Hannah's Menagerie: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Hilda had her first trip to the seaside on Sunday. After ringing we drove North and East along the York bypass, along the Malton bypass and through Pickering. We stopped at a parking area halfway up a hill just past RAF Fylingdales for lunch. It was rather breezy but Hilda enjoyed exploring and looked very disappointed when I said it was time to get back in the car. I promised her somewhere much more exciting, she didn't look like she believed me.

When we arrived at Whitby we got a parking space on the West Cliff close to the crazy golf, when I opened the boot Hilda sniffed the air and was ready to leap out when given the command. She did a very funny wiggly half dance half walk to the path leading down the cliff and then sniffed everything on the way down.

The tide was in when we got there, so we strolled along the prom to Upgang and then back again, under the Pavilion and up to the whalebone arch. We sauntered down the Khyber Pass, over the Swing Bridge, through the Old Town and out onto the East Pier. On the way back we stopped off on Tate Hill Beach for Hilda to have a run around and a paddle.

Then it was off to the Coffee Shop on Grape Lane, they do lovely cakes and dogs are allowed inside - always appreciated when the weather is wet or windy, before heading back over to the New Town and down onto the beach for another run round before climbing back up the cliff to the car.

Hilda slept all the way home dreaming dreams of chasing seagulls and eating seaweed. She thoroughly enjoyed herself and will have plenty of opportunities to visit various seasides in the future.

A Stroll Along the Prom in the Sunshine