Where the Wild Things Were

On a cold and blustery morning we met at Loftus Market Place and heard about the  famous Race between a Lion and a Lamb before setting off up to North Terrace. At North Terrace we heard about: the terrible winter of 1947; snail racing and Sunday afternoon nature walks with parents.  We proceeded towards Hummersea Farm whilst enjoying the vistas to the coast and moors.  At Hummersea Farm  we listened to memories of visiting farms for the Christmas Shout and the rhyme that was said to earn a few pennies.   At the cliffs we looked down to Hummersea beach and heard memories of long summer days swimming, winkling and collecting doggers  with just a jam sandwich and a bottle of water.  We then proceeded briskly along the cliffs towards Boulby past the site of the former Snarler Ponds, a fantastic place for catching newts, and were rewarded  with a fine flying display from a kestrel.  Climbing the cliffs we ventured down to the smugglers cave for a bit of shelter for our lunch and listened to memories of building camps in the quarries and ploughing with an open tractor on the cliffs.   We dropped down to Street Houses to tales of the most feared animal in East Cleveland – the Devils Coachman before wandering back down to Loftus along the Lanes. listening to stories about finding nests and free lemonade.  A very cold but enjoyable venture out.