Yorkshire Coast Guide

Filey

Filey was a small fishing village until the 18th century when visitors from Scarborough arrived seeking the peace and quiet that Filey offered. Then in 1835 a Birmingham solicitor called John Wilkes Unett bought 7 acres of land and built the Crescent, later known as the Royal Crescent. It was opened in the 1850s and for 100 years it was the most fashionable address in the North of England.

Filey then became a seaside resort in Victorian times. It set about being a holiday resort in the 1850s, the railways had arrived in 1846. By the 1890s it had a fashionable reputation and gaining in popularity during the Edwardian period up to the Second World War. It is a small town with a population of around 7000 forming part of the borough of Scarborough, being at the southern end with Whitby at the northern end of the borough and is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on the North Sea coast.

Although it started out as a fishing village, it has a large beach and today is a popular tourist resort. The town is at the eastern end of the Cleveland Way, a long-distance footpath, starting at Helmsley and skirting the North York Moors. It was the second National Trail to be opened way back in 1969. It is also the northern end of the Yorkshire Wolds Way which starts at Hessle and crosses the Yorkshire Wolds. Today Filey still has a fine reputation as a holiday resort and to its credit has remained unscarred by any tacky commercialism on its foreshore, where there are good hotels and restaurants situated.

Most of the town stands above the sea on a cliff with a fantastic outlook over an expansive and magnificent bay with a 5 mile stretch of clean hard tide-washed sand. The bay has an almost semi-circular sweep that runs from Filey Brigg in the north to the 400 feet high chalk cliffs of Speeton and Bempton in the south, extending to the headland at Flamborough. The chalk tower (pictured right) near Flamborough Head was built in 1674 and is the oldest surviving complete lighthouse in England.

Bempton Cliffs is a nature reserve run by the RSPB and is best known for its breeding seabirds, including the Northern Gannet, Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Black legged Kittiwake and the Fulmar. The hard chalk cliffs at Bempton are relatively resistant to the erosion suffered further down the coast and offer lots of sheltered headlands and crevices for nesting birds. There are good walkways along the top of the cliffs and several well fenced and protected observation points. Most times there will be helpful bird watchers with a range of scopes and binoculars on hand.

Filey Brigg is a natural rock promontory with a long history from Roman times only. With interesting geology, marine life and surrounded by hundreds of wrecks, 'the Brigg' and a rock built underwater structure on its South side 'The Spittals',  has always fascinated and mystified. A group of local divers with a shared interest in the Archaeology, Biology and history of the Brigg set up the Filey Brigg and Research Group and over the last few years a series of small grants have enabled the group to become properly qualified in Marine Archaeology and complete one of the most comprehensive surveys of a large underwater rock built structure ever completed by amateur divers in this country.

Filey recently won the prestigious Green Flag Awards for the second year running, for Glen and Crescent Gardens. The Green Flag Award which is managed by Keep Britain Tidy is an annual scheme that recognises and rewards quality parks, gardens and open spaces (like the Blue Flag for beaches) and is a national standard of excellence. Members of the public are becoming increasingly aware that a site which flies a Green Flag is a high quality green space. Since first gaining the Green Flag last year there have been considerable improvements made to the gardens including the extension to the play area in Glen Gardens, a new access path from the West Avenue car park into Glen Gardens and completion of the maze.