Taking in the sea air

Next time you are in Scarborough on a sunshine day, try this. The start is nice, the stone-built Old Scalby Mills Hotel, from where there's an eyeful of Victorian Scarborough, and in the foreground the post-modern pyramids of the Sealife Centre.

Straight over Scalby Beck, one of Vivian Mousdell's sculptural waymarkers celebrates the Cleveland Way, and we are on it, but only for a ten-minute taster of glittering water and sea breezes as we then head off into the hinterland, searching for our route-making old railway track.

Hedges of thorn and dog rose give to hedges of neat privet, a suburban section where I felt a right Charlie booted and rucksacked.

Houses get older and more interesting, I sat out a squall under a maple, then found the cinder track-bed. You'll find this a viewy mile or so, with low hills to the left and similar to the right, and you should make good time, as were the cyclists.

At Burniston, feeling that seaside urge, I had a garden centre ice cream, a curious Nestl creation, a Fab - think I prefer cornets. As I slurped, garden cheats were struggling out with giant readymade hanging baskets, a car full each. You only touch on the village, taking more railway line, a cutting colourful with campion and elder, that links with a cul-de-sac lane leading down to the sea. On route was an honesty box on a table for honey, 'from the best bees in Burniston'.

The beach is rocky, so not for sunbathing, but you can walk over rough slabs, cannon-ball boulders, limpets and bladderwrack to paddle, and delight in the over-the-waves-views all the way to the white cliffs of Flamborough Head.

The rest is the best, a meander around the cliff tops on hard-baked clay. The clay makes for cliff slips, so it's not a bird's nest place and the fragility makes for plant communities with short life expectancies, the same for you if you stray off the path. Where the slopes are more stable, there are 45- degree meadows with lots of orchids. However the views are the thing, Scarborough Castle, a block on its bare headland, and curving off, the joyful candy-coloured terraces of the 'Queen of the North'.

DIRECTIONS

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1. Bridge by Old Scalby Mills Hotel, steps up to cliff-edge path.

2. Left to field-edge track (hedge on right, signed Burniston Road).

3. Right to main road (pavement), 100 yards, left (verge then pavement).

4. Right to Field Close Road (signed railway route), first right to Lancaster Way, track between last two bungalows on right to old railway track.

5. Left to road (pavement), 100 yards, rejoin railway track on right as far as bridge.

6. Steps by bridge and right to lane. Swing right by private drive, lane turns to path down to beach.

7. Retrace uphill from beach, steps on left (fingerpost), cliff-edge path back.

FACT FILE

Distance: Seven miles.

Time: Three and a half hours.

Start: Old Scalby Mills Hotel.

Right of way: The complete route is along public rights of way.

Date walked: Monday, June 21 1999.

Road route: Scalby Mills is on the northern edge of Scarborough, follow signs to Sea Life Centre.

Car parking: £3 for more than four hours by Sea Life Centre, however free on access road down.

Lavatories: Sea Life Centre

Refreshments: Inn and Sea Life Centre.

Tourist & public transport information: Scarborough TIC 01723 373333

Map: Based on Outdoor Leisure 27, North York Moors eastern area.

Terrain: Flat or undulating.

Footwear: Walking boots.

Points of interest: sea, Sea Life Centre, views.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Dogs: Suitable for dogs but keep on leads or under close control.

Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418. For the beach at Burniston, see Tide Timetable in Evening Press.

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.

PICTURE:Splendid views on the walk from Scarborough to Scalby Mills

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