Day 4
Day 4 Gilberdyke and Skidby
A bit of a back tracking day as we met up with Pat Colley in Gilberdyke to have a photo shoot for the Goole Courier. Gilberdyke Good Companions and the Leisure Association both received grants from the foundation and Pat is organising a fund raising Fun Day on Sept 6th for both these two groups and others in the village. It's the first time she's put on this event and we want it to be a great success. Phil has agreed to come out of retirement as a puppeteer and put on a traditional 'Punch & Judy' show during the afternoon.
Elsie & Tony Huntington decided help us with the publicity and offered to join on part of the route. It was a wonderful offer and really reassuring that there's so much goodwill out there in our county. Tony's skills on the penny-farthing were breathtaking and he remarked that riding such an unusual machine around the world (as they both do), is a great way to strike up conversations with people! Elsie's bike date from 1910, so I guess that there would still have been a lot of those around when Walter Wilkinson walked in these parts. 
When we finally got back to Skidby for me to start cycling again, I was waylaid by the 'Pop In' sign outside the village hall. What particularly grabbed my attention was the blackboard on which was written - 'Walkers Welcome, even with rucksacks, muddy boots and dogs'. Anyway, I was dying for a cuppa & so Phil & did what the original sign said and 'popped in'. Not only did we meet Sheila, the treasurer of the village hall committee who was very interested to hear about the community foundation grants, but we spent a lot of time talking to Mary who is the power house behind the opening the hall to muddy-booted walkers. She gives up 2 days a week to offer refreshments, to sell 2nd hand books and make the photocopying facilities available to all. Wonderful- and very cheery- dedication!
Phil bought me a copy of JB Priestly's 'An English Journey', which I've been after for a while. Priestly wrote enthusiastically about Wilkinson's book which was first published in 1931 - I find it a bit of a co-incidence that 3 years later he should publish his own book about his journey. Wonder where he got the idea from? Does anyone out there have any thoughts?
Sum total of the day's cycling was pretty pathetic since I only got through Beverly and out on to the West Wood before an almighty thunderstorm struck. As Phil was painting just a few hundred yards along the road, I was all too keen to throw the bike, once more into the back of the car and call it a day.
Beverley Minster - on a bomb site perhaps......
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