Fighting Fury in Filey

 We've done a flit to Filey to celebrate our Jasper wedding (42 years).

The first time we visited this East Coast town was back in 1989 with our 5 year old daughter and her mate, when I'd just started collecting after seeing Batman at the flicks. In a coastal grocers was a rack of cheap blister carded toys and I recall getting two Spider-Man sets, a pistol and some rubbery suckers most likely by Gordy or Larami. They were contemporary things but I was so chuffed and kept them for years (can't find pics sorry).

Decades on and several visits later I again got some toys in Filey.

A big bag of old Airfix soldiers. £3.

And in a pleasantly surprising vintage toy shop called Timeless Toys ( closes permanently at Xmas) I was genuinely spoilt for choice.

A Corgi Captain Pugwash set caught my eye, all new to me, but in the end it was two undressed action dolls and an incomete FAB1 that were bagged. £15 the lot.

LtoR:

Lion Rock 1975 - Little Big Man?

Dinky FAB1 to restore over Winter

Matchbox 1973 Fighting Fury with hand action

The owner is selling up so get down there if you're on the Yorkshire East Coast.

In the Realm of the Cave Bear

 Yesterday we went to a cave system in the German town of Iserlohn in the Sauerland region, the Dechenhöhle.

I have a feeling I visited caves with my folks as a kid though it's unclear, but I do enjoy the activity.

Several kids were in our group and they all liked the museum at the start, which included life size reconstructions of cave bears and then strange looking cave lions, which we all agreed we'd never heard of before. Have you? 

The cave itself was full of thousands of wet stalagmites, tites and pillars and a constant temp of 10 degrees. It takes the stalactites a century to grow just 1 cm, a human lifetime. 

We weren't allowed to take snaps but I squeezed one off before the guide arrived! 

At the end the Gift Shop was a hit with dino parts being popular.

Did you visit caves as a kid? 

St.Elizabeth's, Marburg

Off the toy trail and maybe of interest to Moonbasers, for ancient and modern pilgrims alike, the 12th Century Saint Elizabeth Church in Marburg, Hessen, is a wonder.

Breathtakingly old and vast, the site is where Elizabeth secretly fed a thousand poor and is revered for many miracles including that of the basket of roses.

Saint Elizabeth's remains were in the reliquary, but we're removed in the 16th Century before being completely plundered. The gold vessel reminded me of the similar Magi's in Cologne. 

Nearby is Michael's Chapel on the pilgrimage trail. Some were buried here, their journey done.

For now, we ourselves journey on.

What Time is it Oliver?

 Whilst on holiday this week in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and environs I saw a few things for sharing.

First up is this beautiful watch on display in Huntingdon. Now it may look modern but it is gobsmackingly from .......

 the 1600's and was the property of one Lord Protector of England, Oliver Cromwell!

It's over 400 years old! 

What do you think of it? How many other folk had watches then? Could anyone tell the time? 

Do you still wear a watch readers?

Next was this sensational model of the Campbell Bluebird, made of .......

Cutlery! 

Knives, forks, spoons all welded together! 

This set of books was one I get one Christmas as a kid. Fabulous reads, I still have two of them. I adored the line drawings of Kings and Queens in A Pageant of History. 

Do you remember them?

Lastly I really liked this poster of the phases of the moon. Really lovely artwork for any wall. Sadly, I didn't get it.

Do you like it? 

I did buy a bundle of old Action Man vehicles but forgot to take them home. They're still at our friend's house hundreds of miles away! Doh! 

Are you forgetful readers?

Settle This!

 Taking a retirees country break, the Missus and me are enjoying time in the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales town of Settle to recharge our batteries.

On the way here I was lucky to bag three annuals at Thorpe Arch car boot: the neat Baby Boomer dolls, Topper Book 1970 for my Grandson and Toby Twirl Adventures - more on that later.

Settle is famous for it's massive Ribblehead railway viaduct, an engineering moorland marvel.

It's also a great place for hill rambles, which is what we did today and here are a few Autumnal snaps of the Victoria Cave circular walk.

The sheer length of the countless dry stone walls was staggering and they must in sum be, like the Pyramids or similar, one of the greatest building projects ever!

We had to look twice but the black shape is actually a cave!

Seeing the scree slopes below the crags reminded me of past daft antics: scree running as a young teenager, in the Lakes, running down the rock slides and feeling them shift as you ran. Crazy! Do you have scree?

This cast iron plate recalled the monolith in 2001! I very nearly started bashing it with a sheep bone! Have you got any strange features locally?

This hilltop reminded me of a frog's head!

After all that fresh air, drizzle, sheep and rocks, it's a well-earned fish supper tonight with a cup of Yorkshire tea.

Tomorrow, Settle's charity shops! 

Diamonds and Rust

 It's our Iron Wedding - and we're not going rusty just yet! Ha ha  

We're spending the day in the quaint town of Louth, a real diamond in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds.

Louth boasts a huge number of shops including many charities, a myriad cafes and Tennyson even published here.

Today I was looking for Stephen King novels for a mate and found loads. I also saw lots of old kids annuals like Magpie, Roy Rogers and Champion the Wonder Horse.

One of the book was a gorgeous 1950's pop-up about cowboys with really lovely artwork. See what you think - this example is on eBay.

Vintage games go for a premium now and I saw an old Spears Spin Quiz and Ker-Plunk at a fiver each. A better deal was ForeThought in a great box at £3.50 but I passed.

Ever hopeful for Hong Kong plastic, I found none as usual, but I did buy a brand new electric shaver in Boots. Wet shaving recently caused me to nick my lip and it bled like you wouldn't believe! 

Still, a nice Italian should go down well. We dine at 6. Seafood pizza sounds good.

What's your favourite pizza readers?

Ciaio!