Bridlington

I used to think Bridlington was a toilet, but then I went to Skegness. That was pretty much the standard joke in the 80's and 90's, but having visited Brid again this year I'm pleased to say it's no longer true. From being a town in decline going much the same way as Morecambe, Brid has pulled itself up by the bootstraps and is once again a fine holiday destination.

Bridlington South Bay The council seem to have spent some years now implementing a regeneration programme, much of which is still in progress, but the town is now clean, pleasant and very friendly for both children and old folk. There's a massive rebuild of the Spa complex going on, and plans are afoot for a marina. I have to give top marks to the people of Brid for such a good job well done.

The Beaches

The great treasures of Bridlington are the two beaches to the North and South of the town. These are massive, just too big to ever become crowded, and are spotlessly clean. As is pretty much de-rigeur nowadays, dogs are banned from the central section in Summer, but for dog lovers that still leaves an awful lot of room at either end.

North Bay

The Northern beach runs up towards Flamborough Head. It's a fine clean sweep of quality sand, and the prom at the back of it has been refurbished with new high quality toilets, beach huts, cafes and all you'd expect. As you travel North along the beach away from the centre of the town, the prom eventually ends and the beach is backed by low cliffs. Uniquely, I think, these have been planted up by the council and look fantastic. There isn't a great variety of plants because of the salt water issue, but it does look really good. I wonder if it qualifies as the longest herbaceous border in England?

After the promenade ends the cliffs gradually rise to a great height as it becomes part of Flamborough head. The beach becomes wild and rocky with lots of small rock pools and is great for children to poke about in. but with cliffs so high tides have to be taken into consideration. About two thirds of the way along there's an exit from the beach at Dane's Dyke or you can walk further along to South Landing. If you leave the beach at either of these, you can walk back along the cliff top which makes for a nice half-day's amble. There's also refreshments available at both places which is even better.

If you choose to walk out of Brid along the cliff tops instead of the beach, then the walk is nicely landscaped all the way out to Sewerby, laid out in sort of a park style bordering a small golf course. If you're feeling a bit lazy, the Bridlington "land train" goes all the way out to Sewerby Hall. Sewerby is a lovely little village and has two delights: The Ship Inn and Sewerby Hall. The Ship has decent beer and serves basic unpretentious pub food with lots of room to sit outside. It also has a kids play area and there's a model village next door which I've never visited as that sort of thing doesn't appeal, but other folk might like it.

Sewerby Hall

This is a small stately home, owned by the council and set in delightful gardens. It has a charming little zoo aimed at kids, lots of gardens, Llamas and horses wandering around outside and an adventure playground. The house is now a fairly unexciting museum, but useful to spend an hour or so on a dull day. There's also a cricket pitch on the field by the cliffs and it really is a great setting to while away an afternoon watching the cricket and quaffing ale from The Ship. But remember the cliffs here are massive, so if you have young kids keep them well away from the edge. If you want to drive here there's a car park and it's no more than a few minutes drive from the middle of Bridlington.

When they were toddlers my kids absolutely loved the zoo here, and it hasn't changed since then. It has lots of small animals, nothing too fierce, plenty of things you can pet, and is so much of a time warp you expect to see Johnny Morris appear round the nearest corner at any moment. Definitely worth a visit. I seem to recall the car parking and the zoo are free out of season, but I wouldn't bank on it as councils are always looking for ways to extract another few quid from visitors. Speaking of which, the council car parks round here are appalling. They insist on charging for a set number of hours, and you can't pay for a half-day or full day. That's fine if you're going for a meal or something, but if you're out for a days walk it's utterly useless as you're forever watching the clock.

The South Bay

The South beach is very different in character to the North. It is absolutely massive and seems to go on forever into the distance. While the North beach has the magnificent cliffs of Flamborough as a backdrop, the South beach just goes on as far as the eye can see. It's backed by a very nicely rebuilt prom, making it suitable for old folk. The prom has paddling pools, toilets, beach huts, benches, little shops and the land train. It's all new, unvandalised (as yet) and very very pleasant. In fact, the prom is so wide and flat they could use it for Zimmer racing or electric scooter freestyling. There's money in the grey pound if the council would only get inventive.

Behind the prom are masses of typical small seaside hotels and guest houses. This is the quiet end of town and it's utterly peaceful on a night, ideal for families and old folks.

The Town

The centre of Brid is now vastly improved. Well at least the seafront is. The whole thing has been tidied up, posh cafes have been built, the funfair has been made respectable and they were even building a little "Bridlington Eye" when I visited. All in all impressive. The harbour is less impressive, but that's understandable as the marina scheme has yet to start. Going up into the town continues the surprises. It's now clean, partly pedestrianised and nicely paved. It still has more greasy spoons and chip shops per square yard than anywhere else in the country, but Brid was always thus. I don't know where all the customers come from, but the food outlets all seemed to be thriving.

Apart from places to eat, there's quite a good collection of small shops to browse in, a cinema, the usual tatty amusement arcades and the occasional municipal garden.