Mr Fox writes...

To Whitby me hearties (we encountered memorials to Captain Cook along the way) and a busy day at this atmospheric maritime town.
One little episode from the day may not be chronicled by the girls, that in which we encountered a BBC camera crew setting up at the bottom of the Abbey steps where my group were surveying members of the public. They were clearing people out of the way of their shot down the hill and then I heard a nearby old gentlemen say something like, "oo look it's that politician off the telly". Sure enough, striding enigmatically up the hill, former Conservative Defence secretary and now TV political pundit and presenter, Michael Portillo, hoved into view and swept past us into a jewellers. Had I been quick enough I could have positioned a couple of the girls to 'survey' him as he came out, but we missed the chance and he disappeared into the pub opposite. I asked the director if we could catch a word with him but she politely refused as he was now having lunch. He was filming for a new series of his 'Great Railway Journeys' which will be broadcast early in the new year.
Later in the day, the group led by Mrs Ackroyd and Mr Smith encountered him at the Tourist Information Centre and managed to get a photograph but he had already passed them and is something of a detail in the picture.
Overall, the girls did very well out in the cold open air for nearly seven hours but had their reward with some good shopping at the end of the visit.
Mr Fox