Government although he appears to have mortgaged what he will do because of the Banker’s betrayal and what is in the Manifesto in order to retain its hard core of membership and its main financial backers.

1421 An integrated Transport system and Duffy

I am a dreamer, the Welsh singer Duffy concluded her performance at Glastonbury which I enjoyed this afternoon as The sun shone intensely on one of the warmest days of the summer this year as I scanned photos onto the computer. I gave the plants and myself a mid afternoon drink of water. Her voice is not clear and there is no wow factor about her performance but she is very enjoyable to listen to, over and over again. This was also my reaction to The Editors. but I only lasted for two numbers with the Raconteurs. I enjoyed the Verve but headliners? MGMT I cannot remember anything.

Last night I was in the midst of writing about the bridges over the River Tyne when I ran into an AOL problem before being able to copy the work. One reason why the writing had taken so long is that I had progressed from explaining the position of the River and its bridges as part of a transport system unequalled anywhere in the UK and which is a brilliant example five local authorities getting together in consultation with the County Councils and the Transport bodies and central Government to achieve a comprehensive integrated systems of roads, rail and bus in an area where there are two major rivers.

The North East is vast area with a population of under two million concentrated around the banks of three rivers, the Tyne, the Wear and the Tees. Once these were important means of transport for passengers as well as goods. Now while they remain ports and undertake ship and oil rig repair work they are navigated up river only for recreation.
Their are two motor way routes to London as far as Leeds, the M1 and the A1 and then they become one roadway to the east of Leeds. The original route, the A1 continues from London to the West of Leeds where it is bisected by the East West Motorway from Hull to Liverpool, the M62. The main London to Leeds motorway the M1 used to end just before the city, but now its skirt eastward to connect with the A1 to form the A1M which continues into Newcastle with a number of fast roads linking to Sunderland and a main spur onto South Shields. The Newcastle road continues across what is the seventh of the bridges across the Tyne to within the inner city area of Newcastle. This is the route for travelling football supporters from Durham and further afield to the Newcastle Football stadium. It is also the route for those wanting to attend the Metro Arena for large indoor popular music concerts, Ice Hockey and Basket ball games.

In North Yorkshire it is possible to take a road to Teesside which becomes the A19 from York and which then continues to one side of Sunderland, and then to Bolden South Tyneside where there is a link dual carriage way to the end of the Shields spur of the A1M. This A19 road continues to Jarrow and the roadway tunnel under the Tyne and where north of Newcastle it joins in the A1 to continue along the North East coast to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Work has commenced on a second tunnel under the river at Jarrow through to North Tyneside such is the congestion during rush hours. This will encourage the flow of cars to and from work on both sides of Tyne and of goods vehicles to and from Scotland. There is also a pedestrian and cycle tunnel from Jarrow to North Tyneside previously used for workers in the shipyards and other industrial concerns on both sides of the Tyne, but is now more of a cycle way. These tunnels and the passenger and cycle ferry is the only way to cross the river without travelling the thirteen miles into Newcastle. There was a plan once to create a bridge but the decision was to build the tunnel.

While there is only one direct railway line between London and Scotland on the East coast there are two mainline railway bridges over the Tyne within the central area of Newcastle. One is dedicated just to the railway while the second is a double decker bridge with the railway on the top deck and a recently reopened lower deck only to pedestrians and cyclists, although until its closure for extensive repairs it was also a road bridge with access to the mail railway station. Because there are two mainline railway bridges this means the line is not affected if one the bridge has to close. It is an hour by train from Newcastle to York or Edinburgh. The are also trains going West to Hexham and Carlisle, and a local service to Sunderland and Middlesbrough and o ward to Whitby and Scarborough on the North Yorkshire Coast. The are mainline line trains from Newcastle to Birmingham and the West Country and to Manchester and Liverpool

Within the past decade a new local train service has been created, using some existing tracks, some older unused lines and some new ones and going underground into the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland. There is now one Metro service from Sunderland which includes the university and the bus and train Interchange station, to Hewarth Gateshead where there is the second Interchange station, to central Gateshead, the third Interchange station and then to the Haymarket in Newcastle where close by is the new central bus station, with a separate coach station close to the railway station which is also on the same Metro line and which then continues into Northumberland where there is Newcastle Airport. Thus it is possible to travel from Sunderland to the airport by one train and from Newcastle central station either by a standard train or the new metro trains or to the airport. The mainline train from Sunderland now only stops at Hewarth and Newcastle before going on to the Metro centre Gateshead, the largest indoor and out door shopping complex in Europe. There are 31 stations on the route from South Hylton, Sunderland to the Airport.

The second Metro route begins at South Shields, a short walk from my house where the old railway station building is now used for a Women's health project and a shopping mobility centre as well as the base for Station Taxis. The new Metro station is over the main shopping roadway where on a parallel road there is the Interchange bus and coach station. There is one coach service from Newcastle to Sunderland and onto London Victoria and one from South Shields to Sunderland and onto London Victoria. There used to be a second Newcastle to London Coach operator where the coach stopped at the Washington Service station for those who wished to join from Sunderland and which I used for the first Live Aid Concert, when assistants were self employed and sold sandwiches and drinks and could make £400 a week if they made the sandwiches themselves rather than buy in to resell for a smaller profit.

