The Cleveland Way

The Cleveland Way at Robin Hood Bay, UK

Fylingdale Moor, North Yorkshire

Fylingdale Moor, North Yorkshire

The Francis Tea Rooms, Scarborough, UK...Mmmmmm!!!

 

 I finally realized my dream of having tea in the Francis Tea Rooms in South Steet, Scarborough, above which my daughter used to live while studying abroad in 2004. I can't imagine any tea room in the UK being more authentic than this place--Toasted tea cakes, toasts of all sorts including Buck Rarebit, delicious chutneys, scones with cream and preserves, all on a quiet back street behind the Esplanade Gardens and South Cliff. The owner, Wendy, was wonderfully hospitable, and even sat down for a few moments to reminisce with us. All of South Street is undergoing a transformation with art galleries and boutiques popping up all over the place (see below). We met some long-time residents of Scarborough outside The Francis one evening. They had lived there since childhood and even remembered when the beach was strung with coils of barbed wire during World War II, to protect against Nazi invasion. One of the ladies told us that South Street was THE place to live in Scarborough during her childhood and said, "Fisherfolk like us weren't even allowed to cross the footbridge leading up to South Cliff!" Now that's it's returning to its former glory, I'm glad she gets to enjoy it these days!

On the Quay

Traps


Lines


Nets

On the Quay

Grand Hotel, Scarborough

Grand Hotel, Scarborough

St. Mary's Church and Castle

St. Mary's Church and Castle above Scarborough

Not that this is a great shot, but I'm posting it just to show how treacherous this coastal path was. It kept getting narrower and narrower, and muddier and muddier, and there is a sharp drop off on the right -- several hundred feet straight down to the North Sea. On the left was an equal drop off down to a torrent coming down from the moors. While it looks sunny in this picture, a half hour later, the wind picked up and we had some rain, and the hiking became pretty difficult.