A Windy Walk in Whitby and Another Fish & Chip Lunch

14Apr
by Cherryl

A winter walk on a windy day in Whitby (as well as being a good tongue twister) is always a good idea if you want to see some North Yorkshire waves getting wild and active. That –  coupled with being one of the UK’s most highly ranked seaside towns.

The beaches are not white and powdery, but Whitby’s quiet charm, character (and good fish and chips) more than make up for that! Here’s a quick refection.

Wandering around Whitby

I remember going on a Whitby school trip back in the day and we all loved it, that was in the summer time, and I bought one of those snow globe type souvenirs…..I must find it, currently another ‘forgotten souvenir’.

Whitby is less than hour away from Scarborough’s main town on the UK’s east coast, in North Yorkshire, and anyone who has been to Whitby before will know just how picturesque and quaint it is, cute and cosy, with old fashioned sweet shops, pastry shops, pubs and quaint gift shops in every little nook and cranny of the town centre.

Some of the narrow and steep cobbled streets reminded me of York a little bit, packed with unique shops around the main fishing boat harbour, and the classic climb up the iconic steps to the peak where Whitby Abbey sits proudly is a must – here’s a mounted A4 photograph I bought (still wrapped in plastic and yet to be framed):

Hold on to your hats

When I say it was a ‘windy walk in Whitby’ I don’t just mean typical blustery winter day wind. No. We’re talking something that felt like gale force winds in your face, beating you up!! The wind was extremely strong  on the sea front up close to the sea that day – everyone was having to stop and battle against the mighty gusts at times,  blowing you off your feet or off to the left or right if you weren’t careful.

There were times we had to just stop and brace until the force of the wind eased off just enough to plough onwards.

You could taste the sea salt on your lips!

What’s for lunch?

It’s Whitby, and its the seaside, so it’s got to be a customary fish and chip lunch/dinner right?

Fish and chips at the iconic Magpie Cafe ranked an easy 10/10, highly recommended and well worth the queue outside to get in.

I was still feeling full the next day….talk about huge portions, but all delicious and perfectly cooked and presented. Everyone leaves an empty plate – unless you struggle with getting it all down.

Of course – you can find other plenty of other things to eat as well.

Whitby is also a very dog-busy place, almost everyone seemed to be walking a dog, and the dogs were clearly loving their Whitby walks.

Whitby Abbey

From the main town it’s a steep walk up those landmark steps to get to Whitby Abbey.

There are farms, fields and no doubt more beautiful views up there, beyond Whitby Abbey if you decide to keep walking further out and yonder.

Below: the blurry zoomed-in phone shots of Whitby Abbey as evening began to fall do look a bit eerie with the full moon, in fact the abbey has an eerie feel about it in general – not surprising then that Bram Stoker found inspiration there!

Dinosaurs?

Apparently you can find dinosaur fossils in Whitby!

Is this real?

Getting there

The drive from Scarborough’s town centre to Whitby gives you beautiful views of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park – plus, it was like being on ‘the big dipper’. Some of those beautiful county roads had surprisingly steep climbs and equally steep drops, making your stomach flutter.

There’s a bus (X93) that goes from outside Scarborough train station directly to Whitby – £2 single journey at the time. I think there’s also a route that goes on through to and back from Middlesborough (or that might be the train).

Wishing you lots of happy walks 🤗 x

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