Thanks Mary - I can afford to take the scenic route getting to Whitby, because I'm not going back to work between Sidmouth and Whitby, but I can't really afford to take a week getting back... however, it depends what you mean by scenic.

I got to my first Whitby 3 years ago via various shopping centres in Loughborough and York, and home via Meadowhall, because my lift was combining Whitby with a work trip to do surveys for shop rent appeals - the lift provisionally offered for this year involves shopping centres in York (again) and Selby. Last year I got a lift from Tim Edwards from London to Macclesfield, and was picked up in Macclesfield by Bob Hawkes en route from Hereford to Whitby, (and then returned by Bob to London on his way to Towersey). The other complication is that I'm only booked into the B&B until the morning of Friday 23 August, so need to find someone heading south on the Friday (eg for Towersey) or a bed for Friday night in Whitby. Or a reliable train service.

Kitty