John Edward Cooper’s Notes

Tuesday 31 August 2021 08:56:06
Valley Bridge, Scarborough, seen from Valley Park


Tuesday 31 August 2021 08:56:54
Proceeding through Valley Park to the railway station

[i] These are my previously researched timings, using Google Maps.

Janet wrote: “At ca.8.55am we left for the station to find the bus to Pickering at 9.10am. It was overcast and quite cool. Pooh! We didn’t wait long and had a scenic ride to Pickering… We alighted too early, but soon found our way to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.” At “The Royal Oak” bus stop in Eastgate, Pickering, just before a roundabout, many of the passengers got off, so I followed suit. Then, not knowing where we were, I led the way for ca.¼-mile in the direction the bus had gone, i.e. more or less straight ahead along Hungate, till — to my relief — a sign came into view, “N.Y. Moors Railway”, pointing to the right, along The Ropery. We found the railway station some 200 yards further along in that direction. There was about half an hour before the train was due to depart. We went to the ticket office, but when I produced the copy of the e-mail I’d remembered to print yesterday, I was told that that was the ticket. I wandered about, taking photos. A tank engine that I saw, getting up steam, later appeared, pushing our train into the station.


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:27:26
At Pickering station: British Railways Standard 4 Tank Locomotive №80136, 2-6-4T, in service 1956–1965


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:38:18
Pickering Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:38:18 (detail)
Pickering Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:39:50
Pickering Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:39:50 (detail)
Pickering Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:42:12
Pickering Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:45:42
Pickering Station: arrival of the train…


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:46:42
…pushed by BR Standard 4 Tank №80136


10:55–12:05 Pickering – Grosmont[ii]

[ii] These are my previously researched timings.

Janet wrote: “We departed 10.55am. It was a steam engine. I’d found a compartment to ourselves and it really ‘took me back’: our journeys to Glasgow. En route there was some rain but, at last, we had sunny spells. This scenario continued all day, with spells of rain, some heavy, and it continued quite cool. However, it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm!” Janet had visited the station café-cum-shop, and boarded before I did; but she looked out for me, and beckoned as I passed.


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:49:22
Pickering Station: aboard and awaiting departure


Tuesday 31 August 2021 10:57:06
Pickering Station: waving the green flag for departure


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:11:16
View from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway

During the journey, I scribbled in my notebook, “Defoliated ash forests”, for in many of the ash groves that we passed the trees had bare or very sparsely leafed branches, and, “Crenellated dry-stone walls”, because of the arrangement of the capstones. Most of the route was single-track, but at Levisham and Goathland stations it became double-track, enabling trains going in opposite directions to pass each other. Indeed, after we stopped at each of these stations, we were passed by a train, each hauled by a tender locomotive, before continuing our way. They passed too quickly for me to photograph them. Between these two stations, there was a stop at the single-track Newton Dale Halt.


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:16:56
Levisham Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:17:08
Levisham Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:18:20
Levisham Station


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:30:02
View of the train as it goes round a bend


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:37:34
View from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway


Tuesday 31 August 2021 11:49:36
Goathland Station


12:30–13:40 Grosmont – Pickering
14:30–15:40 Grosmont – Pickering[iii]

[iii] These are my previously researched timings. They gave the options of travelling back to Pickering on the same train as had made the outward journey, or of spending some time in Grosmont and getting a later one.

Janet wrote: “We arrived at the terminus, Grosmont, not long after noon, and just had time to use the ‘lavatories’ (how quaint! I went in the ‘Waiting Room and Ladies’!), before departing, by diesel, back to Pickering. We had lunch — [John] had some bread, and I bananas and bread.” Although the gentlemen’s “lavatory” had retained its old-fashioned designation (“toilet” would be the present-day usage), its interior had been modernised. Side by side are the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) station and the one owned by Network Rail and managed by the train operating company Northern. The lines converge beyond the station but do not merge; the NYMR line terminates, and the Network Rail one goes on to Whitby. There is a crossover, though, and NYMR operates some heritage train services from Pickering to Whitby. The choice was: find somewhere to eat and drink in Grosmont, and return by the later train; or have lunch on the earlier train, and find somewhere to have a drink in Pickering. We chose the latter. All the compartments in the corridor carriage in which we travelled outward were occupied, though, so we boarded a through carriage with pairs of seats either side of a central aisle, most facing each other across tables. Janet had brought what remained of the loaf bought yesterday, and some bananas from home. I had a couple of slices of the bread. As we awaited departure, I accessed the “Grosmont – Purple – WiFi Access” (12:28), but we departed almost immediately after that, so nothing came of it.


