Weekly Blog - W/E 16th October 2021 - Part Two

The second half of our week away in Whitby began on Wednesday.  After spending the first two days exploring the town, we decided to go a little further afield and visit Staithes and Runswick Bay, which had been recommended to us.

We started off in Staithes where you need to park at the top of the village and walk down a steep hill to the harbour. It is a pretty little fishing village with lovely little cottages and cobbled streets. No cars (save for those of residents and workmen, etc.) are allowed down in the village.

We had lunch at a pub and sat outside with a great view of the harbour. Afterwards, we went onto the beach with the dog to play and I built a few sandcastles for her to destroy. Then we walked back up the hill and back to the car.

Next, we needed to get some petrol, so we drove on a little to the nearest petrol station.  I bought a few food items we needed, then we drove through part of the North Yorkshire Moors to Runswick Bay. This bay is a real gem. A volunteer in a charity shop had recommended we visit and it really was worth it. A beautiful beach sheltered within a bay, with the village nestled into the cliffs. We enjoyed a walk along the lovely sandy beach and back and then headed back to Whitby.

By the time we got back it was gone 5pm, so we ate in and stayed home for the rest of the evening, watching a few episodes of University Challenge on catchup, which is a family tradition that we all enjoy. LB and OH also watched Squid Game on Netflix, but it wasn't really my thing.

On Thursday morning, OH headed out for a cycle ride, so I needed to get up to walk the dog, but not before spending half an hour or so in bed with my latest book. It is called 'I'll Drink to That' and is the story of Betty Halbreich, who ran the personal shopping service at Bergdorf Goodman in New York for forty years. It's a really interesting read about her life, loves, work and fashion from the 1940's to the present day.

Once up and ready, I headed out with the dog. We walked down to the beach and the West Cliff Pier which we walked along until it got way too windy for my liking, so we headed back to the harbour. On the way back, we saw what I was later informed was a guillimot bird stranded on the beach, unable to fly. It was being attacked by a couple of crows, so we headed back down to the beach to scare them off. Poor little thing. 

A couple who were on the beach, told me that a lot of birds seemed to be dying off locally, but no-one had figured out why or what was causing it.  Anyway, they told me about the Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary, so I googled and rang them and they arranged for a lovely lady volunteer to come out and pick up the bird to see what they could do to help it.

I then headed home happy in the knowledge that I'd done what I could and waited for OH to return before we headed out to lunch.

After lunch at a local cafe, OH and I left the dog at the house and headed over to the Captain Cook Museum. The museum was very interesting and was housed in a house where Cook had lived. It belonged to the man who owned the first ship that Cook sailed on and under whom he served his seafaring apprenticeship. There were interesting to East London, where Cook lived when in England, once he had married. It was definitely worth a visit.

On leaving the museum, we met up with LB, did a little bit of shopping and then headed to an Irish pub for a drink on the way home.

Friday was our last day in Whitby and we still had a few things left that we wanted to do. OH and I headed out in the morning to buy a print he'd seen earlier in the week in a local gallery. It will be perfect for our hallway. We also popped to a local butcher to get a few things for his mum and I did my usual visit to Boyes, which I do whenever I'm in Yorkshire.

After our final lunch back at the house, LB came out with us in the afternoon and we headed back down to the harbour where she and OH amused themselves in the local amusement arcades, whilst I took the dog for a last walk on the beach.

Later, we bought take out fish and chips that we ate at the house before heading out in the evening to join the local Ghost Walk. This was a lot of fun and took us to a few parts of Whitby that we hadn't yet explored. They'll have to wait for our next visit. The guide was funny and the stories interesting and we just enjoyed the experience. It was a great end to our week.

We were thoroughly charmed by this small Yorkshire fishing/seaside town. It had something for everyone, was not too commercial and was a thoroughly enjoyable place to stay, I'd recommend it to anyone. I'm just sad that we couldn't stay on to see next week's Goth Weekend, which occurs twice each year, when Goths from all over the country and probably the world descend on the town to celebrate it's infamous connection to Bram Stoker and the Dracula story.