Coastal Walking :: Ravenscar

We were lucky with the weather last week for the most part, with two out of the four days giving us blue skies and sunshine. It was a blessing, and I was so glad that we were able to enjoy two days of coastal walking amidst the two damp, grey days of pootling and pottering and trying to hide from the wind.

For this five mile circular walk, we started out from the quiet coastal village of Ravenscar which sits high above sea level with sweeping views and beautiful skies.

It's a very, very quiet place with a small population, we found the local residents to be curious and friendly.....

....and quite up-close-and-personal! Mooooooooooooooo!!

The weather was bright and breezy with a touch of the c-word - the sunlight was very beautiful and the scudding clouds were racing across the large expanse of sky, but it was c-c-c-c-c-cold up here on the cliff. We were all wrapped up warm and didn't mind the stiff wind too much. It was refreshing and invigorating in a gusty sort of a way, filling our lungs with great gulps of air as we walked.

And the light on the sea, oh my, all those multiple shades of sunlit blue filled my brain and made me very happy, I am easily pleased as you well know. It doesn't take much.

I stopped here a while, resting on a wooden bench while the rest of the family strode across a field to explore an old radar station, a relic from World War II. I chose to stay on the cliff side and have my back to the Historically Important Relics, preferring instead to feast my eyes on the endless blue of the horizon.

All too soon, our walk began to veer inland and away from the cliff edge, eventually bringing us to this old disused railway line.

The railway used to run for 20 miles along the coast here between Scarborough and Whitby, but closed in 1965 due to "increasing road competition and a consequent drop in passenger usage outside of the peak summer seasons". These days it's a popular trail for bike riders and also provides a bit of easy, sheltered sauntering for pedestrians. It was actually quite warm along here as we suddenly had bit of a respite from the cold wind. I even took my coat off at one point, holy moly!!

This gorgeous, stunning view was mine all mine as I ate my lunch that day. It's exactly what I saw from my seat in the car, wowsers, it was a pretty great backdrop for a cosy car picnic. I love picnicking, did I say that already? Someone asked me yesterday about our picnics, what we had and how we carried it all, (I loved those questions!). Well we don't eat anything adventurous, but it's satisfying and yummy all the same. I made filled wholemeal rolls stuffed with ham, cheese, cucumber, sweet cherry tomatoes, a slathering of cream cheese and a squidge of mayo. We had crisps to go with it, then there were some little red apples and chocolate-coated cereal bars for afters (these ones which we all love).

A while back we bought some super-cheap rainbow plastic plates from Ikea (these ones) - 90p for six! They are wonderful to pack in the rucksack with the picnic and a great design with the little rim that runs all the way round. It means that crisps and grapes and the such like don't go sliding off the plate when your offspring insist on eating their lunch whilst continuing to do other things. And after lunch, you can turn them upside down and they double up as neat frisbees, that's an Attic24 Top Tip for ya!! I carry all our lunch in one of these which I bought recently, it's a good size to pop in the rucksack and remarkably I can manage to fit lunch-for-five in it. Just. We all drink water to make life easy, then the idea is that after lunch we are free to go in search of a guilt-free coffee/milkshake/beer with possible cake/ice cream/baked goods as well. It works for us.

Anyhooooooooooow, lunch was done and dusted and we needed somewhere suitable for an afternoon pootle, somewhere to provide the aforementioned beverage and sweet treats. And what better place to choose than one of my all time favourite destinations :: Robin Hoods Bay.

Robin Hood's Bay is just a little further up the coast from Ravenscar so it wasn't far to drive at all. Our first stop was the pub! Yes, priorities and all that, well Little B desperately needed a wee and there is this lovely pub right at the top of the hill with a beautiful garden overlooking the bay, so it was the obvious choice.

We started out in the beer garden, but with a chilly wind gusting off the sea we decided to move inside and perch on some bar stools with our bevvies. This is a very relaxed, family-friendly pub and children are made welcome here which is always something of a relief when you have three Little People to accommodate and have your taste buds set on a pint of good local ale.

