The Esk Valley

Just back from the Eastern coast of North Yorkshire lies the Esk Valley, named after the river that runs through it.

The Esk river winds its way through the valley before meeting the sea at Whitby.

The valley is a picturesque part of the world with many little towns.

We spent a day travelling along the valley, starting at the northern end, which is towards Middlesbrough. During our travels we walked an old Roman road, which is easily found just north of Goathland.

Goathland is famous as the setting for the town of Aidensfield in the TV show 'Heartbeat'. During a heavy rainstorm we took shelter in the Aidensfield Garage, which these days doubles as a tourist trap.

The town also has a famouse train station, which has also been used in the 'Heartbeat' series and has doubled as the train station for Hogwart's School in the Harry Potter films.

During our travels we also came across a small town called Lealholm. To cross the river Esk at Lealholm you can either go over the road bridge or via a series of stepping stones, which appear to have been in existence for many years.

While making our crossing of the river a family of ducks greeted us and were more than happy to wander through the three of us as we stood on the river bank. We were able to take many photos of the ducks.

Unfortunately the weather closed on us while we were at Goathland and while we made it to Robin Hood's Bay, south of Whitby in the late afternoon, any plans for an extensive walk were quickly forgotten in the driving rain.