Robin Hood's Bay

And so to the last of my sojourn to the north east Yorkshire coast - Robin Hood's Bay. I did have very vague memories of this place from childhood, mainly of it being very steep, it seems on arriving there my memory hadn't let me down!

To put it simply, Robin Hood's Bay is a beautiful little place. A maze of little alleyways and streets festooned with shops and interesting houses, it really is like stepping back in time to the 19th century. It's a place of much history but sadly the the likelihood of the famous Mr Hood going there are probably more folklore than fact.

I asked Gary what was his favourite place of our visit? 'Robin Hood's Bay' he replied with firm conviction. I nodded in agreement. So here are the photos, enjoy them and I urge you to visit this lovely place and take in its rustic charm, magic and beauty.

Whitby

It's been many a year since I have been to Whitby, in fact this was only my second visit. My first visit to Whitby was as a young teenager and my memories are blurred to say the least. On arriving there with Gary I was taken aback by how beautiful Whitby is, it gave me a similar buzz I get when visiting Camden. Though I love all things gothic and know Whitby has goth festivals I just haven't got around to going there sooner, shame really. Many know of course that Whitby is famous for being mentioned in Bram Stokers 'Dracula'. Whitby certainly has plenty of history, 'Whitby' meaning in old Norse 'White Settlement' but it was also a Saxon town before that called 'Streonshal'. It was a place of religious meetings (the synod of Whitby) before the Vikings destroyed the original abbey. Later it was a small fishing port before precious stones were found in the area, the rock needed for 'alum' in medieval times and the black stone known as 'jet'.

The Chef Rick Stein also claims that the best fish and chip shop can be found in Whitby which is called the 'Magpie Cafe'.

I loved Whitby, the abbey was amazing though a tiring ascent but well worth it for the views. I really do need so spend more time there and I'm sure I will in the near future. As we left I felt deeply contented inside for rediscovering such an amazing place, Whitby is definitely a place I really identify with on many levels.

Staithes

So here we go with another installment of the journey down the North Yorkshire coast, after the surreal Skinningrove we headed to Staithes and nearly missed it! Riding along in the car we passed through the edge of the village, and to be fair when we saw the sign and a few houses we thought 'Is this it?' and carried on driving. Something didn't sit right with me and I said to Gary 'We've missed something, it looked nice on the Coast programme when I saw it'. So we parked up and used Gary's ipad to see if we'd missed something roadwise, it appeared we had. Heading back we drove down a lane towards where we suspected the sea was and stumbled across a car park. It appeared we'd just passed through the modern top road of Staithes and fringe bits of the more contempory village. After parking up we followed the signs and a steep road down to the old village proper and were pleasantly surprised with what we found. I knew from the brief bit I'd seen on tv that artists came here to paint in Victorian times but seeing it close up and real for myself was amazing.

Staites is nestled in the cliff side and has a natural harbour and it also appears the legendary captain Cook spent some time here too. The streets down to and around Staithes are quite steep and certainly test your fitness but it's rewarding all the same. To sum up, Staithes is a lovely little fishing village with some interesting houses and great views, there's also a couple of pubs! Enjoy the photos!

Steep descent in Staithes

Lobster cages

harbour

Captain Cooks cottage, albeit rebuilt slightly.

Skinningrove Revelations (not for the faint hearted)

Yesterday, I blogged about Skinningrove, you probably read I thought it was an odd little place but it gets worse! Today I decided to see if there was a better photo of the dolls head hammer house of horror and stumbled across these two YouTube videos. Little did I know that Gary and I had stumbled into one of England most unsavoury villages. No disrespect to the people there, as I didn't stay long to meet any of them, but on seeing these videos I certainly wouldn't cross them either. Watch them at your own risk!

Video one can be found here

Video two can be found here

Saltburn and Skinningrove

On the 24th of June, Gary and I headed to the north Yorkshire coast and our first port of call so to speak was Saltburn-by-the-sea on the Cleveland coastline. Saltburn is very victorian in appearance and the first thing that hits you on getting out of the car is the pungent yet pleasant smell of sea salt, invigorating to say the least. It's not your archetypal seaside town, firstly it's very quaint and thankfully bereft of amusement arcades and neon lights. The streets of Saltburn, near the seafront are all named after types of stone such as ruby, garnet, emerald, coral, diamond, pearl and amber.

Linking the seafront to the pier and beach is the Saltburn Tramway which costs 70p to ride, handy if you don't fancy walking down to the beach and probably saving you a good few minutes. I liked Saltburn and always wanted to go there after seeing it on the BBC2 program 'Coast'. We didn't really get much time to explore as many places were on the agenda for the day but what I saw I liked, the air was fantastic and the coastal views of nearby headland were amazing.

Zetland Apartments, formerly a famous hotel.

Headland

Saltburn Pier

Tramway

Tramway carriage view

Gary in the carriage

me on the pier.

Skinningrove

After we left Saltburn a few miles down the coast we saw Skinningrove nestled in a valley leading down to the sea. Deciding to investigate further we parked up on the main street and headed towards the rocky beach. Skinningrove is a bit like the village time forgot, there's not much there but it seems quiet, if a little surreal in some respects. To add to this feeling of surrealism was a garden with poles or spikes, each adorned with a dolls head or animal, it looked macarbre to say the least but certainly made me smile, let's just say it had that hammer horror feel about it! The beach is rocky and there's a good view of some headland nearby. We only stayed about five or so minutes for a quick look around, feeling uneasy we headed on.

Memorial boat 'Repus'

Headland view

Hammer house of horror garden!

Camden Beloved Camden !

Continuing on from the blog below, here is some photos and videos of Camden, probably my favourite shopping place in the world. Why? Well it's simple really, Camden seems to have all the things I like clothes wise and also has great pubs and an incredible vibe to the place. I really want to spend more time there but I know my pockets would be very empty after.

Since my last visit Cyberdog (A goth/futuristic clothes shop) has had a refurb and looks amazing. Whilst it may be expensive for some items it's fair to say many of them are individual and not often seen on the high street, they are also great quality. I love the new look of Cyberdog and it even has an adult fetish section now ;-)

The Stables market seems to have recovered well from the fire a couple of years back and Camden seems as busy as ever. I think my next visit has to be over a couple of days so I can fully take all of Camden's shops and the surrounding area in, and sample the nightlife.

Click on the vids below for them to begin.

The Cyberdog entrance

Inside Cyberdog (before they got pissed at me filming)

Inside Cyberdog, a sneaky photo done on the phone camera.

Stables market

Scooter seating!

Camden.

The Big City Again!

Once again some photos on the blog from London taken on the 16th June. The weather was perfect and myself and Gary managed to fit quite a lot into the day. We started on Oxford Street, had lunch in Soho, then down onto Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, Westminster, The London Eye and finally up to Camden (which is going to get a seperate blog). Enjoy the photos!