Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Robin Hood Bay

We rented a car for the weekend and drove nearly 4 hours north to the Yorkshire Moors and Wolds.
"Most of the area takes the form of an elevated, gently rolling plateau, cut by numerous deep, steep-sided, flat-bottomed valleys of glacial origin. The wolds are composed of chalk and provide exceptionally good drainage. The unusual topography results in an "upside-down" farming system - livestock (mostly sheep and cows) graze the valleys, with the hills above used for crops."
This was the tiny seaside village of Robin Hood Bay. It's where the Coast to Coast trail ends, a hiking trail that traverses 190 miles across England from sea to sea. One can hire a service to carry your things from village to village or carry a pack yourself. It is very popular in the 50-70 year old crowd. One thing we noticed about the English, is that they walk a lot. We saw many people of all ages wearing their Wellies (a good boot to have in the mud!) and carrying a walking stick, walking along the public footpaths, through fields, farms, folks backyards, drives and lanes. I wish we had a similar view of using private property for creating these paths. I think we would walk a lot more.

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