FLAMBOROUGH HEAD

Flamborough Head is shaped like an arrow head, which may explain the supposed origin of the name, which is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word for arrow head, “flaen”. There is evidence of settlement here dating back at least to the Bronze Age, or possibly even the Stone Age. The rock which forms the headland is chalk, and nearby there is a chalk tower built in 1674, which is the oldest surviving complete lighthouse in England. There is a second, newer lighthouse which was built in 1806. In 1779 the American Revolutionary War reached this coastline with the Battle of Flamborough head, in which Royal Navy frigates engaged with a Franco-American squadron.

This stretch of coast is a magnet for nature-lovers, and recently a new visitor centre was opened called the Living Seas Centre, which offers information and events relating to the local wildlife on land and in the sea.  Aside from the wildlife, there is a golf club on the headland.  Near Flamborough Head is the RSPB reserve of Bempton Cliffs where the birdlife, which numbers some 200,000, includes gannets and puffins.

Map of the area.

Flamborough - panoramio (1). Photo by Paul Lakin, via Wikimedia Commons.

BRIDLINGTON

The resort and fishing port of Bridlington goes back a long way. Traces of a Roman road and discoveries of Roman coins in the town point to a past going back at least to Roman times. Bridlington Priory was founded around 1113 by Walter de Gant as an Augustinian house and continued until Henry VIII did his worst in 1538 by dissolving it as part his Dissolution of the Monasteries campaign. One product of this institution was St John of Bridlington, who was deemed to be responsible for a number of miracles, including bringing five people back to life, restoring sight to a blind woman and pulling a group of stricken sailors safely to shore. The Bayle Museum is located in what was once the entrance to the Priory, which lies in the Old Town, around 1 mile from the coast.

Bridlington enjoys the reputation of having one of the finest railway stations in the country. The station buffet is one of only three remaining original station buffets in the country, and it is known for putting on a spectacular floral display each summer. Attractions in the town include boat trips up the coast to Flamborough Head, and the Spa Theatre. A short distance from Bridlington, Sewerby Hall houses an art gallery and museum where mementoes of female aviator Amy Johnson, who was born in Hull, can be viewed.

Map of the area.

Bridlington Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 546996. Photo by Peter Church, via Wikimedia Commons.

HORNSEA

There is a long straight stretch of coast heading north-west from Withernsea, passing through several small communities, after which we come to the small seaside resort of Hornsea. Despite the town’s best efforts to keep the sea at bay, it suffers from severe coastal erosion, with one of the fastest eroding shorelines in Europe. The town used to be known for its pottery, but sadly the pottery works is now closed, but examples of Hornsea pottery can be seen in the Folk Museum.  Across the way from the museum is the Bettison Folly, dating from the 19th century and adorned with local “treacle bricks”. Another attraction in the town is the Designer Village of Hornsea Freeport. Just inland from the town itself is Hornsea Mere, the largest inland natural body of water in Yorkshire, with facilities for anglers and boating enthusiasts including a Sailing Club. The Meer is a Special Protection Area due to its shallow waters being an ideal environment for a variety of swamp and fen plants. The Meer also attracts many birds. A short distance to the north of Hornsea is Skipsea, where a grassy mound near the church is all that remains of a Norman castle which belonged to Drogo de Bevrere, who married a relative of William The Conqueror.

Hornsea is the eastern terminus of a long-distance trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders called the Trans Pennine Trail.  The trail ends on the west coast at Southport.

Map of the area.

Hornsea beach - geograph.org.uk - 1059683. Photo by Peter Church, via Wikimedia Commons.

WITHERNSEA

The lighthouse in the small seaside town of Withernsea has something in common with the one in Southwold, in that it was built inland, and stands among the houses of the town. The lighthouse is open to visitors as a museum dedicated to the 1950s actress Kay Kendall, who was born very nearby. The resort used to have a pier, but after a succession of collisions with sundry errant sea vessels it was finally closed in the 1930s during the building of sea defences. All that remains now is the strangely medieval looking former entrance to the pier, known as Pier Towers. However, there are other traditional seaside activities in the form of amusement arcades and the Pavilion Leisure Centre which offers a variety of sports and an indoor pool complete with water slide. In 2010, Withernsea was declared the most affordable seaside address in Britain for house prices, at the other end of the spectrum from Cornish glamourpusses Padstow, Fowey and Rock.

