27th to
29th June Two new birds and a 'carbon day.'
The two
days previous to today were cycling days. After my few days rest,
during which I celebrated my 60th birthday with my family and voted
Remain in the EU referendum and cried at the result, I was back on
the road heading north from York.
The bike
had been serviced and repaired and I reached Thirsk on Saturday
evening and camped.
Nine hours
solid sleep, I cycled on Sunday to Blackhall Colliery. I had been
feeling very low due to the EU referendum result yet three things
that occurred along the way brought me back to my usual optimistic,
happy self.
I had
called in at the superb RSPB Saltholme nature reserve north of
Middlesborough and met a lovely couple who shared my feelings and
opinions over the referendum. Talking about it with like-minded
people was therapeutic. Refreshed by a drink in the visitor centre
cafe I continued north through the land of the monkey hangers,
Hartlepool. OK, this needs to be explained.
Legend has
it that during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, a
shipwrecked monkey was hanged by the people of Hartlepool, believing
him to be a French spy! To this day, people from Hartlepool are
affectionately known as 'monkey hangers'.
A French
ship was spotted floundering and sinking off the Hartlepool coast.
Suspicious of enemy ships and nervous of possible invasion, the good
folk of Hartlepool rushed down to the beach, where amongst the
wreckage of the ship they found the only survivor, the ship’s
monkey which was apparently dressed in a miniature military-style
uniform.
Hartlepool
is a long way from France and most of the populace had never
met, or even seen, a Frenchman. Some satirical cartoons of the time
pictured the French as monkey-like creatures with tails and claws, so
perhaps the locals could be forgiven for deciding that the monkey, in
its uniform, must be a Frenchman, and a French spy at that. There was
a trial to ascertain whether the monkey was guilty of spying or not;
however, not unsurprisingly, the monkey was unable to answer any of
the court's questions and was found guilty. The townsfolk then
dragged him into the town square and hanged him.
So is the
legend true? Did the good folk of Hartlepool REALLY hang a poor
defenceless monkey?
There
could perhaps be a darker side to the tale – maybe they didn’t
actually hang a ‘monkey’ but a small boy or ‘powder-monkey’.
Small boys were employed on warships of this time to prime the canons
with gunpowder and were known as ‘powder-monkeys’.
Over the
centuries the legend has been used to taunt the residents of
Hartlepool; indeed still today, at football matches between local
rivals Darlington and Hartlepool United the chant, “Who hung the
monkey” can often be heard. Most Hartlepudlians however love this
story. Hartlepool United’s mascot is a monkey called H'Angus the
Monkey, and the local Rugby Union team Hartlepool Rovers are known as
the Monkeyhangers.
The
successful mayoral candidate in the 2002 local elections, Stuart
Drummond, campaigned dressed in the costume of H'Angus the Monkey,
using the election slogan "free bananas for schoolchildren",
a promise he was unfortunately unable to keep. However this appears
not to have dented his popularity, as he went on to be re-elected two
more times. Whatever the truth, the legend of Hartlepool and the
hanged monkey has endured for over 200 years.
Great
story!
Eventually
in warm, sunny weather, I reached Blackhall Colliery and small town
along the coastal road towards Sunderland. A woman with two young
seven year old boys waved me down, having herself parked in a layby.
They wanted to give me a donation having passed me and seen the
collection cans on the bike. Hence I meet Jac and his Mum, Zoey with
Jac's friend Lennon who proudly said he was named after John Lennon
and that so was his Dad, John! They were from nearby Hesledon and
gave me a small furry cuddly for the bike. It looks like a small
tribble from an old Star Trek episode. The boys name it Maximore. I
am unsure of it's gender!
As I cycle
on up a slight incline a gentleman gestures to me asking whether I
needed a drink. Hence I meet the lovely Jan and Ron. An hour or so I
spend enjoying a coffee with them and a chat. Ron used to be an
electrician in the coal mines back when such things existed in
Britain. He talked of the train that went seven miles out under the
North Sea that took the miners out to the coal face. A fabulous
couple, so kind of them to help a stranger.
By now it
was early evening and rain had started to fall. I passed a large,
rough-looking pub and asked whether they did bed and breakfast.
Immediately I was surrounded by a few loud and in your face tough
lads. The bike was carried inside and the girl behind the counter
tried to ascertain what I wanted through the loud music blaring out
and as the lads tried out their strength in lifting the bike. As each
lad expressed their opinion over each one's strength they each put
coins into the collection boxes and asked what I was up to. Salt of
the earth I believe the expression might be, I eventually managed to
get upstairs to a superb bedroom. Newly furbished, it was comfortable
with bath in a large bathroom. Perfect.