The South Shields Metro route connects with the South Tyneside Tyne River towns of Jarrow and Hebburn before connecting up with the Sunderland track into central Gateshead and then Central Station Newcastle where the train then takes a loop first going North along the same track to the airport past Haymarket and Jesmond but then goes East towards the coast to Whitley Bay, then comes back down the coast to Tynemouth and then follows the north bank of the River Tyne to North Shields for the passenger and cycle ferry to South Shields and continues back to Newcastle city centre, finishing at the St James Park Football stadium. The is a total of 42 stations on this line. It also means that there two sets of Metro trains travelling the 12 stations from Pelaw to South Gosforth, that is eight an hour. In order to accommodate this flow of trains some 24 an hour in both directions a new Metro railway bridge was built and which has also become a coloured light artwork for the rest of is decade. Soft floodlighting has been built into the bridge frame work and which is computer controlled and can switch colours according to the notation of music.
There are two more bridges across the city from Gateshead. The first is the low swing bridge which swivels on a central axis to allow vessels to pass on either side. This bridge leads directly on to the Quayside, originally this meant only the Newcastle Quayside where there are restaurants, bars, pubs and night clubs as well as hotels and the new Law Courts. Now it is used for those wishing to go to the Gateshead Quayside where there is the Sage International Concert Halls and the Baltic Contemporary arts centre as well as the shortly to close nightclub ship and a few restaurants and the new Gateshead College complex and new blocks of contemporary flats. Then there is the fantastic Millennium bridge go connect the Law Courts area where there are also bars and hotels to Baltic Contemporary Arts centre and the new contemporary flat developments. The Bridge rather looks like an eye and has separate lanes for pedestrians and cyclists which pedestrians tend to ignore and the whole structure swivels and moves upwards into the sky and is worth a visit into Newcastle just to see this happen. It is also floodlit in many colours at night. So that it was there are seven bridges in the city area. The Millennium, the main road bridge, the Tyne Bridge, the Swing bridge, the combined rail and now pedestrian bridge, the High Level bridge, the Metro Bridge, The Railway Bridge and the new Redheugh Road Bridge.

A little way further west there is also another important Bridge, This caries the A1 in a circular designed bypassing both Gateshead and Newcastle city centre and then swinging west across the top of the city to join with the A19 along the North East Coast to Edinburgh. This bridge road also goes west to Hexham and Carlisle and north to the airport. There is a spur to the Metro shopping centre and to the Scotswood bridge which connects the river banks, so technically there are ten bridges between the administrative local authority areas of Newcastle and Gateshead, as a little way up river there is also the Newburn Bridge.

I nearly forget to mention that yesterday I also viewed the ludicrous film the Matador. This stars Pierce Brosnan as a burnt out assassin who turns up in the middle of the night to the only man who he thinks might help him out of his predicament as helping him to kill his employer who has decided that he is expendable and should be exterminated and which is an appropriate conclusion to an a cold blooded mercenary murderer. The first of many ludicrous propositions is that this man will drop everything to fly across America to help him undertake this last killing. Brosnan attempts to act by making fun of his role as James Bond. I compared the couple and their decorated home for Christmas, having survived a tree crushing into the their house six months earlier, with Kevin Spacey and his wife in American Beauty as both films ridicule the values of small town U.S.A. I did not find the film funny or having any serious point despite being been cut from 140 minutes to under 100 and going to the trouble to create scenes from Vienna, Las Vegas, Moscow, Sydney, Budapest, Tuscon and Manila during their 40 day shoot in Mexico City. I was reminded how good the cinema can be as The Lord of Rings, voted the greatest block buster of all time in a Chanel 5 compilation and the ET was also up their at the top along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was also reminded of the McEnroe comment, You can't be serious. The actors are obviously very good actors because of the serious way in which they spoke were about the class of the director during commentaries included on the DVD.

It was a great day for Durham Cricket Club because they beat the present leaders of the Championship in less than three of the four days off the match at Headingley, gaining 20 points against the 3 of Yorkshire. They now have the same points as Yorkshire with a match in hand and are therefore placed top although there are three other counties also within a few points. There is the prospect of Durham winning all four competitions, the prestigious County Championship for the first time, winning the Friends Provident 50 over one day game for the second year in succession, the 20 20 competition where they had the worst record of all eighteen counties and the 40 over one day event where they won the second division title last year.

1413 Sunday lunch in Headingley with County CrickeH

I had a good night at Travel Lodge located at the former junction between the A1 and the M62. I say former junction because the A1 now continues directly to the M62 or A1 without needing to get off at the roundabout and to reach service station it is necessary to join the M62 towards Hull and then take a slip road to the service station and Travel Lodge. Travelling towards Leeds it was more straightforward. Booking in at the Travel Lodges is also much easier these day as having paid in advance it is only necessary to provide name and address and then the vehicle number and where it is parked without having to fill in or sign any forms. I had had to pay more for this night as there were no £9's available in the area for the Saturday. The price £19.

I did some writing up and attempted to log on to the Wifi internet but without success and creating problems logging on my return. I also had a good night as I do not remember having to get up during the night until the early morning after which I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours. I felt good after a cup of coffee and did some writing until ten am before giving myself a good all over wash, shave and hair tidy. I then set off towards Leeds discovering winds gusting at over 50 miles an hour. It was a very uncomfortable drive and I was glad there had not been need to drive from Hull. I left the motorway at the first opportunity which was the Rothwell Wakefield junction. I lived in Rothwell 1970 1971 when working the year for the West Riding of Yorkshire Children's before the first of the great reorganisations. (According to the rules I have set myself, writing about why the stay was so short will be limited as well as commenting in public what I found when I commenced the appointment. It helps that the local authority has been abolished and key individuals are no longer alive but there are necessary restraints on what can and should be disclosed in public although I found a way of drawing to the attention of officialdom certain things at the time). I have visited the outside of the house where I lived. It was a detached house and surrounded on all sides by a rhubarb field. The double garage had a inspection pit! When I visited a few years ago, it had a modern make over and looked fabulous and I guess cost significantly more than the £5000 paid, £350000 and not a penny less I wager.

