Two days of fun exploring Yorkshire!

I’m an American ex-pat in the UK, and I’d heard of how lovely the Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Dales are not to be missed, but I had no idea what villages to see, what sites to visit, and an aversion to getting lost on the moors have turned left when I should have gone right.  On a visit to York, I had found a brochure for Mountain Goat Tours.  I was in York for a panto, and I decided to add two days of touring.  Which was the best choice ever!

Day One was with JJ.  Oddly enough I was the only one. JJ noted that he had to change the tour because the snow on the moor roads was challenging. He asked if there was anything I wanted to see, and I said churches as well as the moors.  So he added three churches.  Since Whitby Abbey was closed to touring, he suggested a visit to Robin Hood’s Bay.  The clouds were flirting with the sun, and I got a bunch of great shots of the bay.  Two hours in Whitby let me get great shots of the Abbey from a distance and closeup.  The highlight of the day was the Ancient Crypt Church, the parish church of St. Mary of Lastingham, a medieval crypt with Anglo-Saxon objects.  My only regret was not asking to stop for a view shot of the moors, and that was only because our trip through the moors was in fog.  Still, the romantic in me could envision getting lost when such clouds rolled in.


Day Two was with Trevor, and there were four of us.  He took us past some amazing castles and a waterfall, with short stops to photograph them.  Other highlights were visits to villages, one where we got to shop for Wensleydale cheese.  The best moment of the tour was a stop at a heather/bore grass moor, looking down on Swaledale.  The low sun made the dry stone walls cast amazing shadows and delineated fields.   On the way back to York, we got a spectacular sunset.  No chance to stop for photos, but still a wonderful end to a magical day.



If I’d driven, I might have had more time to explore, but I’d have missed lots of things, and the stories were great, names explained, and legends recounted. I almost am reconsidering my vow not to go back to any one place!