Author Topic: The Headland Way  (Read 11697 times)

Mr. Blister

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The Headland Way
« on: 19:36:59, 10/05/07 »
Bridlington – Filey, 5/5/07

My girlfriend very kindly offered to drop me and a friend off In Bridlington, and we arrived there at 08.30am.  We spent a bit more time than we should have walking along the sea front in Bridlington, taking pictures, before joining the main path, known as the Headland Way, on the outskirts of the town to the North.

The Headland Way itself begins in Sewerby, and follows the gradually increasing cliffs to Dane’s Dyke, a huge ditch dug during the Norman conquests to protect the area from the invading Vikings.  It stretches right across Flamborough Head, effectively slicing it in two, and it wasn’t until we were stood on the beach there that I felt we were making a little headway.  The ground was hard, but the wind felt good.  We had already agreed to take regular breaks every half hour or so, to refresh tired limbs, and our first stop was at the remains of a World War II lookout post.  This was clawing to the cliffs and seemed a lonely, desperate place to sit out the war, but it was a good place to have a coffee.  Of course, I am aware of the significance of the East Coast on the war front, but was still surprised by the amount of old pillar boxes that we came across as the miles fell behind us.

At Flamborough, South Landing, there was a bench made from the remains of a shipwreck with the names of five dead sailors inscribed into the metal.  It was a moving site.  There were many paths slicing inland, and it was tempting to follow these, all the time knowing that by doing so we would shave miles of our walk, but it was this knowledge that kept us clinging to the coast, with the sea always to our right.  We had come to walk along the coast.

It only dawned on me when we reached Flamborough Head itself that we had being climbing steadily, and were now some 300 feet up with the chalks dropping away abruptly only a stone’s throw away.  The path was consistent in clinging to the cliffs, and would turn at a moments notice to stay close to the edge.  This we found to be a constant all across the headland.

The temptation to descend some of the steps to the shore was too great to ignore, and we did so with the thought that we would walk over the jagged rocks to the next set of steps and climb back up to the path again.  We chose to descend by some steps that had been closed to the public through erosion fears.  At the bottom as I was taking a picture, I heard a barking noise close by but ignored it, but my friend suddenly made a high-pitched squeal and pointed at something in the rocks.  It was a seal, and it was none too happy to have us invading its solitude.  It was this that was barking.  For a city lad, this was something special.  (The only seal I had seen before was swimming up the River Hull, and had an aerial fastened to it; making it seem more like a remote controlled toy, than a real, live, marine animal.)  After taking a few pictures, we left the seal alone and headed around the cliffs, jumping over rock pools, and dodging the [censored] of the thousands of gulls nesting in the cliffs above.  We explored some smugglers caves, and tried to find starfish in the pools.  But after skirting around cliff after cliff, we were no closer to finding the next set of steps leading up, and so back-tracked to the seal ([censored] it off again), and went back up.  A group of birdwatchers glanced at us disapprovingly when we came up, but I just started babbling about the seal – hidden from where they were standing.

Flamborough Head itself it about six miles in length and juts out dramatically into the North Sea, six miles of jagged cliffs and bay upon bay.  On clear days, one can see oil rigs to the north and the towers of the Humber Bridge to the south, but this wasn’t a clear day, and the clouds were huddled together like tramps in a bus stop.  The Headland Way follows this ever changing coast, descending into coves and climbing back up again in a matter on a couple of hundred yards.  The North Landing is where the tourists congregate for rock pool hunting, fish ‘n chips, a pint or an ice cream, and today was no different. 

The time was 1.00pm when we arrived at Nth Landing, and our bus left Filey at 6.50pm.  I was conscious of the time, but was having so much fun that it just seemed to tumble away with no real effort.  Of course, by the time we realized this, we had to start clocking off the miles in order to make our bus, and the miles between Thornton Bay and Buckton Cliffs were a blur of birdwatchers, knapweed and dramatic cliffs.

At Bempton, we paused to consider our options, the trouble was we had spent so much time acting like spoilt school-kids we had forgot the point of the walk: to walk.  We could walk into Bempton village and catch a train home, happy in the knowledge that we had done 12 miles.  My fear was missing the bus, and having to call on my girlfriend to come and collect us in Filey, something she wasn’t happy to do.  We decided this was the safest thing to do for all; afterall we had walked the headland.  After a bite to eat, we set off again.  At Bempton, the path does a really odd thing, it passes through a visitors centre, and one has to bumble through it, apologizing to the mass of binocular glad, bearded birdwatchers.

