We parked in Sainsbury and walked towards York Minster, England’s largest medieval church. It is the see or office of the Archbishop of York, who is second to Archbishop of Canterbury, in the hierarchy of the Church of England.
Walking the narrow streets, one is likely to be attracted by the Shambles and its old shops selling all kinds of souvenir items. Alex was more interested in Moss Bros’ sale.
After spending two hours in York, we headed for Thorganby, which I like to think of as a Chinese name, Thor Gan Bee! Just before reaching The School House, we had to pass a sign “North Yorkshire” and I presumed we came either from South Yorkshire, or West Yorkshire where Leeds is in.
Alex drove straight into the compound, followed by Beng, who drove Clem’s car. I noticed there is no sign to indicate a Bed and Breakfast or that it is called The School House. Later, we were told that many new guests went to the opposite house known as The Old School House where there is a signboard, even though it is not a B&B, in spite of being told it is opposite it.
The back garden was really nice and cosy. We could find plenty of vegetables in it, like courgettes, lettuce, and tomatoes; flowers and an apple tree. Behind the fence, there is an enclosure where we could see some chickens and sheep. Beside the common fence with the neighbour, there is an old building, which houses some ducks too. Paul and Helene are vegetarians but they eat fish and chicken!
Paul had been busy preparing dinner, after fetching Helene, back from home in Ireland, from the airport. While waiting for dinner, Harry who lives a few doors away arrived. He is in his mid-80s. He became a widower recently when his wife, Innis passed away because of cancer. It was a pity we were months too late. Cheng knew her and according to Harry, could converse well in Spanish with her. Harry was born in Spain though his parents were British. They were instrumental in getting Paul to start his business in dealing with Spanish products like olive oil, wines and so on. Their influence was evident even in Paul’s cooking! Already, Harry had suggested to us to join them in another of their holiday in Spain when we go next summer.
Paul used a hot plate to cook the sausages. Then he cooked some chicken cutlets, followed by some yellow courgettes, tomatoes and green peppers, which looked really appetizing. We tried the sausages first, like appetizers, before we adjourned to the main dining room where all the plates, glasses and cutlery were placed. It looked formal but everybody was at ease because we know each other and Paul was always joking with Alex, they being old friends.
It was a great dinner with free-flowing white and red wines and good jokes. Harry mentioned about a time when he was having some health problems and the doctor recommended push-up exercise. One day he stopped his car at a quiet stretch of road and started doing exercise. A Spanish on a horse cart called out to him, “Senor, your senorita missing?”
The next morning, we set off towards Whitby. On the way, we stopped for a short while at Castle Howard. Later we stopped at a point in Yorkshire Moors where we could see acres of heather in the valley below. Here we took a group picture with Alex, Beng and myself doing an exaggerated “Chinaman pose” which I hope to upload later.
Soon we passed England’s well-preserved protected countryside where sheep are allowed to roam freely. We stopped at appropriately named Goathland to take some pictures. 
As we moved along, we saw a steam locomotive with loads of passengers enjoying a nostalgic ride.
By the time we reached Whitby, it was lunchtime. 
Alex with Paul and Beng dropped us at a fish and chips shop, which according to Paul, is the best though it is not the famous one. We were lucky there were no queue and within 10 minutes we got our 9 pieces of golden-fried Cod with half-portion chips each. Paul and Alex like batter scraps as well and we had it separately wrapped. When Paul arrived, Clem
deliberately gave him the scraps. It was fun watching him so disappointed exclaiming, “Where is the fish?” Pity we did not take a picture of him! Beng pointed out that Whitby’s fish portion is the biggest he has seen and tasted best. In fact, we could not even finish the half-portion of chips that we fed the gulls and ducks. On the way to the shops, I overheard SP telling Beng that years ago, she came with Pearl.
While standing near the collapsible bridge, we saw it opened to allow a single sailboat pass. Seems a bit much as it caused a jam in traffic.
We continue our journey to Robin Hood’s Bay. I had not been to this place before. While walking from the car-park to the seaside, Paul was telling Beng that he used to live there as a young man. When asked about the history of the place, Paul said it used to be a smugglers’ haven and he did not think Robin Hood was there before!
It was a fairly steep walk down to the seaside. We walked past two fat guys who kept throwing something for a dog to catch. If only they were running instead.
On our walk back, up a street, we stopped to watch a group of Morris dancers with their band, passing by.
From Robin Hood's Bay, we moved on to Scarborough. Looking up towards the hills quite far away, where I could see a row of terraced houses or shops, I found it very similar to those in Clackton. Paul, Alex and Beng walked to the beach and threw stones trying to make them skip on the water surface without much success. Then Paul placed a brick a distance away as a target and all three of them tried to hit it. Only after Paul hit the target, that they were willing to set off. SP could not recognize this part of the town until we reached the amusement park area. We were in a hurry, so we did not stop.
We took a different route back. We were fortunate that Paul was familiar with the roads leading to Thorganby as we could have been stuck in a massive traffic jam. Even so, we were following a tractor for a couple of miles and were glad that it did not go the way we wanted!
