The Machars

Campervan cleaning

East coast adventure

An end-of-season trip to the dramatic Yorkshire coastline becomes a geography teacher’s paradise

WORDS & PHOTOS: Hazel Hutchinson

There is no better way to blow away the cobwebs than to visit the east coast, especially after the holiday hordes have left. With this in mind, we drove to Flamborough, situated between the Yorkshire seaside resorts of Bridlington and Filey.

Flamborough Head is about two miles from the village. We cycled there along the road, which mainly reminded me that I don’t really like cycling, except when it consists of freewheeling downhill. A better idea is to walk to South Landing and then follow the coastal path along the headland. The Headland Way is a spectacular clifftop path from Bridlington to Filey and is by far the best way of seeing this stretch of coastline, classified since 1979 as a Heritage coast. South Landing also has a car park, a Living Seas centre and a nature trail.

Alternatively, you can drive to Flamborough Head. There is plenty of parking space and it is even possible to park overnight, if being blown about by strong winds is your thing. On the other hand, there are a number of campsites in the area, mainly small certificated ones, but some larger ones. We chose Grange Farm for its proximity to the village (by which of course I mean the Royal Dog and Duck), and Wold Farm for its proximity to the clifftop.

A coastal paradise

The appeal of Flamborough Head is its sheer chalk cliffs jutting out into the sea, which can be seen from miles away. Erosion has created all manner of stacks, caves and arches. In fact, it is a geography teacher’s paradise. It is also popular with birdwatchers, as the ledges on the vertical cliffs provide nesting sites for gannets, kittiwakes and puffins. When we arrived, there were three birdwatchers who had positioned their chairs on the clifftop, training their telescopes on the horizon. Why? A ship was passing by in the distance. Were they on the lookout for invasion? In 1779, the Battle of Flamborough Head was a major naval battle in the American War of Independence (I didn’t just happen to know this – there are information boards dotted around the headland). Anyway, I couldn’t see what the birdwatchers were looking at, but we did see a seal swimming around the rocks close to the shore.

There is a café and a shop selling everything necessary (and unnecessary) for the seaside. The beach is called Selwicks Bay and is a tiny cove reached by steps. It has the advantage of providing shelter from the winds that buffet the headland, but the disadvantage of a long climb back up!

The other less accessible coves are best reached by sea. Kayaks can be launched from North or South Landing, either side of the headland, although both involve a steep descent. For a moment, looking at the turquoise sea lapping against the dramatic rock stacks, I imagined we were in the Algarve. Then I pulled my woolly hat further over my ears and got real. Flamborough Head has not one but two lighthouses. The older one, known as the Chalk Tower for obvious reasons, was designed for use as a beacon, with a brush fire lit on its roof. Passing ships were supposed to pay a tax to support

ABOVE The iconic chalk tower

BELOW LEFT TO RIGHT Everything for the beach; The only puff in we saw

Hazel Hutchinson Campervan fan

Campervanning nut, Hazel, lives in Yorkshire with her husband, Chris, and Tommy the Sheltie. From going to festivals and campervan meet-ups to enjoying trail running, fishing and chilling in the pub, they love camping all year round in their Auto-Sleeper Duetto campervan

the lighting of the fire, but failed to do so, meaning that semaphore was used for signalling from the tower, using fl ags instead (at least, I think that’s what the interpretation board was telling me). The current lighthouse is open to visitors at weekends after the end of the summer season.

We contented ourselves with exploring the many grassy paths which criss-cross the headland and run along the clifftop, before cycling back and recuperating at the Royal Dog and Duck.

A walk on the wild side

The next day we followed the coastal path between North Landing and RSPB Bempton Cliff s. North Landing is a magnet for artists, with its chalk cliffs, grassy hills, boats, rock pools and sandy beach. It also has a café bar and a seafood stall, selling fresh crabs.

The clifftop path can get very muddy, but after our hot summer it was still completely dry underfoot. A short distance along the cliff took us to the rocky Thornwick Bay, overlooked by a café that seems to live in a time warp from the 1950s. It’s probably best to focus on the view from the windows. I noted how popular it was with dog owners, bearing in mind that we are planning to get our own dog soon. The name of the bay is derived from Thor, the god of thunder, and it is easy to imagine how the waves must thunder against the rocks in a storm. We, however, were enjoying pleasant early autumn sunshine, although there is always a fairly fresh breeze up here.

Our walk culminated at Bempton Cliffs. In the early summer this is the best spot to see puffins, but we had to content ourselves with a large statue of a puffin on the clifftop. What we did see were hundreds of gannets, perched on the cliff face and wheeling around above the sea. This is one of only two mainland breeding colonies of gannets in the UK and by far the biggest, the other being in Scotland. I said ‘hundreds’ but actually around half-a-million seabirds gather here every year. An RSPB visitor centre gives further information and there are viewing balconies with strategically placed telescopes right along the clifftop.

ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT Chalk cliff s; The funfair was quiet BELOW Sculpture on Bridlington pier

From gannets to ganseys

On the Monday we drove the short distance to Bridlington and parked in the North Bay. This traditional seaside resort has two bays, a harbour and an old town that lies some distance inland. One of the red brick villas that line the streets near the sea was for some years the 

home and studio of the famous artist, David Hockney. He took a break from California to paint the suburban streets of Bridlington and the rolling hills and valleys of the nearby Yorkshire Wolds.

We followed the promenade as far as the funfair. Little was moving on this October Monday morning. However, the Land Train was still running between the funfair, the leisure centre and Sewerby Hall, a Georgian country house set in parkland on the clifftop.

Bridlington attracts thousands of visitors in the summer, particularly from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Locally they are known as ‘comforts’ – visitors who have ‘come for t’day’. Today the funfair was silent, although 30 miles away one of the biggest travelling fairs in Europe, Hull Fair, would soon be up and running.

A more recent attraction for cyclists is the Way of the Roses, a coast-to-coast cycle route between Bridlington and Morecambe. Bridlington has also twice been the starting point for the Tour de Yorkshire.

We walked along the pier and alongside the harbour. On the pier is a bronze sculpture of a woman knitting a gansey, the thick sweater traditionally worn by local fi shermen.

A pirate ship sails from the harbour in the summer and there are rows of pleasure boats, but mainly it is a working fishing harbour. The stacks of lobster pots are a reminder that this is the biggest shellfish port in England, and there are plenty of stalls selling prawns, cockles, whelks, mussels and crabs.

We visited the Harbour Heritage Museum, which tells the story of the Great Gale of 1871 in which 30 ships were wrecked in the bay. In 1893 another storm struck Bridlington. Kit Brown was a local hero who went out in his fishing cobble, the Swiftsure, to rescue the crew of a ship in distress. Five years later he lost his life taking part in another rescue. These events are also commemorated on the promenade that runs along the South Bay, along with lines of poetry inscribed on the paving.

Our walk to the South Bay took us past the Spa, an entertainment, arts centre and café giving panoramic views over the bay. We stopped for a coffee before continuing our seaside stroll.

We followed the nautical mile that is measured out along the South Bay in words and numbers. This bay has awardwinning sands, but the bucket and spade brigade had long departed by the time we visited, leaving the beach for dog walkers and detectorists.

At the end of the promenade, the beach still stretched for miles towards Fraisthorpe, but we turned around and walked all the way back to the 'van at North Bay, the white cliffs of Flamborough Head always in view on the horizon.

ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT Bridlington Spa; Beach huts

BELOW CLOCKWISE Iconic Flanborough Lighthouse; Gannet colony at Bempton Cliffs; The fish dock