24 July 2019. It occurred to me that maybe I should be dating my entries for future reference. I’ll go back through all the older blogs at some stage. Anyhow today is Wednesday the 24th and we’ve been in the UK for 2 weeks. Wow, doesn’t feel that long.
Today has felt like a long day because we’ve done quite different things. We woke on the moors after a wild night. Twice I was woken by thunderstorms crossing over us. The first one was quite short and the wind was going straight over the top of us because we were sheltered by a rocky rise. The second was longer and a slightly different angle so the wind was catching the top of the van. Even woke Greg. The lightning was so bright but you could hardly hear the thunder over the wind and rain. It all passed by daybreak leaving the valley full of whispery cloud. By the time we’d finished breakfast, it had all gone leaving blue sky and the promise of a lovely day.
We headed down to Whitby and the Abbey ruins.
Built on the headland between the 12th and 14th centuries by the Benedictine monks on the site of an older 7th century monastery, it wasn’t long completed when Henry the 8th confiscated all the Catholic properties and it fell into ruin. It’s an English Heritage site so you pay a pretty penny just to walk around it, and expensive parking on top. Live and learn, next time we’ll park down the road and walk. We did ‘cheekily’ use the leftover time when we moved down to the town and another pay and display carpark when we realised the tickets were identical. We then wandered around the town, which was packed with people and cars, and had coffee and scones in a port side cafe.
We then planned to drive to Whitby beach for lunch and a swim but one look at the packed beach and queues for parking put us off so we moved up the coast a bit to Sandsend. 10 minutes drive but a much quieter beach. We parked beside another camper and chatted to the lady. This is their regular holiday spot. They live in the Peak District which isn’t far away. We walk down to the beach and swim and laze on the sand. Have lunch and laze some more. It’s about 30 degrees but the water is still very cold. It is crystal clear though.
Eventually we move on up the coast, driving through some run down suburbs. Boarded up shops, unkempt terrace housing, young people with bare midriffs, tats and pushchairs. We pull into the place I’d picked for the night and there is another camper packing up. Talking to him, he advised moving on to another spot 20 minutes drive away. He’d stayed last night and said there were lots of youths coming and going with drugs all night. We follow his recommendation and are now parked at Noses Point, with an amazing view out to sea. Ships gliding past northward bound and sandy beaches below us.
After dinner Greg wants to walk to a Seawall opposite a lighthouse. We start off down a concrete footpath then on to a grass trail. It winds down and around a high metal fence. Ok, then it goes through a gap in the fence. Hmmm. Carries on between a concrete wall and large rocks on the waters edge until we reach 2 large locked gates. The first has a huge hole in it but the second is intact with spikes sticking out sideways over the edge. Greg’s keen to climb up the concrete wall and get over. I’m not sure. Just then we hear voices and 3 likely lads come up behind us. Ones like ‘that’s new!’ A bit of discussion and they decide to climb the wall so we tag along too. Always better to trespass with locals. Greg takes the photos he wanted. He’s somewhat keen to stay until the light comes on, 1/2 hour after sunset. I’m not keen and point out it’s about 30 minutes walk back along a iffy route and probably not a good idea to do it in the dark. As it is, it’s dark by the time we get back. A good adventure though and Greg had some fun banter with the Geordie Boys.
……..
25th July.
The sun lifted itself out of the sea. A huge orange ball clad only in two wisps of deep purple cloud. Long lines of light leading towards the shore. It’s 5 in the morning so I roll over and go back to sleep.
The sun is well up by the time we go for a walk along the beach to the south. Over the last 20 years they have been cleaning up the coast. Before that the coal mines were pouring all their waste over the edge of the cliffs. There is still a lot of work to do but you could clearly see what a difference they had made. From the beach we were entertained by dolphins jumping out of the water along with a seal and even fish leaping, presumably to escape the dolphins.
Chatted to a local who was bemoaning Brixit and the new PM. He said lots around here voted for leaving because they worked for a Nissan assembly plant. He said the joke is that there is a meeting happening today about closing the plant anyway. 10,000 jobs on the line.
Coffee in a Costa so we can use wifi for Greg to update his page. I’ll hold off on this for another day. We’re going to meander up the coast aiming to get to Edinburgh on Saturday morning – free parking on weekends.
We drive the coastal road. Hmmm. It may be the road closest to the sea but it’s not really ‘coastal’. It is a nice drive through, skinny little B roads winding through farmland, small settlements with occasional glimpses of the sea. A couple of times we pass through seaside places but there is nowhere to stop and they are packed with people. We drive around the base of Bamburgh castle. It’s huge and we are very tempted to stop. Well we would have if we could have got parking. We park further up the road and have lunch with a beach visible over a grassy field. The tide is way out which makes us feel better.
