Sunday, North Yorkshire Moors and on to Alnwick

When we arrived at the B&B on Friday night and looked through the travel literature for North Yorkshire, I thought that we should have allowed two weeks instead of two days. There is just so many interesting things to do and see. Now we are leaving and making our way to Northumberland. One thing that I really wanted to see was the heather on the moors. So we pulled out our guidebook, Back Roads of Great Britain, and plotted their recommended route through the North Yorkshire Moor National Park.

We travelled on a secondary road to Hutton-le-Hole, a quaint village on the edge of the moor. We parked at the Sunday car boot sale (flea market), and walked around the village. There were sheep all over the place and sheep droppings all over the sidewalk and grass. To our amusement there were also signs asking people to please pick up after their dogs. Apparently dog poop is bad, but sheep poop is OK. (Not a good day to wear sandals, Cathy)

At the far edge of the village the moor started and yes there was purple heather as far as the eye can see. The guide book, recommended a road across the moors, so we went back to the car and got on our way.




Again there were sheep everywhere.







We had some threatening weather but no rain.



Cathy showing off our car.


At the far end of the moor was a village at the bottom of a deep valley called Rosedale Abbey. The road down to the village is said to be the steepest road in all England. We learned that it is also very narrow and with lots of turns. (My nail prints will forever be in the door handle. Oh and this driving bit is causing David to develop a mild case of potty mouth, Cathy)







After making it down the hill, we stopped for a Cornish pasty and mushy peas for lunch and to recover.




Then we continued onward. The roads were narrow and steep. This road has two way traffic with a speed limit of 60 miles per hour! We were usually doing 20, much to the annoyance of cars behind us.






Eventually we made it to the coast and the city of Whitby.






The ruins of Whitby Abbey are at the top of a headland that overlooking the city. We climbed up the steps for a closer look. The steps are at the end of some neat walking streets (alleyways) that are full of shops. We got back to the car just in time to escape a huge downpour.






By this time we realized that it was getting late so we programmed Alnwick into the GPS, and hit the road. We arrived at 8:30, just in time to get to a restaurant before closing time at 9:00.

Tomorrow we are planning to visit Alnwick Castle and Gardens.
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