Day 110 – Bridlington to Mappleton

Mike arrives at Bridlington from York around 10:45 expecting an hour’s wait for John, Ben and Gary on their connecting train from Sheffield and Doncaster. The expectation is only two-thirds realised because John misses the connection at Sheffield in circumstances which are sufficiently controversial to result in him watching CCTV footage of the train’s departure with station staff – without any apparent resolution of why it left without him. However, with his arrival in Bridlington delayed by another hour, he suggests that the rest of us should start walking without him with a view to meeting up somewhere on the route to Hornsea/Mappleton later in the day. Mike, Ben and Gary accordingly set off at noon from outside Rags, and two suspicions are quickly confirmed. Firstly, there will be no problematic cliffs for Ben – indeed, with the tide out, there’s a lot of beach action in prospect. And secondly, John’s suggestion that we don’t wait for him will serve to get his competitive juices flowing in terms of hot pursuit: when he is informed that we have walked 3.34 miles during the first hour his reaction is along the lines of “How am I supposed to catch up with you if you walk that quickly?”. Anyway, it’s difficult to give much detail of the first 12 miles because there are a limited number of ways to describe sun, blue sky, and beautiful (and often deserted) sand. Suffice to say that we’re able to stay on the beach past Wilsthorpe, Barmston and Skipsea all the way to Hornsea where we arrive at 3:50 and decide to wait for John, with some liquid refreshment, on the veranda of the Marine pub. Our wait is a mere 15 minutes. John has accomplished the 12 miles in just over 3 hours, to include apparently some de-shodding and re-shodding for an unanticipated paddle. It’s hard to say whether this is more or less remarkable than the fact that, according to his logger, the walk along a flat beach has involved ascents of 705 feet. We’re staying in Hornsea tonight but, in order to reduce any time pressure of getting to Withernsea tomorrow, we’re walking another 3 miles or so this afternoon to Mappleton. Again, we’re able to do this along the beach before taking a short track and lane leading to the Mappleton Tea Rooms which we reach (closed) just after 5:20. We manage to contact a cab company in Hornsea, and a car arrives to pick us up from outside the tea rooms about 15 minutes later and takes us back to Hornsea and the Victoria & Albert B&B. We arrange to be collected at 8:15 the following morning, check in (and settle in) at the B&B, and return to the Marine – which is just across the road – for supper. A rather unclear meal offer proves to be, in essence, two for the price of one which results in the food element of the bill being about half of the drinks element. Sadly, the fish and chips prove to be nowhere near as good as those which we’ve had on our last three trips in Redcar, Robin Hood’s Bay and Bridlington. However, there are two similarities with our evening in Bridlington namely that the wine consumption includes no Shiraz and that there’s some football on TV involving Belgium – this time against Japan in the World Cup, with Belgium winning 3-2 (having been 0-2 down with 25 minutes to go) in the round of the last 16

Day 109 – Speeton to Bridlington

The South Dene provides a good cooked breakfast at 7:30, our cab arrives on time, and the journey back to the Honey Pot includes the shock horror revelation, via the car intercom, that Ernie is in fact around today. We’re slightly delayed in the pub car park by Gary having to make a call regarding some “suspicious activity” on his credit card, but we’re under way at 8:50. The distance to Bridlington by road is only 6 miles but, by the more circuitous coastal path, it’s about 10 miles further. As anticipated yesterday, Ben has decided to take an inland route at least as far as Flamborough Head and, when we split up at Speeton, we arrange to meet at the Flamborough lighthouse. After going alongside some fields, the climb for John, Mike and Gary to the top of Buckton Cliffs is certainly one which Ben would have found tricky at best, although the initial walk along the cliff top itself (known as the Headland Way), whilst distinctly breezy, isn’t too bad. The entire walk today proves to be above some pretty spectacular cliffs and rock formations – to include the section beyond Buckton, namely Bempton Cliffs which is an RSPB reserve and, accordingly, something of a draw for the local twitchers to observe the huge amount of bird life on and around the cliff faces. It is here that John takes coastal purity to a new level by walking out to and around each of the four or five betwitchered observation platforms along the path at Bempton. After leaving the reserve, our lighthouse rendezvous soon comes into view, but the walk around the coast – including the edge of the Flamborough Cliffs golf course – takes almost an hour, so we don’t reach the lighthouse until just after 12, but only 5 minutes later than Ben. We all walk out to Flamborough Head itself and turn south east for the last couple of hours to Bridlington. But although the cliffs aren’t as high as they were earlier today, the path is still close to the edge and, after another 10 minutes or so, Ben returns to the lighthouse to continue along some minor roads. For the rest of us, the immediate impression of the walk in front of us is of a cliff top descending gently towards our destination. However, this impression proves to be deceptive because there are several hidden inlets with descents and ascents needed to cross them at South Landing, Hartendale Gutter and Danes Dyke. But once we’re alongside Bridlington Links golf course, the gentle descent becomes an actuality as we pass Sewerby Hall and Gardens and eventually reach the Bridlington sea front. We finish at the harbour which is conveniently close to Rags but we decide that, for our pre-departure refreshment, it might be more prudent to find a pub closer to the station which is half a mile away. An enquiry of a postman elicits the local knowledge of, and directions to, the Fat Badger. Duly ensconced there, we contact Ben who is just arriving at the harbour and joins us at the pub as we’re ordering our second beer. The station (very traditional – like a small Marylebone) is only 5 minutes away. Ben and Gary, and John, catch a train via Hull to catch connections at Doncaster and Sheffield, while Mike returns to York via Seamer. We reckon that the rest of Yorkshire, together with Lincolnshire and East Anglia, will be a cliff free zone, so hopefully we’ll be able to stay together on future walks at least as far as Kent – and subject, of course, to the not too distant problem of the Humber Bridge…..                                                                                     

