Another weekend and more Moorsbus days out - and an extra trip with today being a bank holiday. Katharine and I decided to go to Great Ayton, just outside the northern edge of the North York Moors National Park, and a small town of considerable interest.
First of all Great Ayton has it's very own 'mountain', as you can see in this shot. Not really a mountain, but Roseberry Topping is an impressive hill. Great Ayton is one of the starting points for a walk to the top of Roseberry Topping. Not today though, there were other places in the town that we wanted to visit.
Great Ayton has strong associations with the explorer Captain Cook. The village was the boyhood home of Captain Cook, who was born in nearby Marton. James Cook and his family moved to Great Ayton when he was eight years old and lived here until he was sixteen. The Cook family home on Bridge Street was built by James' father in 1755. The cottage was dismantled in 1934 to be shipped to Australia. Each stone was numbered so that the cottage could be reconstructed exactly in its new home in the Fitzroy Garden which is in Melbourne. In it's place is a garden with an obelisk built of stone from Australia. We had a good look around the Captain Cook Schoolroom museum.
Our second objective was All Saints Church, an old and interesting church, but sadly although it should have been open, it wasn't, so we just had a look round the outside.
There were also other interesting old buildings, a small park, sculptures and some attractive footpaths into the surrounding countryside.
Sorry for the late post, hopefully normal service will be resumed tomorrow.
This brings back memories of when I was small. We used to visit here often although I really only remember the name now. It was so lovely to be reminded of my childhood. What a shame to lose a historic house for piece of stone! A poor swap in my opinion! Oh and I remember Roseberry topping too, good to hear all the history of the area.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
We had a very interesting and educational visit to Great Ayton. I was surprised to discover that last time I had a look around Great Ayton was 2011. I have started or finished walks here since then, but not recently, since the Moorsbus timetables haven't made that possible fof several years, until this year. I do like the sight of Roseberry Topping looking over the village.
It was interesting to learn more about the swap of the house for an obelisk, which wasn't quite as simple as my memory thought it was. More about that in my next post!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
We had a very interesting and educational visit to Great Ayton. I was surprised to discover that last time I had a look around Great Ayton was 2011. I have started or finished walks here since then, but not recently, since the Moorsbus timetables haven't made that possible fof several years, until this year. I do like the sight of Roseberry Topping looking over the village.
Ian
It was interesting to learn more about the swap of the house for an obelisk, which wasn't quite as simple as my memory thought it was. More about that in my next post!
Ian
Thank you all. I have to admit that Great Ayton surprised me. It was smaller than I remembered, but there were some super photo opportunities.
Ian