Introduction
I went on holiday on my own to Bridlington, staying in a self-catering flat above a shop.
This is part 1 of 2.
First evening
I went for a quick walk and took pictures.
Flamborough Head
On Sunday I walked to the lighthouse at the end of Flamborough Head, about five miles away.
There's a pillbox on the way, defences against a German invasion. I found these all along the coast.
Flamborough Head itself (a headland, obviously) is definitely worth a visit. The ground's pleasingly bumpy and as well as the lighthouse, there's tall radio masts at what the map labels a 'fog signal station'. Also, there's a café which sells ice creams.
Flamborough village is about two miles away along a really boring road. It has a church dedicated to Saint Oswald, patron saint of fishermen.
Bridlington
In the evening I went to see the 'old town' area.
I got accosted by somebody who was standing outside a pub, while I took pictures of the socks. (I hate when people ask why I take pictures of weird things.) The shop didn't look very open, so I asked: he said it had closed five years ago. If that's true, the socks are doing pretty well.
After that I wandered into a residential area on my way back. It looked like a perfectly normal road: no burnt-out houses, no decaying household appliances lying around. But there was a CCTV camera on a giant pole set to cover the whole street; not a great sign. Even so, I managed to make it back to the main road without seeing any crimes in progress.
I walked out onto the harbour's north pier before heading back.
Driffield
On Monday I'd planned a circular walk from Driffield, a small town on the railway a little way inland, partly just because it had a canal and partly because I'd never been there and I liked the name. I keep imagining one of those old railway posters exhorting people to visit 'Delightful Driffield'.
Driffield was actually more delightful than I'd expected. The old part of town was quite pretty. Also, the high street had lots of shops including a Yorkshire Trading Company, where I was able to buy a sunhat (I'd planned for rain, which was in short supply, and had already got sunburnt the day before). The hat only cost a fiver so I presume they're 'trading' with Cambodian child-labour sweatshops.
From the train I'd seen a disused factory so, after my shopping expedition, that was the first port of call before setting off on my planned route.
I did find a possible way in, but only by climbing a wall in broad daylight, and I'm far too wussy for that kind of thing anyway. So I moved on to the canal head. The canal's been restored a bit, but it's not navigable yet. A large wharfside mill had been converted into flats, but a couple of buildings were still in commercial use - although not, I suspect, as a warehouse for 'seeds and peas', which was painted on the wall.
I followed the public footpath by the canal to Whinhill Lock. The countryside around was flat and sometimes marshy (presumably on account of the nearby river). There were a few cattle grazing, but the main business of this area appears to be electricity distribution.
As you can probably tell, the lock isn't actually working (although aside from the weeds, it doesn't look in bad nick). The upstream gates are closed and padlocked.
I walked along a B-road the rest of the way into Wansford, which is a tiny village. I detoured to see its church then walked back to the road on a footpath along Nafferton Beck, which was pleasant and ended in a converted water-mill with millpond.
My route back was along country lanes through the village of Skerne, which wasn't very interesting. Nearing Driffield, I took the opportunity of a short footpath to briefly leave the road, passing through farmland.
The last highlight on my route was the Bell Mills site, which is a working mill - apparently we do still make flour in this country.
That's all for this part!