Day 108 – Scarborough to Speeton

With Mike now a permanent member of the group for our equivalent of the “Tour de Yorkshire”, and with Sticky having been replaced by his slightly smaller sister (Twiggy?) we again rendezvous at York station, and catch the 10:45 train back to Scarborough. En route, John becomes so preoccupied with historic walk data that our arrival takes him somewhat by surprise and he has to carry out the donning of boots and puttees on the platform at Scarborough. However, this does afford to the rest of us sufficient time for other preparations – i.e. loo visits and the first sun cream smearings of the year. We’re back on the sea front just before noon and, after a relatively short stroll along the promenade, we make our first climb of the day up some steps and a concrete pathway to reach Wheatcroft Cliff. Much of the remainder of the first hour involves minor diversions away from the cliff top through trees, around a golf course and then along a road towards Osgodby. However, having then descended a steep set of steps to a small harbour and climbed back up to a path overlooking Cayton Bay, we get closer to the cliff edge and Ben has to opt once again for an inland route – despite this initially involving a rather undignified crossing (with John’s assistance) of a barbed wire fence. We reckon that we’ll be able to reconvene in Filey in about a couple of hours. John, Mike and Gary continue along the coast, passing above Gristhorpe Sands and seeing a couple of warnings of steep drops and cliff erosion which serve to confirm the prudence of Ben’s decision. Ben arrives in Filey shortly before 3 o’clock by which time the rest of us are to the north of the town walking round Filey Brigg – to include in John’s case a short visit down to the rocky promontory extending into the sea at the foot of the Brigg. However, this gives Ben the time to purchase crab and prawn sandwiches which are available at a shack alongside the sands when we meet up there at 3:15. Another stop a little further along the sea front at Downcliffe House is necessary not only for some liquid refreshment but also to allow an extra half an hour for the high tide to recede which means that we get over an hour of beach action to get from Filey, below Primrose Valley and Hunmanby, to Reighton Gap. At this point, the coastal route goes inland to Speeton but, before we leave the beach, Ben casts a rather concerned glance towards the approaching Buckton Cliffs and decides that he will probably be staying inland during the initial stages of our walk tomorrow. In the meantime, the final stages of the walk today take us alongside a golf course and around some fields to arrive at The Honey Pot Inn, a pub just outside Speeton alongside a minor road between Filey and Bridlington. Our arrival time is just after 6pm, which is convenient given our intention to phone for a cab to take us to Bridlington and to sample the delights of the Honey Pot while we wait. Unfortunately, the Honey Pot isn’t available for custom – it appears that it is shut on Mondays – so our phone call and wait take place in the pub car park. Fortunately our driver, Ernie, arrives within 15 minutes, and we get to our overnight stop, the South Dene B&B around 6:45. On the way, we arrange the return journey to Speeton for 8:20 tomorrow morning. Ernie says he won’t be around, and John’s call to book a cab is made at the same time as Ernie taking a call from his office on the car intercom, so we hear the phone from John’s call ringing in the background. Slightly weird. The South Dene is quite basic, but perfectly acceptable for £25 each. Showers/baths are taken pretty quickly and, on wandering down to the sea front, we discover that Wards, Ernie’s suggestion of a good place for a fish supper, is a chippie rather than somewhere we can sit down, so we continue to the harbour and discover Rags, a hotel, bar and restaurant which has a table and fish/chips/mushy peas (very tasty) available. This is washed down with beers and a couple of bottles which, uncharacteristically, are both of a white variety. A Shiraz free trip for once, but not sticky free. On our way back to the B&B, we call in at the Southcliffe Bar for a large one each – with an occasional glance at the Belgium v Costa Rica friendly on TV.