As we carried on up the coast, we reached the path that cut inland that we had to follow to Bempton train station, and we paused to look at it – “Suppose, we should go then!” I said to my mate, “Aye”, he replied.  Ahead of us was the enormous stretch of Filey Bay, with Reighton and Hunmanby sands, and seeing Filey in the distance – our chosen destination – we just headed for it instinctively.  It was still eight miles away and we still had four hours to do it .. easy.

We felt immensely pleased with ourselves, and greeted other walkers enthusiastically.  “Where you heading?” One lady asked.  “Filey, from Bridlington,” I replied.  “My, that’s quite a walk”, she said.  “Yes,” I answered, feeling like Bear Grylls, “it is!”

We had a rest near Dulcey Dock, the highest point of the walk, and the view over Filey Bay was simply magnificent, breath taking.  We got chatting to a couple of walkers, both of whom were members of the Ramblers Association, and they advised us not to follow the Headland Way along the cliffs to Filey, but to descend to the beach.  They had followed the cliffs and had found it downright dangerous.  The option is open to anyone walking this stretch, the low road or the high road.  In the end, we took their advice and descended to the beach.  At first, what I took to be a small stretch of rocky beach leading to the sand further up, turned out to be four miles of rocks and boulders, separated by short burst of beautiful yellow sand.  This has to be the lowest part of the entire walk for me, in fact of any walk I have done.  The pace was slow, and every other step my feet would slip and my ankle twist.  The sea was rapidly coming in, and we simply had to reach Filey before it did.  We did it with minutes to spare, but the bus had already left.  Luckily, though, we were still in time for the last train, even though it meant a killer hour an half waiting for it, playing eye spy. I eventually walked into my home at 9.45pm.

My lasting impressions of this walk is just how fragile our cliffs are, at almost every stretch, the path had had to be brought in as erosion had started to eat into it, pillar boxes had collapsed into the sea, like huge concrete boulders and dangerous sunken ground was everywhere, always fenced off.  I found the people very friendly and helpful, unlike other places I’ve walked, and views and wildlife were simply stunning.  But I have vowed never to walk on a stony beach again, a proper pain! 

Enjoy the pics ..  ;D

walkinggirluk

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #1 on: 23:12:25, 10/05/07 »
GREAT........  Wirte up Mr Blister and photo's.  I most say i did like the other one you posted the other day as well keep them coming.  ;D
peace and tranquillity in the countryside. clean your rubbish up after you  respect it.


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summitzero

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #2 on: 10:04:18, 11/05/07 »
Mr B

As WG Uk stated great write up and great shots also, cant wait for more. ;)
Are we there yet ?   http://walkingforlife.piczo.com

kkm

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #3 on: 14:04:55, 22/05/07 »
this is a fantastic walk, on of the first of our practise walks for the pennine way.

did it in the middle of march, on a very cold, blustery day. and the mist rolled in on the cliffs terribly.

we were aiming for filey, but had cut the walk short due to bad light, and the fact that the next section was the beach sewction, and the tide was rapidly coming in.

would love to do this one again, in nicer weather. and yep, i think we also took to long looking at the fantastic views......i was so excited! but a worthwhile one.

Mr. Blister

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #4 on: 08:56:19, 13/06/07 »
Alright, KKM.

Was just wondering, where did you cut the walk short? Bempton?  I was thinking of leaving the trail there, but just ended up walking to Filey anyway.

You got any pictures from the walk that you can post here?  I'd be interested in doing the walk again, especially the next leg, from Filey to Whitby.  Just give us a nod if interested.

Regards  8)

kkm

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #5 on: 10:28:54, 14/06/07 »
took a few photo's around flamborough head - will have to dig them out, and also check where we baled out. was disappointed at the time - i wanted to complete it, but with it going dark and having to catch the tide just right, we made the best judgement on the day.

Mr. Blister

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Re: The Headland Way
« Reply #6 on: 12:17:53, 14/06/07 »
Well, that's right.  You did the correct thing, dangerous to walk on those cliffs at twilight  :o

Yeah, sure, dig those pics out and post a couple. I'd really like to see them.  After we descended to the beach, I was really annoyed that we hadn't decided to continue to follow the cliff top path, would've been infinitely preferable to the stony beaches!

Post 'em up when you find 'em  ;)

 

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