MONDAY. We made yet another journey by bus today; this time from Leeds to Whitby. We can recommend the Yorkshire Coastliner service; the seats, on which we spent 3 hours, are comfortable and with the exception of the front row, there is sufficient legroom for anyone with a 36” inside leg. I know, I have tested this on three journeys now. We had been previously to Pickering, but on from there and especially from Thornton le Dale through Goathland to Whitby; the scenery was spectacular. From the upper deck of a bus, 270 degree turns, hairpin bends and 25% hills (1 in 4 to us of a certain vintage) were a new experience for us. The skill of the driver made our journey enjoyable, my foot did not reach for the brake pedal once.
Goathland is a pretty village and was heaving with visitors examining the various locations used in the ‘Heartbeat’ TV series, a large number were going in and out of Scripp’s garage. I was more interested in the steam loco at the railway station. It was a Southern Railway S15 class 4-6-0, designed by Richard Maunsell; I could not see the number clearly, but it looked like 825. (BR 30825).
Having breasted the hill out of Goathland, the new shape of the radar installation at RAF Fylingdales looked like a gigantic crystal on the skyline, but I think that this is preferable to the golf balls, the concrete colour does blend in better than white. The rain arrived as we rejoined the main road and was heavy for about 10 minutes, stopping as we arrived in Whitby.
We crossed over the swing bridge and through the streets to the foot of the 199 steps leading to St. Mary’s Church and the Abbey. We climbed to the top and looked over and around the Abbey, which was magnificent. I have a watercolour of the Abbey by Alfred Powell, who was my great great uncle. His was a faithful reproduction of the many differing colours of stone for me, form part of the appeal of the building. I have taken some photographs from nearly the same location as he must have used for the painting. We subsequently discovered that St Mary’s church was locked up at 3.30pm. This seemed a little odd as the Churchyard had a lot of visitors walking around; obviously the church here is not in need of donations, in contrast with all the other churches that we have visited. The journey back to Leeds was made under some very interesting cloud effects which seemed to compliment the scenery perfectly.
Weather overcast and one heavy shower, some bright intervals.
The 2008 journey thus far: 203 Locks & 325.5 Miles & 19 Swing\Lift Bridges
Journeys using bus pass: 14