The drive therefore between Rothwell and Leeds was familiar although my weekday journey had been in the opposite direction towards Wakefield. The departure to Cheshire might not have taken placed had I not signed a contract with them on the day of my interview for my next position as within days of doing so I was short listed for the position of Director of Social Services at Dewsbury which I was told I was to have been appointed because the new Committee Chairman had got to know and like me through my role in child care although I did not know any of this until later. I was also short listed at South Shields. While I did think about these things on my journey into Leeds, it was fleetingly as the wind was still strong and I needed to join the cross city motorway. I came off too early and ended going close to the city station before going westwards along a road unknown to me where there were some interesting new buildings. Some offices had been created in stone designs which fitted into the Victorian character of the old Leeds city centre. There was also some very contemporary structures including a major tower building which I was only able to view in the distance. In the area of the direction of travel was the Leeds international standard swimming pool, yet another sprouting up in the north in an attempt to develop one of our Olympic strength sports still further.

I then saw a sign towards Headingley but became hopelessly lost in the area for a while as it is full of Victorian leafy middle class villas in large grounds although the properties close to the Kirkstall Lane End are very different. However I am getting ahead of myself. Coming off the motorway I had been hungry and regretted that I did not make a flask of coffee using the coffee, milk and sugar provided in the Travel Lodge rooms. I pulled into a parking areas and eat the prawn sandwich bought for such a situation, but left a banana, the last Eccles cake and opening a carton of dried figures until later. Arriving in Headingley I headed for where I parked the vehicle in the past when approached from the A1M into North Leeds and then across the northern part of the city using the ring road to the junction with Harrogate and then take a road passing through Meanwood and stopping just before the Leeds Skipton Road and the Headingley suburban shopping centre which as a local community village atmosphere. Here there are large properties in substantial grounds leaving plenty of room to park if one is early enough.

It is then a short walk to the main road and along past the Arndale Shopping precinct. This is just a long row of shops with a car park above and a major business House several stories in Height which is unusual for the neighbourhood and everywhere else is the normal two storey shops and businesses. The shops continue at a junction towards the cricket ground complex with the Rugby ground not just adjacent but the main Cricket Stand is back to back with a Rugby stand. In the immediate neighbourhood of the cricket ground and shopping area are back to back tenements three and four storey buildings which have become multioccupational units used by students at the two universities and by young professionals and officer workers. This is reflected in the mixture of inexpensive cafes and trendy bars intermingled with shopping facilities for the rest of the population. It was sometime before the ground opened at 12.30 with the game starting at 2.30, so I went to find somewhere for an early Sunday lunch and quickly found the ideal facility. A pub restaurant proudly offering a choice of main courses for £2.99. There was a small public access car park available during the day time but on the wrong side of the road for a quick get away but there were a few car parking spaces available on the main road opposite. I therefore decided to return to my vehicle and bring it to this location.

In order to park in the right direction I tool the first right turn and only after doing so realised it was one way so had to continue on, taking the first left and then the first right and bingo I was in a street with the cricket ground entrance immediately ahead and there were parking spaces available. Fortune favours the explorer. Taking a notebook and two pens but leaving everything else I set off for lunch. The establishment whose name I forgot to note appears to cater for students and their parents when visiting as was the instance in the tables around me. There were large video screens playing music and also silent Sky sports channel TV's. Although ordering at the bar, the tables were unnumbered so one had to indicate where one was sitting and handed eating utensils and a small bucket full of sauces and condiments. The menu was extensive and reasonably price with a roast Sunday lunch and an unspecified drink for less than £5. I fancied three sausages on a mound of mash potato and onion gravy for £2.99 and some orange juice where the standard offering was a reasonable 99p but a full pint with ice and a chunk of fresh orange just £1.50, making the whole meal also under £5.

In such a situation one cannot but help overhear surrounding conversations and a girl was telling a parent the virtues of a Travel Lodge where rooms were only £50. I resisted the temptation to mention about my £9 a night rooms! Given this self restraint I should have been rewarded by the pens working, but although one did, it stopped within a half a page of note making. I decided to change plans and after enjoying the food and drink set off back to the car but beforehand found a we are never closed have everything store, where I bought four pens in a pack for 99 pence. The weather at this time was unpromising, with rain bearing clouds constantly overhead but because of the wind they were being driven incessantly away revealing occasional bursts of sunshine.

I decided I needed the toilet and a coffee so made my way to the entrance where there are traditional turnstile entry points mainly for Members but one headed adults and the other concessions , which raised the question of which was used if buying a family ticket! I paid £10 and was delighted that unlike at Durham the ticket was open for the whole ground except for Members areas, although as a Durham member I could also use and Member facilities in general, although not appropriate for partisan one day games. I selected a seat midway between wickets on the side nearest to the wicket and half way up or down the stand so that there was some protection from continuing fierce wind. I was also able to get an end of aisle seat and parking my shoulder bag went off to the gents and then for a good cup of coffee at £1.50 the price I pay for a packet of Coffee at the supermarket!

