Skipsea – Mr Moos Farm and Caravan site.
Why Skipsea as a starting point ? It all started last September when we decided it would be a great challenge to go all the way round the coast of mainland UK in our newly acquired Motorhome, for the record a Burstner Levanto 6 berth. The question was where do we start? We talked long and hard about where would be the best place to start the journey of a lifetime, and whether we head North or South. It all got settled when we ended up in Bridlington for an afternoon following a trip to a Motorhome show in York. So it was decided that we start on the East coast and work our way down.
So it was on Valentines Day 2009 we arrived at Mr Moos, a farm devoted to producing its own ice cream and selling 18 or so different varieties in its own ice cream parlour. As it was still winter and the field next to the farm was a little boggy, the caravan site was temporarily situated at the end of the car park.
The family group consists of Myself , wife Kim, grown up daughter Laura and Tom ( why do I have to be here, I’m totally bored ) the 14 year old teenager.
As well as being Valentines Day, it was also that once a year occasion when England play Wales in the 6 Nations rugby. So after the disappointment of not being able to get a television signal from my Motor home aerial, I was forced to walk in to the village to find a local pub with a television. The pub I found was called The Board and it turned out to be an absolute gem, full of locals who were very welcoming, and it wasn’t long before we heard a few traveller’s tales of their own. A few beers later we left with lot’s of “good lucks” and a sense that after an hour or two we were already part of the community. It’s just a shame that England lost the rugby, but then that’s another story.
The following morning we decided to take a walk along the cliff tops. A footpath adjacent to Mr Moos led us straight to the coast and so we took a walk along the latest cliff path. I say latest because this coasts claim to fame is that it’s the fastest eroding part of the UK coastline with an average erosion of approximately a meter per year. I spoke to a local later in the day and he told me that at Skipsea they lost 18 feet of land this year to the sea. Walking up close to the edge you could easily see how this erosion was taking place, although standing too close was a dangerous thing to do as much of the edge looked as though it could give way at any minute.
After about a mile or so we came across the first of a series of caravan sites, the first of which was about 10 meters from the sea. With the average rate of erosion that would give them no more than 10 years before being lost forever. Further along a caravan was so close we had to walk single file to get between it and the sea. Speaking to a caravan owner who has a unit about
50 meters away from the edge, he told me that they fully expect the site to disappear in around 30 years or so. They do move the caravans once the cliffs get too close but there have been occasions where the caravans have literally toppled on to the beach below. If I had invested in a caravan by the sea I would probably feel quite stressed about the situation, but most of the owners seem to accept their fate and take it as part of the price for owning a unit in such a prime location.
After a brief visit to Skirlington market for a quick lunch we headed back, but this time along the beach. The beaches in this part of the world are fabulous, however I was told to expect them to be very cold at this time of the year, with as one person put it “There’s nothing between you and the Russian Steppes”. However we hit lucky and we had sunshine and a calm Southerly breeze, and it was hard to believe that a week earlier this whole area was covered in about 12” of snow. Ollie the dog was in his element with over 2 miles of near deserted beach he had all the room in the world to chase seagulls and run him self ragged.
One of the things Thomas noticed was the concrete bunkers left over from World War 2. Although it’s been over 60 years since they served any purpose they are still very much intact, and look ready to be brought back in to service should the need ever arise. Considering they were built to withstand heavy bombardment from tanks and such like, its there is very little nature can do to break them down. So they will most likely stay there intact until the day comes when the soil is washed away form beneath them and like everything else along this coast they will be buried beneath the sea.
After a 2 mile walk a
long the beach we were back at Mr Moos to try another flavour of ice cream or 2. Mr Moos ice cream parlour is fabulous and apart from the odd sandwich at lunch time is devoted entirely to ice cream and ice cream sundaes of almost every description. I was a little less adventurous and had a plain cone, but there was a lot of “take a look at that” at some of the dishes being served. One dish we saw almost filled a standard dinner plate. That was a lot of ice cream.
