NORTH SEA SPLENDOUR Chris Gee rejoices in the seabirds and flowering chalk grasslands of Yorkshire’s white-cliff coast
Some say that Yorkshire is a microcosm of all that the English landscape has to offer. Nowhere is this more true than where the iconic chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head face off against the North Sea. This is where the rolling Yorkshire Wolds come to an abrupt full stop, as equally dramatic as those more famous white cliffs on the south coast.
COLOURFUL CLIFFS
Traditional Yorkshire fishing cobles are hauled out in the tiny coves of North Landing, where children explore the caves and rockpools, seeking out crabs and starfish. The seaside soundtrack of herring gulls will draw you towards the grassy clifftops, dotted with the bobbing flowerheads of pink thrift and offering long views along the coast to the sheltering arm of Filey Brigg.
You will hear and smell the seabirds of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Flamborough Cliffs Reserve long before you reach the unfenced clifftop, which offers stunning views of the huge colonies nesting on impossibly thin ledges.
Offshore, bright white gannets fly to and from their colony at Bempton Cliffs, diving like darts into the rolling blue water. The onomatopoeic call of the kittiwake will draw your eye to the ledges below, where razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and shags rub shoulders and squabble noisily over prize nesting sites. The cliffs are also home to clownish puffins, one of the few places where you find these characterful little birds nesting on the English mainland.
MEADOWS BY THE SEA
Route finding is easy as you follow the clifftop path where a thin fringe of bright green grass separates the brilliantwhite chalk cliff from an azure blue sky. Brush up on your flower identification as you discover common spotted orchids, kidney vetch, red campion, bird’s-foot trefoil and oxeye daisies. Meadow pipits flit among the flowerheads, skylarks burble overhead and peregrine falcons patrol the cliffs, spooking the jackdaws.
The undulating path leads effortlessly to Flamborough Head where two white lighthouses stand. The original 1674 chalk structure now watches over the golf course, while the 1806 replacement still operates today. The path continues above sea stacks and chalk ledges and requires little direction as it leads you down into South Landing and up on to Beacon Hill where long views to Sewerby and Bridlington are revealed.
Field paths now lead you back into the heart of Flamborough village and then along North Marine Drive to North Landing.