About this guide
A dated record of the substantive changes made to this guide: new pages, reworked sections and corrections, including the ones I would rather not have had to make.
Entries cover changes worth a reader's attention. Wording, layout and typography adjustments are not recorded. Where a change was a correction, the correction is described rather than summarised away.
New pages setting out who writes this guide, how places are checked, and the fact that it carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no paid placements. This changelog was added at the same time.
The Ebberston village guide existed and was in the sitemap, but had been left out of the site's own search index, so searching for Ebberston here returned nothing. It was the only village page missing.
A check that runs in CI on every push, and locally before each commit once the git hook is enabled, comparing every page on the site against the sitemap and the search index, so a new page cannot ship missing from either and a deleted page cannot leave a dead sitemap entry behind. It found the Ebberston omission above.
The dark skies map, the Whitby dog friendly map and the Plan My Day tool each showed only one item at a time and left the rest out of the page a search engine sees. All of the dark sky venues, all nine dog friendly spots including the seasonal beach ban notes, and the day builder's text are now in the page from the start.
Three accommodation pages named Sykes Cottages, Cottages.com and Booking.com as the places to check availability without linking to any of them. They are now plain links, with no referral code and no earnings to this site.
The Allerston village page described a cottage that does not exist, and the site search carried the same claim. Both were removed. This was a straightforward error and it should not have been published.
A section recommending a vintage petrol pump garage was removed from the classic car country page. This guide has no affiliation with the business and no arrangement of any kind, and a recommendation with nothing behind it does not belong here.
Two published pages had never been added to the site's own search index and could not be found from the search box. An entry for a post that was never published was removed at the same time.
If something here is wrong, or something has changed since I last looked, please get in touch. Corrections are the most useful thing this guide receives.
Quick, straight answers to the questions visitors ask most. Each one links through to the fuller guide.
Stargazing (it's an International Dark Sky Reserve), bracing coastal and moorland walks, cosy country pubs, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway's festive steam services. The moors are atmospheric and empty in winter.
What's on →Ride the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, walk the heather moors and the Cleveland Way, explore Rievaulx and Whitby abbeys, see the Hole of Horcum and Sutton Bank, visit Goathland and Thornton-le-Dale, and spend a day on the coast at Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay.
Things to do →Ride the steam railway, visit museums (Beck Isle Museum in Pickering, the Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole, Whitby's museums), explore abbey visitor centres, or browse the shops and tearooms of Helmsley and Whitby.
Pickering guide →Moor roads are scenic but narrow, with blind summits, cattle grids and sheep. Sometimes free-roaming through villages like Goathland, on unfenced roads, so drive slowly and use passing places. High routes such as Blakey Ridge can be bleak or closed in snow.
Driving routes →The national park is free to enter, and most walking, moorland and viewpoints cost nothing; you pay only for parking, attractions (abbeys, the railway, museums) and refreshments. Prices vary, so check official sites.
About the Yorkshire Moors →There are many campsites and caravan parks across the park, but wild camping is not a legal right in England and requires the landowner's permission, so use official sites.
Where to stay →