Parking platform progress

Great news: Stage 2 is well underway on the parking platform for our holiday cottage Dunsley in Staithes. Mike and Matt have spent the last week building the foundations for the decking, which almost covers the lower platform. Today we measured up for the shed - planning permission was granted in October 2013 so it's about time we cracked on with it. Mike is a master joiner so it will be a thing of beauty. The plan is to make a space where we, and our guests, can have evening picnics, barbecues or just a sun-downer drink: the area gets lovely evening light. The flax bushes, planted in autumn, are thriving, and so is the tussock planted directly below the parking platform. We hope to plant fuchsia next; any suggestions of maintenance-free plants that will cope with a maritime climate? Our private parking platform has been particularly welcome this year, as the council-run Bank Top car park has been halved in size, with the top section now an even more expensive private park. So our guests are saving even more, by staying at Dunsley!

Ryedale Festival July 2015

This year's fabulous fortnight of the Ryedale Festival is July 17 to August 2. Inspiring performances in the many beautiful and historic venues of Ryedale and North Yorkshire have chamber music at the heart. Highlights include a 100th anniversary programme of Rachmaninov's All Night Vigil in Ampleforth Abbey, National Youth Jazz Orchestra in Malton and the series of Coffee Concerts. Classic venues include Castle Howard, Sledmere House and Church, Duncombe Park and Hovingham Hall. This latter hosts, among other treats, the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra and the Final Gala Concert.
 Dunsley Cottage in Staithes is a wonderful base for discovering the festival gems. We still have availability for a Monday to Friday break, July 27-31.
 For more on the festival, go to www.ryedalefestival.com

Seaside Walk Week

Just a note about the wonderful charity Family Holiday Association and their 40th anniversary. Since 1975 they have been spreading a little sunshine into the lives of thousands of struggling families who face issues including illness, disability, bereavement and abuse, by offering them simple breaks to the British seaside. For their 40th anniversary, they are organising Seaside Walk Week, with guided walks along and near the great British coast. The nearest venue to Staithes is a walk at Whitby on Saturday 30th May. For details on how to participate,to find other venues or even organise your own walk, go to www.seasidewalkweek.org.uk

Tour de Yorkshire near Staithes

The first-ever Tour de Yorkshire, a spin-off from the hugely successful Grand Depart for the Tour de France 2014, hits our coast on May 1st.

  Sixteen professional international teams, each with eight riders, will start the three-day race. They include Marcel Kittel, racing for Giant-Alpecin, having starred in the county last year by winning the opening stage of the Tour de France.

 Best-known Brit is Sir Bradley Wiggins, Olympic Champion, winner of the Tour de France and current World Time Trial Champion. This will be the first race contested by Wiggins in his new team, after his recent departure from Team Sky.

 Guests at Dunsley cottage in Staithes will have a very short distance to walk, cycle or drive, to see the racers arrive in Whitby, as they tackle the 174km leg that starts in Bridlington, and runs north via Pickering, Danby and Whitby, before finishing in Scarborough.

 Yellow bikes are already decorating the roads and shops of the North York Moors national park, ready to welcome the riders, and the thousands of spectators that will line the route.

 For more details, including route maps, visit letour.yorkshire.com

Sculpture in Staithes

All through winter, guests at Dunsley Cottage and visitors to Staithes have been in for a surprise: an extra bench on the promenade above the beach, forming part of an exquisite artwork. Relative Treats, a steel sculpture by Durham-based artist Ray Londsale, is a life-sized model of a grandmother and her grand-daughter. Portraying the link between generations, it shows the woman offering her open handbag to the child, who searches for sweets for herself, and a painkiller for her Gran.
 The detail is breathtaking: the lines on one face and youth on the other; the warm hat clamped onto one head and the bouncy ponytail of the child; the creases on clothing and angle of strained coat buttons, and especially the body language between the two.
 Relative Treats is on display, courtesy of Scarborough Borough Council and Ray Londsale, until April 19th. It is an absolute delight: don't miss it!

Romance at Dunsley

Dunsley, our holiday cottage in Staithes, is a much-loved destination for romantic escapes. We have been delighted to host couples for honeymoons, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, special occasions such as celebrating retirement, even marriage proposals.

 So, we thought we would offer something extra-special: the option to have the ultimate in romantic gestures waiting for you and your loved one, when you arrive at your new home-from-home.

FRENCH CHAMPAGNE & SWISS CHOCOLATE: £25

Louis Danremont Champagne, Grand Reserve: we buy this in small quantities in France - you won't find it in a UK supermarket, that's for sure! Dry and delicious, served chilled in one of our special champagne flutes

Swiss chocolate hearts: 20 individually wrapped hearts in a ribbon-tied box. Choose from gold foil hearts with a silver ribbon or red foil hearts with gold ribbon.

BOUQUET OF BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS: £30

Delight your loved one with a hand-tied bouquet of seasonal blooms. Let us know any favourite colours and,our florist will do her best to include them. Flowers can be presented in an open bouquet, or boxed so they can be easily taken home with you.

 

Wonderful country pub

On the advice of friends in Staithes, we've just paid a visit to The Fox Inn, in Roxby. We were staying at Dunsley, our romantic holiday cottage in Staithes, for Duncan's birthday. It's about 7 minutes drive inland from the coast, through Dalehouse and right up onto the moor top. A small, very traditional country pub in a tiny village, it was taken on just over a year ago by Carl and Alison: Carl works the bar and front of house, while Alison conjures up fab food in the background. The restaurant is quite small, with a wood burning stove; ditto the bar. Emphasis is more on service, food and atmosphere, than decor. There's a strong local customer base - I had to duck beneath a gent playing darts, to reach the toilets! There was one real ale when we visited (January 30th), an excellent Black Sheep. The food is wonderful: well priced, beautifully cooked and presented, and interesting. We had tiger prawns in a Thai dressing - fat prawns, well cooked, perfectly seasoned - and fish-3-ways as starters; then one of the day's specials, pork fillet in Stilton sauce, and chicken stuffed with cream cheese and garlic in a roast pepper and tomato sauce. Veg were spot-on and we had home-made chips and new potatoes. Duncan managed a dessert - a really superb, light, apple strudel with ice cream. Add a bottle of wine, 2 beers, and the bill was just £55. Bargain! We will definitely be back! Thanks, Carl and Ali, for a lovely evening for Duncan's birthday.
The Fox Inn, Roxby, TS13 5EB, Tel: 01947 840548. Closed Tuesdays.