The Headingley ground has changed considerably over the years. For Test Matches I would book tickets at the Winter shed top tier, a stand over looking the wicket. There was lower level seating and then some hospitality boxes and then the main area of stand under which there was an under cover refreshment area also useful if the weather was poor. At some point in the eighties corporate business took to cricket and the stand appeared to fill up with business parties with guests provided picnic hampers and what appeared to been continuous and unlimited wine and beer. The atmosphere became very lively as the day progressed and predominantly masculine and competitive. The visits to watch Durham play at the Yorkshire County Ground in the 1990's were much more enjoyable as there was room to spread and visitors to the ground were welcomed by the local members where we could chat about respective misfortunes. Yorkshire failed to get back to its former glory days when it competed for the top honours with Middlesex and Surrey, and rival Lancashire for the annual battles of the red and white roses. The reason for this was the commendable policy of only allowing players who were born in Yorkshire to play for the County.

There was then a great improvement with new banked stand the side length of one side of the ground and then an all singing and dancing electronic and now digital scoreboard. From this stand one could look over to the players' pavilion, a free standing two storey building opposite and then in the corner there was building outside ground with seats on a veranda with good views into the playing area. Sometimes on the other side of the scoreboard a tall temporary four storey structure would be created to provide hospitality boxes for the Test Match. Now the player's pavilion had made way for a new stand which obscures the view from outside the ground and there is a permanent structure of similar dimensions for hospitality. At one point there had been a plan to create a new ground on the outskirts of the city as there was for Leeds football with sites selected and planning permission obtained. In relation to the cricket the Membership were opposed so the plan was dropped and a new sponsor found hence the renaming as Headingley Carnegie.

There has not been great rivalry between Durham and Yorkshire Members until thee last couple of years when Martyn Moxon the Director of Cricket at Durham was able to return to Yorkshire as their Director mid season. There was no animosity as it was recognised he had been responsible for the great turn around in the performances of the team. Geoff Cook who had has been with Durham for sometime and was number two took over and immediately capitalised on the work undertaken by Martyn resulting in the first piece of major silverware, closely followed by the second. I was therefore surprised by the partisanship shown by the Yorkshire supporters during the afternoon and which was very one sided as there were only a handful of Durham supporters who decided discretion was the best approach, although one young lad close to me could not contain his enthusiasm much to the horror of his parents.

The game was an extraordinary one in that it was a closely fought contest between two well matched teams. Yorkshire has the English Captain Michael Vaughan, destined for a knighthood when he retires, the Yorkshire and cricket fanatic Darren Gough and fast bowler Matthew Hoggard while Durham had Shaun Pollock who was a major figure of interest for the crowd… he has 300 test wickets told one dad to his son and Steve Harmison received a mixed reaction because of erratic performances for England in the past. This was an important match because either team winning would head the table in a division where four of six teams were competing hard for the two definite places and the one of three likely place in the last eight knock out competition. Durham bowled well enough but there were too many extras and silly fielding mistakes. Steve got four wickets although his final figures were misleading because three of the wickets were in the last over and players went for big hits to increase the final tall which was a respectable 169 for 7.

This seemed inadequate as Durham raced to 50 for no wicket at 10 runs an over and then they fell apart to a mixture of excellent bowling especially from Malcolm Pryrah whose 4 for 20 was exceptional and some poor shot choices especially from Morkel, Blenkenstein and Pollock. The game swung decidedly in favour of Yorkshire with 14 runs required to win in the final over. A four and a two raised hopes but a single in the penultimate ball dashed spirits as a six was needed to tie the game. Breese whose six had won the quarter final in the Friends Provident did it again as his hit clattered the boundary board for six It was one point each and Durham remained at the top.

During the game I was distracted by a battle which developed between the crowd safety stewards, children autograph seekers and the players on both sides. The players wanted to cooperate and in fairness they told the children to stay below the safety boards during play and indicated they had time to sign one autograph if they were not involved in play such as when a four was hits in other parts of the ground or between overs, However the children realising that there were more of them than signing opportunity were anxious not to miss out and ignored the requests of Stewards and players and were told to move away roughly every two overs only to return, sometimes in greater number. I blame the club for not making clear the position over the public address system and the parents who could see what was happening and did nothing to discourage the children or assist them.

I left the ground and was in my car and away in twinkling and having decided to return home and not take up the booked place in the city centre. I made my way to the ring road but decided against the Harrogate route and continued to join the A1 at Wetherby which has been extended to three lanes. I decided to try for a sandwich and a drink at Scots Corner and came off the motor way but missed the turning went round again and took the wrong turning and ended back on the A1M again without making the stop. I therefore continued to Durham City Motorway services which is to one side of the road way enabling traffic in both directions to use and which now boasts free Wifi but a penalty if you stay for more than two hours. It was here I came face to face with the full cost of the rise in fuel and food. A pot of coffee was £2.25, a sandwich £3 and over. A fast food selection was similar at £5 for a burger, chips and drink. I held my breath and continued home. It had been a good day and mini break.

1412 Hull, a short visit in the rain

I first visited Kingston upon Hull in 1961 having walked from Liverpool and have no memory of the reception we received in the city centre or where the march terminated. However, I and another marcher, were accommodated by a University Lecturer and his wife and family at their home at Cottingham and my memory is that because my companion was a vegan, a Cheese soufflé had been prepared which for some reason I did not fancy, so some pieces of cold ham were produced while the other marcher consumed my portion of the soufflé together with his own. I had a good night's sleep in a bed after a bath and ten days sleeping on the floors of halls.

It was then a decade before I returned, this occasion representing Cheshire County Council on the North Region Association for the Blind or the deaf, a body mainly attended by Councillors but where Cheshire had decided to send an officer. I had stayed overnight in the city and remember thinking it was a drab town much affected by World War II and the subsequent decline in economic fortunes. I commenced to make visits to the city from around 1993 and have visited the city centre and some of its suburbs for the last decade and a half although it is some three years since my list visit and what changes I was to experience!

