What about Whitby? 8

Runswick Bay turned out to be the surprise highlight of our Yorkshire trip, a crescent-shaped bay fringed by golden sand with an old fishing village at one end and cliffs pockmarked by caves at the other.

The road coming down the steep hill funnelled all traffic into a couple of car parks, leaving the village itself traffic-free.

Instead of having streets, the village is a maze of steps, narrow paths and dead-ends.

I noticed most of the paving stones are outlined in paint

and many of the houses have white-washed sun terraces for gardens, which reminded me of Greek island villages.

That, and the fact that the houses are stacked one upon another up the side of the incline, so each has its own sea view.

Practically all the houses are holiday lets and there were an awful lot of electric wires, PVC windows and satellite dishes that intruded on what otherwise felt like a time warp back to olden times. It only took about 15 minutes to explore most of the village, save for the uppermost reaches.

Back on the seafront and there is a pub plus a couple of cafes and shops, otherwise there is little to keep visitors occupied aside from the glorious stretch of sand, the walking opportunities, the boating, that splendid sea view, the abundant fresh air..actually, a week here would make for a relaxing holiday, so we made a promise to come again to linger longer on another trip.

For now though we kept walking, along the sandy beach, past the 'hobgoblin' caverns and to a cleft in the cliffs where a brook had carved through the shelves of shale and out to sea.

This was our path back up to the top of the cliff via a series of steps that took us up the hillside and into a beautiful glade filled with blossoms and butterflies.

 Each time we stopped to catch our breaths the views over the bay seemed to get better and better.

Atop the cliffs was a jumble of farm houses and an old railway station for a stop called Kettleness, long since abandoned.

Back roads took us away from the seaside through fields of bright yellow flowers

through lovely lush countryside and into the village of Lythe.  

The pub here was shut, so we carried on to the town's church which sits on a prominent position above the sea with views of Whitby on the horizon.

The body of church was largely rebuilt in 1911.

As the builders dismantled the ancient church walls, they found an abundance of stones carved by Vikings, including a massive stone coffin which serves as a rather morbid flower display.

The church has an excellent series of interpretive panels about the discovery of more than three dozen carved stones, all about 1000 years old. The Edwardians piled the stones in the churchyard and it was only recently that the stones have been cleaned and the best specimens brought indoors for display in the church.

One of the stones cleaned in 2007 revealed a figure that the locals have called 'The Gingerbread Man' who appears to be torn between vicious animals.

I dubbed him 'Mr Bill.'

A short walk downhill from Lythe and we reached yet another lovely village, Sandsend.

From here it was probably only another two miles to Whitby, but by now the sun was low in the sky and the wind blowing off the sea was strong. Instead of facing the cold wind, we waited a couple minutes and caught the next bus into Whitby in time for the sunset. And you know how I get twitchy around sunsets...!

A rough idea of our 7-mile one-way route is here and a plethora of sunset shots are on the way soon.

What about Whitby? 7

Another day in Whitby, another day for a walk! After clocking up the miles to Robin Hood's Bay and back, we felt entitled to cheating a bit and saved our bloody stumps by taking the bus a half hour up the road for the start of our next ramble along the seaside.

Staithes is yet another old fishing village along the Yorkshire coastline, but in an even more spectacular setting than Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay. Much of the town is huddled into a ravine, hiding behind cliffs from the sea.

And for good reason too, as storms over the years have washed away a number of buildings on the seafront.

Staithes has suffered a lot over the years and not just because of Mother Nature. Its fishing industry has dwindled a great deal (although the harbour has more boats than Robin Hoods Bay). Its days as an artists colony are long gone as well. We passed several empty shopfronts, a derelict pub and only a few other sightseers. Many houses appeared to be holiday homes, which also take their toll on what little life remains in town.

Having said that, there were a handful of pubs, cafes and art galleries which seemed to be doing decent trade that day.

Unlike Robin Hood's Bay, Staithes is much more accessible by car and has a larger harbour which can accommodate beachcombers and fishing boats alike.

The only thing which detained us was a half pint at The Royal George, which had a varied menu that looked quite good, although it was too early for lunch and the whole place was in need of a clean.

Elsewhere in town is a small museum in a former chapel. Among its exhibits you can learn about the young Captain Cook, who was an apprentice here in a shop that has long since fallen victim to a particularly fierce storm.

Behind the seawall and away from the harbour we found the trail leading up out of town and onto the clifftops.

Only a mile to the north at Boulby are the highest sea cliffs in England...crowned by the chimneys of a mining operation that produces half the country's potash. So instead we headed a mile south to Port Mulgrave.

Passers-by might expect another charming fishing village, but in fact this was only ever a tiny harbour used for shipping out the iron ore mined from the cliffs surrounding it.

Its sea wall was dismantled during WWII in case any Germans wanted to sneak into the disused harbour and launch an invasion. These days it is home to a collection of fishermen's huts and plays hosts to fossil hunters.

Only an hour's walk further along the edge of the sea cliffs and we arrived at the top of Runswick Bay. Like the other fishing villages in the area, there is a new town atop the cliffs and an old town next to the harbour.

We had a pub in mind in the new town, but they had no ale on offer so we crossed the road where a woman had set up some tables and chairs in her front garden.

We had sandwiches, salad, coleslaw, crisps, tea and scones for about £12 which was a bit dear considering the size of the portions, but in a lovely setting with a friendly hostess. From here it was literally straight down to the bay.

Click back next time for a look around the charming old town, the brilliant beach and more countryside rambling on our way back to Whitby!