I had a lovely relaxing day off in Bridlington. Booked into a hotel on Saturday afternoon, a hot bath and an hour or so on the bed snoozing. A few pints and a mixed grill and in bed for just after 7 o'clock, on a Saturday night I know !!! What a party animal... đ«Ł I was on my chin strap, aching, cold and just a bit tired.
After a great sleep, I was up and down at the leisure centre for 8 o'clock, a lovely swim for half an hour followed by 45 minutes in the sauna, steam room and jacuzzi... I have to commend Bridlington, Michelle and I visited 5 or 6 years ago with our granddaughter Ava while we were staying near Flamborough head in the MotorHome. We were not impressed, we left very quickly and never returned. It is now a very different place, I stopped and used the public toilets when I arrived on Saturday morning, they were immaculatey clean. The leisure facilities are some of the best I've seen in the UK and during my brief walk around the shops I didn't notice any shops boarded up and the entire place was clean and tidy. Well done and thank you Bridlington, I had a lovely weekend.
I was invited to meet with the Bridlington Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club on Sunday by Amanda, a lady who once served in the Navy and is a close friend of an ex matlow who is now a Freemason in my very own Lodge in Horncastle... small world... I was introduced to everyone there and got chatting to Barry who was clearly ex Army going by the badge on his jacket. I didn't recognise the badge but when he told me it was the badge of the RAOC, The Royal Army Odinance Corps, or The Rag and Oil Company as it was more affectionately known I commented that my dad had a good mate who served in the RAOC back in the 1970's in Germany. He had a strange surname so asked if Barry knew of him... I nearly fell off my chair... not only did Barry know the guy but he also served with my dad in 1976 in Bielefeld... the world just got even smaller... sadly, my dad died in 2019, I'd have loved to have been able to call him and tell him I'd found some of his old mates. đ„č
It's a well know fact that the armed forces and Freemasonry have very strong links, in no time, one of the guys had made a couple of phone calls and within and hour I was collected and taken for a guided tour of the Bridlington Masonic Centre. A magnificent building with a long history and therefore many stories.
I was delivered back to the sea front, had some dinner and another early night to be ready for the new week.
Monday morning, Blue Monday apparently, I was feeling good, relaxed and completely refreshed and was invited to join the the ex forces guys for breakfast, great call as it was raining !!! Truly lovely people, this time including a fellow Sapper, every one with many stories but not once did I hear a sandbag getting dragged up or a lantern swinging... đ
I eventually got on my way for 11am, down onto the beach and heading for Flamborough Head. It wasn't long before the snow came, a complete white out heading up the first inclines and the remainder of the day was spent passing through snow showers and slipping and sliding all over the place on the very muddy trails. My nice clean trousers were soon bogging but no matter, the views were spectacular and I was on it... very grateful for my two walking poles, if I ever doubted their importance when carrying a pack, I lost count of the times I would have been on my arse but for my extra supports...
At around 4pm, it was clear I needed to consider my options for a tent pitch, the cliff tops were very exposed and I knew we were in for a cold night. I didn't recognise the cafe at first as I approached it from the road where there was a chain across preventing vehicles. When I got nearer I recognised that I'd been here before with Michelle and our eldest granddaughter Ava, we camped up the road in the MotorHome and cycled down here for an ice cream. It was all deserted apart from a few dog walkers so I loitered out of the wind and threw the tent up in record time in lee of the building, keeping out of the icy wind coming off the sea.
It dropped to -3 in the night but I slept like a log, the sound of the waves splashing on the rocks way below down the cliff.
I'm sorry I've no extra photos on this blog, for some reason my pics aren't uploading from my phone... a conversation with Ava is required, she is my technical support director.... đ„°đ