Filey Brigg

If your idea of a good day out at the seaside is a bustling promenade lined with shops, amusement arcades and fast food joints, then Filey is not for you. Of course it has its customary gift shops and a few fish and chip shops (and very nice they are too!) but you have to look for them. Beautiful simplicity would be my summation of this place. It's just an ordinary, sleepy, well-manicured town that just happens to be by the sea. It has a nice beach: less crowded and more peaceful; a perfect get-away for those who prefer a simpler, less chaotic seaside experience. Wide-open spaces, rugged scenery and, from way up high at North Cliff Country Park, a bracing and unsurpassed view of the sea awaits all who venture here.

 North Cliff Country Park

Filey Bay from North Cliff

The perfect place to camp,  relax, or enjoy a picnic.

Filey Brigg from North Cliff

Sea view from North Cliff

Filey Bay

Filey bay from Carr Naze.  No crowded beach here!

Carr Naze 

The cliffs above Filey Brigg are known as Carr Naze. During the latter part of the 4th c. the Romans built a signal station here as a defence against Saxon invaders.

The North side of Carr Naze looking towards Scarborough.

Great photo opportunities here!

Path along Carr Naze to the Brigg

Filey Brigg

Filey Brigg and the underwater "Spittals"

Situated on the South side of Filey Bay, Filey Brigg is a natural rock causeway with a history dating back to Roman times.  Surrounded by hundreds of wrecks, 'the Brigg' and 'The Spittals', a mysterious man-made underwater structure on the South side, have always been and remain an area of great interest to historians and archaeologists . (See links)

Walking here is prohibited. After saying that, some still do.

Photo Credits
Ewa Gornas  & Gill Harrison (2010)




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Interesting and informative links:

Archaeology
Camping
Geology
 History
 Ornithology
Yorkshire Guide: Filey

Flamborough Head

Flamborough  is situated on the North East coast of Yorkshire between Filey and Bridlington. The origins of Flamborough date back thousands of years and the area has  an interesting, if confusing, history. Evidence would suggest that early European settlers once occupied Flamborough and, though it remains unproven, it is believed by many that the origin of its name stems from ancient Nordic or Icelandic influence. Others believe that the old Anglo-Saxon word for "Spearhead" (Flaen/Flayn), which is similar to the first part of Flamborough's present name,  stands as a viable alternative theory.  This idea is of course supported by the shape of the Flamborough headland: a sharp elongation which juts out into the North Sea  by roughly 6 miles (9.7km). 

Rugged Coastline

Chalk cliffs at Flamborough looking North

Light Houses

Towering 92 feet from base to apex, Flamborough lighthouse emits a beam exceeding 3.5 million candle power every 15 seconds and can be seen at sea at a distance of 21 miles.

Flamborough is best known for its lighthouses. Between the late 17c and the present day there have been two constructions erected presumably for this purpose: the Chalk Tower/ Beacon Tower, built in 1673, and the present lighthouse, built in 1806. After saying that, many believe that the earlier tower was built for some other reason and proponents of this latter theory cite the 1806 tower as the original and only lighthouse to ever exist at Flamborough.

The Chalk Tower/ Beacon Tower built in 1673.
(Additional photo courtesy of Flickr)

Smuggler's Caves & Coves 

The many caves along Flamborough's rocky shore were a safe haven for the crafty smugglers of the 18th and early 19th century. Illegal cargoes of tobacco, brandy, tea, cotton and silk  were regularly brought ashore here unbeknown to excise men.  Many of the older houses in Flamborough still contain smuggler's holes.  

A cave created by constant battering of the sea.

Another cave sculpted by the relentless waves.

Typical "smuggler's cove".

Photo Credits

Ewa Gornas & Gill Harrison (2010)
 (With the exception of the Chalk Tower, borrowed
from Flikr for illustration purposes.)

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Interesting and informative links:

Archaeology
Geography
Geology
  History
RNLI
Yorkshire Guide: Flamborough