Epic Northern Coddiwomple: Part 1

Hello, and welcome to this serialisation of our Northern UK Coddiwomple in June 2024. We have been planning to do this trip since before the pandemic of 2020 so  we were very excited to finally get it underway.

Over the next few posts I’ll show you some wild places around the North Coast 500 in Scotland, share some stunning UK scenery and some amusing observations and stories.

Sunday 2nd June: Whitby

We left our home in Kent at 6.30am and took an easy drive up to Bourne, near Peterborough for breakfast in a Wetherspoons called the Raymond Mays. It’s named after one of the most famous racing drivers of the 1930’s so I felt right at home (you can take the girl out of motorsport, but you can’t take motorsport out of the girl!)

As per usual with us, there were a few  things that made us giggle on our long drive

• A radio dedication to a newly married couple from the mother of the bride and she asked for ABBA’s Knowing Me Knowing You…a classic break-up song!
• A sign for “Tiny Steps Petting Centre”, which just didn’t sound right to us
• A place name called Burton Coggles

It was lunchtime when we reached Whitby and our first impressions were of a pretty, historic fishing harbour town, very busy and touristy but it has a friendly, relaxed atmosphere about it. We enjoyed a 6 mile walk from our hotel, through the town’s attractive, narrow cobbled streets up to the Abbey (199 steps) Funnily enough we didn’t find Dracula’s grave! We continued along the coastal path to the lighthouse, which was more peaceful. There have been numerous cliff falls due to the heavy rains over the winter months and we also encountered lambs & sheep and ponies. It also got so hot I had to take my jumper off and ended up walking along with my bra on! We were prepped for Scotland, not the Tropics! I sent Tim on ahead so he could warn me of anyone walking towards us; after all I didn’t want to frighten any locals or holiday makers on our first visit!

After a shower and cool-down back at the hotel we set off to explore the town in search of food and wine. The town had emptied out a bit by then as most of the day-trippers had gone home, so it was much easier to look around. I enjoyed a Whitby fish supper in Magpie’s, whilst Tim opted for a local’s favourite of chicken bits washed down with a wine or two.

It was a beautiful evening so we took a slow meander back up the hill to our hotel, where we were treated to a spectacular sunset over the sea from the comfort of the hotel window.

We needed an early night as we knew we had another long drive to do the next day.

Monday 3rd June

Waving goodbye to sunny Whitby, we travelled for 2 and half hours up the east coast of England to Berwick-On-Tweed the most northerly town in England.

Our route took us past the Farne Island and Holy Island (which we’d like to revisit when we have more time), up through the industrial north-east of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Hartlepool, reaching Berwick-On-Tweed about lunchtime. 

(Notice how we manage to plan our routes around lunch, tea & cake stops, dinner & wine!)

Berwick is bigger than I thought it would be, but very picturesque with narrow streets, the river and plenty of history and it was a pleasure to coddiwomple through the alleyways in the warm sunshine (little did we know then that this would be the last day we would feel warm sunshine!)

Feeling fed and rested it was time to embark on the LONG 3 hour drive to Pitlochry. This section of our drive wasn’t as picturesque as we’d hoped but it took past the Forth Bridge (which is just immense), skirted around Edinburgh and Perth and on to Pitlochry.

Tim wanted to visit the dam and hydro-station as this appealed to his engineering background, but I have to admit that I found it much more interesting than I thought I would as the exhibition explains how they look after the local wildlife and protect the salmon. The salmon ladder is well worth a look.

This was to be our first night of camping and we didn’t have a campsite booked, however we found a quiet spot near Black Spout falls and enjoyed an alfresco pasta dinner reminiscent of our trip to Tasmania a few years ago.

Our camper (or should I say “van”) is basic but very comfortable. We’ve bought a wooden sofa that folds out into a bed, with plenty of storage underneath. The cushions and an added memory foam mattress topper with our duvet and pillows mean we get a very restful night’s sleep.

Next time I invite you to accompany us up the east coast of the NC500, past Inverness to Rogie Falls, Cromarty and on to our next stop in Helmsdale.