A bit of sunshine around this morning but it didn’t last long and greyness was the order of the rest of the day. Today we are off to explore the coastline between Scarborough and Whitby, parking up at Whitby Abbey, we start our walk southwards along the lane. After about a mile we follow a footpath to the cliffs and get our first look down on Saltwick Bay.
We didn’t go down onto this beach as we have a fair bit of ground to cover today and instead we walk along the coastal path back to the car. From here we travel a couple of miles south to Robin Hood’s Bay.
An attractive cliff side village, with narrow windy cobbled streets leading down to the sea. It was busy with holiday makers (half term) enjoying the gift shops and cafes and making the most of the free parking. Parking at the top of the village we made our way down to the sea.
The tide though on it’s way out is still quite high and the little bit of exposed sand was pretty busy.
We clambered up a lot of steps to follow the coastal path along the cliff top (erosion is very evident) leaving the crowds behind and after lots more steps both up and down we arrived at Boggle Hole.
Not much beach to be seen but at low tide you san walk all the way along from Robin Hood’s Bay to Ravenscar some 3 miles further down the coast. Up yet more steps we were rewarded with our first sight of daffodils in bloom this year.
Still more steps (I have a feeling I shall be feeling rather stiff later!) lead us back down to Stoupe Beck Sands, a lovely quiet sandy beach.
After a quick play on the beach we started to make our return following a series of footpaths (no steps!) across country to Robin Hood’s Bay in rather unwelcome and chilly light rain.
We are fast losing the light but have just one final visit to make, Ravenscar.
We couldn’t really see the beach as it was a fair walk down from the road and is only accessible at low tide but this was our view with Robin Hood’s Bay in the distance – it is getting dark – we shall have to come back another day!
Just over 9 miles walked today and it feels like it!
Month: February 2020
Fraisthorpe Sands one of the few accessible sections of the miles of beach from Bridlington to Spurn Head….
Another windy and mostly grey day but we are staying a little closer to home today and made our way to Fraisthorpe Sands. A couple of miles down a single track sharply winding road sits a farm with a cafe extension and rough carpark beyond, just above the beach. The beach is quite narrow (though probably much wider at low tide) and part of the section that runs pretty much uninterrupted at low tide from Flamborough Head to Spurn Head. It is mostly sandy though there is a fair smattering of pebbles moving around continuously with the tides.
Still we enjoyed our solitude and Poppydog happily chased around after her tennis balls before a few tell tale spots of rain suggested that it might be time to head back.
All along there is evidence of the low cliffs gradually falling on to the beach and being washed away. A whirlwind tour of north North Yorkshire’s beaches…
As we have struggled to find any suitable campsites open a bit further up the coast, we have decided to visit the beaches to link up with last year’s adventure, from here. We drove to Boulby, just around the headland from Skinningrove, our most southerly beach last year, but this just turned out to be a cliff top hamlet with no access to the shore (that I could see anyway).
So next on the list was Staithes…
A pretty little jumble of cottages clustered down a steep valley and around the harbour with a fair smattering of cafes, pubs, galleries and shops.
Not the prettiest beach we’ve seen but it had a lovely atmosphere and quite busy today. I bet it’s a lovely place for a holiday and surely buzzing during the summer
After a good mooch around we moved on to Port Mulgrave only to find that access to the beach and abandoned harbour was wiped out by a land slip so we moved on.
To Runswick Bay…
A lovely crescent shaped sandy bay with a few challenging fast flowing streams to cross as we made our way along. The village of Runswick is a pretty hillside village with more than it’s fair share of holiday cottages, a hotel and couple of cafes – a great place to holiday.
Randomly as we were walking along the beach we could here the sounds of a huntsman horn and spotted some hounds scurrying through the woodlands behind the village – I would have thought it too steep for horses and we didn’t see any so perhaps it was just the hounds out for some exercise?
The sun was just setting (it only appeared in time to set!) as we made our last stop at Sandsend, the northerly end of Whitby Bay.
We could happily have spent longer at each place and walked the miles of coastal path along the cliffs in between but the time of year is not on our side so I am happy to add this area to our ever growing list of places to return to!
A walk along Speeton Sands in the sun, the rain and ever present wind…
Another wild night with pretty torrential (and noisy) rain kept as awake until the wee hours, when it either eased up a bit or we just got used to it and finally nodded off. It was still pretty miserable as we went for our morning walk around the large section of the site which is closed until busier times, there is a sizeable dog walk on site but this area is pretty waterlogged at the moment and as Poppydog still refuses to be towelled down without a fight, I prefer her not to get too soggy in the mornings.
By lunchtime the current batch of wet stuff and wind seemed to have passed on through so we headed to Reighton Sands with it’s small carpark and clambered down what is left of the footpath, mostly now a raging muddy stream onto the beach.
This time we ventured southwards onto Speeton Sands
Both beaches are at the southern end of Filey Bay a stretch of some 5 miles of low tide sand. Speeton Sands was pretty deserted and sheltered enough by Flamborough Head and Reighton Cliffs to make ball throwing an option – so we did…
At the far end of the beach, the heavens decided we were having way too much fun and shed a bucket load of tears, whipping up a nice little flurry of wind to ensure we got a proper soaking – thanks! Still this was a bit of a bonus…
Time to head back up the beach and chase a little sunshine after the storm before it bobbed down behind the cliffs for the day.
A bit blowy on South Sands in Bridlington….
Well at last, with Storm Dennis raging outside, a long overdue return to this blog, my excuse – well just blogged out I guess! I shall endeavour to catch up the missed blogs over the coming weeks and they will be back dated to reflect the actual dates.
However, today has been pretty much as awful as forecast, though having just watched the news, I again appear to be quite jammy, just sitting above the tranch of horrendous rain that is causing such devastation elsewhere. We opted for a shortish walk along the South Sands of Bridlington.
A lovely long stretch of sand but open to the full force of the wind, such that walking away from the town, almost due south west was nigh on impossible!! Unsurprisingly away from the town the beach was deserted so Poppydog was able ‘run free’….
As well as being lovely to see it means that I don’t have to walk so far, a bit of a bonus especially today as not only is it tough going but there is a fair bit of sand in the air getting in your face and eyes! So after an exhilarating hour or so we were quite happy to call it a day and return to our cozy little den.
Thought of the day…
Surprisingly the site has filled up during the afternoon, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to tow today!
Freedom Bird 