WALK OF THE WEEK: RAVENSCAR, Cleveland

The North York Moors Park offers some of the best walking in the country combining wild moorland and rugged coastal scenery in a compact area. Brian Yeo walks some of the finest scenery in the park.


North of Scarborugh the North York Moors meet the sea in a series of dramatic cliffs.
Villages cling to the coast either perched on top of the cliffs like Ravenscar or tucked into valleys like Robin Hood’s Bay. Fishing, smuggling and mining were the main livelihoods along this coast until in the 19th century the railway was tortuously built along the clifftops. Tourism took over, or at least grand tourism schemes took over. The Victorian schemes often proved too grand, however, and realism won out. The old railway line provides easy walking inland, while the Cleveland Way is followed along the coast. Allow three to four hours for the complete circuit but short cuts are available.

Getting there
The National Trust Coastal Centre is located in the village of Ravenscar at the end of country lanes signposted off the A171, nine miles north of Scarborough. Park in the large layby near the visitor centre. The centre has toilets and some refreshments.

The route
The walk uses parts of the old railway line that used to run from Scarborough to Whitby and the Cleveland Way National Trail to explore the eastern edge of the park. The railway makes an easy cycle and walking route running north from Scarborough along the coast past Ravenscar and Robin Hood’s Bay.
Developers had great plans for Ravenscar when the railway arrived but its isolation on the cliff tops led to inevitable bankruptcy with only one hotel, the Raven Hall, and a few houses completed. Before this in the 17th century Ravenscar was a centre of the Alum industry. Alum was used in tanning and quarries and spoilheaps dot the landscape around here. The railway skirts under Stoupe Brow before crossing farmland on the approach to Robin Hood’s Bay. Roads crossing the rail route can be taken down to the coast at Stoupe Beck or Boggles Hole if shorter walks are required. Otherwise continue the easy walking on the trackbed for four and a half miles until you reach the crossing of the road into Robin Hood’s Bay.

To start your walk, head down the lane in front of the visitor centre until it joins the old railway, ignoring the signs for the Cleveland Way.

Turn right here, along Thorpe Lane, then right again down the hill to the harbour. Robin Hood’s Bay has many places for refreshment and it is worth exploring the ginnels (cobbled walkways) between the houses. Walking through the old houses and alleyways huddled in the steep ravine it is easy to imagine the days of smugglers bringing their contraband ashore for local squires. Apparently the interlinking cellars under the houses enabled goods to pass from the bottom of the village to the top without seeing daylight.

The whole family would have been involved in the fishing industry with fishwives salting and barrelling fish and baiting lines and young lads repairing nets and making lobster pots. The fishermen would be at their busiest when the seasonal herring shoals passed down the coast. Press gangs often visited the town to ‘persuade’ the local skilled sailors that a life in the Royal Navy would be beneficial to them.

The bay has the highest seawall in Britain, 40 feet tall. It is needed as winter gales can be ferocious on this shore and houses have been lost to the sea in the past. The lifeboat station can be visited at the harbour. The arrival of the railway soon turned Robin Hood’s Bay into a tourist, rather than a fishing, village.

After a rest follow the Cleveland Way acorn signs and climb up Flagstaff steps beside the fish shop at the slipway onto the cliff tops. You can walk along the shore if the tide is out. At Boggle Hole cross the footbridge and climb back up to the top of the cliffs.

At Stoup Beck climb the hill past Stoop Bank Farm before turning left over a stile still following the Cleveland Way signs. Follow the signs back to the visitor centre.

The Cleveland Way and the railway line cycle path carry on north of Robin Hood’s Bay and south of the Coastal Centre giving opportunities to extend the walk if wanted. For more variety there are walks from the visitor centre onto Howdale Moor.

The coastal part of the Cleveland way is also part of the North Sea Trail. Throughout the North Sea countries coastal paths are being created and improved to become part of the Trail. The North York Moors National Park Authority is working with Northumberland, East Lothian, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen County and the Moray Firth Partnership as well as with coastal regions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands and Germany to produce a trail that goes completely around the North Sea.

For motorhome, caravan and camping sites local to this walk click here: www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/pitchfinder/display.asp?siteTown=Scarborough

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