Map of the area.

Withernsea Lighthouse (geograph 6481437). Photo by Colin Park, via Wikimedia Commons.

SPURN POINT AND KILNSEA

Moving back out towards the open sea, we come to the mouth of the Humber, where a very distinctive geological phenomenon awaits us: the long, thin Spurn Point, aka Spurn Head. The Point is 3 ½ miles long and in places only 50 metres wide, and amounts to little more than a sand spit, but it manages to pack in a nature reserve with mudflats for wading birds, a bird observatory for migrating birds, the opportunity to view seals, and a disused black and white lighthouse which closed in 1986. In 2008 a family were strolling along the beach here when the children of the family noticed something sticking out of the sand, at first thinking it was just a bit of old wood. However, the object turned out to be a woolly mammoth tusk which had become partially exposed. The children extricated the object and took it to the warden, and it was confirmed by a palaeontologist at Hull University as being the tusk of a woolly mammoth.

The small community of Kilnsea teeters precariously on this spit of land, with a shore on each side: the sandy eastern shore facing the North Sea, and the muddy western shore facing the Humber Estuary. This is where the nature reserve's Discovery Centre can be found.  As an example of the shifting geology of this spot, there is a plaque on the former Blue Bell Inn here informing the visitor that the inn used to be 488 metres from the sea, but is now only 174 metres from the sea. Near Kilnsey there is a "listed building" which is not really a building at all but a "sound mirror", a World War One precursor to the radar which consisted of a concrete half-hexagon with a concave circular disc which would have had a trumpet-shaped microphone installed in front of it. The idea was to amplify the sound of approaching German Zeppelins, providing a warning to a Listener stationed in a nearby trench. Further north from Kilnsey, the village of Easington shares its portion of the by now widening peninsula with a large natural gas terminal.


Map of the area.

Spurn Lighthouses - geograph.org.uk - 1096100. Photo by Wendy North, via  Wikimedia Commons.

KINGSTON UPON HULL

Having walked, cycled or driven across the Humber Bridge, we find ourselves suddenly in Yorkshire, or more precisely the East Riding of Yorkshire – the term ‘riding’ denoting an administrative jurisdiction or electoral district – at the western end of an urban sprawl which starts with the town of Hessle and continues along the north bank of the Humber to Hull, or Kingston Upon Hull to give it its full name.

The origins of the city date from the 11th century when a settlement called Wyke grew up on the banks of the River Hull, an offshoot of the Humber. In the centre of the city are a set of gardens on different levels called Queen’s Gardens, with a statue of champion of the abolition of slavery William Wilberforce on top of a Doric column; Wilberforce was born in Hull in the building bearing the unsurprising name Wilberforce House which is open to the public as a museum. The gardens are on the site of what used to be the largest dock in Britain, opened in 1778. During the 19th century, in the days before whaling became a dirty word, Hull had the largest whaling fleet in Britain with over 60 whalers. In 1820 the fleet was responsible for the demise of 688 whales – inconceivable in these times of hand-wringing over the fate of these magnificent creatures. The last whaler went out in 1869.

There is a pub in the old part of Hull called Ye Olde Black Boy, the oldest licensed premises in Hull, which is one of the places featured in the city’s popular ghost walks, since it has a reputation for hauntings. Drinkers here have reputedly succeeded in capturing ghostly apparitions on film, while one was allegedly grabbed round the neck by a phantom pair of hands appearing from the bar wall. But before you rush to blame the strength of the drinks served at the bar for these claims, it is not only humans who have been affected: rumour has it that a landlord’s dog had to be put down as a result of the trauma suffered by the poor mutt after spending a night in the bar downstairs.  Back in the real world, the city's aquarium, The Deep, styles itself as one of the most spectacular aquariums in the world.

For a list of events in Hull follow this link.

Map of the area.

Prince's Quay, Hull. Photo by Tim Green, via Wikimedia Commons.