We start day #9 by checking out of our Airbnb and then exploring the surrounding town of Whitby.
Whitby is a seaside town split by the river Esk on the North Yorkshire coast overlooking the North Sea. We walk through this picturesque town of narrow winding streets that are situated right on the river and harbor where beautiful masted vessels and fishing boats are moored.
We head up 200 steps to our destination which is the majestic remains of Whitby Abbey which sits on the east cliff overlooking the town and the sea.
Abbess Hild first founded a monastery here in 657. In the year 664 church leaders gathered here for the Synod of Whitby, a meeting which decided the date of Easter. The site was abandoned in the mid 9th century. Reinfrid, a Norman soldier, settled here as a hermit in 1078 and established a priory in the ruins of the former Anglo-Saxon monastery. Monks lived and worshipped here until the Abbeys suppression by King Henry VIII in 1539.
After this visit we returned to the town and enjoyed a nice lunch of fresh crab salad and fish and chips.
We then headed to our next stopover, Lastingham Grange. It was about an hours drive of spectacular scenery. Lastingham is a village in North Yorkshire on the southern fringe of The North York Moors. We were amused to learn from our research that one of the notable people from here was Sidney Ringer, a physician and originator of Ringers solution which is an IV mixture of electrolytes still widely used in hospitals today. We are staying at Lastingham Grange Country House Hotel which is situated within North York Moors National Park. It is a lovely stonewalled property built around a courtyard and is set in 10 acres of gardens and fields. Our new friends from England Anthony and Judith Howick recommended it to us.
