A Perfect Motorhome Break in Whitby
Zagan the motorhome returned to his storage space yesterday after a short trip (for us) away. The last two weeks were spent on the windy cliff top at Whitby Holiday Park (N54.48522, W0.59023), which is just two kilometres from the swing bridge in the centre of Whitby, and I have to admit to falling a little bit in love with the town.
The holiday park gave us amazing views of the ruins of Whitby Abbey across the cliff tops and out to sea where we could watch ships passing, laden with cargo. I found a smartphone app that showed the ships on a map and I could click on them to see where they had come from, where they were going to and what sort of ship they were – some had been at sea for days. At night the ships became a sparkle of lights in the dark, and when the weather was right the sunsets behind the Abbey were simply stunning. After being in The Cooler for so long, with windows looking directly at blank white walls, each view and sight was much appreciated.
I would time my running for the mornings, before anywhere got too busy, finding new routes to explore. I find it a great way of sightseeing and keeping fit at the same time. One day I followed a path up river and ran under the old railway viaduct which is now part of the Cinder Track that runs from Whitby to Scarborough. The path took me to the nearby village of Ruswarp where folks were queuing to get into the local butchers, the smell of bacon wafting out of the door spurred me on to get home for my own breakfast. There were so many things to see and do in and around Whitby, we were more than happy to stay still in our motorhome.
Our time on the campsite was a real escape from the pandemic and constant news about it. The toilets and showers were closed, and you had to book the laundry, mask up to go into the shop or reception and there was hand sanitiser at each water and chemical loo point (which would be a great thing in normal times). However, because the pitches are distanced and folks generally stayed on their own pitch, there were no masks being worn around the vans, so you could sit in your motorhome and pretend everything was back to normal. A nice little break for my brain.
On Friday the campsite filled up, and the town got much busier too. We decided to avoid going into the town for most of the weekend as some of the narrow cobbled streets got very busy. When we did venture in we’d use the ‘local steps’ as we named them, avoiding the popular 199 steps route and the heavy breathing folks climbing them.
Whitby town council had clearly done a lot of work to make to make everyone feel safe. Hand sanitiser stations are dotted around the town, where a stomp on a button on the floor would fill your hands with enough of the stuff to sanitise a crowd. As well as signs telling people to keep socially distanced, a one way system is in place on the swing bridge – which did make you more likely to get run over than catch any virus, and on the weekend some roads (including the bridge) were closed to traffic to allow people to walk in the street.
It’s all down to personal choice of course, but we still don’t feel comfortable enough to eat inside a restaurant yet. I ran past a decent sized queue outside Wetherspoons at 9am one morning, so we might be in the minority. That wasn’t a problem though as there are loads of benches dotted around the town, we’d buy tasty and beautiful looking treats from delis, eat numerous ice creams (my favourite flavour being the Raspberry Cheesecake) and indulge in fish supper takeaways all in the fresh air drinking in the views.
The Pirate Festival which should have taken place in the town at the weekend, had understandably been cancelled. However, you can’t stop pirates that easily, and several of them chose to form a pirate rebellion and visit anyway. I’m still getting used to seeing people with face masks walking around, so throw in a band of pirates and the town took on a new level of strangeness at times.
We ended our time in Whitby with a walk along the promenade at the base of the West Cliff (we were staying on the East Cliff) and the beach to Sandsend. Having stayed in Staithes in the past and walked to Sandsend from the other direction, over the years we’ve now walked the Cleveland Way from north of Staithes to Ravenscar. There are still many more miles of the walk that we can do, and one day we might finish the whole thing.
On our last night we walked past the queues for the famous Magpie Cafe and headed to the Silver Street Fisheries (number two on TripAdvisor for fish and chips in Whitby), tucked away in a backstreet. We ordered a takeaway at one window, and waited across the road for them to shout our number before collecting our freshly cooked chippy teas from another window. All of their precautions made us feel very safe. As we waited a woman joined the queue in her pyjamas, dressing down and slippers, laughing and joking with the staff, it looks like we found the place where the locals come for their fish and chips. We took our piping hot cardboard boxed meals to one of the many benches on the West Cliff overlooking the Abbey and enjoyed a view over the town as we ate under the watchful eyes of a couple of seagulls.
We’ll certainly return to Whitby and the surrounding areas as it is just such a lovely, relaxing place. Sure the town is touristy in places with amusement arcades, many many souvenir shops and boat trips around the harbour, but they are blended so well with day to day life. From the boat yard, building and lowering a ship into the water for the first time ever while I watched, to the tiny shop which smoked kippers, filling the street with the aroma of fires. We might not want to go abroad in our motorhome at the moment, but the UK has so many beautiful places to explore that we’re sure it will keep us busy and happy until things return closer to normal.
Now to start planning where to go next… any suggestions?
Ju x
We also aren’t ready for restaurants yet, although it appears we are in the minority here in Canada as well. Interesting statistic here is that the people who test positive are more than twice as likely to have visited a restaurant in the two weeks prior to their test. Of course that doesn’t mean they contracted it in the restaurant. But perhaps their general lifestyle choices during the pandemic are not quite as safe as the ones who tested negative.
We’ve never been to that part of England. Is there no camping available up in the National Park inland from where you are?
There probably are more great areas to explore inland, but for now we need to be at home to do some admin stuff. Our next trip might be over to Wales as we do like the seaside.
