A ride over the Moors to Robin Hoods Bay and Boggle Hole and back in time for tea
Quaint cottages, narrow alleyways bursting with maritime and local folklore
On your way into to Robin Hood’s Bay pay a visit to Old St Stephen’s, a church dating back to 1822 with commanding views across the coastline. The church’s interior remains virtually unaltered since it was built. Look out for the memorials to shipwrecks and maidens’ garlands.
Then stroll outside and wander through the tiny passages imagining those times when houses were said to be connected by cupboards or tunnels in the cellars. In fact, legend has it that a smuggled bale of silk could pass from the bottom of the village to the top without leaving the houses.
For a great rundown on the village’s smuggling history and the richness of the local life venture into the Robin Hood's Bay Museum, housed in what used to be the Coroner's Room and Mortuary.
Wander down to the Old Coastguard Station which is now home to the National Trust’s Visitor Centre and find out more about the rich marine life in the bay. Around 170 million years ago Robin Hood’s Bay would have been a deep sea bed and today you can still find evidence of the creatures that would have existed back then, including dinosaurs.
Pick up a Tracker Pack from the Coastguard Station and go on a fossil hunt on the beach once the tide goes out. The pack also contains information for carrying out a rockpool recce and a route map for a two kilometre walk along the bay and cliff path to the delightfully secluded cove of Boggle Hole.
Boggle Hole, so-called as it was said to be a hiding place for hobgoblins, is also an amazing place for rockpooling and fossil hunting. Hidden Horizons can take you on a guided hunt that may well turn up some dinosaur prints as well.
