Self guided walking holiday in Whitby

Having done a guided walking holiday based in Ravenscar with Ramblers holidays, we decided to see how we liked doing a self guided tour with their competitors HF Holidays. We booked a 4 night holiday based at Larpool House located south of Whitby

Larpool House

We started the first day with a walk in the area south of Whitby along the cliff path, using the provided route card. It rained a lot, checking out our waterproof gear, but did produce some nice rainbows

The circular morning walk

After the picnic lunch we walked along the cinder track to West Whitby and examined the beach

The cliff view in West Whitby

The afternoon walk

One of the advantages of the Larpool location is that it is only 5 minutes walk from the Larpool Aquaduct. This crosses the River, but more importantly crosses the tracks the NYMR use into Whitby. From past experience I was only expecting to see diesels but we heard steam trains so had to investigate:-

 

Day 3 we decided to try the walk along the cinder track in the opposite direction towards Hawkser. When we got there we decided to go a bit further and ended up in Robin hood bay. 

Day 3 outbound 5.5 miles

We did encounter one interesting horse crossing on the route!

We returned along the Cleveland way to Whitby, avoiding coming down the 199 steps by the Abbey but encountering some very muddy gullies

Day 3 inbound 7.5 miles

Heavy rain was predicted for the afternoon of  September 30 so we walked along the cinder track to the beach at west Whitby. The tide was out so we walked along the beach (including a paddle in the cold North Sea!) to Sandsend then back along the cliff to whitby, arriving back to Larpool just in time for the heavy rain. 

The return from Sandsend

After the rain cleared in early evening we went a walk along the cinder track and did some star gazing

Return to Ravenscar September 2022

 Before attending an unguided walking holiday in whitby on september it was decided to revisit Ravenscar for a few days .

First stop on the trip up, a break of journey, was to Flamburgh head. 

We then continued on to the Ravens Hall hotel in time for dinner. The menu offerings were still the same as in June!

Sunday we walked to Robin hoods bay along the Cleveland way cliff path. When we got there it was decided to continue further North up the coastal path then come back to Robin hood bay along the cinder track (the old whitby to Scarborough railway). When we returned at 1500 we were hungry so we had sunday roast and a glass of wine at Victoria hotel before the walk back to the hotel which was very blustery. 11.97 miles completed

The view from Sunday Lunch at the Victoria Hotel

Monday we drove to Pickering and caught the later Seaside special NYMR train to Whitby, (which arrived late) Again the Magpie cafe was visited as it did Grilled Haddock. It also did Fruit crumble and Liz had Yorkshire cake, a combination I had never previously encountered of fruitcake and wensleydale cheese!

 

The train back to Pickering also arrived late so we had to follow the GPS Navigators back street route so as not to miss our allocated spot in the hotels pool, not found on the previous visit!

Tuesday we checked out of the hotel and drove to Runswick bay for a walk along the beach. Yes they still did Orange marmalade ice cream!

Runswick bay at low tide

Before moving on to Whitby we visited Salburn for a promenade walk and a trip along the pier.

Saltburn view North

Saltburn Pier

 

Steam over Shap Summit : Cumbrian Fells Express 3 September 2022

 The day started at worcestershire parkway at 0710, the train having started at Bristol Temple Meads at 0535! We were at the back end of the train in coach A.

The Start of the day

After passenger pickups on the path North, we got to Carnforth where Tangmere was attached to the front and the diesel relegated to the back end. The journey then continued over Shap Simmit to Carlisle. 65mph was reached uphill, 84mph was achieved coming downhill, with the diesel acting as ballast.

Due to a medical emergency there was an unscheduled stop at Oxenholme for an ambulance pickup which delayed arrival in Carlisle by 30 minutes, meaning only 50 minutes in Carlisle (long enough for a trip to costa and Tesco express to restock supplies). 

Carnforth to Carlise over Shap Summit

The diesel on the back end for the return journey to Preston

 The return was along the Settle and Carlisle Line over the Ribblehead viaduct and passing over Aisgill to Preston.

The route Carlise to Preston via Settle

At Preston Tangmere and diesel were removed and a pair of class 57 put on the front (our end in coach A) for the trip back south.

The double headed diesels for the trip from Preston to Worcester

It left 20 minutes late (the diesel pair were waiting in a siding when we arrived but it took 50 minutes to get them to the platform across the busy approaches) but due to sustained 95mph (measured) running Crewe to Wolverhampton (crew change there) and Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street, the train was only 1 minute late at Worstershire parkway

The day ended at 2205 at Worcestershire parkway

In total 467 miles by train, 176 miles steam hauled, 291 miles diesel hauled in 14.75 hours elapsed time