May 31, 2012 - Whitby

It rained all morning which limited my options. I finally decided to start off at the Whitby Museum but then had a hard time finding a parking spot anywhere near it. I was ready to give up & go home but went around the block one more time & got a reasonable spot. Whitby is a very busy little town, even in the rain – I hate to think what it’s like in the Summer, it must be bedlam. I walked up the hill through the park & of course had to go right around to the other side of the building before I found the entrance. I had my umbrella & it...

May 30, 2012 - North Yorkshire Coast

Each time I drive into Whitby, I pass a sign just down the road which points to Robin Hood’s Bay & this morning I decided to investigate, thinking it was probably a waste of time. I was so surprised at what I found that I ended up spending the whole morning there. Like most places around here, traces of 3,000 year old Bronze Age burial grounds have been found on the headland then 1500 years later the Romans built a signal tower up there but what I found today was a charming fishing village built down very steep cliffs. You have to park at...

May 29, 2012 - Middlesborough

Not a single abbey, castle or cathedral today, just a very pleasant railway journey & a most unusual bridge. I had to get up early to get into Whitby to catch the 8:50am Esk Valley train to Middlesborough which is a town of about 250,000, north of Whitby on the River Tees. The train took about 1½ hours & went along the River Esk, then across the North York Moors, roughly in the same direction as I went on Sunday but further & the train takes a different route. It was a nice change of pace & I could see a lot more of the country when I...

May 28, 2012 - Whitby

Another day, another great abbey but this was also unfinished business from last year when it was blowing an absolute gale up on the cliffs where Whitby Abbey is situated. The wind was so strong we were very reluctant to go to some of the more exposed places & huddled behind any shelter we could find while we listened to the audio guide so we didn’t get a very good look at the abbey. Today was a total contrast - bright & sunny with no wind at all. I didn’t even need to climb the 199 steps from the town because the abbey parking lot is just...

May 27, 2012 - Rievaulx Abbey

I’ve been overdoing the abbeys recently but this one was unfinished business. Sue & I stayed quite close to Rievaulx last year but on the day we chose to visit the abbey, we left before we’d seen it all because it started raining. To be honest, I’d never heard of Rievaulx before then but later I learned how important it was so had to come back & see it properly as I was so close. Also, there was a re-enactment group from York doing its thing this weekend, demonstrating various facets of Medieval life so that’s why I chose to go...

May 26, 2012 - Scarborough

Whitby only has a very small supermarket, although they’re building a new Sainsbury’s on the outskirts of town. I needed groceries & Scarborough, which is 20 miles south of Whitby, is the closest town with decent supermarkets. I started off at the castle (a) because it’s run by English Heritage so is free with my membership & (b) because it’s situated on a bluff overlooking the town so I thought I’d get good views of Scarborough from there, which I did. Half the keep was blown up by Oliver Cromwell’s army in 1645 so there’s really not much...

May 25, 2012 - Chirnside to Whitby

I woke up early & was on the road before 8:00 because I found out that the only guided tour I could go on at Durham Cathedral was at 11:00. It was a 2 hour drive from Chirnside, pretty much straight down the A1 which sounds like a big important road but isn’t. Most of the time it’s just an ordinary 2 lane highway. I took a slight detour at Gateshead to see the huge statue of the Angel of the North, which is quite impressive. It’s right on top of a hill so you can see it for miles. I decided to use the Park & Ride at Durham which took a...

May 8, 2012 - Whitby

Today we visited the seaside town of Whitby. Our first stop was the impressive Whitby Abbey. We had seen a recent program on the BBC which had included part of the history of the Abbey from the woman’s perspective and so it was a must for us to visit. The first monastery on the site was founded in AD 657 by King Oswy of Northumbria. It was a monastery for both men and women. The monastery was led by, according to history, the royal princess, the formidable Abbess Hilda. In her time the future direction of Christianity in Britain was decided...

Mar 22, 2012 - Whitby

Today was a stunning day – clear blue skies and sunshine. Our first port of call for the day was Whitby Abbey which looks truly amazing in ruin. We walked literally the whole way around the abbey (not really getting close at all) before we found that it was only open at certain times and this was not one of them! That was a shame but it was obvious that the building must have been very impressive in its day. From there we descended again down the 199 steps into Whitby proper and after stopping for the famous electric swing bridge (over 100...

Mar 21, 2012 - Whitby

We left Naburn Lock on our way to Whitby. This town is famous for Captain James Cook among others things so as Kiwis it is a ‘must see’. It was a drive of about 90 minutes which took us through Scarborough. Scarborough was fair, as expected. On arriving at the camp ground we were greeted by a cliff top dotted with caravans and motor homes. Many of them were well tied down to big spikes in the ground which led us to think the winds must get up around these parts. Once we had set up we walked the path along the cliffs to Whitby itself. The...

Jul 13, 2011 - Seaside towns of North Yorkshire

Some of the best days are the unplanned, and we had such a day in Whitby. Our Jacobean (circa 1603) hotel in Ruswarp was perfect for us: comfy bed, interesting, historical, pub down the road, full English breakfast in the morning, garden, parking and free WiFi (how sad is that, all that history and we want to get on the internet?!). A one-mile long public footpath led us through fields of cows to the nearby town of Whitby where we spotted a steam train pulling into the station. You need to know that Robert is an unreserved fan of anything...

Jun 8, 2011 - Leeds/York/Aidensfield/Whitby

After a great nights sleep in single beds and a hearty full English Breakfast for Dan, Leah opted for the boring continental, we headed for Leeds. Drove through the guts of the town going round and round the city loop and veering off to Leeds United Football Club for a drive by glance. York was the next stop. We both loved this place, favourite so far in the trip, spent a good few hours walking the streets and along the city walls (tower walls). Dan purchased a wide angle lens for his camera at the local camera shop, he is now one happy...