Exploring Yorkshire
So this summer we'd agreed to go on holiday with my parents (so dad had someone to do long walks with & we'd get a cheap holiday!). Given mum's health earlier this summer we ended taking a week away mid-september. Mum & I looked at holiday cottages "up north" & ended up choosing one near Pickering at the south edge of the North York Moors.
Annoyingly the only week we could all do was the one following the Nation Bat Conference which was in Coventry. To avoid too much driving back & forth I tried to find someone from the local bat groups who I could hitch a lift up with on Saturday morning. The only person who replied lived a hours drive away but that was still better than the 1.5 hr x2 to Coventry & back. So Friday I packed for the conference, created piles to pack for Yorkshire & packed up the ferrets for a week away with aunty Chrissy. Saturday we were up at 5.30am so Mark could drop me off at a fellow bat enthusuasts so we could get to Coventry before the conference started at 9am. Conference was good as usual. I spent too much at the Natural History Book Society's table, got to practice my bat handling, watched some excellent low-light footage of bat behaviour & listened to loads of talks. For once I didn't dance at the ceilidh(!!!), instead I ended up chatting to a couple of ecologists why have lived & worked in Cyprus & New Zealand over the past 8 years or so.
So Sunday afternoon lemming_man picked my up & we followed signs to "The North". A few hours later we pulled up at the cottage - one of a complex of converted farm buildings. It was a cosy place with a kitchen/diner/lounge with a bedroom off to each side, both en suite. Comfy but the kitchen area was tiny!
We were amazingly lucky with the weather! Monday & Tuesday were grey but dry, perfect for walking! We had one walk along the coast between Robin Hood's Bay & Ravenscar then went into Whitby to find the Magpie Cafe (recommended bycath_er_ine) where we had delicious fish & chips of huge proportions! Next was a walk around Goathland & Beck's Hole (with the famous Beck Hole Butties in the smallest pub I've been in!) including a beautiful waterfall, stepping stones & roman road , which may have been built after the romans, before the romans or by a giant named Wade!
Bonus train we saw when we took the scenic route home!
Wednesday was lovely & sunny but mum wanted a rest day so we dropped her off in Helmsley & headed up to Chop Gate for a walk across Cold Moor and Urra Moor including the Wain Stones. The walk book said there were lots of ups & downs but only 3 of each in the end & none of the ups were too steep.
Thursday was the wet day so we headed down to York where we spent most of the day in the railway museum then pottered around along the walls, finding lots of mead & eating a cup of crackling!
Friday was also sunny but this time Mark wanted a rest day so I set of with my parents to do another coastal walk, this time just north of Whitby between Staithes and Runswick Bay. We finished in good time so headed to Whitby Abbey. Lovely place but for the £6.50 entrance fee I'd have liked a little more in the way of interpretation! We came back, got changed then enjoyed a meal out at the local pub, again with Yorkshire portions!
Sunday was also lovely and Sunny so we stopped off at Rievaulx Abbey & a short walk along the Ryedale. Then again briefly in Helmsley for lunch and to stock on on cheese & happy bacon from the lovely shop there before heading down to Birmingham (parents' house). We got back first bt luckily had a key so put the kettle on! Dad off-loaded a load a stuff on Mark & Sunday morning we came home picking up the ferrets on the way. They had a lovely setup & were playing the ferret proof garden when we turned up & I don't think they wanted to come home! Did miss them awfully though.
Annoyingly the only week we could all do was the one following the Nation Bat Conference which was in Coventry. To avoid too much driving back & forth I tried to find someone from the local bat groups who I could hitch a lift up with on Saturday morning. The only person who replied lived a hours drive away but that was still better than the 1.5 hr x2 to Coventry & back. So Friday I packed for the conference, created piles to pack for Yorkshire & packed up the ferrets for a week away with aunty Chrissy. Saturday we were up at 5.30am so Mark could drop me off at a fellow bat enthusuasts so we could get to Coventry before the conference started at 9am. Conference was good as usual. I spent too much at the Natural History Book Society's table, got to practice my bat handling, watched some excellent low-light footage of bat behaviour & listened to loads of talks. For once I didn't dance at the ceilidh(!!!), instead I ended up chatting to a couple of ecologists why have lived & worked in Cyprus & New Zealand over the past 8 years or so.
So Sunday afternoon lemming_man picked my up & we followed signs to "The North". A few hours later we pulled up at the cottage - one of a complex of converted farm buildings. It was a cosy place with a kitchen/diner/lounge with a bedroom off to each side, both en suite. Comfy but the kitchen area was tiny!
We were amazingly lucky with the weather! Monday & Tuesday were grey but dry, perfect for walking! We had one walk along the coast between Robin Hood's Bay & Ravenscar then went into Whitby to find the Magpie Cafe (recommended bycath_er_ine) where we had delicious fish & chips of huge proportions! Next was a walk around Goathland & Beck's Hole (with the famous Beck Hole Butties in the smallest pub I've been in!) including a beautiful waterfall, stepping stones & roman road , which may have been built after the romans, before the romans or by a giant named Wade!
Bonus train we saw when we took the scenic route home!
Wednesday was lovely & sunny but mum wanted a rest day so we dropped her off in Helmsley & headed up to Chop Gate for a walk across Cold Moor and Urra Moor including the Wain Stones. The walk book said there were lots of ups & downs but only 3 of each in the end & none of the ups were too steep.
Thursday was the wet day so we headed down to York where we spent most of the day in the railway museum then pottered around along the walls, finding lots of mead & eating a cup of crackling!
Friday was also sunny but this time Mark wanted a rest day so I set of with my parents to do another coastal walk, this time just north of Whitby between Staithes and Runswick Bay. We finished in good time so headed to Whitby Abbey. Lovely place but for the £6.50 entrance fee I'd have liked a little more in the way of interpretation! We came back, got changed then enjoyed a meal out at the local pub, again with Yorkshire portions!
Sunday was also lovely and Sunny so we stopped off at Rievaulx Abbey & a short walk along the Ryedale. Then again briefly in Helmsley for lunch and to stock on on cheese & happy bacon from the lovely shop there before heading down to Birmingham (parents' house). We got back first bt luckily had a key so put the kettle on! Dad off-loaded a load a stuff on Mark & Sunday morning we came home picking up the ferrets on the way. They had a lovely setup & were playing the ferret proof garden when we turned up & I don't think they wanted to come home! Did miss them awfully though.