Walking to Whitby

After a relaxed start it was time to go walking so boots were fitted and a small bag packed with a waterproof jacket and a blackcurrant Ribena in case of emergency ... other blackcurrant flavoured drinks are available of course! The weather forecast was good so there was no need to take much.

The first photo in this footprint is at Sleights and is of the fish ladder there. This is an intriguing place, as one stands on what appears to be the over-engineered and substantial foot bridge, where there was absolutely no sign of a fish, salmon or otherwise, and a notable lack of anything which can even remotely be called a ladder. At least at the Damn and Fish Ladder at Pitlochry (apologies for the bad language there) there were some concrete things, but here it appeared to only be a few random stones. It was a peaceful and pleasant enough scene however, not far from a railway crossing, and would be really interesting in the salmon fish ladder climbing season.

The walk continued over styles and through gates with a goodly amount of chatting, interspersed with sections of ‘putting the world to rights’ and a sprinkling of ‘If I was a Prime Minister ...’ which, of course, is complete nonsense because the world doesn’t work as easily as everyone thinks it does. It especially doesn’t work the way a Trump thinks it does, but enough said about all that.

Soon the first sighting of Whitby Abbey came into view then shortly afterwards, preceded by the distant sound of a whistle, one of the steam trains passed through which was a splendid sight with the steam puffing upwards, the drivers giving a wave and the passengers just sitting there giving no response. Clearly this train was the Old Grumps Express or maybe it was just too tedious having to respond to every Tom, Dick and Harriot who wave at the train like idiots.

Finally, having been unsure at one point if it was the right or left path, the intrepid walkers arrived in Whitby where the first priority was to find a really nice cafe for coffee and cake. That mission was easily accomplished and it really was a lovely cafe even though Rob had no idea where it was. Definitely Whitby somewhere, he was certain of that!Read more