Day 85 Scarborough to Runswick bay

 

 Date: Sunday 7^th August 2011   Distance: 33.78 Miles

 

Those pesky seagulls sounded too much like crying babies for me to sleep. We tried breakfast in the Grand at £6 each and were told we could eat in the Premier restaurant! It was buffet style and the only difference was that they brought us our coffees and teas in pots and also toast. The sunshine flooded in from the sun terrace overlooking the sea. We thought the staff a bit unwelcoming and not as smart as you would expect but the breakfast was quite nice and there was a vat of porridge. The best thing about it was that we could have an early start as it was only 7.30.

 

 The traffic warden was outside the Travel Lodge as we set off just before 9, poised to book the cars parked outside. There had been 2 other bikes in the meeting room overnight.

 

We set off cycling around the bay with a good view of the castle. The road was very bumpy so we went on the path. Then it was walking up a very steep hill past the oriental style Peasholm Park (1911) and out of Scarborough till we reached the cycleway, cinder track old railway line.

 

The wind got up against us and it was uphill most of the way to Ravenscar, It was under trees with some views out to sea later, across cornfields. There were harebells in abundance. We went through an old station and past a gymkhana but there were not many cyclists until we got to Ravenscar, only dog walkers- it was early for a Sunday!

 

We passed a World War 2 radar station overlooking the sea and the farmer has permitted a path through the field for people wanting to explore it. An old cyclist with a dog looked to have been rough camping by the huge pile of ash from a fire. He seemed suspicious of passers- by. The track became stony and yesterday’s rain had washed it like a river bed – hard riding! At Ravenscar’s old station (nothing left except the name)the railway route gave way to the road at a strategic point – a lovely little tea room. We had blueberry cake and a cheese scone with our drinks and there were quite a few cyclists here.

 

The Peak Alum Works (National Trust), on the coastal path that is also used by Sustrans route 1, looked interesting and although the visitors centre is open 10 till 4.30 the mine itself is open 24 hours. Alum was used in colouring and tanning leather.

 

The views are fabulous towards Robin Hood’s Bay and we would have liked to look around more. There were, all of a sudden, groups of cyclists and even another tandem!

We came off the track and took the small road into Robin Hood’s Bay leaving the bike at the top of the hill. Cobbled streets and stepped paths twist down to the sea (just a quay really when the tide is in) and this quaint fishing village of 18th century smuggling repute, was as thick with tourists as ever. We chose to eat in the Dolphin pub as we had won steak suppers there in 1980 at the folk club which is still running.

 

It looked a bit dinghy inside but the beer was good and we enjoyed our hefty portions of food. After lunch it was a killer hill to walk up past several more pubs and eating places, trinket shops and curious cottages, to get back on the bike.

 

 

It looked an unlikely road out after the main street, right, up a residential street but then left and onto a cinder track again that gave us fine views of the sea and was less bumpy than the last track. There was more evidence of moorland- bracken and heather beside the still climbing route. There was quite a bit of getting off for gates and there were even more cyclists. We could see 13th century Whitby Abbey in the distance for ages.

 

We went through a wooded part with steep banks down on the left hand side and then across a long bridge that surprisingly inclined. We felt the way to be well signposted by Sustrans. Bikes could be hired from the old station that used old railway carriages to display the bikes.

 

Suddenly it was 2 or 3 miles down and it was fast into Whitby where there were so many people in the harbour area and town I couldn’t wait to get out again. We took refuge, as it rained, in a seamen’s mission for tea and cloakrooms, browsing the carless” carboot” in the annex.

 

 On our way out of town we noticed a steam bus and multi seated period car for tourists. Up and out took us past the statue of Captain Cook and the Whale Jaw Bone, naturally forming an arch through which we saw a view of the harbour.

 

It was fairly easy cycling to Sandsend where jet was mined and more, older, alum workings exist from 17th century. A sandy beach stretches 2 miles from Whitby to here. There was a 1in 4 winding road to climb but then after a bit there was a pavement to prevent us annoying the cars. It went up 200 metres in a head wind. When we eventually reached the top we made nearly 38 miles an hour down to the turn off for Runswick Bay.

 

We easily found our B and B, The Firs. With the bike in the garage and a prospect of an evening meal we settled into our homely and relaxing room and there were no seagulls in sight. It was a lovely meal of melon with stem ginger, heaps of roast chicken, fennel, courgettes, sweet potatoes, roast potatoes and 2 enormous Yorkshire puddings each, followed by strawberries and cream. It was £24 each but we thought it worth it. We could have brought our own alcohol as they have no license to sell. The young girl at front of house and waiting at table (we think the daughter, as she was talking about her grandfather’s sea charts on the landing ) had such a natural pleasant manner while the mum worked in the kitchen.

 

We walked down the steep track to the Bay and had a drink at the pub near the bottom. They did food even as late as sundown. Cottages and alleyways are on different levels and the fishing village is quiet with a stretch of sandy beach for some time at least.