NORTH EASTERN ENGLAND

Once we left Wales we jumped on the motorways and headed north east toward Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. We skirted around the south of Liverpool then up around the northern outskirts of Manchester. It wasn’t until we passed Leeds that we started to see some countryside again. From Liverpool to Leeds seems to be just one huge industrial area.

Approaching the coast, we drove across the North York Moors. It was totally different to what we had imagined. We had visions of low boggy country but in fact it is quite a way above sea level, interspersed with deep valleys. Most of the land is covered with gorse bush, but there are pockets of green where sheep are grazing.

 

From the A169 we could see the little village of Goathland where the Heartbeat series was filmed.

The village of Goathland

It would have been nice to take a drive through but we were keen to get to Whitby after such a long day’s drive and we wanted to call into the little fishing village of Robin Hood’s Bay on the way.



Robin Hood's Bay boat ramp with village to the right.

The beach!

For centuries, Robin Hood’s Bay has been famous for the smuggling activities of its inhabitants, a vocation which was apparently still prevalent until very recently. When you see where the village is built you do wonder “Why build down there?” when there is a perfectly good site on top of the cliff. In recent years quite a lot of money has been spent on the enormous concrete wall which now stops the village from falling into the sea.

 

 

Launching a boat here would be a challenge and this is probably why they were left to themselves. Just walking down the boat ramp was difficult enough. They use tractors to tow the boats up and down these days. Most of the villagers today operate small shops and cafes and there were plenty of people roaming around when we were there.

 

 

 

From Robin Hood’s Bay we drove the short distance north to Whitby, a delightful little seaside town which is very popular as a holiday destination. The town itself has a lot to offer. Apart from a wide choice of B&Bs there are lots of gift shops, restaurants, tour options and even an amusement arcade, the likes of which I haven’t seen in Australia for many years.

 

The harbour itself is very picturesque and we were lucky enough again to strike beautiful weather. Many people also take advantage of the many walking paths around the town. There is even path which follows the coast all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay. And you can get the bus back if you don’t want to walk.

 

 

 

The highlight of Whitby for us would have to be a visit to the Abbey which sits imposingly high above the town. Its location gives it a special air and of course the cameras are constantly clicking.

 

 

The church beside the abbey is quite distinctive and unlike any I have seen before. The seating consists of a number of enclosed stalls, some of which are obviously for the more important worshippers, as they have cushions on the seats and locks on the entrances. The ordinary folk can sit in the stalls marked ‘free’. The English class system is obviously alive and well in Whitby, despite the down-to-earth attitude we found with most Yorkshiremen.

 

Inside the church there were also seats built in boxes above the ground floor.

 

This statue is in the garden of the manor house adjoining the abbey.

 

View of Whitby from the Abbey grounds

Our hosts at Heathfield B&B were fantastic and couldn’t do enough for us. By the time we left we felt like they were old friends and hopefully they will visit us in Australia some day. Linda enticed us to try the local favourite for breakfast – kippers. We did quite like them and even found the little store in town where they are smoked. The owner was just putting in a new batch and he was kind enough to explain to us the smoking process.

Kippers anyone?

 

Another gastronomic delight for us was a Yorkshire sausage and black pudding pie at a quaint little pie shop which is decorated with a WWII theme. I quite enjoyed mine but John just couldn’t warm to the thought of where the black pud comes from and I was amazed when he actually didn’t finish his pie. We also had a lovely fish and chips dinner on our first night. The local haddock is really good, probably because it is caught locally.

Yorkshire sausage and black pudding pie

Whitby transport - old



More recent



After two days in Whitby we set off again to the north, first visiting two Roman historic sites. The first was Corbridge Roman town, situated beside the Tyne. The site of one of the many garrisons set up to defend against the invading Scots before Hadrian’s Wall was fully completed. It contained granaries, markets, temples etc and is one of the only Roman sites in Britain where you can actually walk among the ruins. There is also an impressive display of artefacts including the contents of a buried chest found on the site, aptly named the ‘Corbridge Hoard’.

 

 

 

 

Second stop for the day was Housesteads Roman Fort, where you can see the remains of one of the many forts built along Hadrian’s wall. While seeing the wall was interesting, and John took great interest in the remains of the fort’s toilet facilities, the walk into the site, combined with the £4 parking fee were both a bit of a turn off. There were some spots along the road where the wall can still be seen but these are few and far between.

 

Roman toilet block

 

A section of Hadrian's Wall visible from the road. Most of the wall is gone as a lot of the road is built where the Wall once stood.

Housesteads sheep - almost every ewe over here has twins -
must be good genes or maybe they use AI

From Housesteads we again travelled north-east to a small village called Lowick, not far from the Scottish border, where we spent the night at the White Swan Inn.