I could have made the visit from South Cave as there are hourly buses but I only found this out later. I therefore made my way to Beverley by car where the town was full with the Saturday Market and a Folk festival and the first hints of the rain which had been forecast. Unfortunately a shower developed as I reached the bus station where the stop for Hull was not protected so I had use an umbrella. Before my bus one of the same number but going in the opposite direction arrived going on to Scarborough and I was tempted to change plans. Being third in the queue I was able to get a front seat and therefore had an excellent view throughout the journey, with part of the way out of Beverley and into Hull familiar. The route into Hull has a run down feel, full of rented accommodation much used by students sharing properties and making use of the various pubs, cafes and contemporary type bars mingling with local community shops and businesses. The Older University is spread to the west of the City at Cottingham where there a first year campus and halls of residents and where there are good pubs in the village including one where a traditional jazz band played once a week. It is only a short bus ride to the principal University Campus of buildings. The City is also home the University of Humberside created from the former Technology and Further Education colleges. It is a large city over eight times the size of Beverley and similar to Newcastle and Sunderland with large areas of riverside, and as with South Shields and the other Tyne and Wear authorities high levels of social deprivation developed in the 1970 making several generation dependent on community benefits. For Hull this was the second period of social distress for the majority of the population as it had been the most damaged city outside of London in the UK with 95% of properties damaged and much of the city centre. 192000 people were made homeless out of a wartime population of 320000 which indicates something of the scale of the devastation and why the city was subsequently rebuilt with tree lines walkways, some pedestrianised and with plenty of public seating areas, and why it has also proved possible to make major improvements over the past decade as the economy of Britain became stable and developed at a faster rate than the rest of Europe, perhaps with the exception of Eire. It also helped to have a key figure of the Blair administration as an Member of Parliament for the city, John Prescott.

When I commenced to visit Hull on a regular basis in the 1990's I was impressed by the indoor shopping facilities. The Prospect centre is a solid building tucked away between some impressive post war department store buildings notably the British Homes Stores building, the House of Fraser, Debenhams and the more recent chain of T J Hughes and where there is also the Central Library and a large Woolworths. Inside the Prospect centre ground floor has no architectural features and is simply functional but it also has a sweeping series of escalators which were under repair on this visit and with the lift out of order I decided against the stairway, hoping that I could find the photos from a visit made some three years ago. Because photos take so much space on computers I have been good at making copies to disks, but failed miserably to keep a proper record and index, so that after an hour's searching I was unable to locate those from the previous visit. I will check again.
I arrived at the new bus station which has been added to the railway station since my last visit. There are 38 bays in constant use and four coach bays. Unusually all the bays are on line with passengers only being able to reach a bus through controlled doors, thus eliminating accidents which would be the situation given the frequency of services and the brief space between bus when they are alongside each other. Large monitors announce the departure using two pages but usually only covering the next ten to fifteen minutes of services such is the volume of use. I was able to make a good study of the operation of the terminal as although there are four different scheduled services from Hull to Beverley, I had to wait nearly an hour as one service never appeared and two others had just been missed. There was no explanation given for the non appearance and I gained the impression that because each bay was is in constant use drivers are required rigidly adhere to time tables an air. One mother door way just after it has been closed and the driver did not reopen and similarly in one fairly rural spot two young women turned a corner and came rushing towards the bus but the drive moved off leaving them there, with a limited shelter from the driving rain for what, I assumed was to have been another half hour. I appreciate these were just two examples but at Beverley although there was quite a queue in the increasing rain the departing male driver continued to chat with the attractive female new driver for longer than was desirable in the circumstances. I just had the feeling this was a comprehensive and modern service system which did not allow much for passenger flexibility.

There is an impressive new ticket and information centre with coach and bus Travel on one side and train on the other and there were plenty of leaflets on services and local attractions. Hull central station rather like that at Sunderland were disgraces. Sunderland has yet to be improved given that a short distance away there is a magnificent modern station for the metro adjacent to the new bus station but at the main station there is just a utility building which house a fast food and a sandwich bakery with access from the street and the new ticket centre which is an improvement on the situation until a few years ago. I must add that the staff have always been exceptionally helpful. Hull has traditional above ground station with a direct and pleasant train service to London which I have used but had a cold and grim feel about the building with a large area derelict and where facilities on a Sunday evening were non existence. There is now a delightful welcoming waiting facility with very modern toilets staffed toilets where a payment of 20p is required and where there is a soft purple blue glow which I understand is designed to make it difficult for drug addicts to inject. The station begins to match its ancestral history and increasing importance in an era when the train and the bus needs to replace journeys made by car.

A good time mention that everywhere in Hull there are well designed facilities for the parking and securing of bicycles but on an admittedly raining day there was not much evidence of use. There are 7 stopping trains to London a day plus an express, the Hull Executive which takes 2 hrs 45 mins. There are hourly services to Manchester which takes 2 hours with extensions to Warrington and Liverpool, to Doncaster and Sheffield, two trains an hour to Beverley and Bridlington with one of these every two hours going on to Scarborough and one train every two hours to York.

