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Sandsend NotesA coast notebook, Staithes to Robin Hood’s Bay

Section · 15 notes

Paths and rails: how this coast is crossed

How to move about without a car: one national trail, one railway turned into a track, and two lines that still run.

Cliff top footpath worn through rough grass and thrift, running above a wide bay with a town along the shore beyond

Three of the four routes in this section were once something else. The Cinder Track is the formation of a coastal railway closed in 1965; the Cleveland Way follows a cliff line that carried alum and coastguard traffic long before it carried walkers; the moor railway between Grosmont and Pickering was a Victorian line rebuilt by volunteers.

Only the Esk Valley line still runs as ordinary transport, and it remains the most useful thing on this page for anyone without a car.

The 15 notes in this section

Paths & Rails
  1. Waymarked coastal path running along the top of a grassy cliff with the sea far below and a headland ahead

    · Walking note

    The Cleveland Way, and the cliff between Sandsend and Whitby

    A national trail that starts inland and finishes on the sea cliffs. What it covers, and what the section past Sandsend is like.

  2. Straight cinder surfaced trackbed between hedgerows on a former railway embankment with the sea visible to one side

    · Walking note

    The Cinder Track, on the old Scarborough to Whitby line

    A coastal railway that cost too much to build and closed after seventy years, now a level route between two towns.

  3. Single track railway curving along a wooded river valley with a small unstaffed platform and a stone bridge behind

    · Rail note

    The Esk Valley line, the railway that survived

    One line still runs to Whitby, down the Esk valley through the moors, and it is the most useful thing on this coast without a car.

  4. Stone cottages spread around open moorland grazing with sheep on the green and heather covered hills beyond

    · Moor note

    Goathland and Beck Hole, above the Esk

    A moorland village with sheep on the greens and a preserved station, and a hamlet in the valley below it at the foot of an old rail incline.

  5. Straight cinder surfaced trackbed running level between hedgerows on a former railway embankment

    · Walking note

    Flat-country walking: the wheel instead of the line

    A coast walked as a line against a heath walked as a wheel: two answers to how much ground a day should hold.

  6. Open moorland with rough grass and heather covered hills under a wide sky

    · Moor note

    Trail running on the moors above the Esk

    Rough ground, short strides and weather that sets the pace: the running this coast was made for.

  7. Open moorland grazing with sheep scattered across rough grass under a pale sky

    · Moor note

    Sheepdog trials on the moor above the coast

    A dog, a whistle and five sheep: the hill shepherd’s daily work turned into the oldest sport this ground holds.

  8. Single track railway curving along a wooded river valley with a stone bridge behind

    · Walking note

    Reading the becks: what moving water says

    A beck is a machine for sorting itself, and the pattern it makes is the same one the fish read.

  9. Wooded river valley curving away with low cliffs and green banks under a soft sky

    · River note

    Sea trout and canyon rivers: one grammar of water

    A modest Yorkshire river and a famous Californian one, asking and answering the same questions.

  10. Steep lane descending between stone walls towards a beck mouth and a wide rocky shore

    · River note

    Wading a small river

    Stand in the water and the beck explains itself: pressure, footing and the grammar of a current felt through the legs.

  11. Coastal path climbing over a grassy headland with the sea far below

    · Walking note

    The walker’s back on a hilly coast

    The same ground that strains a stiff back on day one is the ground that would have kept it strong.

  12. A kitchen table in flat morning light, passport, printed flight confirmation and a folded paper map laid out beside a half-full mug of tea, shot from slightly above.

    · Town note

    Planning a Trip Abroad: What Travellers Check First

    Most people planning a trip abroad start with three things: the flight, the paperwork, and a rough idea of what the destination is like.

  13. A wooden desk by a window in flat morning light, with a tide table, a folded regulation summary and a pencil resting on an open notebook.

    · Moor note

    Field sports travel: what to check before you go

    A trip built around hunting or fishing works best when the dates are checked before the booking.

  14. A wooden safari vehicle parked on a dry dirt track in the lowveld at first light, long grass on both sides and low sun behind the vehicle, shot from behind at wheel height.

    · Moor note

    Planning a first trip: South Africa and Japan

    South Africa's safari season runs from May to September, the dry winter months, when vegetation thins and animals gather at water.

  15. A gravel road in a South African game reserve at first light, low sun behind a line of acacia trees, a single open safari vehicle parked at the edge of a waterhole.

    · Moor note

    South Africa and Japan: when to go, how long

    A safari in South Africa is best in the dry winter months, from May to September, when vegetation thins and animals gather at water.

The other sections of the notebook: Shore & Village, Stone & Trade, At the Table.