After writing in my Battersby Moor blog about the never ending stream of rubbish weather, of course the sun came out and treated us to a few glorious sunny Saturdays in the middle of March. Having spent approximately 6 months saying ‘we fancy a trip to Whitby Abbey’ and never quite making it there, we decided to seize the day and capitalise on the lovely early spring sunshine. I must admit though I’m a little ashamed it took nearly 8 years of living in Yorkshire to get myself over there!
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Whitby Abbey
Whitby is a charming town, perched on the coast where glorious heather of the North York Moors meets the chilly waters of the North Sea. Globally celebrated as a tourist destination, Whitby’s popularity boomed in the Victorian period and the town hasn’t looked back since. Notable landmarks include the Whitby whalebone arch and the 199 steps, but it was the abbey we really wanted to see, and so we cheated slightly by parking on the abbey headland to save ourselves a climb.
North Yorkshire has more than its fair share of monastic ruins, but Whitby Abbey is a refreshing change from the impressive-but-maybe-a-bit-too-similar buildings at Fountains, Byland and Rievaulx. Built in the Gothic style, the abbey stands isolated above the town, an atmospheric beacon which partly inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Its looming silhouette on the headland will stay in my mind for years to come, I’m sure – whereas I already mix up Byland and Rievaulx in my head most of the time.
The misty, moody atmosphere of Dracula was hard to conjure with clear blue skies and sunshine, but on a foggy day I can imagine the abbey having a distinctly creepy vibe. Smaller and more compact than Fountains, there’s not much more to explore than the ruins themselves and a small onsite museum (complete with gift shop and extensive Dracula paraphernalia). Arriving just after opening, we spent about an hour wandering through the ruins. You can pick up a free audio guide at the entrance (I took one, Sam didn’t), but I can’t say they were that great: perhaps a little too much into the detail for me.
Audio guide abandoned after the first two stops (i.e. given to Sam to carry for me), it was still interesting to wander through the abbey and admire the architecture. It was fascinating looking at the corrosion on the window arches – possibly caused by the salty air? Maybe the audio guide would have told me if I’d persevered. Sam’s highlight was a small coffin type hole in the ground, which he unsuccessfully attempted to convince me to lie in for ‘an excellent photo opportunity’.
Finished with the abbey itself, we had a mooch around the small museum. It has a rather eclectic mix of items, ranging from bits of stone from the abbey to Roman brooches and combs. It doesn’t take long to get through, but it was lovely that the dogs could come in with us so that we didn’t have to take turns waiting outside.
Dog friendly rating: 5/5. Dogs are welcome everywhere at Whitby Abbey, including in the museum and gift shop. They just need to be kept on short leads – which is always a relief for us when visiting places with a reactive dog.
Falling Foss
Having schlepped all of the way over to the coast, we decided to take the dogs for a longer walk before driving home. After a quick peruse of the North York Moors website, we chose a short woodland walk to visit the waterfall at Falling Foss. It’s a walk I’ve wanted to do for ages but it never seemed worth the long drive to do such a short walk: opportunity finally taken!
We ended up parking not at the start, parking instead around the halfway point in the Sneaton Forest car park (entirely due to my poor navigation). It’s worth noting that this car park is paid for via the RingGo app, with no mobile signal – but you can pay through the app up to 48 hours after your visit (don’t forget to take a photo of the car park reference to look back on later). The walk itself is very easy, not flat but with gentle inclines and no horribly steep sections. I think we were just a little bit too early to see spring arrive in the woods – it was all still a bit grey and dead which was a shame, but it was also a lot quieter than we expected – so it’s all swings and roundabouts.
Falling Foss itself was a pretty stop, although we couldn’t see a path going down to the bottom of the falls, instead settling for a view from above. We’d intended to stop off at the tea room here but found it still closed for winter – and immediately realised how hungry we were! With no chance of making it back to the Dales with empty stomachs we quickly made a Plan B and dashed across to Beacon Farm Ice Cream for lunch (and, of course, ice cream). Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us on Buy Me A Coffee, it means that we can occasionally treat ourselves instead of strictly keeping to Co-op meal deals!
There was a brie and bacon panini on the menu so of course, I had to have that, while Sam had a tuna toastie. The food was hot and the portions were generous, and we both had an ice cream cone to finish (raspberry ripple for me, cappuccino for Sam). Best of all was it being warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine while we ate – although dogs are welcome inside too should you not have a lovely sunny day to enjoy your lunch.
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. The Falling Foss walk is a great choice for dog owners, being stile and livestock free and with a few places where dogs can have a paddle. You could have your dog off lead for much of this walk but it’s worth noting that there are some big drops near the waterfall, so it might be best to pop your dog back on the lead around here.
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