MY TRIP TO WHITBY

A few times I have been asked what I would like to do that is special.

 I thought of four things at the time. : To go to New York ( friends did promise to go with me but sadly it never materialized………….. and cant now , I guess); to have pink hair (I did have a rinse but it came out after only three washes); to have an ice cream maker………(Bought ! and a great success too !!); AND ….. to go to Whitby………….

So last Thursday my friends Richard and Anne picked me up in the car I had hired (£116 per day), with a lockdown for my wheelchair. We went north to Whitby!!

YEY!!!

It was sunny, and we took the scenic route (But as everyone in a wheelchair knows when you are in a vehicle every bump matters !!.. )………but that apart.. . We arrived and it seemed even hotter. Seagulls called and you just knew you were by the sea… WONDERFUL!!!

Richard, who, when he gets an idea is rather like a terrier, decided I should have a trip in a boat!

I looked and just knew this would be impossible. I would need to be carried down steps, lifted over the edge of the boat and then sit on a bench… all impossible … eventually he simply had to believe me !

Then, about 3:00 by this time, we went to The Magpie for Fish and chips. Exactly what i desired.. We ate them by the bandstand and then sat in the sun. I had two conversations re wheelchairs with people who admired mine. One was with a girls’ mother. The girl, very white, spends her days on her hospital bed as it’s the only place she is comfy. Her local authority doesn’t provide tilt in space which is what she needs. I thought my chair was basic, but compared to hers it is mega high standard … how sad that a young woman stays in her bed because it is too painful to go out………

As my first physio said, it’s the creaky gate that gets the oil!!

 I said to the mum perhaps it might be an idea to pester her OT and physio………….. I guess that I’ll never know.

After our lunch we went onto the pier, but there are steps towards the end bit and thus no wheelchair access.

We sat in the glorious sun, sea gull cried as they wheeled around ……… utter bliss.

Anne and Richard afterthe Fish and Chips

As I get more ill it’s the simple things that give me most pleasure.

Then a trip to the church and the Abbey. The church was closed which was such a shame. I knew that David Smith, now Canon David Smith , our former vicar in Yarm, had been in charge there.. And I wondered if he still was… I wanted to surprise him. I found out later that he hadn’t retired and was still there but we didn’t meet up, as the church was closed. …….What a shame. ………..On to the Abbey. Well signed for disabled  BUT to get to the Abbey, after the easy entrance lift, you had to jiggityjog around the perimeter and then I couldn’t find an actual entrance for me in wheel chair!!!!!! Anne and I just laughed at the poor access for disabled people.

Me at the Abbey

We left and went to visit Richards’s sister in Guisborough.  When we left we drove past the best ever view of  Roseberry Topping. I have fond memories of Roseberry Topping. Each morning as I came down Gypsy Lane, on the way to school at Swans Corner,  I would see it straight ahead of me.  Also memories of  climbs up there. Two specially memorable.. Taking yr 6 up ( I worked at Nunthorpe Primary) and Simon the other teacher hurt his back. I had 60 children to manage and had to dial 999 for help. Also my first ever trip up on New Years day.. What a mistake ! Climbing without water and with a hangover, boy did I feel rough!!

We continued on to Yarm. I said to turn too soon and ended going up Ormsby Bank not Gypsy Lane so thus didn’t see Nunthorpe Primary at Swans corner. I then didn’t remember the route, but knew the post code of where we were going (to see my former neighbours)  so SAT NAV was engaged !

We arrived at Yarm and drove up at my neighbours... Christine and Terry. It was wonderful to see them. They had prepared a tea/ supper of sandwiches and cakes and some fizzy wine. We chatted about Whitby.. (Sometimes people find it difficult to get to the nitty-gritty of the meeting. I hadn’t seen them for many years and was now very ill, but this was obviously difficult for them to tackle.) We eventually really  talked and all was well. We mentioned things that we had shared: Chrissie playing with their boys in the sand pit; my husband helping to lay the patio .. and it still was there; our Laylandii hedge which still existed and still well trimmed as we left it; the removal of my pink rose hedge at the front (planted in memory of Eleanor), how I fed their baby and sent Christine to bed as she felt so ill,……. …………. And many, many other things.

It was wonderful to see these friends with which I had shared so much.. but funny that Richard eventually asked where I had lived…… NEXT DOOR RICHARD !!! 

My home in Yarm was large by comparison to mine now. I lost a lot of money when my husband and I separated. We valued the house and I paid his half and took out a huge mortgage… but by the time I sold to move to Tod house prices had fallen and I lost a lot.

 But that is history.

Me with Christine and Terry

I got home at 11:30 pm !! I was so excited from such a super day out that I couldn’t settle. I had a glass of wine and some cups of tea, …………… then bed.

Having slept well on my back for the two preceding nights thought I would have another good one…………. But this wasn’t to happen.

Sleep and bed are becoming such a stressful time for me.

……… and that will be my next blog,……………… I think……….

HUG ME , I'VE GOT MND