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:05:22
Grosmont Station: North Yorkshire Moors Railway line, left; Network Rail line, right


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:07:38
At Grosmont Station: British Rail Class 37 diesel-electric locomotive №37 264, Co­Co, in service 1965–1999


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:10:30
At Grosmont Station: BR Class 37 №37 264, about to be coupled to our train


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:12:08
At Grosmont Station: BR Standard 4 Tank №80136, now uncoupled from our train


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:19:28
Grosmont Station, just after the departure of a Northern train service on the Network Rail line


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:23:34
Grosmont Station: aboard and awaiting departure


Tuesday 31 August 2021 12:35:12
View from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway


14:50–15:52 Bus №128 Pickering – Scarborough
15:55–16:57 Bus №128 Pickering – Scarborough[iv]

[iv] These are my previously researched timings.

Janet wrote: “We arrived in Pickering at 1.50pm, but let go a bus back to Scarborough as I wanted a pee — and a drink! — quite desperately. We noted where to get the bus from, then headed to The Rose for drinks. [John] had 1½ pints Tetley’s and I had two Pepsi Max. Yes!” On arrival at Pickering, we exited the station and turned right into Park Street. Ahead of us, at a bus stop in The Ropery (the continuation of Park Street) was a waiting №128 bus. So although we had no intention of getting this one, at least we knew from where the one we did plan to catch would depart. We didn’t “head” to The Rose Inn, exactly: we were on the lookout for a pub, and glancing to the right when we came to Bridge Street, we saw it — a low, cottage-like building, nestling between a large rectangular Georgian/Regency-style building and the bridge over Pickering Beck. (Janet didn’t like the look of The Station Hotel opposite the station exit.) I had a pint of what is now branded, with a new logo, “Tetley’s Original Cask”, still 3.7% a.b.v., and Janet had a Pepsi Max, which she always prefers to Coke. At £4.45, this round cost less than a single pint of Birra Moretti at The Cask yesterday (£4.90)!


Receipt from Rose Inn, issued “13:52”


Tuesday 31 August 2021 13:57:40
Drinks at The Rose Inn, Bridge Street, Pickering YO18 8DT


Tuesday 31 August 2021 13:59:44
“Tetley’s Original Cask”: new-design pump-clip

When Janet had a second Pepsi Max, I had a half-pint of Tetley’s.


Receipt from Rose Inn, issued “14:08”

I used the pub Wi-Fi to look up “Tetley’s Brewery” in Wikipedia (14:11–14:13). The article still featured the old “huntsman” logo in the title pane, and although it mentioned the adoption of a “rugby ball” shaped logo in 2000, there was no mention of the introduction of this new one.



