Beamish Open Air Museum

We had a wonderful day (though we could easily have spent longer) at Beamish Open Air Museum.  It is a huge site with several areas reflecting life in County Durham at different periods of time.  Everything is authentic, having been relocated from its original position to the site.

There are historic busses and trams that take you around between the different areas.  The first area we visited was the Pit Village, reflecting life in the early 1900s.  As Andy's ancestors had been working in the coal mines in Co. Durham at this period that was of particular interest to us.  They have colliery house, a school, Methodist Chapel (at one period the Joyce family did attend the Methodist Chapel) and pit pony stables.

Back entrances to the cottages, which was the main way used
for day-to-day.

 

Best room in one of the cottages

Kitchen, which was the main living room

Nearby (as you'd expect) there was the Colliery.  We did go down the drift mine, but I think I found the lamp cabin the most interesting.

No relation

Lamp Cabin

Inside the mine

Next we went to the Town, reflecting life in the lead up to WWI. It has a co-op store, a terrace of homes, a dentist's (truly frightening), printers and stationers, a pub, sweet shop, Motor & Cycle works, bank and bakery (along with a few other things).

Dentist with "modern" equipment

The Pub

Next was the 1940s Farm.

We didn't have time to visit Pockerly Old Hall or Pockerley waggonway

That night we stayed in a wonderful place – Beamish Hall Hotel.  The stables out the back had been converted into a restaurant and brewery and we had a very nice dinner.

Craft Beer menu

Whitby

Next on the agenda was a visit to Whitby Abbey. An abandoned ruin since the Dissolution of the Monasteries,  it stands high over Whitby. Its ruined shell provided Bram Stoker with some of the inspiration for Dracula. We wandered around on a beautiful day with audio guides telling us the history of the site since its original founding in Anglo Saxon times, through to its shelling by a German dreadnought in World War I. As I said, it was a beautiful day, but you could imagine how dramatic it would look against a brooding stormy sky. I could also imagine the awe its size would have invoked in a medieval pilgrim.

From there it was down to Whitby. Andy climbed down the 199 steps, but I walked down Donkey Street (more properly called Church Lane) which is a very steep cobbled street that is now heritage listed.

 

Once down the bottom there are dozens of shops selling Whitby Jet jewellery. It's fossilised wood that is so black it has given rise to the expressions "as black as jet" and "jet-black". We went into a workshop and saw how it was fashioned, and needless to say, I had to buy myself a set of jet earrings.

We then crossed the swing bridge over the Esk river. On the other side were the fish and chip shops, the amusement arcades snd the shops selling "rock" that are such a definitive part of the British seaside experience and lots of places trying to cash in on the Dracula connection.  Not surprisingly for a fishing port, it was full of seagulls, but they are the biggest seagulls I have ever seen - far bigger than those that steal our chips on an Australian beach!

Andy wouldn't have been able to live there

We didn't visit here

We did visit here

North Yorkshire Moors and Robin Hood's Bay

After leaving Ripon we set off across the North Yorks Moors. Its very remote and bleak and incredibly beautiful. Sheep wander freely here - there are no fences.  I do wonder how they manage to herd them up when it's time to send them to market.

Right at the highest point on the Moors there is a pub - The Lion Inn - so naturally we stopped for a pint. I just loved the names of some of the beers they had for sale, like Copper Dragon and Guzzler, and I thought the "Tour de Wot?" was hysterical, because everywhere we had been in Yorkshire had been making such a fuss about the fact that the Tour de France was coming to Yorkshire.

Then, when you buy a pint, it has to be served in the appropriate glass.

Over the years I have heard several people rave about Robin Hood's Bay, a fishing village on the Yorkshire coast just south of Whitby.  When the man in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park office also recommended that we visit there it seemed the natural thing to do.

It is uncertain why the place is called Robin Hood's Bay. There is no evidence that Robin of Sherwood was ever anywhere near the village.  What is certain is that it is a location for fishermen, smugglers, and people looking for dinosaur relicts.

View down to Robin Hood's Bay

We arrived at Robin Hood's bay and decided that it was a suitable time to find our accomodation for the night. We ended up in a B&B a few streets back from the ancient road that led down the hill to the bay.  The B&B was very comfortable, and we were right up in the attics, so there were issues with head height for one of us (hint: it wasn't me!).

We then set off to walk down the hill to the Bay. It reminded me of the time we visited Clovelly in North Devon, though that was perhaps a bit more picturesque as the houses were all white-washed and the "streets" weren't wide enough for cars, only donkeys.

The route down to the coast

When we got to the bottom we had a drink overlooking the sea, and then a large group of people arrived to had just finished doing the Coast to Coast walk - Robin Hood's Bay is the end point of the walk.  

The end of the road

Old fossils

We then went to look for the fish and chips place that had been recommended to us by the man in the North Yorks Moors National Parks office.  It was difficult to find, as it was down a side alley.  We went in and Andy ordered fish and chips.  Of course, as many of you will know, I don't eat fish.  So I could see a chicken burger on the menu, and asked for that.  "We don't have any".  I then asked for something else from the menu that wasn't fish (I can't remember what at this stage). "We don't have any".  So I asked if there was anything that wasn't fish or seafood.  The man thought about it for a while then answered in a surly manner "Chips".  So that was the extent of my dinner that night - chips.  Both the fish and the chips had been cooked in beef dripping.  I know a number of people consider that a great treat, but it quickly became a bit rich and overpowering to Andy and me, not being used to it. But we had found a lovely spot overlooking the beach to eat our dinner, and watch the people out on the beach looking for jet or fossils.

Of course, then we had to climb all the way back up.  Not an easy task!

The route back up