We are on our journey around the UK: driving to Scotland via the North York Moors and Northumberland National Park, ferrying across to Northern Ireland, then returning home via the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales. First stop, North York Moors. (Well, actually, we stopped en-route in Cambridge to look for an Articuno, but I don't think that counts in this context!) As usual, we wanted to experience something that makes this National Park special and, given its name, a hike across the moors seemed obvious - but perhaps a little too obvious? When planning this trip, I ideally wanted us to discover something new, something that we didn't already know about. So, I did a little research and found out that...the Yorkshire coast is one of the best places in the UK for fossil hunting! As one of Simon's childhood hobbies, it seemed a no-brainer as our main activity for this National Park. The UK Fossils website has a great summary of the best fossil-hunting locations and, based on its advice, we decided to visit Staithes, and hike from Runswick Bay to Kettleness. Here's some of the 'treasure' that we found: Staithes Kettleness I have to admit, we found much cooler stuff than I thought we would. Simon's taken me fossil-hunting before and it's never been a terribly thrilling experience as finds have been few and far between. This time, though, there was an abundance of fossils and it was really quite exciting. Like a treasure hunt! We couldn't identify everything that we found but the Natural History Museum in London can help with that. They have a helpful website onto which you can upload photographs of your finds and ask their scientists for help in identifying them. So, our first day in the North York Moors was different to anything else we've done in the National Parks and very memorable. It was helped by the fact that we reached Kettleness by clambering over a lot of large boulders which Jay loved. There is great joy in seeing the kids relish in something as simple as that - it really brings home the phrase 'Nature's playground'!
A final note of warning, if you plan to go fossil-hunting at either of these locations: Warning 1: Keep well away from the cliff faces. At both Staithes and Kettleness, we witnessed the cliff sides crumbling substantially and without warning. The reason we hiked to Kettleness from Runswick Bay was because access to Kettleness from the clifftop has crumbled away and it's now too dangerous to walk down from up there. Warning 2: If you plan to walk to Kettleness from Runswick Bay, check out tide times beforehand and ensure you return before high tide cuts you off.
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