Ravenscar

A day interspersed with hail and sleet showers - very windy and cold, so an envigorating walk out towards Ravenscar. We had origionally thought of parking on the cliff top at Ravenscar and getting down to the beach that way, but we ended up opting to park at Stoupe Brow Farm, saving a lot of ascent and descent. The tide came in really quite quickly aided by the wind. After popping back to the static for lunch we nipped into Whitby, to Fortunes, to get kippers to take home and then had a brisk walk down ot the harbour....more envigoration!

Looking towards Ravenscar.

Looking back to Robinhood's Bay.

Dramatic scenery.

A darkening sky.

Oystercatchers.

Ammonite.

Dramatic sky...

...and waves.

Turnstones avoiding the high tide in Whitby..

A decent swell.

Whitby Abbey.

Masters of the wind

As it was so cold and windy, we detoured to Bempton RSPB for a brew. Photography was out of the question really as it was so windy, but this did mean the Gannets were fighting a head wind and sometimes remained relatively still in the up draughts. Keeping the camera still was another challenge! 

It was quite remarkable: a couple of days ago the cliffs were stuffed with Razorbills and Guillemots - not today. 

And now, for lots of flying gannets....

Probably my favourite 'traditional' photo, but the photo below, to me, portrays the movement and skills of their flight today.

Flamborough Head

A quick walk out along some dramatic chalk cliffs....

Gannets being blown around...

Flamborough Lighthouse.

Speeton

A walk along the beach, now that the tides are a bit more helpful, from Reighton Gap along Speeton Sands. Cold and windy, but we stayed more or less dry. Lots of cliff slumps and new muddy exposures, but realistically without getting totally caked in mud, we were restricted to beach finds for fossils.

Looking south-east to the chalk cliffs 

Looking north-west towards Filey.

Young seal ...

Snoozing....

Fossil wood, Crinoids, Belamnites and Ammonite bits.

Muddy cliffs....

...and boots!

Incoming showers....

Ravenscar Brick Works

A cold and breezy day with poor visibility and not great tide times, but a good walk out. We started from our Static caravan at Fylingthorpe, and walked down to the coastal footpath (Cleveland Way) descending into Boggle Hole, where we walked along the beach. On reaching 'The point of no return' as far as the incoming tide was concerned, we turned around and retraced our footsteps rejoining the coastal path at Stoupebrow Farm. No significant fossil finds - just a few odds and ends. We continued to Ravenscar, where sadly the National Trust teashop was shut and the tide was only just beginning to drop...the 'beach' walk back would have been very bouldery under the cliffs and with a brisk cold wind developing, with the potential for incoming rain, we decided to return home via the Cinder Track. This was a new area for us and meant we could explore the brick works, before a bit of a slog back. 

Looking towards Ravenscar...

...and back to Robinhood's Bay. 

Tide incoming!

A nice Shap granite eratic.

The old Alum works before you get to Ravenscar.

The Cinder Track.

Plenty of old bricks in the footpath.

The remains of the old Hoffman Kiln ...and below.

Railway sleepers in situ.

It didn't feel much like spring!

Razorbills

..and some photos of Razorbills....