The Whitby Chronicles – Tuesday

Remember I said that the rain was on its way – they got that right! The forecast is not good for today – I suppose we should count ourselves lucky it has lasted as long as it has! It does say that it will get better later in the day – which is just as well because we've booked a table tonight at an Italian Restaurant opposite Sarah's. Seemed like a good idea – a change is as good as a rest, as they say.

In true bulldog spirit we held our breakfast committee meeting and decided that we'd drive up to Whitby Abbey and visit St Mary's Church next door, having a look at the 199 steps to and from the old town from the top.

Nobody thought about the fact that the higher and more exposed you are to “weather”, the wetter it is – hmm.

Car duly parked – can't remember how much it cost - we made our way to the entrance - £27.20 later and this is with concessions for wrinklies – we declined to pay £4.50 for a guide book. We were handed a walkie talkie gizmo which, it transpired, only made sense if you'd paid £4.50 for the guide book. We walked through the Abbey ruins – which were exactly what you'd expect – ruins - onwards into the Museum, passing a small group of people in a taped off area clutching a metal detector. It would be fair to say it took 15 minutes tops to walk through the Museum. English Heritage must be making a fortune and it was not worth the money. If we'd paid top price - £30+ we'd have been even more unhappy.

What a swiz!

St. Mary's Church was an improvement although the weather wasn't getting any better. Does anyone know what I mean by “mizzle” or “Welsh rain” - it's that fine, very light but extremely wet stuff! Whilst none of us are bothered about getting wet, there's wet and there's sodden.

The Church is definitely worth a visit and we'd definitely return when we can see to read the gravestones. At this point we decided that me, Shirl, John and Rose would walk down the 199 steps into the old town and home and H would collect the car and meet us back at the ranch. Seemed like a good plan.

The descent was great fun and a great view. Thinks – if we'd climbed the steps, called in St. Mary's and looked across at the Abbey ruins we would have saved all that dosh.

Remember the group of people and the taped off area with the detector? By the time H made his way back from whence we came, they'd moved and H had to divert – across a field – to get back to the car park.

We made it home before H did. You can imagine our opinion of English Heritage is not a glowing one.

It sounds ridiculous but the weather has been so miserable and we were slightly damp that we resorted to central heating – a little comfort and warmth goes a long way.

The good news is it has stopped raining and we'll be able to walk to the Italian Restaurant, Cosa Nostra – slightly disconcerting – I had no idea the Mafia cooked – I always thought Cosa Nostra referred to the well known families with dubious connections shall we say!