Yorkshire: Robin Hood's Bay to Hayburn Wyke 15/6/2007**

 

Woad

With heavy rain forecast all day we reluctantly decided the cliff-edge route would be too dangerous because of the slippery paths and steep descents at each clough.  We therefore took the bus to where we had finished the previous day and took the Railway Path, which follows the coast about a kilometre inland, being a dismantled railway now used as a cycle track.  This was at least safe under foot and involved no steep gradients, but the torrential rain created huge puddles and at times fast-flowing streams.  We were, however, better prepared than yesterday, carrying little equipment except umbrellas, which prevented us getting wet underneath our “waterproof” outer layers, although our feet were soon waterlogged.  At times side-paths had become waterfalls and there were rivers where there usually were not, so we were glad not to have taken the Cleveland Way.  At the beginning of the Railway Path we came across some naturalised plants of woad, which we had never seen in the wild before. Despite the rain, in fact, we accumulated a decent number of plants and birds over the day.  Especially notable was the broom all along the way.  We were often sheltered in cuttings (at least from the wind, which got up later) and passed through the remnants of several former railway stations, sometimes with platforms or “station houses”.  We disturbed a fully-grown frog that was nearly carried away in the swollen stream descending the path; it only just managed to escape the current and find the bank again.  Too wet even for frogs!  There were otherwise few landmarks and little scenery until we were nearing Ravenscar, where there was an old alum quarry which had several interesting ferns and other plants (including the odd common spotted orchid), and very red bricks.  Just after this we joined the Cleveland Way briefly as it rose to what was now a street into Ravenscar, passing a National Trust centre where we could briefly enjoy shelter and buy a few leaflets.  At the other end of the village was a tea-shop where we got a welcome snack.  By the time we had finished the rain had become much lighter and we had become much heavier.  Unfortunately the wind now made umbrellas difficult to handle.  We continued the railway track through several strips of woodland, one obviously being a relic of older woods with some ancient woodland indicator plants like sanicle and woodruff, and providing shelter for a nuthatch.  Shortly we arrived at Hayburn Wyke Hotel, above a woodland nature reserve that descended to the coast.  We phoned for a taxi back to Whitby, which had to go slowly through several floods across the roads.  After drying our outer clothes, we drove out to eat, this time at Whitby's celebrated Magpie Café - more local fresh fish cooked simply but well.

Frog   Magpie Café   Broom