Outside the parlour there is a viewing platform overlooking the cow shed so you
get a chance to say a personal thank you to the cows responsible for the necessary raw ingredient.
"Whats that noise?"
I vaguely remember the dig in the ribs.
"whhattt nooooisee" I replied in the way that people do when asked this sort of question at 3 in the morning.
"The deep humming noise, can you hear it?"
I couldn't hear anything, but it slowly dawned on me that I would be required to investigate. So I climbed down the ladder to start investigating.
The normal human reaction is to start listening to all the appliances to find out which one was making the noise, and as I considered myself a normal human that's what I did. I listened to the fridge, the boiler, the switched off television, all seemed OK, whatever was making the noise was coming from outside. I fumbled around for my shoes and coat, aand at 3 am on a cold February morning outside i nothing more than my Pyjamas and thin coat. It was bloody freezing! The first thing I checked was the engine. Now the engine had not been used for nearly 2 days, but as I was still half in dreamland I never really thought it through before putting my ear to the bonnet.
Then it dawned on me. I walked around to the back of the van and stood inbetween the van and the cow shed. It was the middle of the night and dark. The cows in the shed were sleeping soundly, so soundly they were snoring!
The following morning we move off to continue our journey south stopping first of all on the sea front in Hornsea. Here in Hornsea they take coastal erosion very seriously with a large concrete sea wall between the beach and elevated sea front. I can imagine in around a hundred years or so that Hornsea will look like a man made island with the surrounding land eroded in to the sea. If you looked far off to the north you could already see that the cliffs were already receding back beyond the town.
The beach at this time of year was very quiet and so Ollie had another chance to let off steam and partake in his favourite past time of chasing seagulls and playing fetch without disturbing anyone. As the beach is divided by breakers we almost literally had our very own stretch of beach to ourselves.
Although our visit to Hornsea was brief, our first impression was that it looked a very nice clean seaside town without the overbearing row upon row of shops selling cheap buckets and spades and “kiss me quick hats”. Whether or not it stayed like this in high season is another matter, but on a mild day in mid February Hornsea was a very pleasant place to be.
We headed south towards Withernsea. This part of the UK is very flat but we passed through some very pretty villages which more than made up for the lack of scenery. On entering Withernsea the first thing we saw was an old lighthouse in the middle of the town. It was open from the 1st of April, however as we were at least 6 weeks early and struggling to find somewhere to park the motor home we had to make do with a drive past. We drove to the sea front but apart from a new looking castle structure it didn’t look too different from Hornsea. Rather than try to find a car park without a height barrier we decided to move on, and picked up a sign for an underground bunker which looked very interesting. When we arrived a notice told us that it was open for a one and half hour tour every Saturday and Sunday, but as we were here on a Monday we were once again out of luck.
After negotiating a long winding single track road we ended up in the tiny village of Kilnsea which had a small free car park with no height barrier. I really thought that this was the most Southern point of the East Yorkshire coast but then noticed a light house further south in the distance. This then gave us a real quandary because if we are to see the whole of the UK then we really should make it to the most Southerly tip of the Yorkshire coast. As the road looked rather too narrow to take the Motorhome down, the only way of reaching the area was on foot. I can remember saying “it doesn’t look that far” so we decided to give it a go (an hour or so and 3 miles later I was beginning to regret making that statement). Unfortunately after the first hundred yards or so we reached a point which said “Nature Reserve, Strictly no dogs passed this point” The kids both volunteered to look after the dog as Kim and I ventured on. If the kids were disappointed at not being able to go on they did a splendid job of hiding it.
The area we were heading for was called Spurn and it was shaped like a long bent finger with the sea on one side and the Humber estuary on the other. At its narrowest point there is only about 50 meters separating the two, however as we ventured further toward the end the land opened up with a small meadow with Highland cattle grazing. There were also remains of a railway track at various points along the path. I found out later that this was used during the First World War to connect the fort at Kilnsea with the outposts at the end of the peninsular. Remains of the fort can still be seen at Kilnsea as a pile of broken concrete following its fall on to the beach due to land erosion.
