Yorkshire Coast...for a change

The original plan was a trip to North Wales, a place I know and like so much. However a late change in the weather forecast made me uneasy. Now I'm not scared of rain but I do prefer sunshine. So after a little thought and a glance at a map, the decision was made. A trip into the unknown, an adventure in Yorkshire!
Robin Hoods Bay with crumbling cliffs and the tide dropping over the rock shelves.

So after an early start and a surprisingly easy drive, we found ourselves parking just above Boggle Hole, a small wooded inlet, towards the Northern end of Robin Hoods Bay. Blue sky, fresh, slightly cool Easterly breeze and warmth from a hazy sun. Perfect!
Typical scene in the village where it's easy to see why smugglers easily lost customs men through the network of alleys and steps.

The dropping tide invited us for a long walk South following along the crumbling cliffs which hold fossilised secrets ready to be discovered. Sand Martins fluttered almost like bats around their cliff top nest holes and a few Fulmars cackled noisily from impossible ledges. In the distance towards the sea several figures could be seen bending down sifting through the exposed seaweed...Winkle pickers!
The Bay Hotel where fishermen wait for the tide to float their boats to an easy catch..

We left the car parked at Boggle Hole and now walked the short distance along the beach North to Robin Hoods Bay village. Now there were lots more people and the feeling of the seaside holidays with kids in rock pools, dogs barking and winter white flesh bared to the first sun worth worshipping.
The village from a distance looks unimpressive. Up close, it's an amazing little place with crazy quaint houses almost tripping over each other and falling into the sea! Really has to be visited to be appreciated and the fish and chips are enormous and gorgeous.
Despite the tacky image, this place sold the best ice cream of the day...and we tried some!

Just up the road or round the headland is Whitby. Once famous for its fishing fleet and the ruined Abbey of St Hilda, now a bit more kiss me quick mixed with Bram Stokers Dracula, vampires and Goths! We stumbled in on one of the two weekends annually that Whitby plays host to a gathering of Goths. They really made the day with some fantastic costumes parading in whole families of generations dressed to the nines in corsets, cloaks and canes. As if ordered from below, the sun vanished and a swift thunderstorm swept across and out to sea leaving a close muggy misty evening.
Whitby's somewhat strange harbour entrance points directly North...following the brief storm.

So a chance to leave the dockside pub where it would be all to easy to stay and climb the well worn steps up to the abbey for some last photos taken in hope more than certainty and with a pleasant result. Which summed up a perfect day out really. Yorkshire is really quite nice..
St Hilda's Abbey makes a spectacular backdrop to Whitby's cramped streets and busy harbour.