Christina Nixon
According to Discover Yorkshire Coast, Ravenscar is trully an intriguing place, perfect for hickers and fossil hunters to explore, mostly due to its dramatic clifftop views and rocky beach coves. Up on the clifftop you’ll also find the popular Raven Hall Hotel, which was once the home of King George III’s physician, Dr Francis Willis. Between 19th–20th century, plans were made to turn the village into a holiday resort to rival nearby Scarborough. Roads were laid out, some houses were built and sewers were laid. Because of the long trek to its rocky beach, Ravenscar never achieved popularity, and the development was left unfinished – a town with sewers and streets but no houses. Even so, Ravenscar remains a great location to observe wildlife. The Ravenscar seal colony will always remain the main tourist attraction.
During the entire year, the Ravenscar rocky beach is populated by both common and the grey seals and you can observe them in their natural element. The Yorkshire Dad reports that there are better chances to spot common seal pups in June and July and grey seal pups in November and always check that there is a low tide.
You can also get an excellent view of the Ravenscar seal colony from the foot of the cliff, below the Ravenhall Hotel.
The National Trust in Ravenscar is counting on volunteers to protect the seal pups from the public. According to The Scarborough Review, “Adults in the colony of about 150 grey seals are liable to attack people who invade their personal space – and their bites are nasty.” When these photos were taken the last month, in December, a small team of volunteers was present on site to make sure that a distance of 10 meters was kept by visitors and photographers.
Some of the basic rules when visiting the Ravenscar seal colony are:
* Keep your distance – at least 10m;
* Don’t touch – they have a nasty bite and can carry disease which is dangerous to humans;
* Keep dogs on leads;
* Keep noise to a minimum;
* Be aware of your surroundings, especially by the cliff, where rocks can fall ( Dave Barry – The National Trust Ravenscar)
