Day 291: Filey to Wilsthorpe
Distance: 21.66 miles
Ascent: 9497 feet
Weather: Sunny
Accommodation: SOuth Cliff Holiday Park (Kindly Reduced)
When I woke this morning, I was surprised that it sounded like it was raining, there was no rain forecast in fact no clouds forecast at all. Eventually I poked my head out and it was not raining but it damn sounded like it was raining. It turned out the dew had been so heavy last night that the water was dripping of all the trees and vegetation so heavily it sounded like rain, both sides of the outer of the tent were absolutely soaked as was the underside of the inner. It was also cold so I just got packed up as quickly as possible, and stuffed the soaking wet tent in its sack hoping I could dry it out later. One benefit of being on a campsite was that I could warm my hands up (I know very weedy of me) under the hair dryer before leaving.
As per yesterday the weather was stunning as I left and the sun rising over Filey Bay was lovely. The England Coast Path had stopped in Filey and I was hoping to walk along the whole beach before hopefully finding a path up the slope/cliff the other end onto another path The Headland Way. The 3 or so miles along the beach went very quickly and now I was looking for a route up the steep slope, I couldn’t seem to see anywhere but my map showed an old path that came half way down from the top, I decided to just head up a deer trail (in fact there was a deer further up the slope as I climbed it) in the direction of the path and just as I was beginning to worry that I would have to backtrack I found some steps and they fortunately took me up to the top and onto the cliff.
I thought now the going would get much easier as this was a named trail, in fact the first mile was not great (overgrown and muddy) at all but then the route suddenly became mowed and perfectly clear. Up on the cliffs here it was magnificent and there were so many literally tens of thousands of Gannets making for an incredible spectacle and then I reached the RSPB reserve which said this was the greatest concentration of Gannets on the UK mainland. I spent too long here but it was simply amazing and anyone interested in birds should definitely visit here if nearby.
The path continued along the cliffs after the reserve and at North Landing I bumped into a couple on holiday (apologies as always have forgotten names) on a walk and we got chatting. They were going the same direction as me, so we walked together along with their two dogs as far as the café near Flamborough Head. They incredibly generously treated to me to tea and lunch at the café as well as giving a donation before we went our separate ways.
As has been a regular feature for a few days the sun was still shining as I continued following the cliffs from Flamborough Head all the way to Bridlington with one steep descent and ascent at Dykes End. I am not sure what to say about Bridlington, considering I come from Brighton which has enough penny arcades itself, there were just a ridiculous amount here at one point I think there was 7 in a row! There is no way they can all make money, someone with a suspicious mind may say they are a front for something else. But I didn’t mind Bridlington though unlike some other places it didn’t overly excite me.
It was not long beyond Bridlington where I finished for the day. As I have a couple of people joining over the next few days I decided to stop in South Cliff Holiday Park, which had very kindly given me a reduced price to stay, so I could use Wi-fi and sort out the arrangements for meeting and walking with them. I must admit this site is not my sort of place, but that is not saying it is bad far from it just not my sort of place. It is a holiday park and not a simple basic campsite which is more my cup of tea.
Another sunny day, but my tent is soaking and I hope it has dried a fair amount when I return to it after typing this.
NB - though I am certain of the accuracy of the mileage the ascent sometimes seems erroneous to me and today though there was a fair amount of ascent I can’t believe there was almost 10,000 feet though maybe I am wrong.
