Tuesday 14th August – Steps, stairs and hills

Another slow start for me today, I am on holiday after all.

Today I am heading into Whitby first. I’ve been before on a family holiday quite a number of years ago, so am looking forward to going back. As you may know, Dracula by Bram Stoker is set in Whitby, so I intend to visit the Abbey and enjoy the views.

To get to Whitby I chose the route across the moors – beautiful! I stopped to take some photos of the purple heather that covered most of the fields and the views were incredible. That’s the one annoying thing about travelling alone – I can’t take driving/view photos!

Onwards to Whitby where one thing I know I’m going to avoid is the Dracula Experience – and there is a story behind that! Last time I was here on that holiday, my little sister and I INSISTED to our parents that we wanted to go in to the Dracula Experience. They advised us against it and didn’t want to go in themselves, but we were adamant, so they paid the money and in we went. Here started my lifelong fear of live actors in any sort of experience, museum or event.

I couldn’t tell you more than 10 seconds of what is in that building. And neither could my sister. I have a vague memory of it being very dark and walking along a narrow corridor…and something black and hooded drifting past me.

From then on, all I remember is grabbing the back of the t-shirt of the complete stranger in front of me, my little sister grabbing the back of my t-shirt and shutting my eyes. The next thing I remember, we were at the exit and I was apologising to the man, who as far as I can remember, didn’t mind me grabbing him at all as he totally understood!

So, with that in mind, I made my way to the town centre and looked for a ‘P’ for parking and when that one was full, looked for another…. then another…. then another. After about 40 minutes I managed to find a space and paid the £4.50 for two hours parking. I need to invest in land and then sell parking spaces – you must become a millionaire overnight.

I had 2 hours to walk from the car park on the West Cliff, get to the abbey, look around, do a quick tour of the town and get back to my car! I was on a mission!

I’d heard that the only way to get to the abbey on foot was by climbing 199 steps, so I set off in search of these and up I went. The cobbled streets that lead to the steps must be quite pretty when there aren’t hundreds of people on them! Don’t come to Whitby in the summer holidays if you don’t like crowds!

I was puffed out at the top, and very hot as the sun came out for little bit and it was very ‘close’ – hair went up to avoid a frizz disaster.

Whitby Abbey is owned by English Heritage and as I have a certain type of Barclays account, I get in for free which is fab. I picked up a guidebook and audio guide and was off. You can read more about the history on the website and its changes throughout the centuries (or borrow the guidebook from me if your that interested!).

I felt very gothic and I can see why Bram used this area for some of the scenes in his book – must read the book, but maybe not while in a caravan in my own! Back down the 199 steps and back along the sea front to my car – in the nick of time!

My next stop was about a 15 minute drive away and called the Falling Floss Tearooms. I’d heard of this via tripadvisor, where it was described as a tea room near a waterfall – sounds good right?

Correct! It was a lovely walk to the tearooms through a little bit of woodland and then you hear the waterfall and see the house where the tea rooms are set up. You can read the history of the house from a time when it was just a tiny house on farmland, to the family who own it today in the gardens. I made the mistake of parking high up the road from the tearooms as I didn’t realise there was a designated car park – if you visit, don’t make the same mistake, as the uphill walk back to my car was a killer! There was a lovely shallow stream for kids to play in and the tea rooms, run by the family who live in the house, were great too – lots of treat s to choose from and kid friendly too. The waterfall was beautiful and if I’d had more time, I would have gone for a longer walk (I took a photo of a route for another time). Definitely somewhere to visit if any of you are in the area in the future.

I’d been recommended Robin Hood Bay by my Mum and a couple of friends, so made my way there next. I’m pretty sure I’ve been here before (Mum?) as I had serious Deja vu!  I chose to park outside of the main bit of the village and got a space very easily but an hour was £2.50. I’m becoming a car parking charge bore!

I walked down in to the village (more steps for me to climb back up later!) and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was very busy again and I can imagine it’s even more pretty and quaint out of the school holidays. I sat for a while on the beach but kept being interrupted by dogs coming up to say hello! The photo of me below was seconds before the dogs in the background decided to come and say hello!

Back up the steps/hill to my car and then on to Ravenscar. My Mum told me about this place in a message this morning, so I thought I’d go and take a look.

At the turn of the 19th–20th century, plans were made to turn the village into a holiday resort to rival nearby Scarborough. Roads were laid out, some houses were built and sewers were laid. Because of the long trek to its rocky beach, Ravenscar never achieved popularity, and the development was left unfinished – a sort of ghost town with sewers and streets but no houses.The village was served by Ravenscar railway station between 1885 and 1965.

It was actually quite sad – all set up and ready to go and it never happened.

It’s been a long day, so time to head back to the site via the Moors again. I was hoping for sausage and chips from the place I passed this morning in Hawsley (the town nearest the campsite – looked pretty but no time to stop) but when I got there it was closed. So, leftovers for me tonight!

It’s moving on day tomorrow, so I will check the route tonight and hope for the best. I wonder if I will ever get used to towing and not be so nervous each time? Time will tell….