Audrey's x 2

Serving battered fried fish and chips must be a lucrative business as Audrey's in Bridlington seems to have doubled in size since I last noticed ...

Old MacDonald had a place ...

This used to have the golden M hanging over but it not any more. Bridlington's big mac days are over, at least in the centre of town. Don't despair; this is not like Bolivia or Japan, there's still a drive-in just outside the town centre.

Bridlington North Pier

A footnote in history

Somewhere in Bridlington

By the harbour side on a bollard, one of dozens of such bollards, hides this little plaque to a fairly big event in the English civil war between king and parliament. Queen Henrietta Maria liked to be addressed as Her She-Majesty Generalissima, and why not, you'd need a fancy title being married to an idiot and long-time loser like Charles Stuart. The guns and ammo, however, did no good, as we all know, her husband's side lost. I don't know whether whoever put this up didn't want any one to see it or whatever but if Margot hadn't pointed it out I would certainly never have seen it. I had to kneel down to read it.  I nominate this for the "possibly the most inconspicuous plaque in the world" award.

Four Legs Good ...

An extremely gloomy day with that rarest of things a warm stiff Easterly breeze blowing and Bridlington was fairly empty (and mostly shut) at this end-of-season time. If we'd gone the day before it was, we were told, "wonderful with bright blue skies"and "just like Summer". Hmmm. Anyhow in the harbour and quite out of proportion to its surroundings this hulk was quietly tethered up. It's a dredger of sorts, a much bigger version of the one I posted here. Looks like some serious digging going to to be done.

Meanwhile out in the bay another four legged beast was lurking but more of that in the next post.

Hull

Again this is a bit of a cheat since it, too, is in Bridlington; indeed on the same street, King Street, as yesterday's offering. This winged lion bearing the triple crown shield of Hull is on the public library.

Beach Steps

Maybe not quite in the league of the Odessa steps but nevertheless a fine descent to the sandy delights of Bridlington's north beach.

Big wave

There I was taking a few snaps of Bridlington harbour when I see this guy standing up in his little fishing boat waving at me. I tried to wave back but nearly dropped the camera; then he sat down, put on the gas and sped out of the habour. I hope he had a good catch.

Nautical Mile Promenade

A stroll along the prom has long been one of the attractions of the seaside and at Bridlington you can stroll for a whole nautical mile. Several small promenades were rejigged and joined together in what is described as "an imaginative stretch of waterfront, which never fails to hold the visitor's interest, and which is by turn exciting, instructive, humorous and good fun, at any time of the year".

Here's one they built earlier.

Accompanying you on your stroll is a running dialogue of phrases from poems, odd thoughts and details of events that happened nearby, shipwrecks and rescues and so on. At a nautical mile in length it's claimed to be the longest piece of writing in the world.

Renewables: the new blot on the landscape

Bridlington's south beach has a wonderful view of a wind farm which I suppose is a step up from the view from the beach near where I grew up, Hartlepool's very own nuclear power station (there were also steel works and petrochemical plants as well but they just seemed to blend in so well). That's progress for you.

Margot took this picture.

Umbúðamiðlun

Umbúðamiðlun translates as packing media which makes a kind of sense. Here the Icelanders and Norwegians seems to have the fish crate market stitched up between them on Bridlington's fish quay.

Low Tide

At low tide the small boats rest on the mud of Bridlington's harbour. The tidemark on the harbour wall shows how high the water rises.

Means of escape

The near train will take you to Bridlington; the far train goes to London, the others to all points in between.

No Fishing

I suppose someone somewhere knows why fishing is banned on Bridlington north pier from May through  September. I'm guessing it's an overcautious Council trying to avoid conflict between the throngs (in their dreams) of tourists and the few anglers. Maybe on the pier there might, just, be a case to be made. But at night? And why is fishing banned on both the north and south beaches? Could it be a cunning plan to make anglers hire boats to go fishing? Perish the thought ....

What is the opposite of improvement?

This is the new "improved" South Marine Drive leading to Bridlington Spa. You can see how it used to look below. (Thank you Mr Google). We've lost the comfortable seats, a clear seaview and a clasic seaside floral garden for some tatty gravel and incongruous photographs of  who knows what blocking the view.

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Faded Glory

There's a lot of what is politely called 'faded glory' abounding in Bridlington. Here, for example, is a classic seaside hotel, five floors including basement bar and so on and nobody wants it, at least not at the offering price. So here it sits, with expired planning permission for conversion to flats, quietly falling apart until the next auction. I posted about this block some three years ago; very little has changed since then apart from the new coffee bar and even that could still do with a splash of paint on the upper reaches.

Please wait ... six months.

We went to Bridlington the other day. It was closed. Hibernating until well into next year, waiting for those glorious post-Brexit days, Armageddon, who knows? Anyway it was shut...

The Yorkshire Belle was where she always is, still going strong after taking folk on trips round the bay and sometimes further for must be over seventy years now. I know she had a refit in Hull recently and clearly needs to rest up.

The Gansey Girl statue and the ferris wheel were just made to go together so  ...

More tea, anyone?

Here on Bridlington's South Marine Drive is a device whereby parents can spin their little darlings round and round in a giant teacup. I'm told the mental scars from this wear off over time so grin and bear it; it's meant to be fun! 

Down to the sea

Steps to Bridlington North Bay

The weekend in black and white is here.

The Fish Quay, Bridlington