Thanks Ju, enjoyed reading your blog. Your posts on Facebook encouraged us to add Whitby to our small tour of the Peak District and Yorkshire, and we’re sitting in our MH at Broadings Farm at the moment, with a direct view of the Abbey – not quite as close as the view from the Holiday Park though! We’re yet to fall in love with Whitby, but are trying – had a walk round the town and harbour yesterday, walked round the grounds of St Mary’s church and the Abbey today, before walking along the Cleveland Way to the Holiday Park, and tomorrow we’re planning to walk along the West Cliff. We will have to get re-accustomed to so many people walking around the town centre, it is very busy! – but good for business I suppose.
If you are there for a while it’s probably best to avoid the town at the weekend. We spent very little time in the main drag (slot machines and souvenir shops) instead running and walking in the less visited areas. I hope you find some quiet spots too.
Leekworth CC site Middleton in Teesdale, Pennine Way and plenty of good walking all around, private fishing from the site, easy access to the Lake District, nice walk into village for cafes, hotel/bar, French restaurant with bar, and of course plenty of space for social distancing
Hi, really enjoyable blog it tells of the joy of freedom we enjoy in this lovely country of ours, many times you don’t have to travel hundreds of miles from home to see & enjoy the best of British, I’ve said for years that most people just diss our country as boring (( mostly because they spend the holiday propping a bar up)), yes some of the sights we can see are sometimes off the main roads but as the saying goes “” seek and you shall find”” there’s hundreds of camping sites dotted around the country, I tend to use the “5 van “ sites like CL or CS linked to the Caravan & Camping Club or Caravan & Motorhome Club, which by the way you don’t need to re-mortgage to afford a holiday at, club members get a discount non members pay a little more but still good value, I’ve lost count of the many people who have said to me “ I wish we could do what you are doing “ What’s stopping them ?. C’mon join in you don’t need a massive budget to get a decent used tourer / tent or camper you won’t be sorry you took the plunge!!
Hi Guys. That sounded great. We have just arrived at Framlingham in Suffolk on a CL. Fabulous just drinking gin and tonic watching the sun go down. First time out in our van this year. Absolute Bliss. Stay Safe.
We walked from Staithes to Whitby, camping in Hinderwell.Whitby was overcrowded.Sadly didn’t spend any time there because of that.Let us hope things will improve 🙂
Hi Folks, always love reading your blogs.
You are certainly not alone in wanting to avoid cafes / pubs etc just now, we feel just the same.
We havent been brave enough to take the Motorhome out just yet. We love Whitby, and normally visit at least twice a year…there’s a great Temp Holiday Site on the College grounds usually, a stones throw from the swingbridge.
Planning to venture out later this month, maybe to Cumbria.
Stay safe,
Les and Sue
Thankyou, I enjoyed the read. We’re blessed to have Whitby on our doorstep. The north east coast right up through Northumberland to the Scottish Boarders, pure joy.
Hi guys, We live about 20 miles from Whitby so quite often nip down for a wander and usually fish and chips. After reading your recent exploits we decided to pop down yesterday evening for fish and chips from Silver street as we’d never heard of this chippy, took forever to find a parking spot, and eventually arrived at the chippy, only flipping closed Mon Tues and Wed.
So we don’t know if their fish suppers are better than the one we normally use, anyhoo will try another time.
Glad you enjoyed your time in Whitby, it just shows you don’t have to travel great distances to find a great spot. Keep up the blog, we’ve followed you from the beginning in Dave and enjoy reading your exploits.
Cheers, John.
Ah, sorry guys! Hopefully next time you’re in town you’ll get a chance to grab some chips! Good old Dave, wonder what he’s up to these days, had some adventures in him we did! Saying that, Zagan’s had some fun too – just taken the bumper off to find half the Sahara behind the fridge vent! Take care, thanks for writing, Jay
Honestly, France is as safe, if not safer than UK. Just dont go to the cities!! There is so much more space here and all the aires are open. Tons of wild camping too of course!
Cross the Channel using the tunnel and it is totally contact free. From the moment you approach the station, until you leave the other side you dont leave your vehicle…just hand over your passport.
Everyone wears masks in shops and public places.
We now have a buyer for the house, so are busy sorting and packing. Such freedom for the future! No more grass cutting! We are already thinking about where to go in our 90 days from April 1st….thinking along Eastern Europe lines, borders open permitting!
Come to France!! The weather is stupendous, there are few people out and about and the kiddies are back in school. It feels safe..although we haven’t eaten out yet either and we have yet to see another UK motorhome since the end of June!!
Great news about the house Lorraine. We’re trying to sort out getting to France but we can’t find anyone who will offer travel insurance for countries that the FCO say not to travel to. We found a couple but trips were limited to 50 or 100 days. Ideally we’d stay into next year to miss the worst of the winter and have a last long trip before Brexit :) Good first world problem to have!
You will still be covered by your EHIC until 31st December 2020…to be honest that is all we have used since 2015. Yes, I have had to cough up some expenses including an emergency trip to a and e because of heart issues after contracting that nasty virus shingles, but after I claimed my money back, it only cost me around £100…. in 5 years. I wonder what private travel insurance would have cost me over that period???? I suppose that is the issue re insurance, balancing risk vs cost. I think after this year, without ehic, we will have to relook at it.
In the meantime, you still have time to get to France!!
Hi, really enjoy your blog, been following you for years.
We’re off to do the NC500 tomorrow, but I know you’ve done that.
Have you considered the Gower, really nice area, and wells next the sea is a favourite of ours. Keep safe and keep blogging !
Hi Richard – have fun up there – we’ve only done part of the full 500 so we’ve still got the west coast on the list. Friends have suggested the Gower too – we may make it there in a few weeks – depending on the dreaded lurgy lockdowns.
Cheers, enjoy Scotland, Jay