A BLOG IS BORN

Last week I was on holiday sitting in this little wooden chalet on The Isle of Wight watching a tiny television suspended from a bracket high up on the wall, when that Victor Meldrew bloke suddenly appeared driving a Morris Traveller across the North Yorkshire moors.

The programme was Britain's Best Drives, and Richard Wilson, the slightly befuddled yet charming actor, drove from Scarborough to Whitby via Dalby Forest, Goathland and (very briefly) Grosmont before arriving at The Historic Seaport we call home.

When the old crock (that's the car, not the actor) finally gave up the ghost trying to ferry a carload of goths up Green Lane, a fellow with a huge mohican and enormous boots took over in the driver's seat and managed to get the engine fired up again. Up they went to visit an atmospherically misty Abbey. I thought to myself, what other town in England could this happen in?

I'd been thinking for some time about how to make Whitby Popwatch a bit more interesting. Being limited to the local music scene kind of tied it down a bit. Interesting as it is from a musical standpoint, Whitby is still a very small town, and inevitably repetition and familiarity became a problem.

So OUT ON YE! has a much more personal and open approach to Whitby's hidden depths. Loads of music of course, especially the original and quirky stuff, but plenty of miscellaneous flotsam and jetsam too. A sort of cabinet of curiosities covering a cavalcade of interesting topics.

The old POPWATCH posts won't be deleted, they're still archived here, so feel free to dip in. As always any contributions will be gladly received.

And its all down to seeing Tania and her mates getting into a car with Victor Meldrew on a tiny television on the Isle of Wight. Who'd have thunk it?

Click here to see the entire programme.