Three
occasions of kindness restore faith in humanity. I slept happier than
of late.
Monday
27th June
After a
massive Full English breakfast I was off into a fresh northerly
heading north. It is about time the weather changed, that is I would
love to have a wind behind me for a change.
Through
Sunderland and South Shields, over the Tyne to North Shields and
north to the A189, along the busy dual carriageway I reached the high
bridge over the Wansbeck estuary. Taking the bike down the grassy
slope down to the water's edge I arrived at the spot where a
Bonaparte's gull had been seen for a few days. Now I had dipped out
on a Bonaparte's down on the Exe Estuary, Devon back in January. I
had spent four days searching for that bird.
I scanned
along the shoreline.
Black-headed gull, OK...... oh there it is.....
Bonaparte's gull on the list, bird number 257. A great addition to the year list the bird waded along the water's edge quite nearby and occasionally flew for a while before always returning to the same spot.
Black-headed gull, OK...... oh there it is.....
Bonaparte's gull on the list, bird number 257. A great addition to the year list the bird waded along the water's edge quite nearby and occasionally flew for a while before always returning to the same spot.
After an
hour or so and after enjoying some tea whilst watching it, I
continued north to Cresswall Ponds and enjoyed watching avocets,
dunlin and curlew as the strong now west wind blew.
28th June
An early
morning of g
lorious sunshine has me on top of a sand dune looking
over to Coquet island, another RSPB reserve which has nesting roseate
terns. Out over the bay there were plenty of terns yet there was no
way I could be totally convinced that any of them were roseates. None
of them came close and I decided to try the harbour and adjacent
rocks at nearby Amble.
Eider and red-breasted mergansers in the harbour. arctic terns were here and a few sandwich terns too but still no roseates. I retired to a cafe for lunch.
Eider and red-breasted mergansers in the harbour. arctic terns were here and a few sandwich terns too but still no roseates. I retired to a cafe for lunch.
Back on
the beach again in the afternoon, by now rain was falling yet my
hopes were high as the tide was very low and I could get a lot nearer
to the island.
A figure appeared on the distant sand dunes and proceeded to walk towards me. Gareth Hughes! Brilliantly Gareth had decided to do some tern watching whilst on the way to Aberdeen. A bit of a detour on the way to see a white-winged scoter but here he was and almost immediately a roseate tern flew over our heads. Bird number 258 and a witness to witness the event.
A figure appeared on the distant sand dunes and proceeded to walk towards me. Gareth Hughes! Brilliantly Gareth had decided to do some tern watching whilst on the way to Aberdeen. A bit of a detour on the way to see a white-winged scoter but here he was and almost immediately a roseate tern flew over our heads. Bird number 258 and a witness to witness the event.
Rain fell,
we watched and then walked to some freshwater pools hoping that some
roseates would head there to get washed.
After this
we ate fish and chips together and talked bird listing. On the Bubo
BOU year list page for 2016 Gareth is top with 298 (he is now on 299
having had the rare scoter). The top carbon twitcher sits with the
top Green Birder.
http://www.bubo.org/Listing/view-all-lists.html?showlists=1,BOU,1,2016,0
29th June
A day with
my daughter, Rebecca, we head for The Farne Islands in a hire car.
How strange to be travelling north in a carbon-fuelled vehicle and
along roads that I will have to cycle along tomorrow.
Onto a
Billy Shiels boat at 10 o'clock, we head out to the Outer Islands, to
islands I have never been to before. The Birding Clams and I came
this way a couple of years ago to see a very rare bridled tern but
that was on the Inner Farnes. This time we were to stand on an island
free of head pecking terns, instead there were thousands of very
close guillemots with good numbers of puffins and kittiwakes. Shags,
razorbills, various gulls, rock pipits and oystercatchers were also
there in smaller numbers. All the birds were so close and not
bothered by the milling people.
Back to
Alnwick with rain pouring we visit Barter's Bookshop and meet up with
Rebecca's wonderful boyfriend, Les. Coffee and cake, the best
flapjack of the year, they buy me a book, The Big Year by Mark
Obmascik; the book of the story made into a film, The Big Year of the
Big Year of 1998. The story of three carbon twitchers. I wonder if
ever Green Birders will make it into a book and a film?