The station was originally built in the 1840's and is attached to The Royal Station Hotel after a stay by Queen Victoria. A major part of the station became derelict although in one area nearby the Famous Hull Truck Theatre made its home in a ramshackle shed like single storey building. All this is changing because across form the exceptionally busy thoroughfare in constant use by the buses is the spectacular St Stephens development which opened with new bus terminal in September 2007, and which has an extraordinary vaulted glass ceiling and tower like feature. with three levels of stores and recreational facilities, including new multiplex and Bingo centre, and with a long coffee shop suspended in the space between either sides of the building. I only managed to take one photo inside the building as a security officer advised that I would have to seek management permission. To one side of the building, at the far end, there is the biggest of supermarkets, a Tesco Extra. This has the appearance of the inside of a giant aeroplane hanger with a first floor covering about half the floor area and a basement level car park. The centre includes a pharmacy, opticians and petrol station and there is a café on the first floor where I had hoped buy a hot meal but they were out of the beef and ale pie, so I settled for a baguette and coffee in an open café in the middle of the centre towards the front entrance. I also explored the outside of the centre at rear where there is a vast area of designer open space with seating and terracing overlooking the existing Hull Truck Theatre. However next to St Stephens a 440 seat replacement theatre is being built together with a Music centre for the youth of the city.

The new development takes away from what had been the main shopping precinct in the city the Prince's Quay built mainly over Prince's Dock, although an area of water remains with two fountains, with one area overlooked by an arts centre with three other bordered by several Inns and night clubs developed out of former dockside buildings. At the far end one can see part of the Marina also created out of former docks leading towards the River Hull and towards the Humber. Prince's Quay also has a three deck shopping precinct presently with 80 stores but is being extend to include another forty and two department stores. It is also a splendid looking building in glass with a vaulted centre for the escalators and car parking to one side. I have used the car park several times although I did lose my car once as there are separate levels to those reached from the shopping centre. It was here that I had yet another surprise for having retreated to the centre because of persistent and heavy rain I planned to visit the top deck where there was an in door market type stall area and eating places, what did I find. Britain's first all digital multiplex cinema boasting wall to wall and floor to ceilings screens, 3 D stadium seats and superior leather style seats in some parts of theatres. I looked in vain for the box office only to discover later that the clever clogs have abandoned the separate box office so that you buy tickets at the tills selling sweets and drinks. Well I never. I did note that whereas those over sixty could buy a tickets for £3.50 at St Stephens, at Prince's Quay it was 4.40.

Hull is not short of cinemas theatres because in addition there is a Cineworld multiplex to the north of the city at the Kingswood Retail Park together with indoor Bowling and restaurants and a Travel Lodge, all of which I have used before, other than Bowling, in times past. Moreover there is also a Retail Park across the main Humberside dockside road which continues to the Bridge and the start of the M62 Here on the Banks of the Humber next to the Ice Arena is an Odeon, with a Pizza type restaurant adjacent where I once tried to go through a glass door. There is also Hull Screen which is the Cinema Art House and which is located close to buildings belonging to a third university that of Lincolnshire across the Humber Bridge. In Hull close to the river Hull and the interesting area of buildings including Wilberforce House, The Museum of Transport, the Hull and East Riding Museum, the Guildhall, the Crown Courts and the St Mary's Church there are the Management and Health and Social Care branches of the university. I was heading for this area where the deluge commenced. However I was able to view the large BBC building and enter the Queens Dock Gardens, built in what used to be the Queen's Dock, surprise, surprise. I headed towards the gardens because I could hear some attractive Afro West Indian music and then found a small stage and large amplifiers and an odd assortment of individuals from several races dancing in the rain. On my way to find shelter at the Prince's Quay I noted a cloud of what became pungent smoke from a small group of white teenagers clearly enjoying themselves to one side of the gardens oblivious to the music and the rain. It was cool man.

I did mange to visit small arcade the Paragon but not the Hepworth, or the Trinity Indoor Market on this occasion which is near the impressive St Trinity Church and the Hull Trinity School. However at this point I abandoned my visit and waited patiently for nearly an hour for the bus back to Beverley although midway I was tempted to buy a ticket for the train. Hull was the home of William Wilberforce and Amy Johnson the aviator, Two actors I have greatly admired, the humorist Maureen Lipman and the endearing John Alderton. The playwright Alan Plater was not born in Hull but has close associations.

Hull remains an active Port including vehicle ferries to Holland with some 5000 people employed and twice as many more in work associated with the port. There are also large industrial cinema along the corridor to the motorway, including Smith and Nephew.

Final mention must go to Hull Kingston Rovers which has managed to get into the Premier Division and although expected to go straight down is looking forward to the £50 million the experience will bring in regardless of what happens.

1411 Beverley East Yorks

On Friday 20th June I made an important visit to Beverley in East Yorkshire a town which I only came to know in the 1990's and which I had been planning to photograph for sometime. My visit commenced with the Minster which is a magnificent building inside and where the views from all directions are stunning.

I had stayed overnight at the Travel Lodge at South Cave on the extension of the M6 into Hull a few miles before the Humber Bridge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times although never so cheaply. The usual price for a night's stay is £51 whereas I paid £9, having booked some six ago, I had fancied a fish and chip supper and knew from a previous visit that there was a Chinese restaurant Takeaway in the Village that served the meal and at the excellent price of £3.40, about £1 less than in South Shields. It is a very attractive village with a few stores at the centre and a couple of Inns. I enjoyed the meal in the car on a pleasant evening and then remembered that in order to get back I had to continue the journey to North Cave passing two modern adjacent prisons in the middle of nowhere and then rejoin the motorway back to Motel. I could have had fish and chips as a sit down meal in the Little Chef adjacent to the Travel Lodge for over double the price paid (I also used a couple of pounds of petrol, if not more to be added), but the pleasure the meal was not about comparative costs but eating using my hands in the car looking on over the village.

