Walk 106

Dale to Roch 27miles

Today is going to be a long day, not only mileage but the fact rain is forecast for midday which means it arrives when I will still have 5 hours of walking to go!:(   The path from Dale climbs steeply out of the village through a dense wooded area, the path is extremely slippy and I have to keep grabbing hold of trees to stop myself from falling!  The path soon opens up to a flat grassy field and I'm on my way to St Ann's head which is at the mouth of Milford Haven and has not one but two lighthouses! there is only one in use now but if you fancy living in a remote location the cottages are up for sale at a bargain 900K! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2158058/Britains-isolated-street-cottages-boasting-best-sea-views-country-sale--1m.html

Once at St Ann's head the island of Skomer came into view, this is a very popular place for the bird watching fraternity and once I arrived at St Martins Bay (which is where you catch a ferry to Skomer) I could see they were going to have a busy day ferrying passengers. The rain started bang on time just after St Martins Bay, so I plodded on through firstly the drizzle and then the heavy stuff arrived an hour later, its a real shame because as I made my way down towards Little Haven and Broad Haven I could only imagine how picturesque these villages must look when its sunny.  Just after Broadhaven I made a decision to finish the rest of the days walk on the roads to Roch as I felt with the already saturated ground, the persistent rain and now the fog moving in!!! I didn't want to slip off the edge of a cliff having not being able to see where I was going!!  The only pic of the day is of the lighthouse at St Ann's head.

Walk 105

Milford to Dale 10miles

I'm back in Wales again for another 5day walk preceded by a 6.5 hr train journey! The train journey is one of my favourites so the time goes quickly before I have to disembark in Milford Haven.  I have to get a move on today as I have 2 stepping stone river crossings to make before the tide rises and covers the path, this saves me 2 very lengthy detours.  The first part of the walk takes me through the streets of Milford and the town is very ordinary with the main business being oil refineries. The Pembrokeshire coast path eventually winds its way to Gelliswick which is a nice quite bay but the oil refineries are always shadowing the coast in these parts. Just after Gelliswick the path starts to hug the coast and becomes a lot more rural with tall grass, nettles and the inevitable mud, I say inevitable but as its 5th July this shouldn't be the case......and then there was summer 2012!!!!.  I wound my way along Milford sound and fortunately the sun is shining, the first river crossing is at Sandy Haven and the tide is nowhere to be seen! there used to be a ferry here but that is long gone, the stepping stones are caked in thick moss so its small baby steps and very slowly does it!!!  I have another 4 miles to get to Musselwick for the next river crossing so I really start to get a move on, there isn't much to marvel at in this part of the walk so I'm happy with my head down and getting to the crossing point ASAP.  Once again I make good time and these stepping stones are a lot easier. The last mile is along a busy country road but you are rewarded with the lovely village of Dale at the end. The pic was taken just before Musselwick looking towards Dale.

Walk 104

North Landing to Scarborough 23miles

The day was very cold and damp, feeling more like November than May!  The first part of the walk today was along the cliff tops and the east wind was bracing to say the least!  At Bempton cliffs the birdwatchers were out in force, not surprising really as the Gannets were in the process of nest building, and the Puffins were busily fishing.  I stopped for a while to watch the Puffins fly in and out of the cliffs, this is the first time I have seen them in the wild which is another first for me this week! I continued to walk along the cliff tops and at Speeton I found a very precarious path down to the beach, the next 4 miles were along the sandy beach all the way to Filey where I stopped for a cuppa and a piece of cake!  After Filey I picked up the cliff top path to Filey Brigg, I started to walk to the end of the Brigg but turned back due to the narrow path and my lack of head for heights! I picked up the Cleveland Way at Filey Brigg and this path will eventually lead me all the way along the coast to Saltburn where it heads inland.  The final part of today's walk took in Cayton bay and then on into Scarborough. The first pic is of Bempton cliffs, 2nd pic is Filey Brigg

