Whitby Holiday
3rd – 8th September 2006
Although
referred to as the “Whitby holiday” this holiday is based at
Raven Hall in the
village of Ravenscar (the town that never was!) which is situated in the
beautiful North York Moors National Park on the east coast of England about
half-way between Scarborough and Whitby. The area has a fascinating history
with much of the cliff top now being owned by the National Trust.
Raven
Hall is perched on top of the cliffs 600 feet above sea level with superb views
over Robin Hoods Bay. The views of the sunsets seen from the dining room are
often wonderful. The sunset on the Wednesday evening was spectacular. The
food, including the vegetarian option, is very good. Using the hotel swimming
pool each day was essential to try and burn off some of the excess calories!
Having
arrived a couple of days early for this holiday, I had the joy of witnessing the
magic of a rainbow over Robin Hoods Bay on the Sunday morning which hovered
around for the best part of two hours, far longer than any rainbow I have ever
seen before. The rest of the painting group arrived Sunday afternoon in time to
meet for drinks in the bar before dinner!
The week was spent at various places around the area.
Runswick
Bay
Monday morning we went to Runswick Bay, a traditional fishing village set
into the hillside amongst the rocks overlooking a small bay to the North of
Whitby and reached by a very steep 1 in 4 hill!
Whitby Tuesday
we visited the town of Whitby. Here the skyline is dominated by the ruins
of St Hilda’s Abbey while below lie a maze of alleyways and cobbled streets that
run down to the busy quayside on the banks of the River Esk where
we spent the day painting. We were lucky to see the replica of HMS Endeavor in
the harbour, traditionally built by Whitby craftsmen, the original of which was
sailed by Captain James Cook during his scientific expedition of 1768.
Ravenscar
Wednesday we took over a farmers field half a mile up the road from Raven Hall
overlooking the hamlet of Ravenscar. If plans had gone ahead in the late 19th.
century we would instead have been looking at a sizable holiday resort, a rival
to both Whitby and Scarborough however, the dreams of the Victorian planners
came to nothing, hence the phrase “the Town that Never Was”, allowing us to
enjoy the pleasure of the peace and quiet of the unspoilt countryside. The
views were superb and the cloud formations were fantastic though they became
increasingly black and threatening. It started raining at lunchtime, the only
rain of the whole week despite many threatening clouds each day which after all,
gave us some very interesting skies to paint! We returned to the hotel for a
Watercolour Pencil Workshop in the wet weather room that had been set aside for
our use during the week.
Goathland
Thursday we went inland to explore. Goathland is a thriving bustling village
community in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park known as
Heartbeat country because this is where much of the filming of the TV show
Heartbeat takes place. Amongst other attractions there is the railway station
which is part of the North Yorkshire Moors Steam Railway and there are also a
few waterfalls including The Malyan Spout neither of which I had time to explore
as I was far too busy concentrating on my painting!
Ravenscar
Friday we went back to the farmers’ field to finish the paintings started on
Wednesday! It was also a final opportunity to enjoy the fabulous views. These
pictures are some of the results of all our hard work during the holiday!!
I am now looking forward to returning next year!
You
will be able to find details of the next Whitby holiday and all the other holidays, workshops and
demonstrations that are available along with project pages and painting
materials at
www.charlesevansart.com