All about that place
Flamborough Lighthouse, early 20th century, Tuck postcard, from the Internet Archive collection
Are you inspired by Sue’s research to do a one-place study? Don’t miss the online event ‘All About That Place’ 22 September to 1 October: www. balh.org.uk/news-all-aboutthat-placethe-one-placestudy-challengeevent-2023-07-29
Fields on either side of the road stretch away and I keep losing sight of the lighthouse as I follow the road down a dip and round a bend; it seemed more than two miles from the village of Flamborough. Then a few holiday cottages appear, and I pass the ‘old lighthouse’, or the Chalk Tower as it is sometimes called. This was built in the 17th century and its history is sketchy. It could have been used as lighthouse with a fire lit on the top, though there is some doubt whether it was ever used. A local group hope to use it as an exhibition space in the future.
Finally, I reach the car park on the headland with the lighthouse dominating the space. Today the café seems to be the focus of attention for the few visitors here on a cool morning. The car temp monitor promises 9 degrees, but once out of the car, I realise that the wind chill factor makes it feel much colder than that. Surrounded on three sides by the sea, there is no shelter from the wind. With my scarf wrapped high around my neck and jacket pulled tightly around me I walk past the lighthouse to stand on the cliff tops and gaze out over the sea.
It’s a beautiful place but truly at the mercy of the weather. Nowadays the houses on the headland are mostly holiday cottages; it would take a hardy soul to live here full time through the winter. The lighthouse has no full-time residents and I wonder how different the place would have been when a community lived here full time. Flamborough Head is a headland which juts four miles out to sea on the Yorkshire coast, the village of Flamborough lies in the centre of the headland. The seaside town of Bridlington is just to the south, with the towns of Filey and then Scarborough further up the coast to the north.