Seven years ago when we were driving from Edinburgh to York we stumbled upon the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It’s accessible by a causeway at low tide. Back then we crossed but immediately turned back as the tide was lapping at the edge and we didn’t have a lot of spare time. Last year we watch the series The Vikings and that’s the monastery that Ragnar Lothbrok raids and meets Athelstan. The story may be fictionised but the facts are true. Greg is keen to go back and actually explore the island. This time we cross with plenty of time on the tides.
We park and decide to go to the priory. Like the Abbey yesterday it is an English Heritage site. Just like yesterday they try to upsell overseas visitor pass. And I tell them exactly the same thing, we’re here for 3 months and on our way to Scotland now. Yesterday they advised we buy a 9 day or 16 day pass when we get back to England. Cost of £60 or £70 for 2 adults. Today we were told we could get an year long membership for £105 and they would refund the cost of entry from yesterday as well. So if we visit 5 or 6 sites at an average cost of £18 to €20 we’ve covered our costs. We’ve now done 2 already and I definitely want to do Hadrians Wall and Dover Castle and Beeston Castle. I’m happy I don’t have to pick only one or two. AND we get 50% of Scotland Heritage site like Edinburgh Castle, also on my list. Then looking through the pack we get free parking on sites too. Plus a book with information about all the places we can see.
The priory is less than the Abbey yesterday but the information centre was great. I learned a lot more about how the monks lived their lives than walking around the site, it’s like – this is where they made the beer, this is where they made cheese, this is the stairs to the dormitories. It’s interesting.
We cross off the island with the tide coming in but still a fair distance from the causeway. Then we cross into Scotland.
The guy yesterday had told us about a cool place to free camp in Eyemouth so we head there. Drive up to the headland and there are signs saying ‘No Camping’. I say let’s check out over the other side where I can see a couple of campers. There are huge signs there saying ‘ by the authority…. no sleeping in vehicles bla bla bla but saying to park down the hill by the marina so we go down there. A German guy says, yes you can stay here but it costs £16 and you’ll be woken all the time by the fishing trawlers. He says, go back to the first place but go down the track a bit. He says there are alway people camping there. So we go back and are soon joined by a Dutch couple sent there by the camping ground on the next headland. Haha. We are parked right beside the the sea, just a short bank and a rocky outcrop. There are cars parked up in the higher part with binoculars trained on the horizon. Asked what they looking at/for, we’re told bottlenose dolphins, seals and Orcas. So now we’re keeping our eyes peeled too.
By the time we’ve finished dinner another van has parked up too. This time with English plates. Our after dinner entertainment is an amazing storm. Huge bolts of forked lightning, rolling thunder and a very brief burst of fat rain. The clouds boil but the wind turns warm. It passes quickly, moving out to sea.
Greg invites the Dutch couple over for drinks. Tea this time but it’s still after 11 before we part ways. Nice conversation. There are places we’ve been that they haven’t and visa-versa. They cycled through Iceland a few years ago, Greg quite jealous. They came over today by ferry from Haarlem to Newcastle and are planning on driving the North Coast 500. We’d only heard about this a couple of days ago. It is a circular route around the north of Scotland driving along some amazing back roads and takes a week or so. Greg’s been researching it for us to do so we may see them again on the road.
………….
Friday 26th July
Another spectacular thunderstorm lulled us off to sleep but we awoke to a calm morning. After breakfast we walked down to Eyemouth Marina where the fishing boats we’d watched going out last night where coming back in and sorting their catch. Lots of seagulls hanging around calling for attention and a few grey seals looking for an easy breakfast.
We wander around to the beach and through the Main Street. It’s a very quaint fishing village. Locals chatting on the street, small shops selling essentials. We went to a very nice cafe surprisingly with half the menu vegan or vegetarian. Great coffee.
All around the town are large boards with photos of every ‘Eyemouth Herring Queen’ celebrating 75 years of the pageant. There is bunting and decorations on houses of previous winners. It is obviously quite a community thing. A notice board tells us it is part of a week long celebration. We buy a crusty loaf of fresh bread for lunch and head back to the van.
We drive a few minutes up the coast to a surf beach. It’s an outgoing tide so the surf isn’t particularly high. There is a surf school lesson going on to one side. Greg goes body surfing and gets some good rides. He comes in ten minutes later, his feet starting to turn blue with the cold.
We then drive inland to a proper campground. Do the laundry and refill the tanks, use the wifi. Tomorrow we’ll reach Edinburgh.
……….
BAGGAB 