Runswick Bay & Staithes - Runswick Bay is one of the most attractive villages on the North Yorkshire coast and a paradise for artists and photographers. Its cottages perch randomly and almost precariously on a series of hillside terraces above the beach and the streets are little more than narrow passageways and flights of steps, which continually open up new vistas as they twist and turn between the close-packed buildings. Both Runswick Bay and Staithes are highly individual coastal villages: the former a picturesque jumble of cottages above a fine sandy beach, the latter an old harbour beside a steep-sided inlet, still with a strong Victorian atmosphere. The initial stage of the suggested 14-mile (with 1130ft of ascent) BLACK walk from Runswick Bay to Staithes follows a truly memorable stretch of the North Sea coast which affords spectacular views before going inland, following an attractive route across fields, by farms and through woodlands. After picking up the disused railway track-bed to both Kettleness and Goldsborough, a return to Runswick Bay in made both via the cliff-top and finally Runswick Sands (tide permitting).