It was actually an early start this morning as I wanted a haircut, the barbers I use open at 7am so having done that and had a coffee and sausage inna bun I was still on the road from Market Harbotough by 8. I’d largely loaded up the ‘van last night, trusting the fridge would stay cold, which helped. Not having the cycling kit gives me a bit more storage and the overhead Net worked for its intended purpose of being somewhere to put my suit (we have a posh dinner next weekend).
It was as good a run up the A1 as I’ve ever had, despite warnings of doom and gloom with rail strikes and holidays, so I reached the first destination by 11:20. I’d been debating what to do on the way up but once I confirmed that the Bowes Railway was open that made my mind up. I’ve been before but I was hoping to get some decent photos of hopper wagons for the current model layout build. I wasn’t disappointed, I’ve got some good pics of three different hoppers and the Jubilee 5 plank wagons as well. At least two of those will be transferred to the 3D modelling program I use and printed on the resin printer. I also got some photos of various underground locos and wagons for a possible future project, although that will be some way away.
You’re guided round most of the site and the guide we had was good, although I will say some of his tales were rather tall and he muddled up some facts, none the less he was entertaining. Having been a miner, fireman, mine rescue, etc. he did dwell on the loss of life, understandable when he was involved at Flixborough and various pit explosions.
From the railway it was a quick trip through the Tyne Tunnel, they’ve gone over to pay on the ’net instead of at toll booths - I’m sure it took longer to sort that later than it had to actually get through! The site for a couple of nights is the Club one at Old Hartley near Whitley Bay; I’ve stayed here a couple of times before and whilst it’s not very spacious it’s ok. The view makes up for it though, helped by the fact it slopes down towards the sea, this was taken from the ‘van side door…
The phone camera was at maximum zoom so there’s a foreshortening of perspective, the ‘vans aren’t actually as close together as they appear.
Once pitched* (which consisted of putting out my Pitch In Use sign) and having had an ice cream from the reception I decided to go for a wander. One of the reasons I’m here is to try and get some decent photos of St Mary’s Island and the lighthouse. The sunshine died on me a little but I think I got some OK shots from a couple of locations, I may try again tomorrow afternoon if it’s sunnier. I walked back towards the site but then carried on past it to Seaton Sluice for a pint. I followed that with fish and chips overlooking the harbour, surprisingly it was a blackbird trying to mug me for the chips not a seagull, before walking back to site and settling in for the evening.
*After my fridge works (see previous blog post) I decided I’d run it just on battery to see how well it holds up, if I have problems I’ll plug the mains cable in but otherwise it’s one less thing to unpack and pack away.
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