4 March 2013

Whitby

We left a very wet and misty Carlisle about 10am on Saturday morning, and set off for Whitby. We drove to Scotch Corner then on to Roseberry Topping, where it was gloriously sunny, and so Martin went for a walk to the top. I fed Zoe in the car while Martin was running up the hill, and it wasn't long before he was back at the car and we were on our way again.

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Roseberry Topping - not very high actually

We arrived at the cottage just after Gene and Diane (Martin's Mum and Dad) - they were still in their car, so it was excellent timing! Gene, whose birthday we were celebrating had no idea we were going to join them in Whitby - in fact, he only found out about the trip the day before! Diane had managed to keep it a secret - well done, I doubt I could have!!

Our little cottage for the week... 
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...and the lighthouse!

The cottage we were staying in was part of Whitby Lighthouse, and was a lovely little single story cottage called Galatea, on the cliff tops near the abbey. The lighthouse was operational, but luckily there was no fog horn! After unpacking and catching up with Gene and Diane, we sent the boys out for fish and chips from the Magpie in Whitby for our tea.


Our Sunday started with a walk to the highest point on the east coast of England (with a trig point - Martin collects trigs!). Diane and I stayed in the car for Zoe to wake up while Gene and Martin walked along to the trig, and then a short way along the cliff top, and back to the car. By the time Gene and Martin got to the trig, Zoe had woken up so Diane and I grabbed Zoe and zoomed off after them. But we were too slow so we just snapped some photos and went back the way we came.

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 Diane looking over the cliff - I was too scared!!

Once we were all together at the cars we set off for the village of Staithes where we had a look around the village and had a walk around the harbor. Then back to the cottage via Lidl for some more wine and food. Diane had made a yummy shepherds pie for tea - it was excellent!

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 A panoramic shot of Robin Hood's Bay - with Martin in it - twice!

Monday was Gene's 70th birthday, so after breakfast Gene opened his cards, before we went to Robin Hood's Bay. We had a pootle along the beach where I found LOADS of sea glass, and a fossil, and some bits of pottery, and... a dinosaur/shark/other random tooth!

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Awesome beach finds!

We had lunch in the Ye Dolphin pub (no burgers though, because of all the horse meat carry on!), before traveling onto Falling Foss waterfall. When we arrived, the car park was deserted, so we had the falls all to ourselves. Gene made a film of us all and I snapped some photos with my Pentax film camera. The falls were lovely, and there was a house right next to them - imagine living there, with the waterfall right outside, and a forest as your garden! I would love it, but I know it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea!

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 Waterfall the first

When we got back to the cottage we got out the cakes that I baked for Gene, lit the candle and sang happy birthday. We actually ended up just having cake for tea, because we had a fairly big lunch at the pub.

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Gene's cakes - Lemon Drizzle, Carrot and Walnut, and Victoria Sponge

Tuesday morning was another walk at another waterfall, near Goathland, the village that they used to film Heartbeat (remember that? Not me - I didn't watch it!). Martin got some awesome photos of the waterfall, and Gene continued his film. When we got back to the village, we spotted some old cars, and upon closed inspection, found out that the car below was the one used in the Harry Potter films! Never mind Heartbeat - Harry Potter!! Yay!

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 Waterfall the second

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 The car from Harry Potter - highlight of the day!!

We drove back to Whitby and parked up at the Abbey - unfortunately the Abbey was closed, but we walked into the town instead, and had a walk out on to the piers, before calling into the Co-Op for some pancakes (it was shrove Tuesday after all!). We left Whitby via the 199 steps (where I counted 202 steps), headed back to the cars, then back to the cottage for a roast beef dinner. Yummy!

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Whitby harbor looking up to the Abbey

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Whitby at twilight from the Abbey

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The Abbey

Before leaving the cottage on Wednesday morning, we took some photos in front of the lighthouse with Zoe - it was really windy and her face is so funny! Gene and Diane went to Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Redcar (not recommended by Gene), whilst we went back via Durham. By the time we arrived in Durham, the snow was coming down fairly fast, and once we had eaten lunch, there was a lovely sprinkling of white. We walked up the the cathedral, where I fed Zoe and got looked at by a random woman! We drove home through Consett, in the snow - it was a bit hairy, but we made it back to the A69 there was no snow and we whizzed back!

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 Gene and Zoe in the wind
 
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 Durham in the snow

I hope that you weren't too bored - I also took some film photos with my Pentax K1000, so once that film has been processed I'll scan them in and post them - I won't do a huge big post like this though!!

Thanks for reading
Ax

8 comments:

  1. Happy birthday to Gene! :D Looks like you guys had a lot of fun and the place is amazing! I wish I can visit that place one day (I really want to visit Europe for 30 days but alas, it's so hard to save money)!

    - Kisty / The Style Mermaid
    http://kisty.net

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    1. Haha! I will pass on your congrats to Gene! We had so much fun, Europe as a whole is lovely but the UK is the best! Hope you can get some money together to come and visit!

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  2. What a great place to celebrate! I love the waterfall pics - I'm a water nut.

    Dropped over from the Etsy Teams to read and follow you. Keep up the great work!

    Cory of TinyTipis.blogspot.com

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    1. Aw thank you hun! I love water too - was an awesome holiday with the sea and waterfalls :)

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  3. Looks like an amazing holiday. My parents lived in that area for about 20 years (I am in Canada right now, although fingers crossed we are relocating back soon) and reading this has made me feel so homesick!

    Have a wonderful week.

    Kate x
    http://www.kateathome.com/

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    Replies
    1. It was geat, thanks. Oh I would love to visit Canada one day! Hope you week is fab too!

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  4. This is a lovely post Anna! When I was at uni in Middlesborough, a lot of people used to say that Roseberry Topping was a pretty place for nice photos, but I never went. I did go to Saltburn TONS though, it is sooo nice there, and Skelton too. I never bothered with Redcar either haha... it looks grim! :)

    Jen xx

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    Replies
    1. Aw thanks Jen :) Martin says that there were nice views from the top - it was such a lovely sunny day that day as well.

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