Wednesday 14th April 2010

There are two approaches to Skinningrove, the main one is down through the village, passing the the "ironstone Mining museum" and between the houses, but much more interesting is from the direction of Staithes, as you rise up the steep hill past the "Boulby Potash mine, veer right on the Cowbar Road, and stop halfway up the hill, this is the view towards Staithes.There are two approaches to Skinningrove, the main one is down through the village, passing the the "ironstone Mining museum" and between the houses, but much more interesting it from the direction of Staithes, as you rise up the steep hill past the "Boulby Potash mine, veer right on the Cowbar Road, and stop halfway up the hill, this is the view towards Staithes.

Continue over the hilltops and drop down into Skinningrove through the 1 in 4 bends, pass over the bridge over the orange stream, then immediately right between the houses. You will come out onto a free car park with this view
The tourist notice board gives some idea of how sleepy the place is as the only thing on it is last years August Fun day at the village hall.
To your right is the villages memorial to the many fishermen lost at sea, an old Coble with two roughly (but attractively) wrought wooden statues in lifelike poses.
Immediately behind you are some of the popular pigeon lofts I have mentioned in previous posts, as you can see no expense (or recyclable material) has been spared in their construction.
on then to the pier, a decaying concrete and steel monster from a long past industrial age, collapsing in ruin into the waves.

Standing precariously on a collapsing concrete wall fifty feet above the beach I took this view of the splendid and remote three miles long beach. If you look carefully you can make out a man and dog in the far distance.

If this place was in Cornwall the beach would have ensured that it was developed into a resort!

Turning to the left and looking Up I took this image of the clifftops, can you see what I meant about the slag having changed the nature of the cliffs completely?