I went to sleep earlier than usual and woke around six using the extra hours to write of my day before setting off after one cup of coffee around 9am. I headed towards Hull and the Humber Bridge but instead of immediately taking the Beverley turn I went round the junction to the Home Farm Premier Lodge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times and where from the grounds and the gardens it is possible to have a close up view of the start of Humber Bridge.

Only then I took the road to Beverley stopping about a third of the way to photograph a third establishment where I had previously stayed in the past, the Innkeepers Lodge with a Toby Carvery on site or across the way Brewers Fayre Inn with an attractive water wheel feature and a variety of levels and nooks and crannies to host a dinner party. On the returned journey I also called in at the Morrison's Supermarket for a light evening meal of a chicken and bacon sandwich with a few pieces of salad and a few crisps, a small Danish pastry and a pot of tea. This cost slightly more than the fish and chips of the previous evening but was appropriate given that I had a hot meal at midday. The opportunity was taken to buy some olive oil which I needed and some Morrison's decaffeinated ground coffee, as well as some bananas and a pack of three Eccles Cakes which would serve as a late evening snack with a drink and three packs of dried figs which I had been recently unable to buy at home.

It was at the next roundabout that I had my first view of the Beverley Minster in the distance and held my breath at such a wondrous sight wishing there was immediate opportunity to stop and photograph. After parking the car, I made my way immediately to the Minster a building which I had visited to attend services, visited as a tourist and visited to sit and reflect. I have a professionally made video of the inside of the church but not having learnt to transfer to DVD and then to capture individual frames I purchased the two pound permit number 747 to take photographs for private use and mentioning that I previously visited several years before I was told that a new stained glass window and a new artwork added in 2004 to mark the pilgrimage we all make in life.

Although the Minster has such an imposing structure upon the landscape and the length of the church is proportionate to its height there is also a more intimate and personal feel than experienced in such buildings in general, During the visit I overhead one small party being told that Henry VIII had sold the church off for scrap to the local authorities who had then decided to maintain the building as it then was. The present Gothic Style building, the fourth known to have existed on the site was commenced in 1220 to 1260 as its first phase as early English Gothic, then as Decorated Gothic 1308 -1349 and then the final phase 1380-1420 as Perpendicular. There are treasures dating back to the 14th century including the canopy understood to have been created for the memory of a Lady Percy, then the most powerful family in the North of England. There are also important carvings in the North Aisle which provide much of our knowledge of the musical instruments from the 14th century. A former Bishop of York, John , who founded a monastery on the site, was buried in the church 721 AD. I have included a selection of photos of views of the church at a distance and internally Beverley 101 and which I hope will communicates something of the power and spiritual presence of the Minster on the Town. If you are a Catholic and Protestant, or of other faiths which are not against the creation of such architectural monuments to faith and spirituality, and even if you have no belief in a supreme creative being, I challenge you to visit Beverly, find somewhere to stop and view the Minster at a distance and then visit inside and just sit an reflect on your life and the world and not be moved.

As with most towns there are several features which give the place its unique identity. It has a long shopping roadway, part pedestrianised which commences at the Wednesday Market which is being developed with attractive lightly coloured single bricks to extend the outdoor seating area for the Inns and bars and restaurants around the area and where previously one could park a few cars, especially convenient for the takeaway which was used on more than one occasion, There are also several tea rooms and coffee houses and here in a side lane close to the Marks and Spencer's' Simply Food store, I enjoyed a lunch of a chicken breast, with freshly bought and cooked vegetables, followed by a cup of coffee. The pedestrian road here has names such as Butcher's Row and Toll Garvel

To one side of the main pedestrianised street are the offices of the East Riding County Council, I first got to know of this area from the novel of Winifred Holtby, East Riding, and this was the first occasion that I went to look at the range of buildings which form the civil centre and where one man has mounted a campaign about what happened to his children when the Council's Social Service Department intervened. He has an assembly of placards telling his story and is supported by voluntary helpers and sympathetic interest groups. As he does not obstruct the pavement in this quite part of town it appears that the authorities allow him to vent his anger at what happened in this way.

The main shopping area then widens into a very pleasant oblong area used for car parking except for Saturday when it is filled a wide range of stalls, hence its name, the Saturday Market. On every side there are pleasant designed ye olde English buildings, some are Inns developed into small Hotels. There are some modern courtyards for shops, offices and eating places on the right hand side of this area off side street but have so carefully been designed that the old and new merge with much harmony. The one exception is the building known as the Treasure house which has been added to the Victorian Library as is an interesting but odd concoction with a Tower from where there is a great view to the Minister and the Town which I did not realise until too late I could have climbed and photographed the view. Another Day, another Time, hopefully.

At one side of the Market there is a building which used to house a small theatre where I saw Curtis Stigers perform one evening. This was the former Corn exchange, next to which there was an antiques show room which I have also visited. The buildings have been gutted leaving the façade and is up for sale. Across from the former Corn Exchange is the Dog and Duck former Coaching Inn with a small unit of double bedrooms with ensuite facilities on two floors in the former coaching yard. I stayed here once over Christmas and recently found the receipt when creating space in a filing cabinet to assemble all the papers related to my birth and care mothers.

