Camp Sparkle trips poll

[nopseud]

Pen and I have put together a list of places we thought would make good trips from Camp. Please fill in the poll (or if you don't have an account here, leave a comment).

If you aren't staying the full week, or aren't sure exactly which days you'll be here yet, please still fill in the poll. We haven't fixed days for most of these, but just give your preferences and we'll try to arrange the days to suit as many people as possible.

If a group of people would like to go walking one day, we could probably arrange a drop-off somewhere in the North Yorks Moors National Park. And if anyone has any other suggestions for attractions in the area that they really want to visit, please comment.


Castle Howard. Definitely one of the best stately homes in the country and well worth a visit. (If you're wondering why we aren't planning afternoon tea here, we thought about it, but bizarrely there's no gluten free option.) They have a group discount for more than 12. Entry: £18.95 / £15 with group discount.

A combination day of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and Whitby. The steam railway runs from Pickering up to Whitby through the beautiful North Yorks Moors National Park. Depending on numbers and the preference of drivers, we might be able to wrangle things so that people who don't want to go on the railway can drive up to Whitby and we meet up again there, and possibly also allow some people to book one-way train tickets. I've tried to provide a selection of options in the poll, but feel free to expand in the comments. This would also be a good day to have some real Yorkshire fish & chips for lunch. Train ticket: £29 return / £17.40 single.

York. There is plenty to do in York, so the plan would be along the lines of the trip to Chester last year -- have a day for people to do whatever they fancy, meeting up again at the minibus to go home.

Scarborough, which is pretty close to the house, is one of the classic British seaside holiday destinations, and has all the terrible tat traditional features associated with that, plus a castle! We thought this would make a good outing for Thursday.

Now we finally get to the really important part -- afternoon tea. We could, as is now traditional, make this part of the Thursday trip. I'm sure we'll be able to find somewhere nice in or around Scarborough for tea. However, Pen has suggested that this year we could have our own Afternoon Tea day. We have some great bakers, and we can make our own sandwiches, etc. We can either have it at the house, which has a large patio with seating (and a hot tub), or if the weather is nice we can go out for a picnic somewhere nearby.

Poll #18668 Camp Sparkle activities

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

View Respondents

Castle Howard

View Answers

Yes please.
14 (100.0%)

No thanks.
0 (0.0%)

North York Moors Railway and Whitby (sorry this got complicated!)

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Train trip & Whitby, return ticket preferred.
4 (26.7%)

Train trip & Whitby, single or return ticket.
10 (66.7%)

Train trip & Whitby, single ticket preferred.
0 (0.0%)

Whitby only preferred, but would go on the train.
1 (6.7%)

Definitely Whitby only.
0 (0.0%)

No thanks.
0 (0.0%)

Fish & chips for lunch in Whitby?

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Yes please.
10 (76.9%)

No thanks.
3 (23.1%)

York

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Yes please.
13 (92.9%)

No thanks.
1 (7.1%)

Scarborough (Thursday)

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Yes please.
14 (100.0%)

No thanks.
0 (0.0%)

Afternoon tea arrangements

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I'd prefer afternoon tea in Scarborough.
6 (46.2%)

I'd prefer the homemade afternoon tea.
7 (53.8%)

Comments

[turps]

To add to the fish and chips answer. Whitby fish and chips are amazing, but sadly off limits to me. But, they still get a thumbs up from us otherwise.

[nopseud]

When I find a prospective place, I'll run it past you to make sure that there's something for you on the menu.

[turps]

You're fab. Thank you ♥

[ephemera]

I was about to recommend The Magpie, as it is (or used to be) actually worth the lines, but I don't think it's re-opened yet ;(

[nopseud]

Their facebook page says they're reopening the restaurant mid-September, so I guess it could go either way. The takeaway is already open, so if the weather is good then that would be an option. Definitely there will need to be a backup plan, though.

Do you know this place? Their fish & chips get pretty good reviews, but the veggie options are very limited.

http://thefishermanswife.co.uk/whitby-outlet/2891081

[ephemera]

honestly, if I can get a chip butty, I'll be good ;)

[ephemera]

ditto ;)

[letterboys]

Still not sure how long I'll be staying, but it's unlikely I'll be able to join you for afternoon tea if it's still on Thursday :( That said, I volunteer to research/help to organise things for York if we finally have enough people for an outing. :D

[nopseud]

That would be awesome, thank you.

[turlough]

Since it's on the Thursday I might skip Scarborough if I'm feeling too sightseeinged out.

I'm all for baking!

[nopseud]

Homemade afternoon tea seems to be racing into the lead at the moment :-)

[nopseud]

This is the fish & chip restaurant we're looking at in Whitby.

http://thefishermanswife.co.uk/whitby-outlet/2891081

This is the list of gluten free dishes they do:

Starters
Prawn Cocktail
Soup of the day
Oak roast and poached salmon
Whitby crab and prawn cocktail

Mains
Seafood curry
Grilled haddock and chips
Pan fried seabass
Scottish salmon
Asparagus and pea risotto
Vegetable curry
Fresh seasonal salads of the day

Would any of that suit you?

[turlough]

Oh yes, most of that list sounds very suitable to me!

[ephemera]

Castle Howard is *awesome*, but it's also basically home territory for my godson, so I'm highly likely to get Aunted if I'm on that trip, which may not be desirable for others (he's 9 and high-energy)

Also, given my limited timeline, I am hoping for Whitby while I'm there unless that messes things up for other folks - I'd love to be back in Whitby with you all - so have opted out of replying to other things ;)

[nopseud]

I was actually already pencilling in Whitby for Sunday, as the train timetable they run on Sundays would allow us a slightly later start. We might end up being dictated to by the weather, though, if the jet stream doesn't pull its act together and jet off further north for a bit.

[chalcopyrite]

STEAM RAILWAY!!!

Ahem.

These all sound brilliant! and I would love to help bake afternoon tea! (I just tried a recipe for coconut macaroons, for instance, which are by their nature gluten-free!)

[pensnest]

I know it's possible to buy gluten-free brownies, so it must also be possible to bake them! And we could have ninja boyband cookies. Rainbow iced ninja boyband cookies, even!

[chalcopyrite]

I have a baking friend with a celiac husband who I know has an amazing recipe!

Sent from my iPhone

[turlough]

I was just thinking of coconut macaroons! I have a very nice recipe with saffron that adds a bit of exoticism to it.

[nopseud]

This is the fish & chip place in Whitby we're looking at:

http://thefishermanswife.co.uk/whitby-outlet/2891081

I know the veggie menu is very limited, but is there anything on there you'd be okay with?

[chalcopyrite]

That looks just fine-mussels are my vegetarian exception, or either veggie option looks fine too. And there are always chips, and chips make me happy. :)

Sent from my iPhone

[pensnest]

I have no preference on the Afternoon Tea front, so I'm happy with whatever everyone decides. I think Beast would answer the survey much as I have, though if he says different I will amend!

ETA: he has filled in the poll himself.

[fadedsouls]

For Whitby and fish and chips, I still don't eat it, but I'm sure there will be other options for non-fishy meals. So I won't be trying to stop anyone else from having any (as if anyone could...)

Also, YAY YORK!! As for Afternoon tea, I can see if I can find some non-gluten recipes as well.

[nopseud]

This is the fish & chip restaurant we're looking at. Are there things on the menu there that you'd be okay with?

http://thefishermanswife.co.uk/whitby-outlet/2891081