I love Robin Hood’s Bay. Just putting it out there from the beginning. I have visions of one day retiring to Robin Hood’s Bay, although given that the majority of properties there seem to be holiday homes now, I’m not sure how realistic that is, but retirement is some time off for me anyway so, plenty of time to think about that. Talk about going off on a tangent.

In the meantime though, I’ll make do with the odd day spent there, which is exactly what we did a couple of Sunday’s ago.

Setting off early (it’s just over half an hour away from home) we arrived in Robin Hood’s Bay in time for breakfast. First stop was the Victoria Hotel which is at the top of the village. I often stop here on my visits because it just has the most amazing views. Thankfully, it was a nice clear day, so we got to enjoy those views.

After a hearty veggie breakfast, we headed straight for the beach. The tide was out, and I was really keen that we got to walk Thelma along the beach. On the way down, and elderly lady stopped me to tell me how stylish my outfit was, which made my day.

Needless to say, Thelma was living her best life once we got to the beach, frolicking with lots of friendly dogs as we walked along the seaweed coated rocks. She was less impressed when she misjudged the depth of a rock pool, but it gave us some giggles.

We walked for an age, clambering over rocks and wandering by the shore. We stopped to investigate lots of rock pools, which I found to be a really sad experience. You can see the damage we’ve done to the oceans when you’re staring into the bottom of empty rock pools just hoping a little crab will scuttle by, or a starfish might be waiting in the bottom, but all that stares back is emptiness. So sad.

Having walked as far as the Boggle Hole youth hostel, we decided to turn back and head towards the bay again. The sun was shining, and I thought we’d earned a Guinness in the sun. The chap found a nice perch outside The Bay Hotel with a good view of the incoming tide. What we hadn’t expected as we sat soaking up the ambience, was a band of four fellas to start singing sea shanty’s. They were raising money for the RNLI. It was really the cherry on the top of the day.

I could have stayed there all day, but after enjoying a leisurely drink and sea shanty’s, we started our ascent back up the village. It’s such a steep walk, but thankfully it’s scattered with lovely little shops and picturesque cottages the whole way, to take your mind off the leg work.

The chap was thoroughly engrossed with the fossil shop, whilst I happened upon an amazing shop selling nautical inspired jumpers, hats and smocks. It was called Bertie’s of Bay, and while it was a tad expensive for me, it’s filled me with lots of inspiration for the things I’d like to make for myself.

It was a slow walk back to the top of the village, where we stopped at the Fish Box chip shop back at the top. Again, another spot with amazing views, and fantastic fish and chips. We enjoyed a feast, while gazing out to the North Sea, speculating on what the big ships in the distance were, and whether we might spot any large wildlife from where we were sitting.

It was a short walk from here back to the car. Thelma slept the whole way home, and indeed for the rest of the night too having been so exhausted from such a fun day out. I spent the rest of the day with a smile on my face because it was such a perfect day out in one of my absolute favourite places. Sometimes, a day just works out exactly as you had envisaged it.