A little way to one side of this area as there is now a road which heads towards what is a gateway called a Bar marking the end of the mainstreet there is located the most prestigious Hotel in the town the Beverley Arms. According to John Midddleton in his story of Hotel there was a previous building, the Blue Bell but in 1794 it was rebuilt as the Beverley Arms in 1794. The Hotel has been traditionally been at the centre of County Life when visiting the town and the place where successful Parliamentary candidates would address the population on election nights. Randolph Churchill stayed while on service locally during World War II and is known to have been joined by his wife, the celebrated Pamela Harriman, make of a President and subsequent U S Ambassador to France. I have had short stays here on deals which included he evening meal. I have the receipt for my stay somewhere but it was significantly more than the 42.5 for a single room in 1941, or 50p in 1946. Lunch would have been 15p afternoon tea 5p and the evening dinner 20-25p However the hotel receptionist was paid £1.87 for a long week from 7am till 2pm and 6 pm until 1 am. Even in 1962 when I was surviving a local authority further education grant a fillet steak garni could be enjoyed for 72.5p Beverley before the reformation was one of the largest towns in England and one of richest. The subsequent martyr John Fisher came from Beverley, his name given to the Independent Catholic School at Purley I attended between 1952 and 1955. Religion and racing are the main attractions of this English Town.

On one occasion when staying at the hotel my room overlooked the church of St Mary's created 13th to 15th and regarded as one the great Parish church in the UK. It is often confused for the Minster, or regarded as a mini Minster, and there is another very imposing old church in another part of the town St Nicholas, next to which is the impressive World War Memorial, set in an attractive garden. The nearby ice cream parlour and tea room in North Bar Within has closed after its owner died. There various Inns and restaurants in the area I tried to remember those where I have eaten meals. There are Eastern and Mediterranean eating places but this is a quintessential English community town with antique stores and art shops, and several book shops including one which appeared cavernous books everywhere from floor to ceiling, as well as major contemporary book seller and the ubiquitous W H Smiths. The buildings are a mixture of Georgian and Victorian and there are single parking bays on both sides of the road way and also some benches where I rested for a while after going through the gate house and crossing the busy roadway to North Bar Without where there are further old fine Town Houses, a few converted into business use and one old Inn. There is also the Rose and Crown on the corner where I have a meal and some quirky buildings around the Bar itself. Nearby there is the modern modest Conservative club building across the road from a modern restaurant serving food from India where two for the price of one can eat a five course banquet for £9.95, but this may be for certain times and days of the week

However it is when you turn West at the Bar that you come to the other unique feature of Beverley after travelling past an attractive residential area set back from a small area of common land on either side where there is no place to stop and which then widens into what is the ancient Westwood open pastures, 500 acres of gentle hilly grasslands. The Westwood itself is to the left surround this edge of town with some walkways along which people come to walk and exercise their dogs. There is more open ground to the other side stretching back some distance and there is a fork in the road. Continue ahead and eventually you will come to Beverley Race Course and one of the main roads leading to York. I took the a sharp left fork to first park my car where for the length of long roadway you can drive your car onto the verges as this is free land given to the Townspeople in the 14th century. Mind you it is not misnamed pastures for herds of cattle graze freely here crossing the road ways so there are driving speed restriction and animals do cross and will come to view cars and their passengers. Amazingly to both sides there is the Town's golf course with green and fairways created within the area of pasture, so look out for golf balls as well as animals.

If you continue on this road, as I did, you engage in an attractive 10 miles or more drive before being able to double back into Beverley on the other side of the Pastures and it is from here that you can stop on reaching housing and take photographs of one end of the Minster. Continuing on this road you reach the junction with the road to the Humber Bridge but in this instance I continued and just at the Minster turned sharp right by a small area of Minster open land which was one a larger space but where some very attractive private housing has been created over recent decades. The winding road continues for over mile through attractive countryside, a riding stable and some residential properties. At the end of this journey you join a road from Beverley to Hull which I was to travel the next day by the 264 bus. I took the road back to Beverley passed on the right hand side a thatched Inn famed for 2 for 1 meals where a plate of three chops and array of finely cooked vegetables will work out at under £5 as long as there are two of you. There are also chef specials each day on a blackboard and although some distance from town it is very popular. There are similar establishments in countryside close to Beverley some with attractive views others with facilities for young children and some where you should take a gold bar or two to pay for exceptionally prepared and served food. However the casual or brief stay visitor will have no need for such excursions as there are some 40 Inns, most if not all serving food, especially during the day, although it is wise to arrive early especially on Market days when the 30000 local population is swelled by visitors from the surrounding countryside, and from Hull.

I turned back into town stopping at the Beck a human created waterway where barges once brought supplies from the river Hull which in turn reaches the great Humber a river which opens to a great width, significantly great than the Mersey and making the Tyne appear no more than a stream! There are some old Inns with watery connections in the area of the Beck as well as a mixture of Housing.

A feature of the town is its traditional small railway station, with signal box by the road crossing and where train pass at regular intervals into Hull or up the coast to the seaside towns of Bridlington and Scarborough. It was finding somewhere to park so I could use station facilities and photo the closure of the crossing that I discovered a glorious view of the Minster. You can take a train from here to Hull or Bridlington or Scarborough, or these days if you have the all England pass you can take the bus from the small station at one side of the town centre.

Finding my way back to the Travel Lodge was a problem because having decided to Morrison's' for the evening meal and supplies I missed the main road from the town to South and North Cave but was able to take a secondary road through some delightful countryside more by luck than design. Back at my accommodation I had to wait a couple of hours to learn what had happened as Durham were playing again in the 20 20 cup, the weakest team in the Northern sector of the competition. We won it was an important win because Nottingham have become the other front runners with Lancashire falling away and Yorkshire winning after its loss of opening games. This now makes Sundays game at the Yorkshire ground of pivotal importance as only two of the six teams are certain to qualify and the battle is between Durham and York who are to play each other twice and then the final home game with Lancashire. Before then it was back to Beverley on Saturday to catch the bus to Hull, although as I later learnt there is also an hourly bus from the villages where I could have left my car. The weather forecast was not a good one