Upleatham

We spent the day having a mini tour of the area on our feet and on our bikes.
We cycled to Guisborough for a quick breeze around the street market followed by a look around the Gisborough Priory. I had been around the site in my youth but had never really registered just how big an establishment it must have been in its heyday. The abbey was founded by a "De Brus" one of the English relatives of Robert De Brus, King of Scotland. There is very little left standing but the grounds are maintained by English Heritage and an army of volunteers who were busy in the gardens.
We then cycled through to Great Ayton a lovely village which is famous for being the childhood home village of Captain James Cook. The house that he grew up in does still exist, however it was dismantled piece by piece and transported to Melbourne, Australia where it was reassembled within Fitzroy Park.
Resisting the temptation of a Suggits Ice cream we left our bikes in the village and hiked up to the Captain Cook Monument which sits on top of a hill outside the village. We took the shortest way up which led us up a very very steep path to the high ground and eventually the monument. There was a strong wind at the top so we didn't linger, and the plaque on the monument was unreadable. We decided that to return by the same route would be foolish so returned to the village via a route which took us along the Cleveland Way in part.
On our walk we found elderberry flowers in full bloom for the first time this season which we picked to make cordial in time for Kirsty's wedding weekend.Read more