Forecast to be raining and it was. Checked out of the hotel at about 11:30 and headed via metro to the bus station. When the bus arrived we asked for through tickets to Ellington - as advised in the bus info office yesterday - only to be told by the driver (who lives in Ellington) that there aren't any buses from Ashington to Ellington on a Sunday - so much for our preparation yesterday. Anyway he said we could get a taxi from Ashington, which we did after the hour-long bus ride. We got to the Plough Inn at around 1:30, we're allocated a room and then straight down for lunch - a choice between roast pork and roast beef. After lunch we went for a walk through Ellington which used to be a coal-mining village until about 2005. At one time the mine extended about 13 km under the sea until a flood occurred from a neighboring mine which then forced the closure of the whole shebang. There is a monument to the miners beside the Colliery Institute.
Since the Inn doesn't do meals on Sunday nights we went across the road to the local shop where we were able to get a prepared sandwich - all we needed for dinner after the substantial lunch.
The forecast for tomorrow is for finer weather but it doesn't matter if it rains as long as it is not horizontal.
