Robin’s Hood Bay Walk

On Wednesday we followed in the footsteps of Lucy and Mina (and a whole lot of other people) along the coast path from Whitby to a former smuggling port called Robin’s Hood Bay.

Across the terrace, down the 69 steps + 14 degree inclined path, through  the harbor and up the 199 stairs on t’other side.

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St. Hild was not fond of snakes. She reportedly summoned them here and turned them all to stone.  (Or perhaps the coils found in these cliffs are ammonite fossils?)

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Wildlife spotted along the way.

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Lunch at the Bay Hotel pub.

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Narrow streets and tunnels made it easy to move smuggled goods off the beach invisibly. The red tile roofs characteristic of Robin’s Hood Bay and Whitby (and uncharacteristic for the region) are more evidence of smuggling. Luxury goods like silk and tea were picked up the Netherlands (hub of globalized trade at that time) with Dutch roof tiles used as ship’s ballast – and both were sold by the smugglers.

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Following recovery time at our flat, we joined a Whitby Walks Dracula tour in the evening.  Our guide was the fabulous and oh-so-terrifying Claire.  I suspect that most of the men fell victim to vampires later that night, since their screams in the haunted tunnel were entirely unconvincing. Fortunately, my scream was appropriately frightful so we were safe.