Yesterday afternoon with the family we had a 5 mile walk around Whitby. From the clifftop we headed down to the beach to walk up to Sandsend walking alongside the well eroded cliffs. The beach had changed since we were last there because the waves had formed a very shallow mini gorge parallel to the cliffs removing the sand in the process and exposing a load of rocks and gravel. Amongst all of these were rocks from the Lake District and from the Yorkshire Dales. We saw Permian pebbles all red because the UK was a desert at the time, little vegetation hence a high iron oxide content because plants take it out of the soil which is why we know there was a desert at the time and red rocks now, and limestone rocks which were full of fossils and which we usually see when we are up in the Dales. Those rocks had done a bit of travelling! The whole of the beach had changed from a high sand content to a high gravel content. A few days ago there had been quite a storm on the north-east coast and we saw lots of uprooted seaweed, loads of starfish and some crabs which unusually were completely whole and had not been picked apart by the seagulls. We only walked a mile up the beach and then back down again but it was super interesting. For once our attention was not taken up completely by the erosion features in the glacial till cliffs.

We then walked through the town which was not that busy and worked our way over to Whitby steps which take you up to the abbey. Fiona's legs had got a bit better but she went up pretty slowly and I was feeling fairly bullish so I lightly jogged two thirds of the way and then I had to walk the rest! The path was closed at the top so we had to go through the Youth hostel premises to pick up the path again on the other side and that was a very nice diversion. Back in the town Fiona bought some Lapsong souchon tea and the lads wanted some kippers so we got four pairs of those. Very nice! It always amazes me how the Whitby area changes slightly every time we go there mostly because we notice the changes on the cliffs and beaches but the light and the mood of the place is never the same. Decidedly sleepy yesterday! We had tea at Hadleys as usual and then an episode of Star Trek when we got home. A good afternoon out.