Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Coastwalk
Easington → Withernsea
Distance: 8.26 miles
Ascent: 95 metres
Duration: 2 hours 47 minutes
Trespassing
« Skeffling | Hornsea »
Today's walk sets the tone for the rest of the week: we shall be trespassing.
The East Yorkshire coast is being eroded at such a rate that rights of way have a nasty habit of tumbling over the clifftops and into the sea. It's said that the coastline here is receding at a rate of 2.5 metres a year - faster than anywhere else in Europe.
Consequently there are no public footpaths that coastwalkers can use, and instead we followed our noses, generally keeping to the unfarmed strip that marked the very edge of the land.
It was easy going and we weren't challenged at all, and only once had to clamber down/up a gully. We eventually headed inland just south of Withernsea to avoid an airstrip built on the cliffs.
Factoid of the day is that Withernsea seems to be East Yorkshire's shibboleth. If you want to blend in with the locals, emphasise the "n", as if it's a contraction of "Wither-on-Sea".
Walking the promenade, we passed a couple of references to churches (and presumably, villages too) that had been lost due to coastal erosion. Reminiscent of the stories of the 'drowned churches' of Suffolk, it was slightly eerie to imagine the extent to which the land has been lost over the intervening centuries.
Notes for future walkers:
- A well-used permitted path runs on the seaward side of the gas terminal at Easington. This can be reached by walking east on a field-edge path from the top of Vicar's Lane at TA 400 194.
- We continued on the cliff-top path along Dimlington Cliff, past Cliff Farm, over Old Hive Dike to School Lane, then Seaside Road in Holmpton.
- Old Hive Dike was deep and dry, but crossable with just a little clambering.
- From the end of Seaside Road (TA 372 240) we continued on the cliff top path but headed inland at TA 360 258 at the track just north of the sewage works.
- We then followed Holmpton Road (no pavement) to the outskirts of Withernsea, turning right on Oak Avenue and again on Seacroft Road before picking up the prom at TA 348 271.