After the dive from the top board at the Dolphin Centre I spent the afternoon with family in Barnard Castle again, and we had a lovely lunch in The Old Well. After playing some games at home later in the afternoon we said our goodbyes, and I had to sign a piece of paper for my cousin Katie to prove to her friends at school that I really am her cousin! Her friends didn’t believe her. We took a couple of photos together as further proof too. I hope they believe you now Katie!
That evening I met up with an old school friend, Chris, who I haven’t seen, we worked out, for at least 25 years! He had seen the publicity about ALife4Sale, and had got in touch. It was great catching up, and we got on just like old times, as if all those years had never past. Brilliant!
I caught up with Notty again on Monday, and spent some time with my mum before leaving on the next part of the journey. It’s always hard leaving when I only get back to visit every couple of years, and it always feel like I have not had enough time. Hopefully I will be back much sooner, as some of my other goals will bring me back this way before too long.
I set off for Whitby late in the afternoon, and enjoyed the familiar old drive across the moors.
In 1998, while living in Scarborough, I got a job with Scarborough Borough Council as Duty Manager at Atlantis, the open air summer-season swimming pool. At the end of the summer, I was asked if I would like to apply for the permanent position as Duty Manager at Whitby Indoor Pool. I got the job, and worked there for a year and a half.
I still keep in touch with a few friends from the pool, and always enjoy staying with Marie and Sie, and their delightful kids Slater and Janaya. Sie and I went out for a drink with Frazer, another of the lifeguards from those days, and we had a few pints and a few laughs.
Whitby is a lovely coastal town, steeped in history. It featured in Bram Stoker’s story Dracula. It has an old history of whaling and fishing. (One of the pictures below show pair of whale’s jawbones on the clifftop overlooking the harbour.) It was home to Captain Cook, as he served his seaman’s apprenticeship. It was also where the four ships he commanded were built – The Endeavour, Resolution, Adventurer and the Discovery. Whitby now a very popular tourist destination.
