Day 214: Filey to Scarborough

The trains are cancelled beyond Edinburgh due to adverse weather conditions — heavy rain and strong winds are forecast all day. Travelling up from home, it’s already 1 pm when I arrive at Filey, so there’s no chance of making it to Scarborough in daylight. Not that there’s much light anyway. The wind and rain blow off the sea. Time to put on another thermal top. I’m so padded I could roll down the steep cobbled street and bounce into the foaming sea.

High Tide in Short Wellies, another Ray Lonsdale steel sculpture, dominates the promenade. The fisherman has a fish wrapped in newspaper at his feet, attracting a hungry rat. There’s a poem on the newspaper:

That's it for me I'll see you later
gonna wrap this catch in protective paper
gonna face the sea with a thousand mile stare
And wish that I was floating there

          In its summertime

Down on the pier I saw a man with a board
It read 'the end is near accept your lord'
Then underneath this some fisherman wrote
'I can see the end from the back of my boat'

          This is wintertime

Filey Brigg defies the North Sea.

Despite the strong wind, I’m keen to explore the end of the peninsula. Instead of taking a path down the south side, I follow the track along the top of the headland, which finally plunges down an exposed narrow clay ridge to a stone building on the flat rocks below. Halfway down, swaying despite my poles, I peer over the north side of the ridge — very steep — and make a tactical retreat, crouching down to work my way safely back up to the top.

Rejoining the main path, a magical stone marks the end of two national trails: the 109-mile Cleveland Way, running from the market town of Helmsley across the North York Moors, and the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way, starting on the River Humber.

The clifftop walk is spectacular despite the weather. A day of constant wiping down the camera lens on my iPhone, taking a quick shot and zipping it away in my jacket pocket. I’ve given up on my Sealskin waterproof gloves as they are a nightmare to put on when your hands are wet, and I need to free my hands to take photos.

A sign warns of cliff erosion at Lebberston Cliff, but I don’t have time to follow the inland diversion. Thankfully, someone has wrapped cloth round the barbed wire fence, allowing me to cut across the field.

Dusk approaches and wildlife appears — a small herd of deer stands motionless, watching my progress, seals cry far below, and an owl rises above the fields.

My apologies to Scarborough as this is the second time I’ve arrived in the dark. However, the light show is beautiful. That’s the first of the gaps from my November walk completed — onwards north!

Walk distance: 10 miles.

Total distance: 3,634 miles.