Walk 103

Hornsea To North Landing (Flamborough) 18.5 Miles

Today started off dull and cold, it then turned wet and cold!  The walk today was very straightforward, and I decided to have an early start (7.30am) so as to catch the tide on its way out.  I hopped onto the beach and walked the 12 miles to Bridlington in one continuous straight line, I really love this type of walking as its easy on the eye and very easy on your feet. So 4hrs later I walked on through the seaside town of Bridlington, with all its bucket and spade shops and amusement arcades, there nothing quite like this scene in any other country in the world and I love it !!!  After Brid I climbed up onto the cliff tops and 2 miles along the path I came across a steep valley with steps!!! I thought I must be in the wrong county!!!! :), shortly after it was onto South Landing and yet another valley, what a treat for me...2 in one day!! a few more miles along the path and I took a pic of Flamborough Lighthouse, it was then onto North Landing and a bus back to Brid for my Bed&Breakfast for the night.

Walk 102

Withernsea to Hornsea 19miles

Withersea Lighthouse

Coastal Erosion

Today was the best day of the week weather wise, and you can see this by the 2 pics I have posted, both taken in Sunny Withernsea.  Someone described to me Withernsea as "a council estate by the sea!" and they were not wrong!! I have never seen so many "Hoodies" in such a small area!!!! 

So, onto the walk....I hopped onto the beach with the intention of walking most of the way to Hornsea, but due to the on rushing tide I had to abandon this idea at Monkwith. I was in a bit of a panic because of the tide, but fortunately I managed to find a spot to scramble up the cliff before I was caught out!  The only reason I could climb up the cliff was due to the coastal erosion in this area and my  pic highlights this problem!!!

 The rest of today's walk was along roads through the villages of Hilston, Garton, Aldborough and Mapleton and then finally Hornsea.  Hornsea is a nice little town and 100% better than Withernsea

Withernsea Seafront

Walk 101

Kilnsea to Withernsea 18miles

The Westmere Farm B&B I stopped in last night is the best accommodation so far on my travels. The hosts Sue and Andrew could not do enough for their guests, right down to the packed lunch I was given just before I left!!!!  The first part of today's walk was the 7 miles to the end of Spurn Point and back, things were going well and I managed to take a pic of the lighthouse, which looks a bit tatty at the mo but I have been reliably informed that it is to be renovated soon.  The weather soon turned and as I rounded the point the rain was lashing down complete with a fierce wind!!! however as I trudged along the beach I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, and there in the long grass was a small Deer I couldn't belive how far onto Spurn
Point it was, it must have been lost!!!  I guess in the weather it was thinking the same about me!!!!  I walked on back into Kilnsea and then picked up the road to Easington, I had no choice today than to roadwalk all the way to Withernsea as the tide was very high, and this was born out on my second pic taken from Holmpton looking back towards Kilnsea.

Walk100

Hull (Heddon) to Kilnsea  23 Miles

Its May, its cold, its wet and windy so I must be on the East Coast again!  A treat for me this week was that I was able to catch a flight to Leeds in order to get to my start point in Hull, mind you it did take another 2 buses and a train to get to this point!!!  By the time I reach Heddon the weather is much better, so I hop onto the road for a mile and then pick up a path along an estuary which takes me down to Paull where I took a pic of the lighthouse which is now someones home!  The one thing that struck me about Paull was that even though it is only a small village it has a lot of pubs, there must be 1 for every 10 people that live there!! :) All of today's walk was along the north bank of the Humber, passing through Skeffling, Easington and finally onto Kilnsea.  I did have a couple of problems today, the first was with the route being closed a mile before Hawkins Point, but fortunately the foreman let me walk on as there wasn't anyone working today. Just after Hawkins Point there is an interesting monument marking the point of 0 degrees latitude, so I took a pic to mark the occasion of passing through it !!  The second problem was just before Skeffling where I thought I could cross at a sluice but I was mistaken and so had a lengthy detour upstream and then through high high wheat fields, nettles and long grass in order to get back on track. Today I heard my first Cuckoo of the spring and I also saw a short eared owl but I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to take a photo !! :(