Day 254 - Staithes and Danby

Staithes harbour

Last night we were visited for the next two days by our good friends, June and Stuart Sanderson.  Professor Sanderson was my PhD supervisor at the University of Bradford and we have continued to stay in touch. This year marked the twentieth anniversary of our first meeting and we were pleased to see them. Today the plan was to head up the coast to the seaside village of Staithes and then into the North Yorkshire Moors for an afternoon lunch at the Moors National Park Centre in Danby.

Phantom Thread was filmed
on this street

So off to Staithes we went. The name means "Landing Place" in Old English. It is a sheltered port surrounded on both sides by cliffs.  It is similar to Robin Hoods Bay that we talked about earlier in our stay but is less posh and more "real".  Staithes was a fishing centre like most of the towns and villages along this shoreline but it is also making the transition to a tourist spot. It had a history as an art colony in the 19th century with the founding of a group known as the "Staithes Group" or "Northern Impressionists" including Dame Laura Knight.

The village also has a connection with Captain James Cook. Before he came to Whitby to become a seaman, he worked in a local shop here in Staithes when he was 17.  They claim it is here that he first became interested in the sea. I expect every village along the coast lays claim to that.  What is perhaps the most interesting piece of trivia for me was that the recent Oscar-nominated film "Phantom Thread" was filmed here.

After a late morning coffee we got back in the car and drove to Danby where the National Park Centre has a museum about the North Yorkshire Moors. The moors are actually a man-made feature that came about as a result of 1,000 or more years of cutting trees down in order to farm and graze animals. The damage that was done made the lands unsuitable for further agriculture, and as a result only heath vegetation now grows. However, better agricultural methods were employed years later within the valley areas and that is where the farms exist today, with sheep and cattle the principal income producers. The park itself is over 550 square miles in area, with a significant percentage of that being heathland. We enjoyed our afternoon lunch at the Park Centre, and then we discovered the history of the moors and the types of flora and fauna that occupies them. It was really tempting to just walk out the gate and head across the moors -- especially as it was another sunny day in paradise. However, it was getting late and a World Cup game awaited us back at the cottage followed by dinner at Whitby's #2-rated restaurant, Mademoiselle's Cafe. As it turned out it was the Yorkshire interpretation of what constitutes French cuisin, but in the end we had a lot of fun with it (although I don't think the waiters were too impressed). 

Park Center at Danby - Formerly a Hunting Lodge

Ale of the Day: Holy Grail Golden Ale, Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, Yorkshire