Don't need to be a weatherman ...

.. to know which way the wind blows.  We will disregard the metaphorical intent of Mr Dylan's ditty and instead marvel that this is the last topic raised.  Not only is the weather the most frequently discussed issue anywhere in the world but escaping Winter on the Monaro is a large part of the reason for the timing of this trip.

I am not sanguine about the prospect of fine weather.  This comes about from:

1. my recollection of the foul climate when I was growing up in Essex (theoretically the driest part of the UK) which leads me to describe grey drizzly days as 'English weather';
2. the frequent comments in James Heriot's TV series 'All Creatures Great and Small'  about it being a" a fine soft day"; and
3. looking at the weather for Middlesbrough on The Weather Channel website.

However I will try to record what descends from above each day (and hopefully not grizzle too much about it).  I do however have a theory that it is the weather that leads to the stereotype of the whingeing Pom!

Doing the training

The group with whom we go walking (for plant purposes) on most Wednesdays assess if they should go according to the weather.  There have been a couple of occasions recently when they have decided not to go because of the rain, wind and low temperatures.  I have complained about this as I felt we needed to get in some acclimatisation before starting this trip.  The response has been that I was quite welcome to go out and walk around in it.

This morning (17 June) I did emerge into reasonably steady rain (7mm since 6:30 am), fairly good winds and 8 degrees C.  I can see why we are going away from this and just hope that it will be better in Yorkshire in 2 days time!.

19 June: To Ingleby

Arrive Manchester, drive to Ingleby Manor.  Probably do sleep!

The immigration guy was very chatty and friendly. No way was he a jobsworth!  In fact Manchester airport was very good in all respects.

The hire car was picked up in a very friendly way. It is a turbo diesel Skoda and rolls along very nicely (especially as it has cruise control.) As predicted by the AA Atlas we are using there are speed cameras everywhere, including a long stretch on the M56 which used average speed. Despite all this many cars went past me, who was sitting on 70. (I assume that is still the motorway limit – there are no signs to say so! ) As we have driven around it is very difficult to work out where the speed cameras are.  There are many signs - in some cases 4 or 5 within 2 miles - but rarely do I spot a camera.  In fact these are mainly the equivalent of "speed cameras may be used in this area" and not an indication of a fixed item: however I am still amazed that anyone in the UK who travels more than 10 km from home has a driving license.

While trying to work out where we could park in Middlesbrough I spoke to a couple of Middlesbrough Wardens. They said they didn't do parking, so couldn't help me but were very friendly.

Our visit to Middlesbrough was generally a bit fraught as I had basically had it – by this time we'd been travelling for 38 hours with not much sleep so I was stuffed. We got some cash and some groceries and that was about it. We found our way to Ingleby Manor where we were greeted by our very charming and friendly hostess and introduced to the Gun Room which is excellent.

A fair number of birds were seen on the way. First was a wood pigeon, and the best a kestrel (defined as best because I like them)!

The weather was ungood. 13C , overcast and windy. Our hostess said that the previous week it was 26 and sunny! No particular linguistic items, but the average denizen of Middlesbrough has an accent that could break rocks. (On the flight to Dubai we spoke to a young guy from York and, when speaking to us, he had a strong accent but when he was talking to another bloke at full speed I could not understand a word!)

21 June: Flamborough

The main business is Flamborough Heads and other cliffs in the area.  There are a few other spots on the way back and forth,

We woke fairly early and by 7am were on the road heading towards Bempton Cliffs. We took a route along the Northern and Eastern side of the Moors. This was quite an interesting drive as we actually got to see some heather! (Most of the North York Moors National Park appears to be farmland of one sort or another: presumably there are some limitations on what the owners or tenants of the land can do.)  Here is a piccie of the moors, followed by a close up of the cottage.

The last several miles were through villages again which were merely tiresome and made life navigationally stressful.

However we eventually arrived at the cliffs, and used our RSPB membership to sally forth. What a fantastic place. 

Frances made a call at some point that it was like an Amazonian claylick with heaps of birds flying around and sitting on the cliffs (or the sea below). The two most notable species for me were Kittiwake and Fulmar because both were lifers:

• the kittiwakes were in tens of thousands - many with chicks;

• fulmars were much less common, but once the eye was in (thank you UK birder for pointing out the stiff wing jizz) they were quite easy to pick up on the wing and the beak was very obvious when sitting.

Also excellent were the gannets and auks:

• Razorbill (with a big fat dark bill);
• Guillemot (with a fine pointed bill); and best of all (see entry for Day 18 for a close up of these at Portland Bill).
• Puffins with a very colourful bill when not hidden under a wing).

Another person was heard to comment that in total there were 250,000 birds on the cliffs.  I would have thought there were more, but it is a good number.

After about three hours we left and headed back along the coast road home. This was quite scenic but villages and towns every few miles. It was rated an A road but made the older bits of the Princes Highway look like a freeway. I cannot imagine what it will be like in a few weeks when the holiday season is in full swing with every second car towing a van or boat.

After a few bits and pieces, and reflections on how signs at crucial turns do not have the name of the place you are heading for, we got to Middlesbrough where I got my cell phone freed from the influence of Virgin Australia so that I could use a UK SIM card. This was done successfully (although I am not sure how legally, but since I am well past my contract date with Virgin I don't care).

The weather was excellent.  Lots of sunshine and topping out at about 24.  Is this really Northern England?

The Weather Page

Despite my fears about the crummy weather associated with an English we got a very nice set of days (certainly far better than suggested by the weather forecasts before we left).  As will be seen from the following only one day was rated 'awful' and as we only suffered about half of that (we didn't arrive until noon).

date	Max	look and feel	wind	Comments
19 June	13	cloudy	strong	awful
20 June	17	fine	light	reasonable
21 June	23	fine	light	pleasant
22 June	25	sunny	moderate	very nice
23 June	25	sunny	light	excellent
24 June	20	overcast	Moderate +	reasonable
25 June	20	fine	light	reasonable
26 June	25	sunny	light	Is this England?
27 June	29	sunny	light	Is this England?
28 June	30	sunny	light	Is this England?
29 June	28	a tad cloudy	Moderate +	rain early then great
30 June	27	fine	light	excellent
1 July	28	fine	Moderate +	reasonable
2 July	27	Cloudy	light	rain as we drove along M4
3 July	23	fine	light	reasonable
4 July	22	overcast	moderate	rain evening but not bad
5 July	20	fine	strong	reasonable
6 July	20	fine	light	pleasant
7 July	20	Cloudy	Moderate +	This is England!
8 July	25	fine	light	pleasant
9 July	23	fine	light	pleasant