The serious ride mentioned previously

I had been wanting to do a "proper" ride for  ages, ever since Tom had the stabilisers taken off his bike and proved himself to be a proper little powerhouse.  The onset of a spate of gorgeous May days, akin to the height of summer with deep blue skies, hot sun and gentle breezes saw us spending a Saturday planning the much anticipated "proper" ride.


Along our stunning coastline northwards towards Seaton Sluice, taking it slow with stops whenever requested for the most whimsical of reasons.  Then cutting inland, up the hill to National Trust property of Seaton Delaval Hall.  The weather on Sunday dawned wet and grey, one of our famous Whitley sea frets covering everything the eye could see in dense fog.  We gathered our things together nonetheless, confident that once we headed inland the sun would appear.


Tyres pumped, helmets on, ready to go!



Tom vanishing into the fog

 The weather was looking much improved by the time we got to Seaton Sluice, where we had a drink and a snack and Steve, Sam and Tom decided to climb the (really rather steep!) sand dunes...


Victorious!

 ... which was a sight to behold from the bottom.  By the second attempt the boys were scaling the ascent with aplomb that belied their age and size!  But then it was time to mount our bikes and turn inland as we climbed the hill to Seaton Delaval Hall.  As we neared the top the sun came out gloriously and so we coasted down the drive to the Hall under blue skies, about 2 hours after setting out from home.  We availed ourselves of the picnic tables, where we ate our packed lunch and had a kickabout with the football Sam had carried in his backpack.  The kids scampered about like squirrels in the long grass, attempting to climb the trees and exploring through gates and darkly shadowed corners.

We paid our entrance fee and went inside Seaton Delaval Hall for the first time.  I was entranced by the beautiful gardens and the exterior stonework of this old building built in early 1700's.

Laburnum Arch

 We marvelled at the famous Rhododendron Hedge with it's fantastic den, deep inside the perfect height for 2 little boys to play in - with flowers growing even on the inside.

They have a fantastic play area that is made entirely from carved and sculptured tree trunks which is truly amazing, and the boys had a great time scrambling all over it - until Tom fell off (he was alright, he hit the ground with a real thunk, but had no bruises or scrapes to show for it!).

By this time we had spent about 2 hours meandering through the gardens, exploring the old cellars and investigating the buildings and chapel and we realised that we still had to make the long bicycle ride home so we really ought to get on our bikes!  We took what we thought was a cunning route home, along the river, avoiding the loooong climb up to get to the top of Seaton Sluice.  Turned out to be a trickier route than we anticipated and we ended up heading back towards the road, but at least we missed out the big hill!!!  Coming home took us about half an hour longer than the trip out but I was so proud of my boys who handled it all amazingly well, with little, to no whinging.  When we got home I thought they would crash in front of the telly exhausted from the cycling and the heat, but they headed straight out to play with some of the neighbourhood kids in the back lane!

It was one of those days that sparkles in your memory.

One of those diamond days, that fills you with happiness. 

A day that I will always treasure, even when my little boys are gown up with little children of their own and my own cycling days are long gone.