North York Moors National Park

We have now moved to a wonderful little farm campsite in Lealholm in the North York Moors National Park. Arriving at the site we could tell straight away we’d found a gem, the owner, Martin was straight out to greet us and he walked us down the site and let us choose a pitch, and once we had picked the perfect one with breathtaking views he helped us level the van with some of his blocks! I asked him if we could take some photo’s on the farm sometime, and he quickly said ‘come now and have a look at the geese I’ve got hatching!’ In his utility room he had an incubator with around 9 goose eggs waiting to hatch and one newly hatched gosling sitting there! While we were there Martin said he needed to check one of the eggs to see if it was live or dead as it had not been moving at all, so he filled the sink with warm water and floated the egg to see if it would move, after a while of no movement he said it must be dead, and would have to get rid, it promptly started wiggling round the bowl as if trying to get out, so had earned its reprieve!
We went back to the van to continue setting up when our next door neighbours came back, she was very, very chatty and told us all about the goings on at the site over the past 2 weeks! No sooner was the awning up, and before it was pegged, she was out again saying how well we did and inviting us into her van to meet their parrot “Blue”. She was a rose coloured cockatoo and was very talkative even though you couldn’t understand a word (similar to its owner)! Eventually we made our excuses to finish pegging the awning and left. After taking the dogs a little walk in the woods behind the van we went into Lealholm in the car to have a pint and get some chips for tea!

Phil got up at 6:30 next morning to go for a ride! Riding from the site and heading on a circular route to Scaling Dam, a total of 17 miles, it was a route downloaded from the internet, and despite having GPS there were a couple of occasions where the track on the moor disintegrated to nothing and I had to take an alternative route. The scenery was brilliant on the ride, and on the way back into Lealholm I clocked 41mph in the 30 limit (what speed camera!). We then went over to Glaisdale, the next village where there is a great butchers who gave us a huge bone for the dogs.

Back at the van we headed out for a walk. We did a 3.7 mile loop that included the hills surrounding our site and gave a great view of the van, also lots of stiles which we had to lift Prince over because of a bruised back (he bumped it while jumping in the car a few days ago). The walk included 2 lovely sets of stepping stones crossing the river Esk, one in a field and one in Lealholm village. After we got back we were sat outside the van when Martin came over to tell us he had someone coming to give his bull a pedicure, and if we wanted to watch we could. The guy turned up in a big 4x4 with a large hydraulic contraption attached to a trailer, they manoeuvred it into place and unfolded it, then after a bit of wrestling with the gates and a lot of wrestling with the bull he was in. Once he was trussed up the whole thing tilted and lifted the bull up onto its side! He didn’t look amused, especially when the contractor took a grinder to his toes.. 3 more cows followed the bull into the pedicure torture, and while they were being done I got chatting to the contractor about bikes, it turns out his 3 young lads do downhill and they have been to Shropshire for races a few times, he’s even heard of Rave Racing!

Next day Phil’s bike had to go to the bike shop in Guisborough, as it needed a service on the forks and shock. We then headed in Tonks over to Grosmont where we hoped to see the steam train on its 6 mile journey into Whitby, when we arrived there was a train arriving at the station, so we took some photos of the engines from the platform.


We drove on to Whitby where we parked on top of the hill on the headland so that we could explore the impressive ruin of the Abbey. After we had a walk around the grounds and the visitor centre we headed down the 199 steps into the town, but not before we stopped at an old Land Rover Series 1 which had been converted into an ice cream van, we both had a 99 each for the journey down the steps! We had a wander around the town, and had a brief stop outside a pub to sample an ale and enjoy some chocolate cakes we had picked up!

On the way back to collect the bike the next day we took a call from the bike shop to say the forks were scored by grit and would need new legs, the mechanic said it may last the remainder of the trip before it comes to that, so keep riding them until they go, then send them off for repair seemed the best option. We picked up the bike, and on the way back we went over the moors for a stop at Danby Beacon, where Phil had been on his bike a couple of days before. The view was panoramic, and the wind was howling up there, we let the dogs out and all had a run around before dashing back into the car.