After about an hour or so of walking we eventually reached the light house, however our joy was short lived as it became apparent that the lighthouse was not situated on the very tip and the road carried on further. As it was getting late and we were starting to feel quite exhausted we decided to do what anyone in our position would consider and cheat. We climbed the large dune at the back of the lighthouse where we got a view of the end of the peninsular. We were surprised to see a group of about 10 or so houses next to the jetty. I later found out that this is the only full time manned Lifeboat station in the UK. This also explained the number of cars with a RNLI sticker on the back window which passed us while we were walking.
We decided to walk back along the beach which, apart from the ruins of some old timber sea defences, looked as wild and untouched as any beach should look. We could see for about 2 miles along the deserted beach. If not for a few large cargo ships you could easily imagine being the only people on the planet.
When we left the beach and went back on to the road we witnessed the start of a stunning sunset over the Humber estuary. The colours of the sky ranged from deep orange to purple, and it was made even more spectacular by the reflection off the Humber Estuary. Although it was a long walk done at a tiring pace, the evening view across the estuary seemed to make it all worthwhile.
One of the great things about owning a Motor home with grown up kids in is that with about a mile to go on our walk we can call them up to order dinner. It was nice to come back to a hot pasty and cup of tea before having to go home.
I had never considered the East Riding of Yorkshire as a holiday destination before and was unsure what to expect. I was very impressed by both the landscape, especially the beaches, and the friendliness of the people I met. As this is the starting point of our journey, it will also be our finishing point. In a landscape that is being forever changed by the power of the sea, it will be interesting when we finally get back here to see how it has changed. I would certainly consider coming back here for a holiday at some time in the future, but for now we had to head back following the Humber estuary in land and then over the Humber bridge to home. The funny thing was that Tom the teenager who didn’t want to come, was now complaining because it was time to go home.
Why Skipsea as a starting point ? It all started last September when we decided it would be a great challenge to go all the way round the coast of mainland UK in our newly acquired Motorhome, for the record a Burstner Levanto 6 berth. The question was where do we start? We talked long and hard about where would be the best place to start the journey of a lifetime, and whether we head North or South. It all got settled when we ended up in Bridlington for an afternoon following a trip to a Motorhome show in York. So it was decided that we start on the East coast and work our way down.
So it was on Valentines Day 2009 we arrived at Mr Moos, a farm devoted to producing its own ice cream and selling 18 or so different varieties in its own ice cream parlour. As it was still winter and the field next to the farm was a little boggy, the caravan site was temporarily situated at the end of the car park.
The family group consists of Myself , wife Kim, grown up daughter Laura and Tom ( why do I have to be here, I’m totally bored ) the 14 year old teenager.
As well as being Valentines Day, it was also that once a year occasion when England play Wales in the 6 Nations rugby. So after the disappointment of not being able to get a television signal from my Motor home aerial, I was forced to walk in to the village to find a local pub with a television. The pub I found was called The Board and it turned out to be an absolute gem, full of locals who were very welcoming, and it wasn’t long before we heard a few traveller’s tales of their own. A few beers later we left with lot’s of “good lucks” and a sense that after an hour or two we were already part of the community. It’s just a shame that England lost the rugby, but then that’s another story.
The following morning we decided to take a walk along the cliff tops. A footpath adjacent to Mr Moos led us straight to the coast and so we took a walk along the latest cliff path. I say latest because this coasts claim to fame is that it’s the fastest eroding part of the UK coastline with an average erosion of approximately a meter per year. I spoke to a local later in the day and he told me that at Skipsea they lost 18 feet of land this year to the sea. Walking up close to the edge you could easily see how this erosion was taking place, although standing too close was a dangerous thing to do as much of the edge looked as though it could give way at any minute.
