Karen Wright: Blue skies, bracing walks and good food
When I was a child, we often went to the east coast for day trips and holidays. I remember those days with great fondness.
We went several times to Filey for a week's holiday at Butlins holiday camp which was in its heyday back in the sixties. Filey itself was a day trip destination too; we used to park our car on the steep slope leading down to cobble landing and walk down to the beach with all the buckets, spades, picnic basket and paraphernalia needed to spend a whole day enjoying ourselves.
A couple of weeks ago I revisited Filey, the first time I have done so for many years. We went as a small group of six friends and rented a holiday home for the weekend. The property was ideally placed being a stone's throw from the sea and a ten-minute stroll into the town itself. We decided that each of the three evenings one couple would take a turn planning a menu and shopping and cooking for it. On day one we were treated to an Italian themed meal, day two it was a Tagine, so a Moroccan theme and for my day I decided to go down the French route and cook my favourite Beef Bourguignon. I also put together a starter which was a baked camembert with some homemade bread and a dessert which was slightly off theme, a Basque cheesecake. The Basque region does take in a part of France though but shares a border with Spain!
On Saturday we spent much of the day relaxing in the property, but we did have a wander into town to get our bearings and buy a few treats to share after dinner each night. On Sunday though, as it was Remembrance Sunday, we went to watch the parade and the wreath laying ceremony in Filey. In the afternoon we walked along Filey Brigg, which was bracing and quite exhilarating, and the views were tremendous. We were very lucky to enjoy blue skies and sunshine so late in the year.
After a quick refreshment at a local pub, we returned to our base and settled down for the evening with a few board games before dinner and a restful and relaxing evening watching a bit of television in the lounge before heading off to bed for the last night of our weekend away at Filey.