We then carried on towards Goathland, a village a few miles away from us which is where the TV series Heartbeat was based. We drove up hills and down dales on some very steep, winding roads, and passed through the lovely villages of Glaisdale and Egton Bridge on the way. When we arrived we parked in the car park for free as the attendant had just packed up for the day, walked down to the local shops and took some photos by some of the old cars they had on display, then we went past Scrip’s garage and funeral directors, and called into the Goathland Hotel (Aidensfield Arms) for a pint and a packet of crisps!

Robin Hood’s Bay is a historic fishing village just south of Whitby which hugs the cliff side, the top of the village is made up of more modern houses and shops, and the bottom of the village is the historic fishing port with much older buildings which are making a good job of not sliding into the sea. We parked on street at the top of the village before heading down the steep hill into the old village, the road is on a 30% descent and the houses and shops are all squeezed in together like sardines in a tin. It’s quite a sight and a lovely little place to visit, we headed down to the bottom where the road turns into a causeway for fishing boats to access the sea, we had a look round the visitor centre and Phil had a walk up the stream exit tunnel which heads under the village houses and was once used by the smugglers to hide their contraband as they brought it into Britain. We had a pint in the pub which overlooks the causeway before heading back up the hill. On the way back up the hill Linda popped into a little shop where local childrens author, James David was doing book signings, he was a lovely frielndy chap and very interested in our travels!

We then headed over to Ravenscar to do a 7 mile walk which took us through Ravenscar, the 1880’s holiday resort that never was, there are roads, drains and even a deserted railway station there, the infrastructure for the resort was all built before the developers went bust, and the resort was never finished. Some of the plots were sold, and there is the occasional house dotted around the area, the houses look a bit lonely as they look like they were meant to be terraces, but ended up as detached. We also walked past the WW2 radar station which sits on top of the cliffs, built in 1941 to listen out for German planes, you can still go in the lookout tower and see the old nissen hut in the field. On the return leg of the walk we followed the disused Ravenscar railway line which took us to the abandoned railway station which opened in 1885 and was last used in 1965. We continued our walk down the hill to the site of the old Alum works. Alum was the chemical used to fix dye in materials, and the site at Ravenscar (or Peak, as it was called then) produced Alum between 1640 to 1862 before cheaper synthetic based materials were found that could do the job for less. We were both exhausted after the walk back up to the top, so headed home for tea!

We had seen the previous day a notice board on the side of the road for a motocross event happening today, so we drove over and stopped in a layby near the event. We walked into the woods next to the event and sneaked around until we were right next to the track with an excellent view. It was Round 3 of the British Masters Series, and the action was great! Lots of noise, huge jumps and loads of riders meant we were entertained for quite a while, oohing and aahing as the riders flew overhead! Definitely good value for money as we got to see it for nothing (apparently spectator entry was £10 each!) and we were probably closer to the action than the paying spectators! After a while we had a walk through the woods and back to Tonks, where we headed home.

When we got back Phil had to go out on his bike after all that excitement, so he did a short ride from the site up to Fairy Cross Plain, a 309 ft hill which is one of the main hills we can see from the site. While he was there Linda got out the binoculars and gave him a wave from her comfy seat with a glass of wine! Once back and showered we both sat out the front of the van in the sun with a drink in hand and a barbeque on the go. Perfect.

The next day Phil got up at an ungodly hour to go and ride the red route at Dalby! When I got there it was too early for me to get a ticket so I had to park on the road outside the forest and ride in. The red route is quite entertaining, mainly singletrack, they have kept it quite fast and flowing. On the way round it links up with the black route, and I couldn’t resist doing a loop of that too while I was there so early! This meant that by the time I got back I had done 32 miles and was exhausted! Not too exhausted to appreciate the silence of the woods at that time in the morning, spotting 4 deer as well as the sun coming up through the lovely green spring leaves on the deciduous trees, it was great, and so was the track!