Dunsley's Gate

Finally! Fanfare of trumpets, please... Duncan's new gate, complete with brass lifting knob, has been installed, to complete the front yard. It's been a year in the making, but it's worth it. Bead-blasted stainless steel to prevent rust and avoid repainting, custom-made, so strong that NASA can have it for a Mars landing if Dunsley ever didn't need it. The shape mirrors the railings between Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk) and the Chapel. I caught Duncan in the picture, in his kayak gear, looking rightly proud of his handiwork!

Sea Kayaking from Staithes

Well, what a wonderful weekend to launch a sea kayak from Staithes harbour, with a super-low tide due to the full moon. We paddled out of a nearly-empty harbour and turned left, to follow the cliffs toward Saltburn. Boulby Cliffs are the highest in England and looked absolutely spectacular, with the red striations picked out by the sun. The wildlife was incredible too: we got very close to 2 seals, paddled alongside a guillemot with a chick (first time we'd seen one up close), and watched the Fish Olympics! Three sea trout - each at least 60cm long - leaping vertically out of the sea in front of our bows, clearing the surface by at least four feet. We thought they were being chased by something even bigger, but our fishing friend Steve told us they were more likely dealing with sea lice in their gills, leaping up in order to crash down and flush them out. A big, confused swell meant we didn't go too far around the coast, and gave us an exciting surf back to the harbour. Fantastic fun all round.
These pics were taken in the harbour on our return: the tide was about half-in by this time, not quite enough to paddle up the river to take out by Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk), so we landed on the beach instead.

Staithes Art Festival

Staithes Festival  - a unique celebration of art, heritage and the community of Staithes - is taking place over the weekend of 22-23 September. Village homes and public venues will be thrown open to visitors as pop-up galleries and exhibition spaces. Set around the historic fishing village, the festival will feature film shows and collections of photographs.  A fishing village for over 500 years, Staithes also has a long connection with art. In the last century Harold and Laura Knight spearheaded the Staithes Group of impressionist painters here. Today Staithes is among the most-painted places in Britain, and is a centre for contemporary art.  Rob Shaw, a driving force behind the festival, is the resident artist at the Chapel, next door to Dunsley in Chapel Yard.
The weekend is still available at Dunsley as a Friday-Monday short break (the rest of September is fully booked), and makes the perfect base for enjoying the festival and discovering Staithes. To book Dunsley, go to www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk, and for more on the festival click on www.staithesfestival.com

Duncan + Welding Torch = Gate!

Duncan has taken time out of his day job (he designs and fabricates frames and components for pre-1965 Tiger Cub trials motorbikes) has started making the gate, for Dunsley's beautiful front yard. It's a labour of love: he is fabricating the hinges (seen in this picture), long latch and the gate itself, to make a completely unique entrance to Dunsley (www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk). The gate will mirror the arched railings leading to the old chapel. We're hoping to have it ready to install shortly.

Olympic Torch Relay passes Staithes

On Monday June 18, the Olympic Flame passes Staithes on its way from Athens to London. Starting Day 31 of the torch relay in Middlesbrough, the flame visits Saltburn-by-the-Sea, enters the North York Moors national park at Loftus, then passes Staithes Bank Top on its way to Hinderwell, Lythe, Sandsend and Whitby. Here, it boards the steam train to travel to Pickering, then heads back to the coast at Scarborough and ends the day in Hull. For more details click on www.london2012.com and then Torch Relay. Dunsley has availability for the weekend short break of June 15-18, so you'd have time to watch the relay after checking out at 10.30am! More details at www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk

Summer in Staithes...

The summer patio furniture is now installed at Dunsley! After a chilly start to the season we've bitten the bullet and replaced the winter bench with the table and chairs, for al-fresco dining. Fingers crossed it'll soon be warm enough to use it. There's always the option of staying warm indoors and opening the stable half-door to watch the world go by from the comfort of the sofa, of course!
 We've also set up a new website - www.holidaycottageinstaithes.com  - to partner www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk . Both are active, it's just to make it even easier to remember and access.
 We've had feedback already from our new QR code (see previous post), which is displayed in the yard so the technology seems to be working!

Hi-Tech Dunsley

New developments in high-technology at Dunsley... Our friend Wendy recently alerted us to QR Codes: quick response bar codes that are scanned by a mobile phone, using a free App (eg QR Code City), to give instant access to a website. We are often contacted by visitors to Staithes who have seen Dunsley from the outside and want more information, so we have generated a QR code which will be fixed to the letterbox, near the front yard gate. This way, passers-by who like the look of our lovely little cottage can scan the code on their phones and have instant access to our website. It's all part of our mission to keep Dunsley fresh, lively and relevant. Here's the code, or you can go direct to the website from this blog: www.dunsleyinstaithes.co.uk