By Sonja Allen
We could not have wished for any better weather! When we arrived in Ravenscar on the Friday morning, there was no cloud in the sky and the temperatures were forecast to rise up to 18 degrees during the day. We parked our cars at the Raven Hall Hotel where we would stay the weekend, and set off from there on the Cinder Track towards Robin Hood’s Bay. We arrived there just in time for lunch which we either enjoyed on the beach or on the outside terrace of one of the many tearooms there. After lunch, we headed back to Ravenscar, this time however on the Cleveland Way along the coast. Back at the hotel, we checked in, had a little rest and then met for a drink in the bar and later for dinner in the panorama restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious three course meal while watching the sun setting over the bay.
The next morning, we were greeted by another glorious warm and sunny day. After a good hearty English breakfast, we set off in the opposite direction to the day before towards Cloughton. Again, we chose to go out on the Cinder Track and come back via the Cleveland way. For lunch we stopped at the Hayburn Wyke pub which seemed to be very popular on that day as it offered a nice seating area outside. All in all, we had a nice relaxing walk with lovely scenery and sea views and the day ended as the day before with a nice dinner and lots of socialising.
On Sunday, our last day, the weather had turned cooler and cloudier but it was still dry and not much wind. After checking out, we headed down to the beach below the hotel where we sighted a colony of seals. Some of us stayed half way up and some went all the way down to the beach where two volunteers from a charity for the protection of seals explained why the seals were coming to this place. They also explained to us the importance of not getting too close to the seals as it would cause them a lot of stress and even harm. We followed their advice and after taking some photos (from a distance with a good zoom!) we climbed back up towards the hotel. Some of us continued to do some further walking around the area while some were already heading for home. After lunch, it was also time for the rest of us to say good-bye and make our way back to Selby.