Day 39 The North Yorkshire Moors National Park

Thursday 14 May 2015

Scarborough to Robin Hood’s Bay
14 miles
Bank House Cottage

It was nice to sleep in a proper bed and thanks to Marie for hosting me, feeding me and allowing me to do some washing. She even gave me a lift back down to the North end of Morth Bay, by the Scalby Mills Sea Life Centre. The sky was grey all day but at least it didn’t rain and the visibility was excellent again.  

The view back across North Bay to the castle (sea life centre bottom left)

Today felt like I was on a completely different walking trip as I entered the North Yorkshire Moors National Park at Long Nab. Here is a perfect spot for the old coastguard lookout station that was built in 1927.  

The Long Nab Lookout Station – I can still see Flamborough Head

No more seaside towns in the National Park, instead I felt like I was hiking through the hills. I saw farmland, hedgerows, cows, a farmer herding sheep, cobbles in the footpath, becks and dales. And then on my right hand side I had the vast expanse of the North Sea and I could hear its constant roar. It was like walking in the Lake District at the coast; brilliant.  

The moors and the coast

The first amazing place I came to was Hayburn Wyke, where Hayburn Beck flowed into the beach.   

Hayburn Beck hits the beach

 

Standing on the bridge over the beck

What a magical place; somewhere to pitch your tent and have a BBQ. 

There was a lot of up and down on today’s walk, mostly using steps that were all really large and I was glad I had my poles to help. Just a bit further along the cliff was the Ravenscar radar station and lookout that was used in WW2.  

Ravenscar radar station and lookout perched on the cliff

 I reached Ravenscar in time for a late lunch at the tea rooms in the old Ravenscar Hall Hotel. You can’t beat a pot of tea served in China cups. 

From Ravenscar it’s worth leaving the Cleveland Way and heading down to see Peak Fault. It’s a geological fault line right here in the UK that is clearly visible as a line in the rocks at low tide. Look at the cliffs and the ones on your left are completely different to the ones in your right. Amazing. 

The view of Robin Hood’s Bay from Ravenscar is stunning.  

Robin Hood’s Bay from Ravenscar

As I walked on the cliff top around the Bay I stopped to marvel at the old Alum works. The scars of the quarry are visible in the hills and the ruins of the works on the cliff top. To extract the alum from the quarried slate one needs seaweed and human urine! Both were shipped in and hauled up the cliff in a train.  

The two gorse patches are the slag heaps from the old quarry, the alum wprks were below

The town of Robin Hood’s Bay is quaint and has a very steep hill (30% incline). I am staying here in a cottage for the next 4 nights and taking the weekend off to explore the area a bit more. Tomorrow I get to walk to Whitby without my heavy pack.  

The quaint town of Robin Hood’s Bay