Monday 24 October 2016

August Bank Holiday

It's a long time now since it was August bank holiday and yet I still haven't blogged about what we got up to. For the last few years now, Mick has not only taken the bank holiday Monday off work but has also taken the following four days to give him a full week at home and he did the same this year. We were considering going away for the week but in the end we decided against it, preferring instead to have some days out and about.

When I read Rebecca's Day in Saltburn post on her Writing, fatshion, me blog earlier on in August about the yarn bombing on Saltburn's pier, it had made me want to visit for myself, so on the Monday of that week, that's where we headed.

I've never been to Saltburn before. Actually, I have, I've driven through it but never stopped, I'm not sure why as I had a lovely surprise when we did visit, it's such a quaint little place which hasn't been spoilt by commercialism. The main attraction here is the Victorian water balanced cliff lift which is still in operation today.



The lift was built to allow easy access from the cliff top to the newly constructed pier, and that's what we were there to visit, well, the yarn bombing on it.


The entrance to the pier opens in to an amusement arcade which you walk through to get on to the pier itself, this is the only remaining pier in Yorkshire.


Well, we looked and looked and walked down to the end of the pier where a few fishermen were watching their rods, then we looked back towards the way we'd come and the yarn bombing was nowhere to be seen. It had obviously been removed. We were too late.


Never mind, we decided we'd pop down to the beach and let Archie have a play in the waves.


He had a lovely time.


It would have been nice to have seen the yarn bombing but I didn't mind too much, we've now found a little gem on the Yorkshire coast. I would urge you to pop over to Rebecca's blog though and see the photos she took of all the wonderful knitting and crochet, all Yorkshire themed, it looked fabulous.


Saltburn by the Sea, we'll definitely return.

We spent a few hours in Saltburn before heading off down the coast to Whitby where we spent another delightful few hours. I do love Whitby with its 199 steps, its connection to Dracula, the abbey, the olde worlde charm of its cobblestone streets, the busy harbour where there's always something going on that makes you stop and watch, I could go on and on.

Other places we visited that week were Bolton Abbey, Knaresborough, The Yorkshire Dales and York and we managed a couple of meals out too. We had a lovely week and were quite glad that we hadn't booked anything in the end, there's something about deciding on the spur of the moment what you're going to do that day that makes it quite exciting.

46 comments:

  1. I've never heard of Saltburn, sounds like a place to put on my list :-) Shame you didn't get to see the yarn bombing though.
    I agree, days out can be just as good as a week away, I love days out discovering new places

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    1. There isn't much there but that's the charm of the place, it hasn't been spoilt at all. We do enjoy days out and I'm a bit of a home bird anyway so it's nice to come home at the end of the day to my own bed.

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  2. Saltburn looks really lovely. Such a same you missed the yarn bombing but at least you discovered a new place to visit. I will make a point of going next time I'm visiting the area. X

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    1. I'll look out for the yarn bombing again next year, it was a shame I missed it but I'm so pleased we visited Saltburn anyway, it's such a lovely place.

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  3. It sounds like you all had a lovely time, shame about the yarn bombing though.
    August seems like such a long time ago now.

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    1. August seems ages ago, doesn't it. I've just been so busy since that I only just realised that I hadn't blogged about it.

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  4. Sounds wonderful, as you say sometimes its the things that are last minute that are the most enjoyed adding that little touch of excitement into the mix.

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    1. It's true. I find that if I'm looking forward to something, I'm often let down whereas the things that happen on the spur of the moment are enjoyed much more.

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  5. Nice to read a sunny blog on a cold October day.

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    1. I agree. It's nice to look back at sunny days when the weather's taken a turn for the worse.

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  6. Saltburn looks like a lovely place to visit, shame you missed out on seeing the yarn bombing, I perhaps would have been tempted to leave a little yarn bombing of my own to make up for it, lol. Looks like you and Mick had a wonderful August Bank Holiday week.

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    1. We really enjoyed visiting Saltburn, it's a place we'll go back to when we're in the area. It's a shame the yarn bombing had been removed by the time we visited, we'll have to be quicker off the mark next time.

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  7. A most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. Saltburn is somewhere I've never been to. Nice to see that you had a good week. Flighty xx

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    1. It was a change going off for odd days here and there, a very enjoyable week.

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  8. What a beautiful day you had. We enjoy pier fishing and haven't done it in forever. Sometimes day trips are better without all the hassle of away trips.

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    1. We really enjoyed this day out, the weather cooperated too. We'll definitely go back to Saltburn again.

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  9. It sounds like a lovely week, we enjoy going for days out as and when. I haven't been that far north yet though xx

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    1. It was our first time to Saltburn but it's a lovely place, I found it really charming and I'd definitely like to go back again.

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  10. It's not a part of the country I know at all but I do enjoy unspoilt places. Glad you had a good day even without the yarn bombing!

