A week by the sea – Staithes
We’d pencilled in last week for a few days away in Zagan, our motorhome. I’m sure he’s been feeling neglected since we got back from our travels in July last year. A quick look at the weather forecast and our plans soon changed. The forecast for most of the UK was rubbish. Not fancying a week in him while it snowed and rained outside, we started a search for somewhere to go. As we’d left it to the last minute (Friday afternoon), we plumped for a tried and tested favourite – Staithes on the Yorkshire Coast.
The cottage we stayed in is in the sun near the RNLI station on the left of the harbour
We last visited about three years ago, later in the year, so the little fishing village was busy. This time we doubted we’d see another soul, and for the first half of the week we weren’t far off. Most places were closed, and apart from inside the pubs, if we saw more than three people together it constituted a crowd. We were staying in the same cottage as our previous visit, The Anchorage on Cowbar Nab, which is across the beck from the main part of the village, but it’s south facing, dog friendly and has great views.
On Sunday mornings we get to watch our RNLI neighbours doing their drills from our window
We arrived on the Saturday and other than a quick nip across the bridge to the village to send text messages to say we’d got there safely (no signal in the cottage), we hankered down and avoided the cold. Most of the week was cloudy and cold, but we didn’t care as it gave us an excuse to relax, read, do a jigsaw and watch the rise and fall of the tide.
Determined crabbing in all weathers, but sadly no bites.
The trip did make me realise how old Charlie is getting now. Last time we were here we headed out on 5km walks with him, this time we had to carry him to the beach. After tottering after a couple of sticks we’d throw he managed a walk back, but that was it. Still he was more than happy to snooze by the doorway to the kitchen or in front of a heater.
We had most types of weather in the space of a week, but mainly cloud. On Tuesday it snowed, so Jay kept warm by hill training up and down the 25% hill we drove to get to the cottage. On Wednesday the sun shone, and people appeared from their cottages. We took the opportunity for a walk along part of the Cleveland Way to Runswick Bay, taking in the amazing views out over the sea, even if the ground underfoot was a little muddy.
One again we loved our week in Staithes, mainly because it was chance to have a little holiday, kick back and do nothing without feeling any guilt. If you ever get to visit the village, the Cod and Lobster does a mean fish and chips (guess what Jay was burning off in the photo above), and if you find yourself in the area in your motorhome, we spotted vans over-nighting in the car park at the top of the hill heading down to Cowbar Nab- but it might only be possible in the winter.
The view up the hill we drove down to get here and used for our running training – glad we didn’t bring Zagan!
Back at home we are now both feeling rejuvenated and are working on a few projects to keep us from twiddling our thumbs.
Ju x
I had never heard of Staithes….. looks gorgeous, that’s on the list of places to visit when in the area. We did a similar mid-February trip in the MH to Padstow last year and that was pretty well deserted… made for a wonderful break with easy parking and no queues. Thank you for the update :)
We have visited Staithes when at Whitby a couple of times. There are lots of lovely places on that coastline. Pleased you had a good break x
Always lovely to hear from you. Glad you enjoyed your holiday! Success with the projects! Staithes looks lovely.
Hi J&J, looks like a special place, you can’t beat Yorkshire lad! :-) You didn’t mention how you got there? Love to Charlie.
Kindest…Wayne.
Ay up Wayne! We were whisked off up there in Ju’s Mum’s trusty old car. Zagan is still languishing up in storage although we nip on every couple of weeks to fire him up and roll to another part of the tyres. Still aiming for a short (France-Italy-Slovenia-Croatia-back to Switzerland???) trip out April to July – would be fantastic to meet up if you’re in that next of the woods. Failing that, give us a shout if you’re up our way in Blighty. Cheers, Jay
Hi Jason and Julie
Thanks for the latest update. Charlie is looking happy on the beach !
We’re about to go on our very first tour starting in March and we can’t wait. We are both a bit scared but more excited than anything. We can’t wait to get away from the cold & grey and feel some warmth from the sun. We also can’t wait to take our Labrador – Bodger and our Cavi – Charlie (Blenheim like your Charlie) on the beaches in Portugal.
Looking forward to your next update, and we’ll also send you ours when it’s up.
Martha & Tim :)