We've wanted to visit the UK for a long time, and we decided to finally go on this trip along the coast of Yorkshire between Flamborough and Whitby. Naturally we also visited the moors, and we saw a little bit of York on our last day, but most of our time was spent on the coast. We arrived on the 5th of August at Manchester airport and continued from there in a rental car, first driving past Leeds and York to a campsite in Flixton, not far the little town of Speeton, to which Matthew traces his roots. We stayed at that campsite for 2 nights, after which we drove up to pitch our tent in Lythe, a windy little town near Whitby, for another 4 nights of camping. The last night we spent in York at a bed & breakfast, for a total of 8 days in Yorkshire. These pictures were all taken on a Canon AE-1, using Kodak gold 200 film for color pictures unless otherwise specified, and Ilford HP5 plus for black and white.
Pictures taken by Matthew are credited ~M.
Day 1: Arrival
After a long drive across the north of England, we set up our tent and explored the campsite as well as Speeton, which was part of the reason why we visited Yorkshire in the first place. We treated ourselves to a proper English pie dinner in Hunmanby at the end of the day, though there are no film pictures of that meal.
Sheep supervising our campsite.
They had chickens too that went crazy for unpecked blades of grass.
St. Leonard's church in Speeton, dating back to the 11th century, and a standing stone that looked to have an old runic inscription on it. ~M.
Matthew in the fields near St. Leonard's church, on our way down to the coast.
The view on our walk.
A bird that flew up from a gorse patch out of frame, and over to this fencepole.
The Bempton cliffs.
Day 2: Hike
After having seen the beautiful view of the cliffs the prior evening, we could not wait to hike along them and see more. The path we chose led from North Landing for approximately 4km just beyond Flamborough Head, where we saw a colony of seals beached on the rocky beaches which were exposed at low tide. Just before the midway point of the hike, we had to change film and we chose an Ilford HP5 plus with 400 ISO, trying to "recreate" a previous series of photos I took along the coastal paths of southern Wales in Gower and along the Pembrokeshire Coast near St. Davids.
North Landing. Left one by M.
~M.
~M.
~M.
~M.
~M.
~M.
Along the Flamborough coast. Some by Matthew, some by me.
Hunmanby Gap.
Day 3: Scarborough
On day 3 we switched campsites and had to drive up the Yorkshire coast to Lythe, passing through Scarborough. Here we explored for one afternoon. After arriving at the campsite just in time, we pitched and went out to search for a headstone of a man who was likely extended family of Matthew's ancestor in Speeton.
First impressions of Scarborough.
Scarborough harbor.
The church in Lythe, where we found a grave bearing the name of Matthews ancestors.
Day 4: Whitby
This was the first day that Matthew didn't have to drive, since we were able to take a bus. (Beers subsequently enjoyed not pictured.) In a rush to catch the bus however I somehow forgot to pack the film, so we had to buy a roll of Kodak colorplus 200 in Whitby. We didn't have high expectations, but this turned out to be a great roll.
Whitby harbor. Kodak colorplus 200. ~M.
Caedmon's cross at St. Mary's church in Whitby. Kodak colorplus 200.
The view from the top of the 199 steps. Kodak colorplus 200. ~M.
~M.
~M.
Whitby abbey. Kodak colorplus 200. ~M.
Whitby. Kodak colorplus 200. ~M.
Whitby harbor. Kodak colorplus 200. ~M.
Day 5: Goathland
This might have been my favorite day of picture-taking. The heather looks even more purple in the pictures than it did in real life, and the sky looks stunning in some of the pictures. What more can you wish for?
After driving up to Goathland along a tiny winding road, we started our day in Goathland by walking over to the historic train station, which still has trains running through it! We had to wait around for a while to catch a train on film, so we walked up a nearby footpath into our first bit of moors.
The moors were the real reason we came to Goathland, but we spotted a waterfall on Google Maps and decided to check that out first. After a quick lunch we finally went on our planned hike.
Goathland train station.
Our first view of the moors on the footpath by the station.
The 11:55 train. Kodak colorplus 200.
A nice countryside view on our way down to the stream.
By the Mallyan Spout waterfall. The forest was a bit too dark for good looking photos at 200 ISO, but I think it's a nice vibe.
Another countryside view.
Starting our hike. ~M.
A bright blue lake in the middle of the moors.
Views from the moors.
Some sheep on the common back in Goathland.
Day 6: Robin Hood's Bay
A small town by the coast, that has little to nothing to do with Robin Hood. We were there around low tide, so we got to walk far out and explore the tide pools. I tried some fossil hunting, with mediocre success, since this place reminded both of us of Calvert Cliffs back in Maryland.
We enjoyed some cask ales here later. ~M.
The town on arrival. ~M.
Matthew at a little overlook.
A seagull at the same spot.
Boats about to get beached. ~M.
~M.
Matthew with the town and it's seawall in view.
Backlit Gull On Rock.
~M.
A little hermit crab in a colorful tide pool.
My first crab grab! ~M.
A boat, now actually beached. ~M.
Day 7: York
This day we left behind the tent to sleep at a bed & breakfast in York for the final night. My expectations for York were relatively low, but I was pretty impressed by the Minster and the small medieval buildings. One thing we didn't take pictures of was our visit to the "Blue Bell", an old pub in the inner city where we chatted with some regulars for longer than we intended.
Before we left Lythe, we took a picture of this pub that we went to the first three nights we spent in Lythe. Matthew wrote the following on his Instagram post:
The Stiddy gets its own post. (Another one clearly by @jsi_amn). This pub was right next to our campsite in Lythe, and it’s actually part of the reason I even chose to camp there in the first place. According to an ancient looking family history website/blog that I found (curated by an old and possibly deceased English guy who shares the family name of my mother’s side), this pub used to be called the Red Lion and may have been owned or managed by some distant great great grand cousins of mine in the 1850s or so. The current owners could not confirm or deny this, but they could offer some tasty cask ales. We went in on a few quiet weekday evenings when there was almost nobody else around, just a few locals and a couple other campers from the campsite. At least during those times, the atmosphere was peak coziness. A pint of bitter and pile of old books to flip through. I could easily see myself becoming a regular at a place like this. Maybe it’s for the best I live so far away from it. #kodakgold200
~M.
Our first views of the York Minster after arrival, from the north, south (x2) and east.
We took a few pictures inside, with suprising success.
More views of the Minster from the side streets.
Golden hour on a bridge over the Ouse.
Day 8: Return home - final pictures near Manchester Airport
To finish the roll, we visited Quarry Bank near Manchester Airport. We should have stuck around there longer, because we ended up being about 4 hours early for our flight, but it was pretty boring for people not in the mood to drop 50 quid.
An arc shaped dam.
A chapel tucked away in the woods, with blackberries.
Matthew with tree.
What a boring way to end the photo series! Thank you Quarry Bank.
Whatever compelled you to look at all these, I hope you enjoyed it!
