North York Moors and the Howardian Hills

So I just felt like a few days of peace and quiet with my dog. And here we are for our first night, in a gorgeous location on the North York Moors.

Next day I planned to drive further for a walk, but realised that during the day this was quite a busy little car park so I felt happy leaving the van here. Tilly and I walked down into Rosedale, along a sleepy track and back up again onto the ridge. These few days have been quite a heatwave and it's been a little warm for Tilly. Sometimes her tongue's not long enough.

With temperatures hovering around 25 degrees I realised long moorland walks were a bit of a no-no.

After another night in the same camp we set off for a coastal trip. we found a free parking spot at Sandsend and the two of us enjoyed the offshore breeze on a walk on the beach.

Then I had lunch in the van while Tilly watched the sea.

 From here we drove down through Scarborough and on to Flamborough Head; a favourite haunt from my childhood. We climbed down to the beach near the lighthouse.

From here, we drove across country to the C&CC site at Slingsby. Chrissie and I came here with our rented motorhome last Spring.

Next day it was still hot so we booked in for a further two nights and went for a walk around the area, on the level rather than yomping up hot, sticky moorland hills. It was very pleasant, despite the heat.

Dixeland farm reminded us of home.

Wonder if Dixie knows this place is named after her?

We passed these, apparently unused, farm buildings.

And rounding the corner we met these guys.

Tilly really enjoyed the walk.

With the end of the heatwave it poured with rain overnight, but, in the morning it was very fresh with patches of blue in the sky. Donning waterproof trousers we set off on an 8 mile route from the site. As we climbed up into the Howardian Hills you could look back towards Slingsby and get an impression of how open the terrain is.

A little further we turned onto this delightful bridleway.

At this time of year (July) there are lots of poppies around, reminding me of our days around the Somme at Easter.

Towards the end of the walk we passed through this tunnel of trees and shrubs.

We endured a couple of showers on the way and the site's showers were very welcome on our return. The only other noteworthy event was having to shift Tilly off her perch on the driver's seat. She kept resting her head on the steering wheel and sounding the horn!

Now, what time's the fish'n'chip van due?

The next day we were due home. The morning dawned with forecasts of heavy showers across the whole country. Here, it was bright and breezy. We chose a 3 mile walk and cleared it with the site manager that we needn't leave until 1ish.

We found more poppies.

Having completed three walks around here it's apparent that these old lanes, often with beautiful mature hedgerows, are a feature of the area. Can you spot the tail of a disappearing lab?

Being mostly arable country it's great for dog walking; no livestock for them to annoy.

In Tilly's considered opinion, this is an appropriate stick for walking. She carried it for around half a mile, back to the site,

including taking it for a dip in a stream.

And lastly, this view over crops to a wide open sky typifies the local landscape. Must come back here with the rest of the tribe.

Blessed with no rain for our walk, we're now back at the site for some housekeeping and lunch before making our way home. Once there, it'll be a fairly quick turn round. Tomorrow we're off up into the Yorkshire Dales again for the weekend. Chrissie was forced to leave out a couple of days of the Pennine Way earlier in the spring cos the van was with Peugeot. So, we're off to Malham so C&D can complete their efforts while Tilly and I fall back into our support role.

Incidentally, this post is brought to you courtesy of, new-to-me, technology. I'm posting from a small notebook computer in the van, connected by wifi via BT's openzone system where you share wifi with fellow BT users who've agreed to this. It's a clever system, and free! I've also managed on this trip to connect the computer to t'internet using my mobile phone. I never ceased to be amazed by communication technology. Bye for now from the C&CC site at Slingsby in beautiful North Yorkshire.