Friday Sept 24th AWFUL WEATHER!

Starting at one fifteen AM and ending about half past four we had the mother of all thunderstorms, howling wind, driving rain and fog, all at the same time!

The day was little better, strong winds and some very heavy showers, so we simply went through to Casteleton to have our usual pensioners special then came back to the caravan, and spent the rest of the day "indoors" I did take just one photo that sums up the sort of day it was

Lets hope tomorrow is a better day weather wise!

Thursday 23rd sept Kettleness and Whitby old town

We began the day by Shopping at the Lidl in Whitby, then going on to our usual spot for morning coffee on the road down the hill into Sandsend, then continued on to Kettleness. This is the view from the track that joins the coastal walk, looking back towards the now closed Railway Station, farm and adjoining cottages.

Looking north across the bay you can pick out Runswick Bay village

And here is a closer view, as you can see there are two parts to the village, though the most popular part with visitors is obviously the lower more scenic one.
Turning south east from the same spot is the site of the village of Kettleness that slid into the sea one stormy night, and was never rebuilt, the cliff face is still prone to landslides to this day!
Returning via side roads Pat took this moody coastal view
She also took the following series as we descended Lythe bank, something I have always wanted to do!
Just look at the expanse of beach, its a great view from this hill
And here we are in Whitby, if you park on the temporary car park at Endevour Quay the first thing you see leaving the car park is the memorial to Captain Scoresby, a Whaler who invented the crows nest
We don't usually see the swing bridge so quiet across the Esk, and rarely seem to get there when it's low tide
Here is a professional photographer who knows how to make a good living, he dresses his clients up in vistorian costumes to have their pictures taken
There is a "Farmers Market"" on in the market square, lots of attractive things to tempt the appetite!
This shop has always attracted me, they stock fossils and gemstones. I have always liked fossils, as I kid I used to spend hours looking for them in the mud cliffs round Atwick and Kilnsea, but never found any as fine as these.
Here is one of the oldest Inns in Whitby it offers among other things "Fine Stablery"
And a shop that I now try to avoid, the "old fashioned sweet shop" I could really make myself ill in there!

Our walk takes us past the Abbey steps and we emerge with a view of the twin breakwaters and lighthouses, the floating platform against the outer one indicates that some maintenance is taking place
And last but not least a view across the river looking across the nothern harbour wall to a distant Sandsend. Altogether a great day out

22nd Sept Peasholm Park, Scarborough

As it was a nice day a visit to Peasholm Park in Scarborough seemed like a nice idea, as there are many happy memories for us here

Tuesday 21st Sept Saltburn and Whitby

Parking on the hill into Sandsend for our usual morning cuppa, I spotted this guy with a rather unusual approach to surfing, and he was moving along very smoothly in the direction of Whitby

It was a very low tide as you can see here, with just a smattering of folk out for a morning stroll
We arrived at Saltburn and began the walk down the steep access path to the Italian Gardens, here is Pat's shot of our first glimpse of it
And mine as we got down to the level it is on.
Here the gardeners are responding to the ladies asking "Is your garden at home as good as this?"

The gardeners were at least honest in their response!

Pat spotted this rather nice butterfly, they and the swallows are still much in evidence

Hows that for a dessert? mine was two waffles with golden syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each one!
The Cliff lift is now closed till Easter next year! Not good news for some people I suspect
Pat loved this pier and took this one

And this is my favourite view looking towards the Ship inn
On the way back we stopped off in Whitby as my trainers had started to split, so there was an opportunity to get off a couple of shots. It had been a good day out

Monday 20th September Whitby

As you leave the car parks on the Harbour side the first thing you see is the memorial to Captain Scoresby, who invented the "Crows Nest" so that his sailors could be the first to spot the whales that they were hunting
And here is the retired Whitby lifeboat, now doing service as a pleasure craft, offering sea trips to the visitors
Here a pilot boat is returning to station in the riverside moorings
The new lifeboat is permanently afloat, giving it much faster reponse times in case of an emergency
An old oil drum used as a mooring buoy also serves as a handy perch for these cormorants
This is one of my favourite views across the harbour to the old town

Whitby like all sea side town has lots of souvenir shops along the harbour side.
But there are some rather macabre shops too, like this Dracual Experience, and the the Goth clothing store next door.

Whitby has done very well out of it's connection with the Dracula legend, and even puts on a Goth weekend later in the year when the nights are longer

Some of the buildings are pretty Gothic too, like these stone griffins on top of the bank
After tea I went for a stroll down past the National Trust visitor centre, this is carved into an old Railway sleeper, and depicts a worker in the local Alum Quarry (now long closed)
and here is the view from the same place of a farm in front of the Ravenscar Hotel
I was surprised to find the path to the old Alum mine was partially paved in bricks, till I remember that the Victorians had planned to build a resort near the Hotel to rival Scarborough in size, and had actually started a Brick Works (long closed) down the same lane
Closer examination revealed the surprising fact that every brick bore the name "Ravenscar"

Its a pity that they were never to be used to build the hundreds of houses, hotels and shops originally planned!

Sunday Sept 19 Rained all Day!

A lovely day at least at dawn, and after that non stop rain!
We did make it down into Whitby for an hour and a fish and chip lunch, then lazed around all afternoon.

After tea the rain stopped so we drove to Scarborough and of course it rained again, I did just manage one shot of a returning fishing vessel.
Hopefully better weather tomorrow?