North Yorkshire Coast
24th March, North Yorkshire Coast
The last week in March saw me return to the North Yorkshire coast. I stayed in a Haven caravan park at the back of Flamborough head. Out of season, this was very very cheap. I used the van as my base and was out each day.
Day one, The Monday was predominantly travel as the journey was some 215 miles from home which with breaks was approximately five hours. Arriving at about 3:30 pm I eventually checked in after some disagreement and then having to find me an alternative caravan. However this consisted of a huge huge upgrade in terms of the quality of the van so overall I was happy.
I went out locally in the evening initially to Flamborough head itself. There is quite a scenic old lighthouse on the headland however there were too many tourists and cars around to find an interesting photograph. So I walked about a half a mile down the coast path to the cliff edge and there was a limestone rock formation with an arch in it which when you look at it in a certain way and squint with your eyes, people have said it looks like a dinosaur taking a drink. The picture is below I leave you to make your own decisions on the accuracy of that description. From there I went to Filey Brigg country Park arriving just as the Sun was setting, actually about 30 minutes too late, to take a picture of the Headland and the rock formations. This was not very successful.
Day two, The one place that I wanted to photograph this trip which I had missed last year, was the seaside village of Staithes. This was about a one hour 10 minute journey north, well above Whitby. It is known for the village clinging into the hillside with the river winding out past the harbour into the open sea. It is advised that the best time to photograph is in the evening with the falling lights and all the lights in the village coming on it’s meant to make a good photograph. I arrived about 11 am. The car park was on the cliff tops about half a mile away. I walked to where the photography guidebook had said was the most photogenic spot to photograph the village. I overshot and walked halfway down the hillside before realising I was in the wrong place. Unfortunately this now meant walking back up the hillside and these was not small hills and were very steep. I finally found the spot I was looking for and found another photographer there already. I think it is a wonderful location and I really would like to come back at some point and photograph it in different lighting conditions.
From there I went south to Whitby with the aim of going to Whitby Abbey again again to try and photograph it this time with some decent light. I arrived about lunchtime and proceeded to the YHA Restaurant/cafeteria for lunch, which again was good quality and good value. I did not go down the huge huge flight of steps from the Abbey to the town, but viewed the town below from the hilltop. I walked round the Abbey there were a number of tourists there at least three of them had Dracula cloaks on. There were two young ladies one doing photography perhaps for social media the one the other other one dressed in very Goth like long flowing black lace dress very pale white make up dark long hair, dark eyeshadows and bright red lipstick, she was also being followed around by a lot of the tourists with their cell phones taking pictures as well. I ignored all of that and headed for the east side of the Abbey where there is a pond in front of it. Set up my camera in the usual position with the objective of getting the photograph of the Abbey on the clifftop without the town behind it but with the reflection of the Abbey in the pool. After waiting about 45 minutes the sun eventually appeared. Again the picture is below.
Day three, I headed to Scarborough on Wednesday. Last time I was here, I hadn’t explored the North Beach area so that was where I headed. I parked at the northern end of North Beach and found a really nice beachside restaurant/cafeteria. Had a nice cup of tea and then wondered along the promenade. There was quite a strong breeze blowing and some large wave roll again crashing against the seawall. This became the focus for my photographs trying to get the spectacular crashing waves without getting wet. Some limited success. Returning to the restaurant I had some lunch which was really nice and then went to the south end of the south Bay and parked outside the old Victorian Spa. From here it was about a third of a mile walk to the old Lido. This is no longer used bathing it’s been filled in but it has a lovely curved to the seawall making for a good leading lines . And with the waves crashing against it, I was after some slow motion photography with long exposure capturing the power of the crashing wave waves.
Day four, I headed down into Filey which turned out to be a much smaller and quieter seaside town but to my mind a lot more relaxing and enjoyable than Whitby or Scarborough. Again I parked up and spent a few hours walking around the seafront stopping and having a coffee. I had thought of going into Bridlington after lunch but having driven through it earlier in the week made me on reflection decide I would give it a miss. I returned to the caravan mid afternoon as I had a lot of photographs to catch up and process.
Day five, The plan for day five was to leave the caravan quite early and visit Reiveaux Abbey which is about an hour and a quarter due west of where I was staying. This would’ve increased the journey time home by at least the hour plus the amount of time that I spent looking around the Abbey in the grounds. I was quite looking forward to doing this however I was ready to leave the caravan at 7:30 in the morning and the Abbey did not open, as it was an English Heritage site, until 10 am. Realistically, this would’ve meant I would not have left Yorkshire until midday and I would be driving south down the A1 Friday afternoon in heavy traffic. I changed my plan left and drove directly home to Stevenage where I joined up with my photography club friends for our Friday afternoon coffee and chat.
