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Today our best chance of some fine weather seemed to be the Bridlington area on the Yorkshire coast, so we drove to Danes Dyke car park (map ref. TA 215694) on the north eastern edge of Bridlington to have a walk around Flamborough Head.From the car park we followed the lane inland past Home Farm to turn right off the lane onto a footpath at map ref. TA 218698. We followed the path across the fields to Flamborough and made our way past the church through the town to the start of a footpath at map ref. TA 226708 on the northern edge of the town. We followed the path through the fields for about 1.5km until it joined the cliff top path on the north cliff at map ref. TA 224725. In front of us on the cliff top was a broken gannet's egg - I don't know how it got there. I think the nearest gannet colony is at the Bempton RSPB sancuary over 2km up the coast. Just below us there were several lovely orchids amongst the many flowers on the cliff edge. From here we simply followed the cliff top path all the way round Flamborough Head back to Danes Dyke. The sea birds are still nesting on the sheer chalk cliffs and the fluffy chicks of the Kitewakes were clearly visible through the binoculars. There were puffins on the cliffs -easy to pick out with their orange feet, lots of guillimots and razorbills and a few cormorants. Wide strips of uncultivated land have been left beside the cliff path where there are all kinds of wild flowers and the butterflys and insects they attract. We saw a yellow ragwort covered in the black and yellow striped caterpillars of the scarlet and black cinnabar moth that feed exclusively on this poisonous plant. Around lunch time a heavy squall blew up and the downpour lasted for over half an hour soaking us. Even after the rain stopped we continued to be soaked from the waist down by the high grasses alongside the path, even though the rest of the afternoon was bathed in warm sunshine. The whole route was about 15km and took us 5 hours to walk including a couple of stops for coffee at the cafes at Thornwick Bay and Flamborough Head along the way.

Orchid on the cliff top	Caves near Thornwick Bay
	The spectacular chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head seen from the cliff path
Fishing boat waiting for the tide at North Landing	Pleasure cruise to Flamborough from Bridlington
Chalk Tower at Flamborough	Flamborough Lighthouse
Sculpures beside the cliff path at various locations around Flamborough Head
Cliffs near Danes Dyke	Knapweed on the Flamborough cliffs

One of the steep gulley crossings on the cliff path

© 2008 Frank M Firth
Original design by Andreas Viklund