On the spur of the moment, it being unexpectedly sunny, we went to Whitby for the day. Rather than head straight into Whitby we decided to head for Sandsend first and drive along the coast from there. We parked in the car park there at the bottom of Lythe Bank (extortionate fees) and I noticed there were some steps up out of it onto the moor behind. Wife told me they used to go that way as kids, but that she hadn't been for years. We decided to take a look.
What a "discovery", a beautiful walkway along what used to be the railway ends at the point where the railway vanishes into a blocked-off tunnel. How had I not known about this before?
The path continues up and over the hill that the tunnel vanishes into so we followed it a little further, on to a beautiful stretch of clifftop before turning back. Strangely I saw no sign of where the tunnel emerges at the other end. Perhaps it no longer does.
This short section from the car park to the point we turned back was about a mile and a half each way and took in some lovely scenery. To our right was the sea and to our left what appears to be former quarries, now turned into a nature reserve/country park.
There was even a track down to the base of the cliffs to a small pebbly beach - somewhere to take a look at next time we come when we're both wearing more appropriate footwear.
Back at the car park we were feeling peckish and decided to find somewhere for a snack. We ended up at Woodlands Eat, a nice little bistro/cafe bar. The sunshine had brought out the crowds and we got just about the last two seats left, but those crowds had also snaffled almost all the cakes and scones. We were left a little bit with Hobson's choice - Pannetone and Ginger Parkin, but they certainly didn't disappoint us. Both were delicious, the Pannetone being easily the nicest I've ever had. I could have gone back and scoffed the lot. The ambiance, music and full menu looked good enough for us to want to go back there for a proper meal sometime, most likely in summer, when we'll also take stouter footwear and do a longer hike along that old railway trail.
Fully sated (for now) we headed into Whitby and had a wander round, discovering some parts of town that we'd never seen before despite having been going there for over 30 years! It wasn't long before we were feeling hungry again though, and remembered a place I'd seen on earlier visits and had always wanted to try - Humble Pie 'n' Mash.
This cafe serves just one thing - the thing it's named after. Pie, mash, peas and gravy is the only thing on the menu (apart from the kid's choices), but there is a large and varied selection of pies on offer. We plumped for one each of the two vegetarian options - Homity for me, roast veg & goat's cheese for wife. Everything was spot on, the pies delicious, the mash just how we like it, nice "real" peas (wife has an aversion to mushy) and lovely gravy. Even the Yorkshire Tea came in a great big mug - lovely. Good prices too, at just £4.95 for the pie meals.
Deserts looked too good to miss too, so we didn't! The Jam Roly Poly was ace, just how we like it with a nice crisp baked crust and a soft gooey interior with plenty of Jam. We could have gone around the whole desert menu, each one sounded delicious (and each one was an old childhood favourite - I was especially tempted by the rice pudding).
After leaving there we had another wander around the shops, up past the Kipper smoke house, down to the pier and then back into town and up to the car park. It had been an absolutely fabulous day and one that filled us with enthusiasm for just how lovely England, and especially Yorkshire, can be on a nice day. You tend to forget after day upon day of gloom and rain.
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