Dammit! We're going to need a new awning!

Our campsite here at Great Busby is an open fields and it's pretty breezy

Dave in a buttercup meadow 

all the time. We had put our awning up partly as somewhere wind-free to sit and were enjoying eating al fresco, but as of yesterday morning is in a crumpled, snapped and torn heap awaiting a visit to the local tip. Grrr! We had seen the forecast for stronger winds, nowhere near as strong as at Roquetas, and thought we would be ok, which indeed we were all through the night - sleep being overrated anyway! Then, a slight change of wind direction as we were eating our breakfast and Dave looked up to comment that he can see the awning roof bars through the window. Normally they are much higher than that! We struggled to get the remnants dismantled before there was any damage to Bailey and succeeded, but with one splintered carbon fibre pole, one very bent roof pole, a large tear and, of course one repaired small tear and a sewn up door, we thought it beyond saving. So, we are now back in the same position as in August 2013 and looking for porch awning or full awning recommendations. Please comment below or tweet me your suggestions!

Practically all of yesterday was spent cooped up out of the wind so we

I think this bridge had a tree-related
accident 

were eager to get out walking today. Dave plotted a route of about three hours starting from Bailey and circumnavigating Great Broughton. The countryside hereabouts is gorgeous and we strode through plenty of spectacular scenery such as the buttercup meadow pictured above. Unfortunately, several local landowners, much like their Sussex counterparts, seem to delight in obliterating footpaths and obscuring signs so we had several opportunities to admire scenes twice - as we retraced our steps - and might have indulged in a couple of squabbles over the map. Dave uses Mapyx Quo software to view our Ordnance Survey maps and we need to check how up to date their versions are as the entire of Stokesley Business Park was noticeably absent! As was the footpath directing us to it thanks to an equestrian centre's sign removal and dungheap piled over the route. Someone has gone to considerable effort for walkers though because there is a dedicated detour footpath going all around the Park, hedged and green and making us feel still rural despite the dozens of industrial units a few metres away. Thank you whoever created this path!

Ellerbeck was our lunch spot, perched on a large rock on the bank to eat

our ham sandwiches before walking alongside the beck for a way. We had a few lucky wildlife sightings - I saw a goldfinch and Dave topped that with a roe deer. Then there was a huge furry caterpillar and a pair of hawk-like birds which may have been peregrine falcons. We watched one flying for several minutes but, as often seems the case, it didn't look quite like anything on the RSPB bird identifier website. Surprisingly, I hardly saw any butterflies all day and maybe only a half dozen bees throughout our whole five hour walk. This struck me as very odd because there were flowers in bloom everywhere. I'm glad that we try to support beekeepers by buying local honey wherever we are. It initially appears more expensive per jar than the generic supermarket stuff, but the flavour is generally far more intense so we use less per serving (unless Dave's mixing it with his favourite Fage yoghurt!).

My HiGear trousers were definitely a good purchase. They remained comfortable all day and were able to cope with temperature changes from cool winds to fairly hot sunshine. They are a bit pollen-strewn though so I think more laundry will be needed tomorrow. We are also planning to cycle into Stokesley for a proper look around. I forgot to mention finding a warm welcome at the Jet Miners Inn this afternoon. Underestimating our walk length meant we needed a refreshing drink! Our landlady reassured us that there were still lots of daylight hours in which to find our way home! They had this great sign up in the back bar. I couldn't find any references to the electric brush invention on Wikipedia though. Am I failing to get the joke?

At the Jet Miners Inn