 

After some top notch refreshment, we took a wander down the steep pathway...

....emerging at the bottom of the street where the village feels as if it is literally tumbling into the sea.

The tide was high when we were there which reduces the beach to a teensy strip of sand, but as you can see from the above photo the tide had turned and the sea was already starting to recede. Once the tide is fully out, there are rock pools galore to explore here....

....these families obviously couldn't wait and were strung out in a comical line as the first of the rocks were revealed.

There has been an ice cream van down on this beach for as long as I can remember, which must be going back a good 20 years since I began coming here with J.

The Little People couldn't believe their luck when they were offered an ice cream hot on the heels of lemonade and crisps at the pub - double treats on this sunny day!

We strolled along the beach, admiring the view and the ever changing sunshine and shadows playing out over the blue of the sea. My heart was full on this afternoon.

Robin Hoods Bay is such a quirky little place, I don't think you could find anywhere more charming. The tumble of old buildings is just wonderful, with gorgeous little views and vistas around every twist and turn.

The streets are steep and narrow....

....but every so often they level out as you wind your way around the quiet little residential pathways.

Every single cottage here in the old part of the village oozes charm by the bucket load. The majority are used as holiday rentals, so there is an ever-so-slightly unreal feel about the whole place, but that certainly doesn't make it any less appealing. It really is a delightful place, and I always feel like my heart and soul is happy when I'm here. It's my happy place.

My mind (and heart) was filled with rather a large number of residential fantasies as we strolled through the village, along the lines of "...I wonder what it would be like to live there....ooo look at those cute windows, I would love to look inside.....", I do this rather a lot I've noticed, I wonder if you do to?

As we huffed and puffed back up the steep hill and away out of the village, we paused for frequent looks back over our shoulders at the coastline we were leaving behind. I don't mind leaving Robin Hoods Bay too much as I know I will always be back. It's just that kind of a place.

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ps, just for fun - these are the words of mine that the spell checker couldn't handle....

pootling, mooooooooooooooo, wowsers, squidge, mayo, slathering, frisbees, anyhooooooooooow, bevvies.

Laughing to myself at that little lot! Right, I'm off, back soon with a crochet pattern for you, just in time for the weekend.........get your 4mm hooks and odds and ends of DK yarn at the ready......

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Comments

[Ann Price]

At the top in robin hoods bay, as you look out to sea ,there is a tall White House .that is my husbands nephews cottage .we have had many holidays there...you would love it ...check it out ....High Sea View .....4floors with a fab basement kitchen diner.....love it there....it always makes me happy.....love your blog.

[Sew Create It - Jane]

Went to Robin Hood's Bay a couple of summers ago and took almost identical pictures as yours :o) Charming place and great fish and chips! :o)

[fiona]

Thank you for the beautiful tour of Ravenscar and Robin Hood's Bay. You are not alone doing that thing - 'I would love to look inside'. I usually try to, surreptitiously of course. I'm so nosey!
You have roused my interest in your next pattern as I'm on the home stretch of my Jolly Chunky.

[Jo]

You are just flippin' scaring me now. We went there too!!The rock pooling was great and my big girl liked the information in the NT coastguard centre. We really are walking in each others shoes. Jo X

[annie]

Your vacation posts give me such a lift. I feel like I have been enjoying a gust of clean wind on the cliffs and had a treat in the pubs. We are having torrential rains here off and on the past week so the spot of sunshine was (to quote you) spot on. Annie

[Spécialiste de l'éphémère]

OMG! Whitby! How we loved this small town... tne Abbey... I was there with my 4 kids a few years ago.
You remind me precious souvenirs!

[Susan]

Oh, what a treat these photos are! I would love to peek inside some of those homes. I picture you living in a cottage by the sea one day, Lucy. Is that a dream of yours?

