Nice place to visit without leaving the car!

L

LondonKid

Member
Strange question, but would anybody have any good suggestions for a journey out without having to leave the car?

My dad had a major stroke and can’t really walk more than a few metres now. I work overseas and I’m coming home to see him this next weekend. I intend driving him to a country pub for a beer but I also need something else to do and preferably a nice drive with some sights to look at. He does have a wheelchair but he’s too proud to be seen in it at the moment.

So any suggestions would be great, including a country pub where they serve good real ales and where the disabled parking is close to the door

Thanks in advance
 
The Forresters Arms at Kilburn (outside Thirsk) serves good food and ale and is on the flat. Sorry but I’m not sure on disabled access.You will get views of the White Horse from the car.
 
Great! Disabled access isn’t too much of a huge issue but I have to walk and hold him up so the closer the better. Some great suggestions - all I could think of was suggests in Great Ayton for an ice cream
 
Go to Seaton Carew and get him Fish & Chips from the Almighty Cod. Drive north towards Hartlepool to the car park just after the pub and eat your chips looking over the sea.

You can see right down to Huntcliff and watch the ships going in and out of Teesport. If the tide is right you can also watch the surfers from the warmth of your car. I always find my dad opens up and discusses all kinds of things from his working life to when he was a child during WW2.

Although Hartlepool and Seaton aren't pretty places, the views they have are to die for.

Some great days out mentioned above.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Go to Seaton Carew and get him Fish & Chips from the Almighty Cod. Drive north towards Hartlepool to the car park just after the pub and eat your chips looking over the sea.

You can see right down to Huntcliff and watch the ships going in and out of Teesport. If the tide is right you can also watch the surfers from the warmth of your car. I always find my dad opens up and discusses all kinds of things from his working life to when he was a child during WW2.

Although Hartlepool and Seaton aren't pretty places, the views they have are to die for.

Some great days out mentioned above.
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Absolutely fantastic idea and also just what I’m looking for. He’s had a very tough year and we need a bit of father and son time. Sounds like you have similar moments with your father
 
on the fish n chips at season theme, there’s loads of good places to stop off at along the coast, from robin hoods all the way up to bamburgh castle…

I love driving the coast roads in all weathers…

enjoy your day out..
 
Maybe not quite what you're after, but my mate's dad used to park up down Yarm on a Saturday night to watch the local talent stagger around in their short skirts and high heels on their night out. Strangely enough, his wife would accompany him 😁
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Go to Seaton Carew and get him Fish & Chips from the Almighty Cod. Drive north towards Hartlepool to the car park just after the pub and eat your chips looking over the sea.

You can see right down to Huntcliff and watch the ships going in and out of Teesport. If the tide is right you can also watch the surfers from the warmth of your car. I always find my dad opens up and discusses all kinds of things from his working life to when he was a child during WW2.

Although Hartlepool and Seaton aren't pretty places, the views they have are to die for.

Some great days out mentioned above.
Click to expand...
I did have a different suggestion on this theme, but to be fair Norman’s is better 👍
 
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LondonKid said:
Absolutely fantastic idea and also just what I’m looking for. He’s had a very tough year and we need a bit of father and son time. Sounds like you have similar moments with your father
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I think at some point in our lives we all go through something like this with our parents when we need to be with them, I just wish I could turn back the clock and do it with my mum. She was the most interesting person I knew and had a great memory.

Don't waste your time on trivial things lads, ask the questions that need asking and learn as much as you can about your family background from the ones who know it well, you will regret it in the long run if you don't.
 
Yes Norman, exactly that. I spent their last 5 autumns until 2014 driving my parents around on holiday. They were really into antiques so I picked B&Bs on Yellow Pages (remember that?) in various regions then found antique shops and centres so I could park where they could totter to the shops and centres. We did western Scotland, te central belt, the Borders, East Anglia and finally East Riding. A couple of months later my mum then died of ovarian cancer but I'm so glad that I.had that quality time with them both even though they were really hard work. My Dad passed away a couple of years later but that time was special because I found out so much information that helped.me in my tracing of my family tree. Names of people that they had heard on a sunday afternon when they "were seen but not heard" under the dining table.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
.

I think at some point in our lives we all go through something like this with our parents when we need to be with them, I just wish I could turn back the clock and do it with my mum. She was the most interesting person I knew and had a great memory.

Don't waste your time on trivial things lads, ask the questions that need asking and learn as much as you can about your family background from the ones who know it well, you will regret it in the long run if you don't.
Click to expand...
You're not wrong there Norman.
When my father last came to visit me in Oz, one particular night when we had some time alone to ourselves, we chatted about the Boro and relived some special
memories that we had shared together over the years.
Out of the blue, he looked at me and asked " is there anything that you would like to ask me son?"

I had always been brought up to respect peoples privacy and also been told that people will only tell you what they want you to know and that I should leave it at that.

I was caught off guard and replied " No dad not really, what do you mean?"
He said " Oh I don't know son, I just thought you might want to ask me some things, you know, like your mam or why we emigrated, you know.?"

Again and stupidly I said " No dad, it's alright.

It wasn't until, as it turned out, we had given our last smile to one another when waving him goodbye at the airport that I had an overwhelming feeling that
I would never see him again.
I started to cry as he disappeared behind the customs door when my wife put her arms around me and told me not to be silly and that we have done this
thousands of times before and that we will be back in England again one day soon.

But I just knew, I'd never had this feeling before in all the times that we had said goodbye previously. I just knew. And it was to be.
It was only about four months later before I got the dreaded call from England to say that he had passed.

It was only then that I realised how many questions that I actually had but it was far too late.

Hope nobody else makes the same mistake as I did.
 
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