When we eventually retire and leave this place I think my greatest loss will be daily visits to the beach at Hunmanby Gap. I can walk Jack off the lead for about an hour, throw his ball, cool him down in the sea, listen to music and podcasts or just enjoy the sounds and feel great peace in the process.
It takes 5 minutes to get there, the parking is vast and cheap; the walks are varied (left? right? back along the cliff? back along the beach?); the sands change every day – so much that you sink in to it then washed away and barely there at all; ripples and pools some days to flat yellow plains on others; a huge vast expanse at low tide to shoes and socks off scrambling across rocks at high tide (and is it high high or low high?); the crowds in summer to the deserted expanse in winter. It is an incredible place for all the senses.
As I also swim from about the beginning of May to about the end of September I add another dimension. Each day different and so much better than those tedious up and down the pool swims I do in winter. Those rare flat calm hot days with balmy temperatures are the best but a bit of a breeze and spray in your face is also fine. Sunshine better but a still, dull day can be good. The cold always shocks (although you do get used to it) but you never regret a swim in the sea. Go in the evening when the crowds have gone – don’t go out of your depth ever – and you will swim with only the seabirds for company who often come close for a curious look.
My prescription for many of the mental health problems afflicting our nation would be a daily walk on the beach followed by a quick dip in the water. This works but I know I have been lucky … Filey Bay is a majestic one off I have come to love and I don’t think we will find it again.
