Day 83 Aldbrough to Bridlington

 

 Date: Tuesday 12^th July  2011   Distance: 26.96 Miles

 

We left at 9 am and headed for Mappleton View Point. It was sunny and very windy. It was a shame Bob’s camera ran out of battery power as the view was gorgeous. Tons of rock at the base of the cliffs, hopefully, keep the sea at bay and save the village from more sea erosion.  The natural cliff material looks soft and crumbly. All up this coast there is a 2 metre loss of land a year.

 

The sandy beach stretches up the coast to Hornsea and this is where the Sustrans Tran Pennine Trail from Southport ends. Notices say that bikes shouldn’t be ridden on the promenade but again officials on duty said that you could ride if it isn’t busy.

Our first impressions were that it had less character than expected, especially as the cobbled cottages and 15th century church in the main street are protected in a conservation area. The traffic lights had broken down and traffic was being directed manually which let the traffic build up so we were glad to move out into the countryside again.

 

Here were more hills and we took the B road out until we stopped at the Mr Moo Ice-cream Parlour.

 

At Skipsea we passed a mound in a field that was all that was left of a Mote and Bailey castle. Then we joined an A road into Bridlington with 6 miles to go but it was busy so whenever we could we took a detour or went on the pavement. The reason for all the traffic seemed to be the large car boot sale on the outskirts of Bridlington. One of our detours took us past an owl sanctuary and after this there was a beautiful roundabout covered in poppies and cornflowers.

 

We took the road for Hildethorpe and the sea where we found a super place to eat. The Quayside Restaurant is attached to a fish and chip shop but it has the ambience of a hotel, perhaps because it is! We had huge pieces of fish, mushy peas and chips for 6.99 that was really worth waiting for.

 

We followed the signs for the station at Bridlington and were surprised to find it surrounded in and by flowers. Bob said it should win a prize as there couldn’t have been more than if it had been a venue for a wedding!

 

We took a quiet train to Hull and then Manchester Piccadily. After a train to Manchester Airport we rode the 6 miles home. It had been the most miles accomplished in a week since we started.