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    1. Unspoilt places are few and far between now, it's such a shame. I'm pleased we've discovered Saltburn though, we'll definitely go back.

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  11. I love staycations. So often, there are hidden gems close by that go undiscovered until you go "sightseeing". I also find that it's easy to take for granted those places that are close to home as you often think "I can see those any old time". Before you know it, years go by without a visit!

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    1. That's very true. We do try to visit places on our doorstep these days, we have so many wonderful places here that we're spoilt for choice.

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  12. It sounds like you had a great time, Jo, even though the yarn-bombing wasn't there. Nice to see photos of Archie enjoying the water! :o)

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    1. Archie loves it at the seaside, especially if there's rock pools there. He goes in the sea but he isn't keen on the waves.

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  13. I so agree sometimes these almost spur of the moment decisions are so rewarding.
    Loved seeing all your photo's and I especially liked the ones of Archie - he looks so happy - and clearly had a lovely time.

    Enjoy your week

    All the best Jan

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    1. It's nice just for Mick to have time off work sometimes, it doesn't matter that we're at home. Archie had a great time, I wish we lived a bit closer to the coast so that we could take him on the beach more often.

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  14. That sounds like a fabulous day Jo. For some reason we've never got to the Yorkshire coast. We will have to remedy that in the future.

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    1. It was a lovely day out. We love the Yorkshire coast, it has a lot to offer.

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  15. Lovely post I feel like I've been transported back to summer. I'm in the middle of writing a post about my first retirement year from October to October it's taking me so long another year will have flown by by the time I've posted it. I don't know Saltburn at all but it sounds fab one place that is on my list to visit though is Whitby mainly for the reasons you have mentioned I'm a big Dracula fan lol

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    1. We love Whitby, it's got a bit of everything so most people fall in love with the place, and there's lots of references to Dracula. I look forward to reading your retirement post.

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  16. Well. well, well. I've got a similar post to do regarding our UK trip, but we went in September. I also thought Saltburn lovely & we went up to the top via the lift. We also, then travelled to Whitby, which we visit every time we come over, then on to Scarborough to my stepdaughters. A lovely was had by us too. Take care.

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    1. You managed to get to Saltburn then after I mentioned it at Bolton Abbey. It's such a lovely place and definitely somewhere we'll go back to.

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  17. We have never been to Saltburn. Maybe we will sometime in the near future. We had a day at Whitby recently the abbey was most disappointing considering how much you pay to go around. We did find a nice little tea room at the bottom of the 199 steps.

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    1. We really enjoyed Saltburn, it's only small but unspoilt. I've never actually paid to go in Whitby Abbey. There's so many lovely little tea rooms in Whitby, lots of little ginnels where gems are hidden away. We really like it there.

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  18. Saltburn sounds a marvelous place to visit, really quaint! This sounds like a day out I'd really enjoy.xxx

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    1. I would call it quaint, such a lovely place.

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  19. Saltburn-by-the-Sea has a certain charming, old fashioned sound in its name. It looks like a lovely place. Archie looks happy playing on the sand. (I hope he's keeping well). I do wish we were nearer the north Yorkshire coast and Whitby etc. It's good you can get to these places and back home without having to book somewhere to stay overnight.

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    1. It does, doesn't it. Archie always loves his trips to the seaside, he really loves the open spaces on the beach as well as the water, he's keeping very well at the moment, thank you for asking. We're lucky that we have the beautiful Yorkshire coast not too far away, it's an area I've had many jaunts to all the way through my life.

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  20. We visited Saltburn in 2012 .....although I had to trawl back through the blog to find it as I thought it was only 2 years since we went! Blogged about the yarn bombing that was on the pier then here. https://juliesstitchingjournal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/back-from-my-holiday.html
    I'm a cliff lift fan and have been on a few lol.
    What a nice sunny day you had

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    1. I find the blog really helpful for reminding me when I did things. Bank holiday Monday was lovely and sunny for a change, we thought we'd make the most of it and get off to the coast. We've been on the cliff lifts at Lynton and Lynmouth and of course Scarborough. I enjoyed reading your post, we've also visited most of the places you've wrote about.

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  21. It looks like a wonderful place to visit.

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    1. We really enjoyed it and it's somewhere we'll go back to.

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  22. Whitby is on my to visit list and I think Saltburn needs to be now as well. Shame you missed the yarnbombing, I did pop over to the bloglink and have a look, people are so creative.
    Lisa x

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    1. If you do make it to Whitby, I can recommend Robin Hood's Bay too, I think you'd really like it there. It's a shame I missed the yarnbombing but perhaps we can go again when it's there.

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  23. Ooh lovely. I like Saltburn because it's really unspoilt and small. I'd love to go on the cliff lift next time!

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    1. We didn't go on the cliff lift either but perhaps we will next time we visit. It's such a lovely place, isn't it? It's somewhere we wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for your post but I'm glad we've now discovered it.

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