Kinderland, the present is a foreign country!

Hear Norman get up at ten past six, so got out of bed to let him into the garden and then stay up. It is worth it, a lovely clear morning and a beautiful sunrise. We share a full English breakfast, before setting off for a walk round the fields. A lovely autumn morning, sunny, bright, but still quite chilly as we start out, around half past eight. Passing the farm, the free range chickens are eating their breakfast corn and the alpacas try to muscle in on their feed, until that is, they saw me and then scurried away. The farmer must be in the habit of shooing them away, whenever he feeds the birds. Once over the little wooden bridge, we turn into "almost straight wood", one of Norman's favourite places. The field adjacent to the wood has been harrowed ready for planting, perhaps spring barley as it had oil seed rape earlier this year. Normy is definitely getting fitter and fairly joggs along as we make our way around the two mile loop. We get back for a quarter to ten and I have just got time to give him a drink and a few biscuits, before driving into Beverley to meet friends for coffee at the Poppy Seed, Norman sits on my knee and laps up the attention, he is far more popular than I am. We have to leave for eleven, as I have promised to collect Louis for quarter past. After some consultation it is decided that I will take him to Kinderland in Scarborough, an outdoor adventure play area, just across the road from Peasholm Park in Scarborough. Alice wants to meet her friends in Hull, so I slip her a tenner for something to eat and arrange to see her when we get back. Louis is hungry, so we stop off at Tickton for some lunch, I have all his favourite things in the fridge, Parma Ham, Salami, smoked cheese and olives. We eat in the garden, but as we sit down a cloud obscures the sun, and the temperature drops by several degrees. After lunch, I leave the Garden Room door open for Normy and make sure he has plenty of water, before we depart for Scarborough around about a quarter to one. We promptly arrive at Kinderland an hour later, only to find it closed, so I park on the front at North Bay, by the surfers cafe, and buy Louis an ice cream in a shop. The assistant tells me Kinderland has been shut for three years, how out of date am I! Undaunted, we cross the road and buy return tickets on the miniature railway that runs to Scalby Ness. The last time I took Louis on this train, two years ago, he screamed his head off when we went through the little tunnel. I tell him about it and he laughs defiantly when we repeat the experience. He is a big boy now! There is a sea life centre at Scalby, that definitely hasn't closed, but when we get there, they want almost thirty pounds for the two of us, and I know from previous experience, that kids rarely last more than an hour in there. Consequently I refrain from purchasing tickets at that price and we cross the road and make our way over the footbridge over Scalby Beck, to our left a steep path marks the start of the Cleveland Way, the sign says "Ravenscar 9 miles", but we carry straight on and clamber over the sandstone boulders onto the Ness, a mass of sea worn rocks and numerous pools. It looks and is, quite dangerous, the rocks are covered with algae and seaweed and are very slippery. Limpets decorate their surface and Louis is quite impressed when I tell him they invented superglue. A concrete conduit carries a sewage pipe out to sea and makes a reasonable pathway through the rocks. Some girls have made their way to the end and Louis decides to rescue them, so off we go. After fifteen minutes or so we manage to reach them, only to find that their Dad is sat a little distance away, behind a rock. Louis is disappointed that they don't need rescuing, but is consoled when they agree to be tigged as a symbolic rescue. We make our way back along the pipe to the Beck and then climb the Cleveland Way to the cliff top and follow it for a few hundred yards, before sitting with our feet hanging over a ledge to seawards, watching the gulls flying beneath us and landing on a beach that is only accessible by boat. The clouds have cleared, the wind eased and it's pleasantly warm sat in the sun. After a while, we make our way back and Louis has a lemonade from the pub and I have half a pint of North Bay real ale. It is brewed by Wold Top Brewery and tastes a little like Belgian Palm beer. Refreshed we retrace our steps to Scalby station and as we are first, manage to get the carriage directly behind the engine driver. The trip is slightly less than a mile, and soon we are back at Peasholm, so decide it is time to be pirates and set off to hire a rowing boat. We arrive at the boathouse exactly one minute past four o'clock, but last bookings are at four, and as they are council employees and unconcerned about customers or profit, refuse our pleas. We opt for the putting green, which has a sign saying it is still open, but when we enquire, are told we need to pay at the boating shed. You can guess the rest! In the centre of Peasholm Lake is an island and on top of the island is a Chinese Pagoda, which you access across a willow pattern bridge. The park celebrates its centenary this year, it first opened in 1912, and the island and pagoda have been refurbished to celebrate this anniversary. Louis and I climb the harepin paths to the summit, where the Pagoda sits directly behind a waterfall that tumbles fifty feet or so, down rocks to the lake. On the other side is a sort of zen garden, with little pools, bamboo cane and more bridges, with alcoves and seats giving views over the park. It is quite beautiful, but five year old boys only want to see who can run down the path on the other side fastest. Surprisingly Grandad wins, but only because it is downhill. We make our way back to the beach, where the tide is starting to come in, Louis runs ahead of me by a hundred yards or so, and makes for another concrete conduit that leads into the sea. I know what he is going to do, but am powerless to stop him, he climbs up and makes his way along it. Fortunately he proceeds cautiously and I soon catch him up, so we both walk to the end together and return without falling off or getting wet. As soon as we get off, a large wave comes in and Louis feet are drenched. By now it is five o'clock, so we make our way back to the car and I realise, with horror, that I am in a metered zone and have left the car for three hours without a ticket. Fortunately the Gods are smiling on us and we escape unscathed and quickly drive up the hill into town, where I park and this time pay, before crossing the road to the shopping precinct. We buy Louis a dry pair of socks for a pound, complete with Spiderman logo, and change them on a bench, before repairing to Mother Hubbard's for Haddock and chips. The cafe is packed and we have to wait a few minutes before a table becomes vacant. Louis is not good with patience, and his table manners are non existant, I suppose that is a corollary of Sarah spending three years at university. I have been coming to this cafe for over twenty years and have yet to have a bad meal, we both clear our plates and Louis even finds room for a chocolate ice cream. We leave Scarboro a little after six and before we have reached Cayton Bay, he is fast asleep and doesn't wake up until seven o'clock when we pull up across the road from Sarah's. Alice puts Louis to bed, whilst I return to Tickton, to feed and toilet Norman, before returning to Sarah's with my pyjamas and clothes for church tomorrow morning. When I get back Louis is sound asleep, but Alice has been invited to a party at her friends, a few doors away. Once she provides me with an address and telephone number, I agree to let her go, as long as she is back before eleven. She is a trustworthy and sensible girl but I will be relieved when she is back. She arrives, as promised, a little before eleven, I let Norman out for one last time and then go to bed.