Yesterday with the lads but not Fiona because she was ill with sinusitis, I had a nice afternoon and evening out at Whitby and then RKade skatepark at Redcar.

It was  overcast grey and bitterly cold at Whitby and we looked at the ongoing landslides on the glacial till cliffs on Sandsend beach. As usual I had a good inspect of the rock fragments embedded in the mud and joy of joys I found a Shap Granite boulder about 40 cm square with deep scratch marks on it (glacial striations). This indicates that it either had something rubbing over it, it rubbed over something else or a mixture of both! Amazing to think that this rock had been plucked out from a cliff or the ground over 100 miles away on the outer Western edge of the Lake District in or around a place called Shap and then  carried over to the East Coast by the glaciers. Very exciting. If I could have dragged it home I would but it weighed at least 10 stone. I found another small granite which I have seen in  my geology books but I have not identified it yet . Frustrating, because I know where it has come from and the route but I cannot identify it  . Something to do today!

Trundling on to Whitby harbour after this, as we crossed the swing bridge munching our ice creams we saw an Eider Duck  a few metres down from the bridge. It was hunting for small crustaceans and shellfish. We had a laugh when suddenly there was a white explosive stream from the back of it in the water as it had a poo!

After the Whitby walk we wolfed bacon butty and chips at Arcade skate park in Redcar and Miles had a two-hour skate session which left him quite tired! Goodlad. A very nice day out but it would have been better to have had Mum and wife Fiona with us!