Captain's Log

Bridlington

I looked out of the hotel window to see rain battering the carpark. This wasn’t in the plan. I’m sure yesterday’s BBC weather forecast said that it was going to be all day sunshine today. I looked at the BBC weather app and it reckoned there would be showers until about 10:00. Ho-hum. I was back on my England Coast Path Venture today. I would be walking from Bridlington to Hornsea, which was just under 15 miles. I couldn’t do anything about the weather and so I put my waterproofs on and left the hotel. The heavy rain had turned to light showers and by the time I reached the end of Bridlington’s high street, the rain had stopped. 

It was only just past 08:00 and there wasn’t much happening in the harbour. I made my way around to the south promenade and started walking southwards. A hippy-type fellow on a mountain bike stopped and then started doing press-ups. This would have been fine except the rain had left puddles everywhere and so his clothes were getting wet. There were plenty of dog-walkers, joggers and cyclists along the promenade. I’d actually walked along here before (see Captain’s Log, Bridlington’s Promenades And Danes Dyke). It was only about a mile long and  then it finished at the South Cliff carpark. There was an England Coast Path fingerpost that I’d used as a turnaround point on my previous walk. It would be all new territory from here. 

Cliff Walking

I stuck to the path along the cliffs rather than walk along the beach. I say it was a cliff, but there wasn’t a huge drop down to the sands. It was high and steep enough though to make it very difficult to get back to the cliff path from the beach. I wasn’t sure whether the tide was coming in or going out and so I thought it would probably be safer to walk along the cliff top. Having said that, everybody else was  walking along the beach and so maybe would have been okay. I did get a good view in both directions along the coastline. I could make out the low white cliffs beyond Bridlington, leading off to the higher ones at Flamborough Head. It had been about a year since I walked along those cliffs.  

Beach Walking

There was a large carpark along the cliff tops at Fraisthorpe. At the south end of the carpark, I couldn’t find the continuation of the footpath along the clifftop. There was nothing for it, I’d have to do some beach walking. There was still plenty of space between the edge of the sea and cliffs and so I didn’t feel too uncomfortable. One or two other people were walking along the beach too which was probably a good sign. I came across plenty of old pillboxes along the beach. In fact, I saw them throughout the day. Some were on the cliff edge and others had been built maybe 400 metres inland from the cliff edge. An information board told me that about 28,000 pillboxes had been constructed throughout the UK. 6,000 still remain, with about 1,000 still in good condition. I came across one on the beach that had ‘Nudist Beach’ painted on it. I looked around but couldn’t see anybody naked and so I thought it would be acceptable to get my camera out and take a photo of the pillbox. It was quite nice walking along the beach, but the tide was definitely coming in and at the holiday park at Barmston Sands I took the opportunity to get back to the top of the cliffs again. 

Holiday Parks

Apart from that fingerpost at the end of the South Promenade at Bridlington, I’d not come across any England Coast Path signage. Things started to get a little tricky when I started reaching the holiday parks along the coast. The signage was a bit hit and miss through the parks. I had to rely on my GPS to get me through the parks. Some of the parks were gradually disappearing into the sea. I came across roads that suddenly disappeared over the cliff edge. I’m not sure I’d have liked to have stayed in any of the static caravans next to the cliff edge.     

The most difficult part to navigate on today’s walk was when I reached Far Grange golf course. A sign said that the cliff edge alongside the golf course was unstable. The official England Coast Path route headed inland at this point. I decided to follow the official route. Unfortunately, the path ran alongside a field and the farmer had planted crops right up to the edge. Soon, both my boots had collected large clumps of mud. It was a relief when I reached the B1242 coastal road. I started following it south. There were no England Coast Path signs of course. The road was quite busy, but there was a wide grassy verge to walk along. It wasn’t a particularly enjoyable part of the walk. After about a mile, the official route turned into yet another holiday park. Again there was no signage. The official England Coast Path route through the park turned out to be a work of fiction. It indicated that I should follow the fields along the edge of the park. I followed this exact route by GPS, but there was little indication that anybody else had walked through the vegetation. I would have been better just walking through the holiday park until I came to the cliff and then following it southwards. Even so, I finally managed to find my way to the cliff through the fields. It was with some relief that I could see that the path towards Hornsea from here looked a lot easier. 

Hornsea

It was easier too. Gradually the mud that I’d acquired on my boots during that horrible detour, fell from my boots. A woman walking the other way stopped for a chat. I remember passing her near Skipsea and then seeing her again walking along the beach towards Hornsea as I was high up on the cliffs. She asked me what the route was like from here to Skipsea. I drew a deep breath.  
‘I think I’d go back along the beach’ I responded.   
‘The tide’s coming in now and so it isn’t an option’ she replied.  
I didn’t really know what to recommend. The official English Coast Path route I had chosen wasn’t signed, had no visible footpath for long stretches, was a mudfest over a field, and spent a mile going alongside a busy road. I told her that if I’d not got the route plotted on a GPS, I’d probably not attempt the official route. The alternative was to attempt to make her  way along the cliff through the holiday park and golf course. I didn’t know whether this was possible since there were no public footpaths marked on the OS map. I didn’t really envy her choice. Hopefully she managed to traverse this awkward spot without the difficulties I incurred.

I started to reach the outskirts of Hornsea. The path drifted away from the cliff edge so that now there were houses between the path and the sea. I joined Cliff Road which was straight and seemed to go on forever. At a junction with Hartley Street, I followed a road back to the sea. This brought me to Hornsea’s promenade and I started following it southwards. After about 10 minutes I arrived at a tall monument that signified the end of the Trans Pennine Trail. It was also the end point for this section of the England Coast Path today. I would set off from this point tomorrow on the first section of my Trans Pennine Trail Venture, when I’d walk to Hull. For the moment though, England Coast Path Venture day was complete.   

After the damp start, the day had actually turned out to be quite sunny, but with a chill wind. The paths had been generally good except for that awkward bit bypassing the golf course and holiday park. The England Coast Path could definitely do with better signage all along this section from Bridlington to Hornsea. I had a potter around Hornsea after the walk. It was definitely worth a pootle around. I found the Mere to be quite impressive. 

A Mere Addition

I was too early for my Air B&B and so I decided to have a wander around Hornsea. I started to make my way to the main high street of the town which was about 10 minutes walk away from the promenade. It was quite a busy high street and had a fine selection of bakeries, cafes, pubs and grocery stores. I stopped at Cooplands to boost my calorie count. Looking at the OS map, Hornsea has a large mere and so I decided to pay a visit. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the town centre. I found it to be a lot larger than I imagined. I had mooted the idea of walking around it, but when I saw the size of it, I gave that up as a bad idea. There was a cafe near the carpark and so I popped in. They had a large chalkboard with a dozen or so tasty options. I perused these as I waited for the guy in front of me to be served. When it was my turn, I reeled off one of the options from the chalkboard that took my fancy.   
‘Sorry, but we stopped serving food 10 minutes ago’ she informed me. It was 14:40. Arriving late for food at cafes seems to be the story of my life. I ordered a coffee.   

Hornsea turned out to be a very pleasant sea-side town. Its railway station closed in 1964 which was probably the cause of its failure as a commercial resort such as Bridlington and Scarborough, and also its saviour in terms of retaining a nostalgic charm. Sure, there were one or two amusement arcades, fish and chips shops and seaside gift shops, but the place felt more relaxed and less commercial. It was a good place to potter around.