For dinner, Paul prepared his paella, a Spanish dish of rice with chicken, vegetables, etc. seasoned with saffron, which looked like fried rice, but steamed instead. He prepared a gravy with green peppers, tomatoes and courgettes to go with it. For dessert, he prepared a delicious bread and butter pudding.
The next day, all of us went to the Designers’ Outlet in York. It was a clever idea with all the branded names in one complex. It has Marks & Spencer, Ralph Lauren, Clarks, and many others, which were on discounted sale. It was here that Beng and Alex picked some good bargains. I went on my own and spotted two vehicles on display. One was a new model Daihatsu Terios which is likely to be a replacement for our Perodua Kembara, and a Daihatsu Copen, a small roadster.
While on the subject of cars, somewhere near York, we saw a dealer for our Perodua cars. In their forecourt, I saw a couple of used Kelisa with prices below 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. To be honest, in our 3 weeks in UK, I could hardly count 10 Malaysian made cars on the road.
At the Designers’ Outlet, I spent about an hour on the internet, checking my mail which took me a while to delete the many junk mails as well as visiting my favourite sites.
In the evening, Paul prepared a quick dinner because he had arranged with his fellow musicians to meet at 8.00pm. Every Sunday, his group will jam at the pub or some other appointed place. It was by special arrangement that they were going to meet for us on a Saturday evening. I felt honoured.
While we were having dinner, Paul got a phone call from one who could not make it because of the traffic jam. He was visibly disappointed. Anyway, most of us walked to the Fairy Boat Inn pub. Paul introduced us to the landlord, Phil and his wife, Jackie. After settling down with some drinks, we went outside to enjoy the summer evening. Near the pub is a canal and Paul told us that before he got settled in Thorganby, he took a boat ride up to the pub. Then one day, he visited the village and fell in love with it as well as Helene then, who persuaded him to buy The School House, which was for sale. Though there was already a prospective buyer, he approached the seller and offered to settle immediately since the other buyer had problems in going through with it.
Among other guests I was introduced to was Mary, who speaks with a typical Yorkshire accent which reminded me of a character in Coronation Street, a television serial which went on and on like Crossroads. Her husband, Dave and John were two of the classical musicians who performed that night. With their classical background, they played Take Five so effortlessly. When I suggested Irish washerwoman, their version seems different from the one I knew played by The Jumping Jewels. Paul tried to accompany them with his harmonica. With their kind of refined play, I just could not show what little I know since guitar playing has never been my strong point, if any! Later, three young lads came. One of them, Robin is Paul’s neighbour. When asked about his mother, he said she was in Robin Hood’s Bay! Helene was so surprised and said if only we knew as we were there earlier. It seems she stayed in a house owned by a member of Dire Straits!
Robin and his friend played a few songs and I could relate more with their kind of music with hard strumming. Then, Paul showed his skill by strumming his guitar and blowing his harmonica, which suited the blues type of music. Later that night, I could see the landlord, Phil watching the musicians and us. Later, someone who knows him well coaxed him to play. Reluctantly, he plucked the guitar and sang. He then played a classical piece, which has a nice riff and it showed his skill.
It was midnight when we left the pub. Earlier Clem had sent Rose and Harry home. It was dark and without street lamp. The group of us walked, and I could not really see the road I was walking on. Alex was drunk and he sang while we walked. Paul was afraid it might upset the neighbours. Before reaching the house, I could see two cars outside. Then I realized the three lads had decided to drop by for a chat. We were too sleepy and we left them to chat with Alex, Paul, Nee and Beng. I was told they chatted till 2.30am! Now Alex likes to tease Nee with TBB or Thorganby Born British while Beng changed it to TBF or Thorganby Born Farmer!
In the morning before we left Thorganby, Alex offered SP a chance to visit the York Museum while we walked the ancient walls. He pointed to a house, which he used to live in. When we came to York Minster, it was the end of a Sunday service. In spite of signs stating no photography, Alex kept asking me to pose. Outside, I was impressed with an artist who was painting on a large piece of canvas on the floor, already outlined with images of Michelangelo’s Sistine. Then in the city center, it was the first time I came across a basker using a grand piano! Mindful of Paul’s reminder that we were having lunch at 1pm, we called SP and she said she would be waiting at the same place where we left her.
We left Thorganby after a nice lunch prepared by Paul. He had to get us out earlier so that he could prepare for incoming paying guests who are expected in the evening.
Harry, the handsome old man, who looked like a typical country squire with a pipe, was there too. I said “Adios, Senor Harry” and he reminded us about the trip to Spain next year. After all the hugs and kisses, we hit the road for Dartford where we were expecting Cheng to turn up, after a stay in London, as guest of a daughter of His Excellency, the Austrian Ambassador to Britain.
We reached Dartford about 7 pm and there was no sign of Cheng. Later we got a call to say she is at the rail station. All of us went to pick her before Alex took us to a pub called Falkum for dinner. We waited till 9.30pm and still no sign of food and I could see Rose getting worried because of her strict diet regime because of diabetes. Anyway the food was good enough to make up for the delay.
Back at Alex’s house, it was packing time which I dreaded. Suffice to say, SP made all the decisions as to what to take and what to leave behind for Beng to take next time and what goes into Alex’s garage or store. I went to bed past midnight. I think the packing with Clem’s help took another hour or two to finish.
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