Dystopian Beauty

2020 has been a very strange year, and sometimes we just needed to escape, and for me that means the seaside.

Our campervan has not been used much this year, so we decided on a few days trip mid September. Our normal breaks take us westward, so for a change we opted to go North Easterly to the Yorkshire coast, to places we had not been to before.

As we were booking late, and due to Coronavirus, many more people were holidaying in the UK, we couldn’t get the first night where we wanted, and opted to stop in Snaith, on the way there. The site was small, and we were the only guests when we arrived, sharing the field with some chickens who soon departed once the dogs were let out.

The site had caught my eye as the pillars from an old bridge remained in the river behind the site. So we went to have a look, but as the banks were overgrown and fenced off, we only got distant views.

This used to be a toll bridge, charging an awful lot of money to cross when it was built. The 2 small church like building across the river are the toll booths.

We carried on our walk with a visit to Snaith town. To get to the town we passed underneath the road bridge, and a Barn Owl flew out, too quick for a photo.

We found a wonderful cake shop, so took a couple of huge yummy cakes back with us for afternoon tea.

The next morning we continued on to Spurn Head, and the Yorkshire coast.

Our campsite was a small tidy site with around 8 other vans. We quickly realised that Spurn Head is a great venue for Bird Watching, as everyone else there seemed to be in Camouflaged clothing carrying huge binoculars and cameras.

A quick check of Google told us that a rare sighting of a Rosy Starling was todays excitement, but as we only had small binoculars with us, we left that to the twitchers.

If you don’t know the area, Spurn Head is the long strip of sand and dunes the curves around the end of the Humber estuary, and is one of the most easterly points on this part of the coast, which is why random birds appear here, having been blown across the North Sea.

As we had arrived early, we set of for a stroll by the sea, after all, that’s why we were here. Dogs are not allowed on the main Headland as it is a nature reserve, but we stopped at the cafe for a quick drink, no ice-creams! Then we set off along the beach.

The sea is constantly eroding this part of the coast, moving it ever Westwards. As a result, the beach is now scattered with the ruins of war time lookout building, and the static caravan park is slowly being reclaimed by the sea.

The dogs were glad to be free on the beach, with Rita making sure she collected lots of sand to take back to the van.

Lookin gout to sea there is a large Wind farm, gently spinning turbines making pretty patterns as they lined up.

I never imaged lumps of old brickwork could be so beautiful, eroded by sea and sand.

The large concrete blocks are part of the sea defenses. Further along we came to the ruins of WW2 gun turrets.

The first sight of them has a shape that resembles a huge bird, until you venture closer.

These make for a very dystopian lands scape, and truly show the power of the sea. They were very solidly built to withstand bombing, but the sea had just scattered the remains across the beach, at crazy angles.

It is an almost alien scene, with crooked staircases going nowhere, and weird round shapes like UFOs.

Eventually I was dragged away to continue our walk, knowing we would return the next day for more photo opportunities.

We booked ourselves a meal at the nearby pub, which overlooks the Estuary, facing West, towards Grimsby .

The meal was delicious, and we were treated to their ‘cabaret’ – the sun setting into the water. As I have usually visited the west coast, this feel right – I’m never comfortable with the sun sinking behind me as I look out to sea.

The next day, still hot and sunny, we set off from where we left off along the beach.

There is a Sound mirror inland a short way, but we didnt find the footpath to it, so only got a distant shot.

The signs of erosion are everywhere, the caravan site had lost a row of plots, and the road hangs over the edge.

On the dunes we found a ‘sculpture’ of several lobster pots and some rubbish, with a poem written on.

At one point the dogs started barking when they were close to the sea defenses, and I soon realized they had come across a young seal.

It wasn’t too concerned by them, as I called them away, and it flopped back into the sea.

I grabbed a shot of the starlings on the telegraph wires, one of them might be a rosy Starling, but I doubt it.

After another good night, despite me finding a wasp in my cider, and getting stung on my lip, we set off to our next stay. I was for once glad to wear a mask, as my lip and cheek swelled from the sting.

First we called in at Bridlington, a very typical seaside town, all rocks shops, arcades and tacky souvernirs.

We just had to stop on the prom for fish’n’chips, and took a stroll around town. It was busy due to the lovely weather, but the breeze was a bit brisk.

Our final site was on Flamborough Head, just round the coast.

The next day we walked from our site to the lighthouse on the Head, passing the old Chalk tower, which was the first lighthouse here. But the charges for this service were voluntary, so it quickly fell into disrepair.

The Greenwich Meridian crosses the head and is marked by a plaque. This can be confusing, as many maps of Britain are tilted, so you would imagine it passed further inland than this.

The modern lighthouse is now a popular destination for more bird watchers and has a small cafe. It also has a shop where I found a souvenir pencil for my collection and a badge for my camera bag – result.

From here we set off round the Southern side of the head, where we could sea bird strewn cliffs.

Part of the route passed through a Sculpture park, but is seems most of the sculptures have gone, leaving only a totem pole and a wonderful Whale Bone bridge

The final part of the walk we dropped down to the beach below the chalk cliffs, and then back to the campsite, warmed by the sun, and tired from our great walks.

We were so glad we decided on tis trip, adding new locations to our travels.

Can’t wait for our next trip.