After a lay off over the winter months we are starting back with a nine-day trip, with one rest day in the middle. We hope to walk about one hundred and thirty miles from Whitby to Paull village on the banks of the River Humber. There will be tears and fears, muddles and puddles, limestone and clay soil cliffs and innumerable gullies to cross but we should arrive on the Humber River safe and in one piece. As it is still early in the year and forecast to be cold and probably wet, with Storm Katie due to hit us on Sunday / Monday, we will be staying overnight in a variety of B&B’s.
We had a bit of faffing around in the abbey precincts trying to find the right path to take us out to the cliff but eventually got there. Even after all this time and the number of coastal walks we have completed, we still insist on only looking at the map as the last resort of the lost and destitute.
The name ‘breeches buoy’ comes from the 'trouser legs' that hung under the lifebuoy used in rescues and into which people were fitted for transfer to shore or ship. Rockets were used to deliver the rope and hawser to ships to set up rescue lines.
On arrival in Scarborough at the not so grand Grand Hotel (we would not recommend staying here) Joanna had to set about the manager before we were adequately settled in a larger, slightly cleaner room with a sea view. ‘Bella Ciao’, a newly opened Italian restaurant round the corner from our hotel soon restored our faith in Scarborough with their lovely home-cooked food and pleasant service. Afterwards, we enjoyed our sea view and the lights along the Scarborough sea front and fell asleep to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore, to dream again of further adventures on the open road. Ciao, baby!