After about a mile or so we came across the first of a series of caravan sites, the first of which was about 10 meters from the sea. With the average rate of erosion that would give them no more than 10 years before being lost forever. Further along a caravan was so close we had to walk single file to get between it and the sea. Speaking to a caravan owner who has a unit about
50 meters away from the edge, he told me that they fully expect the site to disappear in around 30 years or so. They do move the caravans once the cliffs get too close but there have been occasions where the caravans have literally toppled on to the beach below. If I had invested in a caravan by the sea I would probably feel quite stressed about the situation, but most of the owners seem to accept their fate and take it as part of the price for owning a unit in such a prime location.
After a brief visit to Skirlington market for a quick lunch we headed back, but this time along the beach. The beaches in this part of the world are fabulous, however I was told to expect them to be very cold at this time of the year, with as one person put it “There’s nothing between you and the Russian Steppes”. However we hit lucky and we had sunshine and a calm Southerly breeze, and it was hard to believe that a week earlier this whole area was covered in about 12” of snow. Ollie the dog was in his element with over 2 miles of near deserted beach he had all the room in the world to chase seagulls and run him self ragged.
One of the things Thomas noticed was the concrete bunkers left over from World War 2. Although it’s been over 60 years since they served any purpose they are still very much intact, and look ready to be brought back in to service should the need ever arise. Considering they were built to withstand heavy bombardment from tanks and such like, its there is very little nature can do to break them down. So they will most likely stay there intact until the day comes when the soil is washed away form beneath them and like everything else along this coast they will be buried beneath the sea.
After a 2 mile walk a
long the beach we were back at Mr Moos to try another flavour of ice cream or 2. Mr Moos ice cream parlour is fabulous and apart from the odd sandwich at lunch time is devoted entirely to ice cream and ice cream sundaes of almost every description. I was a little less adventurous and had a plain cone, but there was a lot of “take a look at that” at some of the dishes being served. One dish we saw almost filled a standard dinner plate. That was a lot of ice cream.Outside the parlour there is a viewing platform overlooking the cow shed so you
get a chance to say a personal thank you to the cows responsible for the necessary raw ingredient."Whats that noise?"
I vaguely remember the dig in the ribs.
"whhattt nooooisee" I replied in the way that people do when asked this sort of question at 3 in the morning.
"The deep humming noise, can you hear it?"
I couldn't hear anything, but it slowly dawned on me that I would be required to investigate. So I climbed down the ladder to start investigating.
The normal human reaction is to start listening to all the appliances to find out which one was making the noise, and as I considered myself a normal human that's what I did. I listened to the fridge, the boiler, the switched off television, all seemed OK, whatever was making the noise was coming from outside. I fumbled around for my shoes and coat, aand at 3 am on a cold February morning outside i nothing more than my Pyjamas and thin coat. It was bloody freezing! The first thing I checked was the engine. Now the engine had not been used for nearly 2 days, but as I was still half in dreamland I never really thought it through before putting my ear to the bonnet.
Then it dawned on me. I walked around to the back of the van and stood inbetween the van and the cow shed. It was the middle of the night and dark. The cows in the shed were sleeping soundly, so soundly they were snoring!
The following morning we move off to continue our journey south stopping first of all on the sea front in Hornsea. Here in Hornsea they take coastal erosion very seriously with a large concrete sea wall between the beach and elevated sea front. I can imagine in around a hundred years or so that Hornsea will look like a man made island with the surrounding land eroded in to the sea. If you looked far off to the north you could already see that the cliffs were already receding back beyond the town.
The beach at this time of year was very quiet and so Ollie had another chance to let off steam and partake in his favourite past time of chasing seagulls and playing fetch without disturbing anyone. As the beach is divided by breakers we almost literally had our very own stretch of beach to ourselves.
Although our visit to Hornsea was brief, our first impression was that it looked a very nice clean seaside town without the overbearing row upon row of shops selling cheap buckets and spades and “kiss me quick hats”. Whether or not it stayed like this in high season is another matter, but on a mild day in mid February Hornsea was a very pleasant place to be.
