Bit of a wander: Robin Hood’s Bay

Yesterday was a completely new experience for me: Walking through the English countryside. The walk was suggested by Paul’s cousin, Olwen, and I happily accepted the offer. Although if I’m honest, I didn’t know what to expect from it. And I wasn’t really prepared for a walk either, having only brought a pair of running shoes and casual clothes with me for my trip to England. Always the trooper, I was going to make do with the clothing I’d brought, but as luck would have it, Olwen had an old pair of boots that fit me as well as a spare rucksack.

Olwen is a regular walker and got in touch with her friends, Ernie and Dennis, to join us for the day. They picked a route that they’ve all done in the past, and we headed out in the car from Billingham through Whitby and into Robin Hood’s Bay where the walk began. It was then a nine-mile walk on a disused rail bed that took us up to Ravenscar then back down the way to Robin Hood’s Bay again. It’s meant to go along the beach, but a high tide meant that we walked along the tops of the cliffs instead. It was a very train-oriented journey (even though we were on foot) which made me happy because it meant loads of great photos for Mum.

After the walk, we drove into Whitby for some fish and chips. I’d only been there once before – on the last English holiday Paul and I took a few weeks before he died – so it was a bit of a happy-sad part to the day, but I’m glad we went. A bonus to the trip was seeing a steam train.

Now, I wanted to keep this post fairly short, but I have to talk about the steam train so that’s not going to happen. You see, when we pulled into Whitby everyone decided to take a detour to the old train viaduct, because of my excitement over the old rail line. As we walked out on the viaduct, Ernie thought he saw what looked like steam from an old train so we waited and waited to see it come by, only we decided it must be smoke from a bonfire.

Then we noticed smoke on the other side, right near Whitby, and thought maybe that was a train. And we waited and waited but no train came. But still, I smiled because it reminded me of a friend’s trip to Wales where she sat and watched the dolphins play, only to later realise they were just waves. Of course, she’d already had the thrill of enjoying the dolphins, so decided not to let the reality get her down. And that’s what today’s non-trains were to me – a bit of a letdown because there wasn’t a train, but a lot of smiles whilst I waited for the trains that never showed.

Then we started to walk back to the car and I stopped and insisted that I heard a train. Really, I did. So we waited a bit longer and sure enough, an old steam train came chugging around the corner and under the viaduct. Yay!

Oh! I promised my former foster daughter occasional YouTube videos, so here’s a quick one of the sea coming in at Robin Hood’s Bay at the end of our walk.

But I’ve gone on and on, so I’ll stop now. But because I know that Mom would have loved to see the old trails, I took a great number of photos on the route. I know it’s not quite the same as being there, but it’ll have to do.