Much of the Yorkshire coast is linked by a long-distance trail - The Cleveland Way. It covers about 110 miles around the North Yorkshire Moors National Park and then along the coast between Saltburn and Filey.
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The North Yorkshire coast
In a previous trip, I had walked from the start at Helmsley to the clifftop village of Ravenscar, leaving about 20 miles to complete the trail. The path is mostly on the top of steep cliffs, with the occasional steep gullies taking you down to beach level |
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| Plenty of warnings, but no fences |
The scenery is uplifting with views of about 20 miles on a clear day. Wave action has eroded the cliffs, exposing 200 million years of fossil records. It's very similar to the Unesco World Heritage site in Dorset - The Jurassic Coast - with much the same chalk and shale rocks, but without the crowds! Most visitors seem to stick to the resorts of Filey, Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington. But there still several tiny, pretty places, like Robin Hoods Bay and Staithes, that have avoided over-commercialism.
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| Millions of years of history on view. |
There's also good public transport links along the coast, so our walk started at the bus stop in Ravenscar.
Ravenscar information This is a very unusual village - planned by a railway company in the 1900's to become a thriving resort, but never attracting people despite roads, sewers and some houses being built.
You can still evidence of the pavements and drains in the middle of fields!
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| Ravenscar - a deserted village. Roads built but not used! |
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| Hard to get lost |
Our route took us through Scarborough - "The world's first seaside resort". About 400 years ago, crowds flocked here to enjoy the spa and sea water, and again when the railway arrived in the Victorian era.
So, as well as brash modern seaside attractions, the town also has a large legacy of elegant and historical buildings. The Grand Hotel was the largest in Europe in its day, but we didn't stay there....
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| Scarborough Castle with Flamborough Head, in distance |
South of Scarborough, a steep path leads the walker up to the top of the cliff, past the massive landslip of a million tons of earth. The Holbeck Hall Hotel used to perch on top of this cliff, until June 1993 when the land under it moved down to the sea. The hotel was immediately wrecked, and is now demolished.
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| Climbing out of Scarborough |
Further along the coast, there a few wide sandy bays, near where Billy Butlin decide to build a new destination - the Filey Holiday Camp! It was used by the Army during World War 2, but reverted to providing holidays for the masses for decades afterwards. A different era!
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| Some people put plaques on benches..... |
The path continued on grassy clifftop, or sandy beach ....
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| Scarborough in distance |
... until the cliffs at Filey Brigg came into view. This becomes a very narrow spit of land, jutting out into the North Sea, with marvellous views in all directions.
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| Cliffs at Filey Brig mark the end of the Cleveland Way |
This was the end of our trail - The Cleveland Way. For more details of this National Trail, click here,
http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/clevelandway/
or feel free to get in touch.
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| The end of the Way |
This was the end of our Nordic Walking. But, we couldn't ignore the other attractions in the area. Having walked along the cliffs, we'd noticed the occasional bird, and wanted to see the famous gannet colony at Bempton Cliffs, near Flamborough Head
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| Gannets nesting, Bempton cliffs |
Many of the young birds (and the puffins) had already left the cliffs and had headed out to sea, but there were still several thousands precariously perched on tiny ledges. An amazing spectacle!
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| A day out for the ferret |
An even bigger surprise awaited us at nearby Bridlington beach. An animal-loving man was giving his ferrets their exercise on the sand!
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| Bridlington resident, waiting for chips |
All too soon, the ice creams were finished and we had to head home. Yorkshire is superb for walking, with 2 National Parks, and many beautiful areas. And the bonus of exploring by Nordic Walking, is that you can sample the local food (and beer), knowing that the extra calories will be used up while Nordic Walking!!
If you'd like to try Nordic Walking or join others in regular forays in Bushy Park, Middlesex, please do get in touch with me, or enter you postcode here to find an Instructor near where you live.
http://www.nordicwalking.co.uk/find
Peter
07703-404-931
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