Day 2 Ravenscar to Scarborough

The sun was shining brightly again today and the wind had dropped so it felt even warmer. I had a wander around the churchyard as we waited for the coach and took a few more photos.

 We loaded our luggage onto the coach and set off for Ravenscar to carry on where we left off yesterday. The A party left the coach first to cross Stony Marl Moor before joining the coastal path at Ravenscar.
Someone had said (no names mentioned!) that it wouldn't be as 'uppy downy' today, but they were wrong!  (NB Apparently they were right after all but it didn't feel like it to me.) The ups and downs were steeper but the scenery was just as splendid and the weather was brilliant all the way to Scarborough.
Frank led today's walk just one day away from his 80th birthday, what a Starr! We kept togther most of the way to Hayburn Wyke where you can collect fossils if you have the time.

The steepest descent was at Hayburn Wyke and it was decided that lunch would be at the top after we had climbed up again. At this point the group split into several parties as different lunch places were chosen and then some wanted more time in Scarborough at the end. Once again keep the sea on the left and you can't go wrong!

I carried on with Margaret and various memebers of the A party caught us up and passed us as we approached Scarborough and North Bay. We walked along beside the sea all the way spotting CHA people as we went having tea and scones or drinks at various cafes. It was lovely to see the brightly painted beach huts and people enjoying themselves on the beach and even a few hardy souls in the sea. The open top buses were running and were too much of a temptation for some of the party who had had enough of walking.

We came across a large steel man on a bench and if you follow this link you can find out more about him and how he came to be there.

We continued along Marine Drive and then to South Bay which was very busy with the usual tourists enjoying themselves in various ways. Everyone seemed to be happy in the sunshine and having a good time. So we finished our day as tourists sitting on the beach eating a fish from Harry Ramsden's and having another paddle. This time it was rather cold, much more like the North Sea in March! Then back up to the railway station to catch the coach for home. Plenty of traffic leaving the coast delayed us a bit but not too bad, back in Bradford for 8.15 pm.

Ths was a great weekend and a really good way to start our latest project. The next stages will be done on our Sunday coach trips and we hope to finish with a weekend in October 2013.

Day 1 Whitby to Ravenscar

So here we are on a fine sunny morning waiting outside the hostel for everyone to gather together. We couldn't have asked for better weather to begin our next project. We set off along the Cleveland Way split into two groups A and B. The whole of today's walk for the B party was along the coastal footpath to Ravenscar. The A party did the same walk with an added extra couple of miles to The Falcon Inn for a drink.

We left Whitby Abbey looking splendid in the sunshine. The first part of the walk was fairly flat but of course as we all know coastal footpaths can be very 'uppy downy' and there was plenty of that to come. As usual on these long distance walks Rita lead the 'B' party off on the first leg. It was a large group and soon began to splinter into smaller groups as people walk at different speeds.There was no chance of getting lost, just keep the sea on the left!

We reached Robin Hood's Bay for our lunch stop.

Djamel was intoduced to paddling by Margaret and I but I'm not sure he thought it was worth the effort as he struggled to remove every grain of sand from his feet! The sea was warmer than we expected probably because it was coming in over rocks warmed by the sun.

After a loo stop and a delicious local ice cream we set off for Ravenscar passing Boggle Hole YHA on the way. This photo is from an earlier visit just in case you have noticed the trees are in full leaf! I have stayed there and it's quite an experience when the wind is blowing and the waves are crashing on the shore. Just like being on a pirate ship!
The path goes up and up to Ravenscar, the town that never was. If you follow this link you can find out a bit more about this. We were very pleased to arrive there with plenty of time for a cup of tea or a drink in the bar and a sit on very comfy sofas. The Raven Hall Hotel is in a magnificent position on the cliff top with splendid views of Robin Hood's Bay.
So that was the end of the first part of our walk and it was back to Whitby in the coach after picking up the A party a bit further along.

Whitby Weekend 9 - 11 March 2012

Having completed the Coast to Coast, the Pennine Way and the Speyside Way we are now beginning a new project, the Cleveland Way and the Tabular Hills walk combined. Most people start the Cleveland Way at Helmsley but we're not most people are we so we started at Whitby! An inspired choice for we had wonderful sunny and warm weather and everyone enjoyed a great weekend that shook off the winter blues and got us all in the mood for t-shirts and shorts.

I was staying at Abbey House, Whitby YHA which is a fabulous place to stay right next to the Abbey at the top of 199 steps.

As usual on these trips if you want to see anything of the place you are staying in you have to get up and about early in the morning. On this occasion I was doing my own catering so it was easy to get an early breakfast and set off down to the town at 8.00 am to take a few photos. I walked right to the end of the pier and the sun was shining with just a bit of a breeze blowing.

Whitby is lovely first thing in the morning before the day trippers arrive and I had a good wander round watching the market stalls being set up and conversing with a few early dog walkers before climbing back up the steps to await the start of the walk.