School Holidays 5 - Yorkshire day 3

Monday 10th
A rainy night gave way to a showery and decidedly overcast morning. Julia decided that she truly did need some more sleep so she had a lie-in until just after 10. In the meantime, the boys and I had gone for a short stroll down beside the sheep field. We found plenty of small toads again and a few frogs, and were able to photograph them together to compare and contrast the differences between them.

There were hardly any butterflies out this morning, but the knapweed, clover and trefoil still gave a nice array of colour and a few photo opportunities.

The swallows were still busy, although we didn’t see many birds around this morning either. We did check out the nest outside the door and felt four eggs inside!

After a bacon and eggs with freshly warmed ciabatta breakfast, we consulted the information leaflets and decided to head for Pickering and the North York Moors Railway. Michael was outside with the dogs and he reckoned it should take about an hour via Helmsley, so we set off pronto in the hope of catching the 14:00 and travelling all the way through to Whitby. We made good progress on the road, there being much less traffic around than on the previous day, and duly arrived at Pickering after about an hour’s journey. Market day there meant we had something of a trek from our car park at a small trout farm, although time constraints meant we did not have enough time to have a look round. We had a few minutes to spare before boarding the train so grabbed a couple of sandwiches and sat down in the last clear carriage – the buffet car – which proved very useful for a few extra snacks, as we had not had time for a proper lunch. The train journey meandered through Newton Dale and past the woodland before eventually arriving at Grosmont after about one hour. I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of a Dipper on one of the stretches of water we crossed, and an even briefer sighting of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker as it flew from a tree by one of the stations. At Grosmont we had to change to a mainline train, which took us alongside the River Esk to Whitby. Herring Gulls made their presence known with their raucous calling, and a couple of young ones provided a few moments of entertainment for the boys as they hopped about nearby. We crossed the river and nosed around some of the smaller shops in the old part of the town, the boys each purchasing an ammonite from a fossil shop we discovered. We stopped for a beer, coffee and milkshake and then headed on down towards the beach in the hope that we might be able to find some fossils of our own discovering. More Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and a couple of cormorants were in the estuary, and rows of crab crates showed what an important little fishing town Whitby still is. Aaron was the only one of us who found any fossils, discovering a section of ammonite almost straightaway, but we didn’t have long and so we headed back for the train, although not before I had spotted a Fulmar flying around near the top of the cliffs. On the return journey we found some more comfortable seats and didn’t need to change trains, so were able to enjoy the comfort for the hour and a half’s journey back to Pickering.

We did see a couple of Herons roosting in a pine tree by the river, but the Dipper proved all too elusive. By the time we arrived at our destination we were all very hungry, so called in at the hotel opposite the station entrance for our tea. Julia and I each had fresh Whitby haddock, which did not disappoint, either by way of size or of flavour. We eventually returned to the car and after another hour long journey made it back to our cottage, but saw no wildlife in the dark. There did seem to be plenty of moths around though, a fact borne out by the decent number outside the cottage window, attracted by the light, including a lovely Large Yellow Underwing. Unfortunately, they are not the only flying insects in plentiful supply, as there are rather a lot of house flies in the cottage, but at least the sticky fly trap is collecting its fair share of them.