Hartlepool, Whitby and Gambling...

Arriving on Tuesday evening to a big bear hug from my good friend David was awesome, a fine and fitting welcome for another Mustarder on this great journey.

Describing the first place
 an English soldier was
killed on UK Soil in
World War 1

Think this guy might still be
looking for warships

 Hartlepool is in an interesting town, with a giant Transporter Bridge (basically a cable driven bridge) to a Nuclear power station (New Zealand is nuclear free so a new thing for me to see!) to the only town I have ever heard of, where many years ago, the towns folk hung a monkey after they decided the Monkey was a french spy!

The Transporter!

On the way to Whitby we stopped off in Goathland, aka Aidensfield, where the TV series Heartbeat was filmed. a neat little village, which is definitely taking advantage of the tourist dollar, many many years after the show finished. I bought a hat.  

Whitby Beach, looking out to the North Sea

Driving south from Hartlepool takes you down to Whitby, a wonderful seaside town, where David took me a place where I ate some of the best fish n chips I've ever had, plus a great history lesson from James Cook to The Abbey, and some very amazing views to boot. 

James Cook, Captain of the Endeavour,
Explorer who discovered NZ in 1769

I was utterly stunned by the depth of History
just standing here.

The Abbey, Founded in 657 AD . The Vikings took it over a
few hundred years later, then some bloke called  King Henry smashed
it up in the 16th Century

Abbey House, Just took me in the beauty
and the gorgeous gardens

Looking over from the Abbey to Whitby Township

I really was astounded at Whitby, the real sense of connection to New Zealand, through Captain James Cook, who lived here for many many years, as did his Wife, while he was exploring the seas.
Whitby is also a fishing town, and therefore a direct connection with Whitianga. Having David as my guide made the day great, and we joked and laughed along the way.

Whitby (actually almost every town I've been to so far)
 has the narrow alley ways all over the place. You'd expect to see
graffiti but it's not really there

After Whitby, David took me on a journey where we stopped in a little seaside pub called The Ship, in the village, Saltburn by the sea. Once again the history swallowed me up! built over 600 years ago, it was once a very long series of connected buildings, but a significant portion of it, has been washed out to see!

The Ship! a really neat place to stop, sit outside
and enjoy the view to the North Sea

A pretty old anchor, Cable tied to the wall...

Myself, David, Random Barman and Wiremu,
enjoying the hospitality of The Ship

We headed back to Hartlepool, where Davids Wife Debbie, had prepared a little surprise 50th
Birthday celebration for myself and David. They presented me with a neat shirt from the Hartlepool United FC. Worn with pride! Much to Davids surprise, I also had a gift for him. Kia Kaha David.

 My final full day in Hartlepool involved a tour of the local Brewery. Camerons Lion Brewery. Was so interesting hearing about how the water for the beer comes from Artesian bore, which is very unusual for breweries in the UK, and is a massive cost saving for filtering the water. The brewery itself is over 160 years old. I loved this tour, and learning of the history of Hartlepool's oldest running business!.

This was a street, and it took the Brewery more than 60 years to purchase all the houses. Once they had, they closed the street, and put a roof over it, enclosing the two sides of the brewery.

A small selection of the timeline the modern bottles used in the brewery

Pulling another pint! not quite perfect, but pretty good!

Now my trip to Hartlepool is all but done.Gambling!! David is a Deputy Manager in a betting shop, so I went along and lost 5 pounds!...  Tonight we went out for a curry, and it was delicious. It's always hard to say goodbye, especially as David and Debbie have been outstanding hosts, and are such amazing friends. I'm looking forward to hosting them in New Zealand in four years time.
Tomorrow I'm off to Scotland, where I am sure I'm going to be both saying and hearing "Can ye speik mair slowly?"