Day 19: Glaisdale to Little Beck

The four Brits we'd met along the way had raved so about the seaside city of Whitby and its fabulous fish and chips and we kept insisting that we weren't going to Whitby, but when we realized how close it really was to where we were (about 5 miles), we thought: why not?

So, with a relatively short walking day ahead (from one little village to another via 2 others, all within a 10 mile radius), we decided to take a side trip to Whitby via an old-fashioned steam train.

We set off rom our B&G in Glaisdale through a magical wooded area (set aside by the town for its residents to walk their dogs, etc.)

Walked through the charming village of Egton Bridge

Where we stopped into the a Catholic church in the village (forgot the name)

But Therese's saint, Therese was there.

Walked by an inviting cafe, but we weren't ready for tea and wanted to get to Grosmont to catch the 10:40 train to Whitby.

After a wrong turn, we ended up on the old toll road through the grounds of Egton Manor, falling in with a local who was walking his 3 dogs, which included a border collie who herded the other two, kept them from scrapping with each other and warded off other dogs they encountered.

 The rear of the manor

 A protective border collie shoed us away from his farm.

 The original toll house with rates listed for various vehicles

We arrived in Grosmont in plenty of time to board the train to Whitby. The Grosmont station and this steam train were used in the first Harry Potter movie as the Hogwarts station.

 Peter enjoying a coffee on board the train.

 The estuary and harbor of Whitby

 The streets were bustling with tourists from all over England and the rest of Europe; it reminded us a bit of Provincetown, but we wondered where the fudge shops were... until we saw them!

 But, there were some quiet lanes and...

 199 steps up...

 Looking back down over the harbor...

 ... and the city below...

 ... past the present day church and old grave yard

 ... and a memorial..

 ...to the magnificent ruin of Whitby Abby (inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula.)

Looking back over the city from the heights of the ruins

 The donkey pasture by the ruins.

 Details on the side of the memorial

On the recommendation of various locals, we decided on Magpies for our fish and chips.

 We also had an appetizer of pickled cockles (yum!)

 We got the small (?) portion of fish and chips

 One last look at Whitby...

 ...before boarding the train back to Grosmont.

From Grosmont, we headed off across another moor to our B&B destination of Little Beck.

Along the way, we looked out to the North Sea and Whitby. Look closely and you'll be able to make out the ruins of Whitby Abbey. (We felt like we'd cheated a bit by already seeing the North Sea close up in Whitby instead of waiting until this moment to see it.)

 The valleys below the moor were spectacular. 

 A property marker on the moors

 A narrow gage railway rain en route to be store for the winter.

 Another glimpse of the North Sea from the moors

 The sheep farms on the edge of the moor were beautiful and huge.

We approached Little Beck...

 ... and the B&B where we'd be staying, Intake Farm.

 We walked through a field of cows and sheep...

 ... and one last field of sheep and cows

 She seemed quite interested in us, but...

...luckily, HE did not.

At the B&B, we met up with two other couples we had made acquaintance with along the route, one from Canada and the other from Virginia. Judith, our host, made us a delicious farm meal of beef stew ("Is the beef local?" Peter teasingly asked. "Oh, you have no idea how local," she replied) and a chicken casserole and plates of local veggies, ending with a huge nectarine pavlova. We ate family style and had wonderful discussions over the meal (even if there was no wine or beer!).  Early to bed for our last day on the Coast to Coast (sniff)!