Bakewell to Whitby via York

Really loved our time in Bakewell. Cheryl was a friendly host and her house was so quaint. She put on a good breakfast for us and David then retrieved the car from up the hill. Packed it up and located car park in town. The town was gorgeous especially the river with its large fish, swans, ducks and two beautiful bridges. We looked around the shops and bought two small Bakewell puddings from one of several shops selling them. We then headed off towards York but following the route suggested by Cheryl which kept us off the motorway and took us past Chatsworth House. We paid to enter the grounds, but not the building as so expensive. The grounds themselves were amazing and hard to believe it is owned by a private family, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. We carried on towards York through numerous little villages. By this time the rain had set in but luckily we were in the car! Found another park and ride at York and decided to use it. This time it was free parking with the ride into town. York was amazing even in the rain. We quickly found the Jorvik Centre (Viking Museum) and almost decided against going in as it was already 4pm and we had to queue in the rain. So pleased we persevered as once inside we boarded a ride which took us around an amazing Viking display of a town as it was. The figures, all moving, and the sounds, were so lifelike. It was just so cleverly put together. We were pleasantly surprised to find on leaving that the rain had stopped. We spent the next hour roaming around, viewing The York Minster, the wall and The Shambles. Amazing history everywhere. We were back at the car by 5 45. Headed off and again pleasantly surprised to find the motorway was small and not that busy. Our drive took us up over the Yorkshire moors with its low cloud and expansive views of the surrounding area. We arrived in Whitby at 7 and were greeted by the most amazing view of the old town as we crossed the bridge. We followed the directions for finding the house and a carpark, both with great difficulty as the street was not on the GPS since you can’t drive on it and the parking was horrendous. Paid for a 24 hour park and then dragged our luggage about 10 minutes along the cobbled street. Knew there was reason I wanted to be fit before we left! Once again the cottage is gorgeous and very small. We are very close to the main area so walked down for dinner and a wee stop at a bar on the way home. Went to bed with the sound of loud seagulls outside.Read more