[Liz Shields]

I have loved your blogs of your recent holiday, Lucy, and your photos are amazing...especially the ones of the cow in this recent blog!! The way you record all the little details of your experiences, reminds me of my Mum. She used to make handwritten notes of all our jaunts to various places in the UK, in a hard-backed note book (I'm going back to pre-blog times!!) Even though she died several years ago, I haven't yet had the courage to re read them. I used to love travelling back home just when it was getting dark, and people had the lights on, but not drawn their curtains so we could see into their living rooms! It always gave us a lovely warm and cosy feeling. xx

[Sharon Izzard]

ooh, looking forward to the pattern :-) It sounds a fantastic day, Robin Hood bay looks delightful.

[Janet]

I Love your post's so much. They give me in a 2 minutes reading, the feeling from an one week holliday

[Jodi Fuller]

So beautiful. I would love to do the walk from St. Bee's in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay. It has been a dream of mine for more than10 years.

[Pat Rahrig]

I love reading your posts and seeing your beautiful photos. You certainly have an eye for catching the gorgeous scenery. The US is such a huge country of which I've really seen so little, but we just don't have the "history" found in the UK. I too try to imagine families that may have lived in old homes. Thank you for sharing your seaside jaunt and I look forward to more of your visits to the countryside! I've completed your Cosy Stripe blanket and am on the border of your Granny Stripe blanket and am anxiously looking forward to your little squares pattern to use up all of my delicious leftover colorful yarns!

[Terry Wittmer]

Your stories always make me smile. I loveall the places you visit.
Hello from Guatemala!
Terry

[Lousie]

this is my fourth trip back to the uk from Australia and yes I too look at all the lovely homes and towns and wonder what it would be like to live there. I'm hoping to get to your neck of the woods at the end of the month. I love crotchet and ale and my better half loves ale. so if there are plenty of pubs Im sure I can get him there for a pub crawl.

[Clare]

Wonderful Photo's, I'm well used to those sea breezes living by the sea, a friend of mine calls them lazy winds, as they go right through you, to lazy to go around.
Clare x

[Joan]

A wonderful enjoyable read,Lucy,thank you for sharing! It all sounded such a happy time! Looking forward to your tutorial at the weekend.....Can't wait,xxxxx

[Gemma]

My spiritual home, love it there! I feel like it fills up my creativity bucket everytime I go!
Going to venture to Northumberland for hols this year for a change though :) xx

[Jennie Craine]

Just sat here with a cuppa, with my imagination walking along the cliff tops and going down to explore Robin Hood's Bay - thank you for sharing your lovely holiday.

[crafty mema]

thanks for the wonderful walk -when the family was young we did vacations like that....
i do miss them
can't wait for the yarn bombing

xoxooxox crafty mema

[Linda]

Thanks for the lovely walk!!
Haven't been to England in over 30 years.
Your walks bring back many memories!

[Sara Jenkins]

Love the idea of a new pattern from you :) Hopefully it will be perfect to take when watching cricket this weekend.
All your words are proper words - clearly spell checkers don't keep up!
I spend hours wondering what it would be like to live somewhere else - and always pause at estate agents windows. The New Forest being a particular favourite of my dreaming! x

[Angela-Southern USA]

Sooooooooooooooooo beautiful! It feeds the soul. How could anyone not love that area?! "Batman" has grown so! I'm sure it's great having the longer walks now that he has. We also do many car picnics, and I have a very similar soft cooler for the goodies. My favorite photo, just past the cows. Oh,the light and shadows on land and sea is breath taking! I look forward to your hooky share. I'm currently hooking some roses for a change of pace on my wreath for the summer. Great day to ya!

[Piglettos]

I just love Whitby and the surrounding places - one of my best holiday destinations :-)

[Kate]

Loving your walking adventures!

[Bridget]

I've never been to Whitby, despite not living that far away from it (I'm down on the Lincolnshire coast). As its a significant birthday this year for me, a lovely friend has offered to take me there. So thanks for the fab photos and evocative descriptions of the place, I am now really really really looking forward to my trip. yippeeee!