Staithes

Since you possibly haven't had your fill of Yorkshire sea side photos and are clammering for more, I will oblige with the sea side village of Staithes which is on the northern border of Yorkshire.

The first thing you find when you visit one of these seaside villages is the parking lot at the top of the cliff. Then you use a machine like this to pay for the privilege. Here it was about two pounds for three hours.

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This small village was where Captain James Cook got his first taste of the sea.

Of course there were flowers everywhere.

The potash works as well as the remains of a railway bridge for a line that used to run down the coast to Whitby and Scarborough. If it were around today it would have been one of the most famous in the world for its scenery.

So we started to walk down the hill to the river.

The next county north of Yorkshire is Teeside. It is apparently famous for its run down galvanized iron sheds.

The cliff is home to hundreds of seagulls. They make a tremendous din.

The din.

They are known as herring seagulls and are huge. The body would be over a foot long.

Obviously the tide was out which in some ways is more interesting since you can see the river bed.

Finally we made it down to the harbour.

They have a rescue boat that goes out into the rough seas. It would have to be quite a ride when the sea is rough.

Like Whitby, Staithes also lists the events when the rescues were made.

The tide here has to be quite high. When the seas are rough, it would be common for these buildings to be sprayed with sea water, even with the groins that protect the harbour.

Around the corner from where the herring seagulls nest is another nesting area for a different breed of seagull. These are Kittiwakes and are smaller and only come to the area for a few months each year.

Huge rocks to protect the concrete harbour walls. Apparently they were shipped in from Norway by boat and lifted into position.

A fisherman was out at the end of one of the groins and he said he had caught a good size cod about thirty minutes before.

So we walked into the area near the pub. As usual in these seaside villages, the streets are very narrow and lined with holiday cottages.

It was before noon on a Sunday so it was too early to have a beer at the pub. They were serving tea and coffee, but that is no substitute for a beer at a pub.

There were quite a few people about on the beach and of course, quite a few dogs. A few minutes after I took this photo, this dog was having a great time with another dog chasing after a tennis ball.

The flag denotes the house which stands on the site of the house where Captain Cook lived for a while when he was young. To give you an idea of the storms that come to the area, this house was washed away two or three times in the intervening years.

This village is smaller than Robin Hood's Bay and not as well known, but it would still be a great place to go for a few days for a holiday.

The Captain Cook house. It's weird to think that the way Australia developed was due to this man who became attracted to the sea here in this village.

An extra gate to protect the door from the waves that come ashore.

We walked back up the hill and Kath was interested in this house. I doubt they are going to purchase it however. I think it would be tough to live in a village like this with so many tourists traipsing past.