Staithes Christmas tree

Staithes' Christmas tree is in its usual place by the harbour, just above the beach and beside the Cod & Lobster pub. It looks wonderful, especially at night when it's all lit up. If we get lucky and have a clear sky on the next full moon, on December 28, it'll be even better.
 Happy Christmas to all, especially our wonderful guests at Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) who have enjoyed the village's hospitality and friendly welcome in 2012. We hope to see some of you again next year! all the best, from Judy and Duncan

Captain Cook: Staithes to New Zealand

Duncan and I have just returned to Yorkshire from a trip to New Zealand, visiting my family. While there, we visited Ship's Cove, a beautiful bay in the remote Marlborough Sounds, at the top of the South Island. It was one of Captain James Cook's favourite places in New Zealand, and he visited it five times: in 1770 with Endeavour, and four more times between 1773 and 1777 with Resolution. It was quite a thrill to make the link between our little house - Dunsley in Staithes (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) - in the tiny village where Cook was a youngster and spent his first days at sea, and my home country. Sitting on the long flight back to Britain this week, I thought of his many years of maritime discovery; the comparison made a 14-hour flight from Singapore seem a bit shorter! The pics show Ship's Cove with a view into Queen Charlotte Sound, the Cook monument and a close-up of the plaque giving his dates.

Staithes beer festival

The Captain Cook Inn at the top of the bank, above the harbour, had a Halloween-themed beer festival this weekend. We counted 13 real ales - our favourite was Pretty Witch - and 3 special ciders, plus the usual beers. It's definitely the destination for real ale lovers, added to by a coal fire, sea views and relaxed atmosphere. Next beer festival is between Christmas and New Year, with pale ale and pork pies! Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) is booked over that period, but there's still availability in January - a perfect excuse to wind down after Xmas excess...

BBC filming in Staithes

Excitement at the harbour this week: the BBC are filming again. Through September they'll be shooting Old Jack's Boat, for release on CBeebies at Christmas. It was ironic to see a pretend ice-cream stall set up within arm's reach of the real Beacon Farm ice-cream van! Fingers crossed that this new film is better than the last one: The Body Farm, a crime drama series with scenes filmed in Staithes last September (2011) was widely regarded as a disaster. This time the producers are probably hoping that you can't go wrong with a story about a boat....

Steve catches biggest fish

The annual competition for the biggest cod caught from a Staithes boat, run by the Cod & Lobster pub, is hotting up. Steve Burke, who did much of the renovation work at Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) including building the wonderful front yard and wall, has set the bar high, catching a massive 30lb cod. Duncan and I met him on the water this weekend, when we were out in our sea kayaks. He showed us the best of that day's catch, a huge ling (see picture), caught by line from his beautiful coble Rose of England. There are a few fish dinners in that one, for sure!

Sea kayaks and surf at Staithes

As we sea kayaked out of the Staithes harbour on Saturday, surfers were playing hard on the surf break. It's somewhat surreal to be paddling on calm water just metres from crashing waves! Staithes has a low-tide surf break just south-side of the harbour entrance, and the waves were coming in high and hard this weekend. We kayaked far out to sea to get around the surf, making our way down to Runswick Bay for coffee and cakes at the tea shop, then had a fun run back to Staithes. We popped our heads into Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) to say hi to our guests, a young couple on honeymoon! who were having a lovely, relaxing time in the sunshine.
 Pics below show paddling out of the Staithes harbour, heading south along the cliffs, kayaking in to Runswick Bay and the run back to Staithes at 6pm.

Staithes Art Festival poster

Rob Shaw, artist in residence for the Staithes Art Gallery, and working from the chapel beside Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) has just sent us the new poster, for the first Staithes Art Festival. It's going to be a fantastic weekend. We've offered Dunsley's front yard for an artwork installation, so the cottage will be part of the action. In fact, we still have availability for that weekend, September 21-24, and they are the only free dates for the whole month! We'd book it for ourselves, but we'll be away working... So far there are 45 artists and their work booked in to exhibit at, in and on various locations in the village. As well as unique artworks, Rob has organised live music, guided walks, shipwreck finds, workshops... truly a weekend not to be missed!