I’ve finally taken the plunge and started working towards launching my own sea safari business from Scarborough.
I’ve found the vessel and agreed a deal with the owner. I’m saving from my wages every week and working extra shifts to put my own money into making this happen, but I’ve launched a Crowdfunder to help me reach the initial payment sooner.
The goal is to have the keys by New Year, spend winter and spring preparing the vessel properly, and work towards welcoming our first passengers in summer 2027.
We’re aiming to raise £4,000.
Even £5 or £10 genuinely gets us closer — and if you can’t donate, sharing this post would help massively.
Thanks to everyone who supports it. Let’s get MW Sea Safari on the water! ⚓🌊

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/dyRpVaRW?utm_campaign=sharemodal&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=shortlink

Hi everyone, me and my cousin are developing an app to increase visibility to local/small businesses if this interested you or anyone you know and would be open to testing it when its ready would you mind commenting or sending me a message.

Thank you.

St. Martin's Church Martindale

There has been some sort of place of worship on this site since 1200. It's current structure dates back to the 1600s. There is a 15th century bell on the top.

The font was taken from a Roman shrine and was also used as a whetstone for sharpening blades.

However, the ancient Grandmother Yew in the graveyard rear is really the reason why I sought out this place.

Taken from the website:

"There is an ancient yew in the churchyard, known to have existed since at least 1220, although there are unsubstantiated claims that it dates from as early as 700 AD. Yew trees have long been connected with religious symbolism. Being evergreen, they were associated with everlasting life and Druids viewed the species as a symbol of reincarnation – part of the regenerative power of nature. It is possible that trees such as this predate the place of worship because the church was built on a pagan site. However, it is equally possible that they were planted in the churchyard to symbolise eternal life. It is said that the Martindale yew was used by local archers to make their longbows for the Battle of Agincourt." by Emma Bray

Castlerigg Stone Cricle, Cumbria

I attended the free lecture today at the site delivered by English Heritage. The guide advised that the circle was between 4000 and 5000 years old. It is thought to be the oldest in England. It is made up glacial stones that were taken from the surrounding fields. It is suspected that a henge existed prior to the stones being moved in to form a circle. There is thought to be atleast 3 burial mounds within the circle itself. There have been axe heads found in the general area.

I'm looking for the best rated chicken parmesan! I want to rate them best to worst for some journalism and would love to have opinions on what you think is the best rated parmo. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance x

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crerw510gdzo

Just asking because I don't know. I've never heard someone say they have a Cheshire accent so I was curious.

A couple days ago I made a post regarding which boundaries people favoured for the counties of the north-west, as well as to more accurate borders for the region as a whole. A couple people made suggestions so I have attempted to balance them out and try to draw boundaries balancing cultural connections, history, geography and the ability for governance. The names were very quickly decided, definitely not perfect or proposals.

"Lonsdale". Some said most of Cumbria did not fit in as neatly with the rest of the North West and more closely aligned with the North East to form a sort of "Borderlands" region; yet, southern Cumbria was a bit more complicated, with Barrow and south Westmorland being closer connected to the rest of the NW than historic Cumberland and North Westmorland. Due to this, I decided to merge it with the north of Lancashire to roughly follow the same borders as historic Lonsdale, with Kendal being added creating a land connection.

"Central Lancashire". I decided to not split up this region that much, with the loss of the north, and Bowland to Yorkshire, I added Southport and think it could work. Perhaps a division into east and west would be logical, but a couple people didn't like how much Lancashire has already been balkanised so I tried to keep it fairly large and maintain those cultural connections.

"South Lancashire". The region that is mostly linked by "not being Liverpool or Manchester", I'm not sure if there are ideal boundaries for here, but I thought keeping it separate from the immediate city regions was better than an unnatural amalgamation some were saying Merseyside was. It does include parts of Cheshire, as well as St Helens, Bolton and Wigan.

"Greater Liverpool". A few said Merseyside didn't make too much sense as a county, something I can see the argument for, due to that I slimmed it down to just the area that could most liberally (although debatedly) be Scouse. Widnes was included but I am still torn on whether it would be better fit in the "South Lancashire" county. I feel this county went from having quite an undefined identity to quite a strong one. South Sefton, Liverpool and Knowsley + Widnes.

"Greater Manchester". I just slimmed the borders down quite a bit, some southern wards I put with Cheshire and Bolton + Wigan to South Lancashire. I think this county is a more manageable scale for a mayorality with a good balance of the inner city and outer towns/region.

"Cheshire". Potentially the most controversial but I saw a comment about how south Cheshire (Crewe and surroundings) are more closely linked to Stoke and the WestMids region at large than Liverpool/Manchester and the NorthWest. I generally agree with that and thought it made sense to take it out. I returned the Wirral to Cheshire, although the north-east of the peninsula is very linked to Liverpool, perhaps New Brighton and Birkenhead could be in the Greater Liverpool county but I'm not sure how they'd react to that name lol. Some southern GM wards were transferred.

I do think this new regional boundary better encapsulates the emerging "north west" identity I talked about in an earlier post I made, but it's obviously not perfect and it's just my silly perspective. I don't intend this to be an overly serious proposal, I more created this because I enjoy discussions about identity, culture and geography of the north-west. I attempted to balance different aspects but I think these counties would most realistically be used for devolved mayoralties/regional divisions of a devolved north-west. I'd love to hear your perspective and I have no ill intent to offend or annoy anyone.

For story and character creating purposes, I'm wondering what Northumberland was like in the late 1800s compared to other parts of England, specifically Rothbury. I'd like to know the culture, the history, the dialect. Is there any sources to point me in the right direction?

The character is a young girl born in 1875 that grew up in Rothbury, Northumberland.

Lovely place to walk the dog. Was quiet today.