Runswick Bay - Port Mulgrave - Staithes and back.

A cracking day which will, in time, yield multiple blogs. A straightforward cliff top walk with blue skies and warm sunshine - but the highlight for me had to be Port Mulgrave. This now abandoned harbour was once a hive of activity for ironstone extraction. Remnants of the pier are still visible, but getting there was fun - the footpath is technically shut but a steep ladder and steps provide reasonable access in dry weather to the beach. Coming back up it was far easier to pull yourself up the cliff using the rope which is in situ. The beached was backed by an eclectic collection of 'beach dwellings'. The shore itself was littered with ammonites in shell laden shales - which often disintegrated as soon as you looked at them! Carrying on through superb blackthorn blossom we regained the cliff top and then carried on to Staithes. A picturesque village - with a lovely cliff full of kittiwakes - and some friendly turnstones. The return along the cliff top provided cliff panoramas in the opposite direction.

Top left - Runswick Bay and top right Port Mulgrave.
Right hand middle pair - Staithes.
Bottom left Staithes.
The polar bear is a willow sculpture by Emma Stothards - from a previous arts festival.