We headed south towards Withernsea. This part of the UK is very flat but we passed through some very pretty villages which more than made up for the lack of scenery. On entering Withernsea the first thing we saw was an old lighthouse in the middle of the town. It was open from the 1st of April, however as we were at least 6 weeks early and struggling to find somewhere to park the motor home we had to make do with a drive past. We drove to the sea front but apart from a new looking castle structure it didn’t look too different from Hornsea. Rather than try to find a car park without a height barrier we decided to move on, and picked up a sign for an underground bunker which looked very interesting. When we arrived a notice told us that it was open for a one and half hour tour every Saturday and Sunday, but as we were here on a Monday we were once again out of luck.
After negotiating a long winding single track road we ended up in the tiny village of Kilnsea which had a small free car park with no height barrier. I really thought that this was the most Southern point of the East Yorkshire coast but then noticed a light house further south in the distance. This then gave us a real quandary because if we are to see the whole of the UK then we really should make it to the most Southerly tip of the Yorkshire coast. As the road looked rather too narrow to take the Motorhome down, the only way of reaching the area was on foot. I can remember saying “it doesn’t look that far” so we decided to give it a go (an hour or so and 3 miles later I was beginning to regret making that statement). Unfortunately after the first hundred yards or so we reached a point which said “Nature Reserve, Strictly no dogs passed this point” The kids both volunteered to look after the dog as Kim and I ventured on. If the kids were disappointed at not being able to go on they did a splendid job of hiding it.
The area we were heading for was called Spurn and it was shaped like a long bent finger with the sea on one side and the Humber estuary on the other. At its narrowest point there is only about 50 meters separating the two, however as we ventured further toward the end the land opened up with a small meadow with Highland cattle grazing. There were also remains of a railway track at various points along the path. I found out later that this was used during the First World War to connect the fort at Kilnsea with the outposts at the end of the peninsular. Remains of the fort can still be seen at Kilnsea as a pile of broken concrete following its fall on to the beach due to land erosion.
After about an hour or so of walking we eventually reached the light house, however our joy was short lived as it became apparent that the lighthouse was not situated on the very tip and the road carried on further. As it was getting late and we were starting to feel quite exhausted we decided to do what anyone in our position would consider and cheat. We climbed the large dune at the back of the lighthouse where we got a view of the end of the peninsular. We were surprised to see a group of about 10 or so houses next to the jetty. I later found out that this is the only full time manned Lifeboat station in the UK. This also explained the number of cars with a RNLI sticker on the back window which passed us while we were walking.
We decided to walk back along the beach which, apart from the ruins of some old timber sea defences, looked as wild and untouched as any beach should look. We could see for about 2 miles along the deserted beach. If not for a few large cargo ships you could easily imagine being the only people on the planet.
When we left the beach and went back on to the road we witnessed the start of a stunning sunset over the Humber estuary. The colours of the sky ranged from deep orange to purple, and it was made even more spectacular by the reflection off the Humber Estuary. Although it was a long walk done at a tiring pace, the evening view across the estuary seemed to make it all worthwhile.
One of the great things about owning a Motor home with grown up kids in is that with about a mile to go on our walk we can call them up to order dinner. It was nice to come back to a hot pasty and cup of tea before having to go home.
I had never considered the East Riding of Yorkshire as a holiday destination before and was unsure what to expect. I was very impressed by both the landscape, especially the beaches, and the friendliness of the people I met. As this is the starting point of our journey, it will also be our finishing point. In a landscape that is being forever changed by the power of the sea, it will be interesting when we finally get back here to see how it has changed. I would certainly consider coming back here for a holiday at some time in the future, but for now we had to head back following the Humber estuary in land and then over the Humber bridge to home. The funny thing was that Tom the teenager who didn’t want to come, was now complaining because it was time to go home.
