Scarborough fair and a walk on the cliffs

Shelley and Josh suggested we do a trip by train to Scarborough and then walk along the trail  that runs along the top of the cliffs to the seaside town of Filey. This route is part of the 110 mile long National Trail called Cleveland Way so it is well marked. The distance is officially 10 miles from Scarborough to Filey.

We ended up walking a lot farther though.

When we got to Scarborough we headed downhill to the water. Like Whitby it is a charming English seaside town.

Scarborough's Fair!

 Of course we started walking along the boardwalk at the harbour. Lobster traps and fishboats a plenty.

We had packed a lunch and thought it would be nice to sit on the beach to eat it. Instead of heading towards Filey, though, we puttered down towards North Beach which is on the other side of the big rock with castle on top of it.

Here is a view of the town and the remains of the castle on the hill. 

 It was a bit of a walk around the point but we were rewarded with a huge beach.

 The tide was out and the wind was blowing fiercely. North beach is dog friendly so we enjoyed watching all the antics of the owners and their dogs as we munched on our sandwiches. There were a lot of dogs!

We did a calculation and figured we'd better head back to the town and find our trail before it got too late. 

It was another hour  or so before we got to the trail.

On the way there while we walked along the beach a local fellow with a bright orange bucket came up to us and asked if we wanted to see what he had. Turned out to be a small lobster he cleverly caught in a tide pool (he had to outwit him by putting the bucket behind him because lobsters travel backwards.) He was going to eventually let him go but in the meantime he was showing him off to anyone who seemed interested.

When we told him we were heading to Filey he looked concerned and said something like "Ya dooan't want to walk along theere with t' tide coowming up" but we assured him we were going up top, along the cliffs  on the trail and he looked much relieved.

 

We had already walked a good 5 or 6 miles that day, not including hoofing it up to the train station in York so we had a little break and contemplated our long journey ahead.

We carried on and just as Shelley and Josh had said, it was a gorgeous trek. Many times we were right beside a dropoff that was  a hundred feet or more. If you thought about it very much it could be a little nerve wracking.

 Many places the cliff had eroded away and it was very clear that the trail had been moved closer in for safety's sake. I kept thinking of the recent visit of the remains of hurricane Bertha, which had sent huge amounts of torrential rain to the coast of England that previous day.

My favorite comment of the trip was from Leif. At one particularly eroded place he peered over the side and gasped "Oh-My-God!" and then called back to us "Keep walking keep walking keep walking keep walking." 

Close to where the fox was

A big treat for us was to see a fox. A magpie was making a big fuss and as we came up to some bushes, there about 50 feet away was a magnificent red fox, standing stock still and looking at us. after a moment he slunk away into the underbrush. I am afraid we didn't have time for a picture but he was standing just like the fox picture I have in my previous blog posting.

Another animal encounter was a herd of cattle. The trail runs beside fields, just outside of the fence. The cows saw us and all thundered over to say hello.

A mini stampede! It was really fun. We felt very appreciated and who knows, maybe made their day.

One of them almost licked my camera.

It was a long long walk. There were a few places to sit down and have a bit of a rest, thankfully.

My guess this is a bit of leftover WWII - exactly what I am not sure.

 The cliffs here are 50 meters high.

Almost there!

Finally, after about four hours we were heading down steps towards the streets of Filey. Quite a day's walk. By this time it was almost six o'clock, so we stopped at a store to get a loaf of bread to go with the crockpot lentil soup that was waiting at home for us. 

Filey

Later that night Leif calculated that we had walked a total of 17 miles that day. We all slept well that night.

Strange night time sounds

Click on the links to listen to the sounds. They will open in a separate window and click on the triangle play button to hear them. Make sure you have the volume turned up on the computer.

Also please note, none of these photos are mine, they are all from various internet sources. 

We have had some warm evenings here so my bedroom window is always open at night. 

That means I get to listen to the birds chirping in the mornings. Especially noticeable are the cooings of wood pigeons. There are so many of them.

A couple of sites say their call sounds like they are saying, "Take two cows, Taffy", a phrase that now I can't get out of my head. Decide for yourself.  They sound like this.

And then during the day I hear the odd ominous crackle of a Magpie. 

A handsome bird, and quite innocent, unless you are a fan of the English mystery show called "Midsomer Murders". Only viewers will really understand. Pair this sound with spooky music and you will know what I mean. The murderer is usually somewhere around the corner if you hear this sound.

But at night I can hear very strange sounds....including this one that goes on and on for ages at the beginning of the night, and then again right at sunrise. After some research I found out it was this little guy, a Tawny Owl.

And there is this one, which is particularly disturbing. Sounds a bit like a screaming human. Did someone just get nipped by a vampire out on Hob Moor? Eeeep.

(image borrowed from Elder Scrolls Online)

Nope! It's just a fox. 

 The sound is aptly called "The Vixen's Scream", although males make that scary noise too.

So now we all really know "what the fox says". 

And just in case you haven't seen that video of the catchy little song I am referring to here it is.

(it was made by the band as a joke but was pretty popular last year)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

Whitby - a visit to a seaside town

On Monday we caught a bus to Whitby. We had originally been planning to take a steam train through the moors to get there, but we had a couple of recommendations from locals that the bus was quite scenic as well and in the end the schedule worked out better.

 Additionally it was a double-decker bus so that was a  really big treat for us.

We were able to score the front seats upstairs for both ways.

 (Our decision to go by bus turned out to be a very good one as on our way home we sat beside an extremely interesting local fellow who turned out to be the best tour guide you could imagine.)

It was a long ride, about 2.5 hours but the bus stop was only a 3 minute walk  from our home and there was no transfers so it worked out very well. The views of the North Yorkshire Moors were wonderful. The heather isn't fully out but there still was a purple blush to the ground from a few early blooms.

The view across the moor

And we passed through pretty little towns including Goathland which is where the TV show Heartbeat is filmed (Harry Potter was filmed at it's train station too). Sheep were everywhere, including all over the road.





We arrived in Whitby and were taken by it's charm.

 A swing bridge allows boats into the main harbor.

Donkey ride anyone?

The place was full of people enjoying a day at the beach. Hardly saw or heard any international tourists, mainly UK English overheard.

Doesn't this picture look like a postcard? 



The breakwater (built in the 1800s) is completely walkable. You can see the people on the top of it.

Naturally we had to check it out. 

Along the pier to the breakwater

After getting fish and chips for lunch we decided to climb the hill to the abbey that overlooks the town. 

 There are  199 steps to climb before you reach the top of the hill.

You can see the breakwater really well from up here.

At the top of the hill

And then, behind the church of St. Mary and graveyard 

there was the abbey, peeking out over the wall.

Breathtaking

Yet another one of the hundreds and hundreds of abbeys across the UK that ended up deserted (and trashed) after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century by King Henry the VIII. 

This was a Benedictine monastery, founded in the 11th century. 

The Gothic abbey was started in the 13th century
 to replace a Romanesque one.

This is an interesting place for all Christians and students of history as it was on this hilltop in AD 664 Synod of Whitby took place. Here in the Kingdom of Northumbria the Celtic church and the authorities from Rome made some decisions which included an agreement on which the day Easter would be celebrated. 

At that time there was a double monastery here which had both nuns and monks. 

It was founded by a interesting woman, the abbess Lady Hilda.

 She was the grand-neice of the the first Christian King of Northumbria.  

A couple of hundred years later the Danes sailed over and destroyed it all, of course. 

Those darn Vikings, at it again.