We reached Scarborough Castle!

[purplecat]

After posting last Night B. and I went out for a meal in Scarborough. In fact we went out in search of a pub to sit in before the meal (since the table wasn't booked for another hour). We failed to find a pub and in the end turned up at the restaurant half an hour early. However, after the meal, we recalled that B's younger brother had once owned half a pub in Scarborough. In fact B. had his stag night there and we own the pub sign for its previous version as `The Nottingham'. After some googling and wracking of brains we recalled that B's brother and his partner (who actually ran the pub) had renamed it Indigo Alley and further googling revealed it was just around the corner from us. To Indigo Alley we therefore went.





Further googling suggested it had changed hands at least twice since B's brother's partner had bought him out (insofar as we understand B's brother's various money-making schemes this would count as one of the more successful attempts) but it still had (or had at least regained) a reputation as a good independent pub. B.'s recollection was that it had been a bit of an "Old Man's Pub" but it clearly was no longer. We must have had 20 years on all the other patrons. It turned out to be quiz night and we were welcomed to join in and lent an iPad to use for the quiz app (though I also downloaded the quiz app which led to some confusion). Our aim was not to totally embarrass ourselves so we were a little surprised to come joint first for the first round. The prize was a free round which obviously obliged us to stay until closing time.



This photo doesn't really capture quiz night at Indigo Alley all that well. The man with the MacBook was the quiz master and, I think, the landlord.


It felt like a nice place. The Quiz Master/Landlord obviously knew most of the regulars who were a good-humoured bunch. We had a fun evening.







This morning we wandered around the castle.


Then we drove to Newcastle to collect the Teenager from her terribly secret summer camp, where she has apparently learned the vital importance of only hacking into networks you have been given permission to hack into. We got home to discover that thankfully the cleaners had not removed the Really Useful Box in the en-suite which was nearly full of water but that, not so thankfully, additional leaks had clearly happened and the new kitchen table and one of the new chairs had obviously been standing in water for more time than was strictly good for them. Given the house was empty of alcohol apart from the Brexith stash, we have broken into the Brexit stash.




Scarborough from the Castle. It felt an interesting place. There were a lot more small quirky independent shops than you see in most high streets these days, and they were more inclined to be gaming shops, or second hand record stores, than aspirational middle-class boutiques*.


*I compare to Cheltenham, not that I object to fancy cheese shops and the like but it was refreshing to be reminded that there is a different way to be a small independent retailer.

Comments

[liadt]

Quiz night with ipads! I'm so old!

[purplecat]

It's quite a clever idea in the age of the smart phone. It allowed questions to have time limits for answers and gave bonus points for the team to get the correct answer first - so that meant there was a real cost to googling answers as opposed to just knowing them. We could see it also allowed you to have a much larger question bank, and it automatically kept track of scores, and allowed for a quick fire round with funky buzzer noises and so on.

[liadt]

Oooh buzzer noises: I'm in! Good bye paper;p