Cleveland Way Walk, Fall 2022 – Along the cliff tops from Saltburn to Staithes

September 17, 2022

Hello everyone. I am in my Whitby accommodation and have just enjoyed an afternoon coffee and a toasted scone, slathered in butter and jam, so I think I’ve got the umph (finally) to write this post. The most challenging part is choosing the photos as I take far too many but the views on the Cleveland Way have been so spectacular, both looking forward in the direction of travel and looking back. That is one thing that I love so much about walking in the U.K. – the far-reaching views which I have had on both the moors and the coastal walking.

Saltburn to Staithes, 13.5 km, plus 1 km to access the bus

It was another very blustery day as I set off from Saltburn, with the sea churning and frothing white around the pier.

Heading towards Hunt Cliff, I was made very aware by the sun that this section of coast is aligned more east/west than north/south so my direction of travel was towards the morning sun.

Rising up onto Hunt Cliff, this view is looking back to Saltburn and down onto the remaining houses of Old Saltburn which was a fishing village long before the creation of the Victorian-era resort town, and its Ship Inn was once a centre for smugglers along this coast.

The path beckoned me forward,

and I turned often to look back.

Soon I reached the very top of Hunt Hill where a Roman signal station once stood. I will pass other Roman signal station sites as I continue on the Cleveland Way at Kettleness, Ravenscar, Scarborough Castle, and Filey Brig. Here is the view looking out to sea from the site. “Light the fires, I see a ship!”

Some time later, a long pier came into sight and I began my descent into Skinningrove Harbour.

A fun section through sand dunes took me down to the beach and this view looking back.

The ocean waves were crashing around and against the pier and the walk to its end was exhilarating with the wind and the sea mist and the roar of the surf.

This is the view looking back down to Skinningrove Harbour after I regained the clifftop. The nearby old ironworks once stained the stream that empties into this harbour red, but a sign assured me that after revitalization, salmon and sea trout are now once more returning to spawn in the stream.

It was a perfect day for walking along the cliff tops.

The colours of the land around me were mostly autumnal,

But along my walk I also found spots of colour in little dips of land that were more sheltered from the wind.

And luckily for me there were also areas of brambles with their late-season yet still tasty blackberries, another joy of the day.

As I continued along the cliff tops there was visible evidence that this coast has been extensively quarried for stone as well as mined for jet, potash, alum, and iron ore.

After many happy hours of walking (during which at some point I walked across the highest cliffs in Eastern England at an elevation of 188 m (679 feet)), I could see my destination in the distance, the fishing village of Staithes which is just barely visible as much of the town is tucked into a narrow ravine that descends to the sea. First though was the tiny community of Boulby,

where I was surprised to come upon this large metal sculpture of a miner. The text etched into the table drew my eyes to look behind me and across fields to the large complex of buildings of the Boulby potash mine. The first words read, “Under your feet are 621 miles (1000 km) of mine tunnels, with roadways large enough for trucks, machinery, and the hundreds of miners that work there.” It was an odd feeling to know that trucks and miners were working below me!

I continued along for another mile on a pleasant level path through fields, excited to be nearing Staithes, and here is my first peek as I descended a hill and rounded a corner. What a place!

I walked along the left bank of Staithes Beck toward the harbour.

Here is a view towards the town from near the beginning of the left harbour pier. The Cod and Lobster Inn has more than once had sections of its building washed away into the sea during storms, including in 1953 when the entire kitchen, two bedrooms, and all of the bottles of alcohol on stock were swept away! Apparently, lucky beachcombers were finding washed up bottles for a long time afterwards.

Once boasting a fishery of over eighty boats, the town is now largely a tourist destination with many holiday cottages for rent, as well as the usual attractions of shops, galleries, pubs, fish and chip shops, and ice cream stands, almost all with a nautical name or theme.

It was a wonderful place to end a wonderful day, and I climbed the steep hill out of town towards the bus stop very happily, if also a tiny bit tiredly, and if also a very tiny bit grumpily (again, it was steep!). The bus though easily whisked me back to Saltburn and it was gratifying to see the distance that I had travelled as I rested my feet and looked out the window. I was already starting to look forward to the next day!