Its only appearance in the article was accidental, in a photo captioned “Tetley’s sponsor the South Stand at the Headingley Rugby Stadium in Leeds.” I looked up the “Tetley’s Beer” website (14:20–14:24), which used the new design exclusively, with no clue that any other had ever existed.…
 Janet’s journal entry continued: “We departed Pickering at 2.50pm and were back in Scarborough just after 4pm. We used the toilets at the [railway] station then headed down Valley Road to the seafront and harbour. Lots of people (freaky), and a very cold wind off the sea. We walked along the front (been there, done that — not my cup of tea) up to the harbour then we reared off, and discovered narrow streets and many interesting buildings (we need to explore further). We finally found our bearings and went to the Shopping Centre for a pee. When we emerged there had been a real downpour. Glad we missed that! We arrived back at the hotel around 5.30pm and I made us coffee.”
 Janet found the crowds “freaky” because the behaviour of the people gave no indication that we were still in the midst of a pandemic of a very contagious disease with a high mortality rate. There were two things in which I was interested along the seafront: the Hispaniola and the “King Richard III House”. The Hispaniola is a quarter-scale replica of an eighteenth century schooner, which used to take passengers to “Treasure Island” on Scarborough Mere.[v] We went on it in 1956.[vi] Nowadays, it reportedly sails from the West Pier harbour for trips around the South Bay. I wanted to see it, or even have a trip on it.[vii] The “King Richard III House” is a tall, narrow old house on the seafront, so called because it was believed that King Richard III stayed there in 1484 when he was in Scarborough on naval business. It may have been in 1956 that we visited it — it was a museum — but it seems more likely that we did so in 1962. I remember that the doors were very low, and it was mooted that people were smaller then. So from the end of Valley Road, we walked ca.½-mile (it seemed further) around the bay, passing on our left many, many noisy amusement arcades, casinos, shops selling Scarborough rock and gifts, pubs, etc. till we saw the house. These hoi polloi attractions were why Janet wrote disdainfully, “been there, done that — not my cup of tea”. We didn’t see the Hispaniola, nor where it might sail from. We did pass, on our right, the harbour-side, the restaurant Ask Italian. The “Geordie couple”, yesterday evening at dinner, had been singing the praises of its seafood, and saying that they’d go there if it weren’t for having to book days or weeks in advance. But we saw vacant tables in there. We found that the “King Richard III House” is now, in fact, a restaurant.


King Richard III House, 24 Sandside, Scarborough YO11 1PE
Image capture: Aug. 2018 © 2021 Google

[v] We visited The Mere on Saturday 4 September 2021.
[vi] Holidays: Scarborough, 1.
[vii] We saw it from the “Beachcomber” bus on Sunday 5 September 2021.

From there we turned northward then westward into the maze of streets up there. I’m not sure which way we went initially or finally. I remember going along St. Sepulchre Street and seeing at the end the imposing façade of the mid-19th century “Public Market”. We ended up in the shopping street Westborough, and at the Brunswick Shopping Centre. Janet asked the man in The Watch Hospital if there were loos, and he directed us up an escalator and through a shop to get to them. This seemed rather strange to us: a bit like airports, where you have to run the gauntlet of the duty-free shops to get airside. There was, in fact, though, a way out without having to go through any shop.
 Back at the hotel, I transferred 26 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (17:30). Janet made a cup of Nescafé for me and a decaffeinated for herself. The name “Rossetti” came to mind for the two reproductions of paintings on the wall to my right when I sat using the computer at the dressing table, so I looked it up (17:54). But then it was time to go down for dinner.
 Janet’s journal continues: “[John] was feeling a bit ‘off’, but we went for dinner and he was eventually OK.” I wasn’t ill, but I lacked any appetite whatever. I put this down to having eaten a substantial breakfast, which I never do at home. Anyway, once I was there, I coped. I’d opted for pork chops, but in fact was served with fairly thin-sliced pork steaks and boiled potatoes. I didn’t have oil, either this time or subsequently, because Vicky proposed gravy, which I accepted. Janet had salmon again. The mixed vegetables included leeks, which Janet didn’t feel she could eat because of the reaction she gets to the Allium genus, especially garlic. I spooned them onto my plate, then found that I didn’t like them. Janet had mixed fruit salad again, but I didn’t this time. Janet had Coke to drink (two glasses); but this time, rather than drink beer, I had two single-serve bottles of red wine. The first was a Merlot, which I found rather light-bodied, so for the second I had a Shiraz, which proved to be dark and full-bodied. Janet recalled: “There were three other couples in the dining room, including the Geordies.
 “We returned to our room,” she continued. “I had a shower and sorted my stuff.” I did [this and that].… I continued with my “Rossetti” search (20:13):

Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti, generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was an English poet, illustrator, painter, and translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Wikipedia

[This and that (to] 20:28). According to Janet, we were in bed at 9.20pm.

[Wednesday 1 September 2021]