Robin Hood's Bay to Whitby

A lovely day of coastal hiking began with a steep descent into Robin Hood's Bay.

Back in the day, alcohol, lace and other goodies were smuggled into caves in Robin Hood's Bay to avoid customs. The narrow little lanes are called Bolts, as that is what the entrepreneurial importers did to avoid taxes. The village was described as higgledy piggledy by a fellow hiker, perfect for the way houses were crammed into the steep village in random fashion.

It was ridiculously cute. Every corner. The photos don't do it justice. Below are Toni, Meg, Kim and Allison, fellow hikers. I've hiked with Toni before in Wales.

A very high percentage of the cottages in the village are holiday rentals, sadly. Has a book been written yet about the effect Air BnB has had on picturesque communities like this?

From Robin Hood's Bay we walked up the coast to Whitby.

We were very lucky with the weather, which was much nicer than predicted.

Can't hike the coast without a lighthouse.

Whitby Abbey is difficult to get a good photo of. This was on the approach from Robin Hood's Bay.

This is closer up, but not ideal. There's a wall around it, so hard to get the right angle. Built in the 11th century by Benedictines, abandoned in the 16th Century at the order of Henry the VIII, plundered by locals and bombed by the Germans – it's been a tough few centuries.

Just below the abbey, we descended 199 steps into Whitby. My nieces would love Whitby because it is the home of Goths, due to it having inspired the book Dracula.

Like Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby is ridiculously cute.

I'm staying at Larpool Hall, which is itself quite Goth. My bedroom is off of this courtyard, which looks like the setting for some kind of dark drama.

6 July