During our Primrose Valley stay we wandered into nearby Filey town. There are two ways down to the beach; the first being via the turning circle in the holiday centre, and the other being through these adjacent woods.
Despite this exit being much nearer to Filey, it's still a long walk down the beach...
At some point we stepped onto the promenade, and here's the view back towards Flamborough Head.
I believe this is a children's paddling pool, but it was totally drained of water on this day.
This drinking fountain was presented by local hotelier James Varley, to mark the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, in 1897.
Bonzo the Recycling Seal is not just a work of art- he doubles as a recycling bin for cans and bottles! He's very new, and dates to earlier this year.
This statue is called High Tide and Short Wellies, and is by Ray Lonsdale.
This giant lobster sits in the crazy golf course!😁
It was quite a steep hill we had to walk up to get into the town. This is Northcliffe Gardens, and you can just about make out imposing Northcliffe House at the top right.
Looking down from the hill, with Northcliffe Gardens (and an inquisitive seagull) to the left.
Filey War Memorial Garden.
It's a lovely, peaceful place where you can relax on commemorative benches.
Train strikes meant that we decided to extend our stay for two days, transferring from Primrose Valley holiday centre to a pub which was more or less opposite this park.
We used our time wisely, popping into Filey Museum, which celebrated its golden jubilee in 2021 (making it my age).
The museum is housed in two adjoining fishing cottages, which were once single storey with thatched roofs. The cottages date back to 1696 (the date is clearly visible on the plaque above this door) and are the oldest domestic buildings in Filey.
Examples of Whitby jet as you enter. Jet is derived from wood which has changed due to extreme pressure, such as chemical action in stagnant water, and is a form of gemstone.
Gothic little moi would happily wear a couple of these pieces!😀
This exposed section shows the methodology applied when constructing houses such as these.
Victorian parlour, showcasing appropriate artefacts from the era...
Victorians loved their clutter- their whatnot and thingumajig collections were a way of flaunting their wealth...
Sewing machine, clothing, and a picture of the main lady...
Victorian accessories...
The stained glass door depicting fishing life was once the door to 1 Chapel Terrace, which is nearby.
Fishing in Filey has been a tradition for centuries, and this room is dedicated to lifeboats and fishing...
Outside we have various interesting contraptions, such as this hand pumped fire engine. It's thought to be about 100 years old.
1920s fire bell. Yes, I had to have a ring on it!
Meteorological station, and this cabinet once stood on Filey's foreshore: showing high and low tides; sunrise and sunset and also a barometer.
Garden view with an interesting little fishing room at the back...
Bait shed, showing the preparatory work involved with fishing. Here the fishwife is shelling mussels, which can be used to catch a range of species.
This device was used to break up cattle cake before feeding it to them...
Salmon coble, built in 1962. A coble is a kind of flat-bottomed fishing boat used in Scotland and north-eastern England.
Horse drawn plough. For centuries, horses were essential when it came to cultivating land.
Traditional cottage range.
I remember my nan having a wringer like this, and also a similar metal bathtub.
I have no idea what this perforated roller, with an opening one end, was used for, and neither do any of the museum staff, so if any of you know then please drop me/ them a line!
Someone suggested something to do with printing. A museum worker thought it was something to do with leather working. I thought it might be for infusing pots of stew with herbs, but then why would it need to roll? I must admit, I'm baffled.
Other traditional kitchen implements, many of which we still use today.
This room is dedicated to rural and domestic crafts. Here we can see (amongst other things!) an anvil for boot repairing, a traditional singer sewing machine, a cell door and policemen's truncheons.
Relevant pictures in the next room, which appeared to concentrate more on women, and the role they played in life.
Novelist Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) spent some time at Filey hoping to recover her faltering health. Letters sent to her father, Patrick Bronte (who outlived all of his six children) dictate that she was definitely here during 1852, as well as 1849.
This young woman was a flither girl, meaning the wife of a fisherman. Flither gathering- when the women had to go out collecting mussels for bait in all weathers- was gruelling work, and the shelling of them tedious. Fishwives worked as hard as their men- a woman who didn't want to work wasn't worth having!
Guernseys- also known as ganseys- were fishermen's warm and hard wearing jumpers. They were knitted by family members to distinct patterns; the object being identification.
I was, of course, fascinated by matey here. He is believed to be 3,000 years old and was discovered in a tumulus (ancient burial mound) on the Yorkshire Wolds.
The annual rent Filey Museum pays to the council is the marine equivalent of a peppercorn. The Filey Bay fossil on the wooden display is a gryphaea, or devil's toenail. Every year the museum trustees follow the tradition of giving it to the council, who then return it to them!
Purses, pipes, and this little book is a Bible...
Spittal Rocks is a jetty which only becomes visible at low tide. Could it be a pier built by the Romans? It is known that they were here as the foundations of a 4th century signal station were discovered at the edge of Carr Naze cliffs, towards the northern end of Filey Bay.
A section dedicated to the local seashore, and these are pretty local rocks, along with some minerals...
...More of...
Coastal gatherings...
Local artist George Briggs shows how the Roman signal station might have looked...
Pictures and old newspapers. This room and another with books laid out were devoted to research.
I loved this selection of unusual postcards on the wall...
Miscellaneous cabinet, and the boots may well be more than 100 years old, but I owned granny boots similar to these in the 1980s!
Fashion, darling, fashion....😁
Miniatures depicting occupations important to yesteryear Filey...
Filey started to become a holiday resort in the 18th century, with visitors attracted to the peace and quiet it offered. Filey is a small town and currently has a population of around 7,000 people.
Here's a selection of china tourist memorabilia.
Children's vintage toys. These are glove puppets alongside dolls house memorabilia.
...More vintage kids' toys...
Puppets on strings, beneath a traditional seaside scenic painting.
Knitted bathing suits and a hobby horse...
Butlin's Filey was open from 1945-1983, and this cabinet was devoted to holiday camp nostalgia. To be honest, I would have liked to have seen more of it.
I visited the camp (now Primrose Valley) as a kid, and spent my recent time at Primrose Valley hunting around for old Butlin's camp remnants. Here is my blog link telling you all about that:-
I had a good leaf through this book. It is quite hard to get hold of nowadays as it's out of print, but it's much coveted by Butlin's Filey aficionados.
Back traversing Filey's streets, and I loved this pillar box topping...💓
We enjoyed our additional two nights, and had a gorgeous Italian meal at San Marco, and a wonderful chippy supper at C.J.'s Fish & Chips.
We also had a good nose around local charity shops, and I managed to pick up a couple of fashionista novels...
This is an update of the postbox decoration, taken over a year later- I do like the mini-postboxes stacked on top of one another!
Incidentally, we went back to San Marco's. If you have the chance do give it a try, as the food is fabulous and the portion sizes massive. I had the smoked salmon, prawn and mozzarella calzone- look at the size of it!!!!
The Three Tuns is a Filey pub/ hotel. It gets mixed (mostly negative) reviews. One mentioned that the pub is "full of oddballs and weirdos." My answer to that was: 'Well, I'll feel right at home, then!'
We enjoyed our stay there. Where else would you find somewhere with a budgie housed in the corridor?
😁
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(Note: I've since been informed that it's a cockatiel. I'm not an expert when it comes to birds. Oops!)
Or defunct children's rides, including this Batmobile?
😁
This was in our hotel room- ironic, as we were stuck there due to train strikes!
I have plans to return to the East Riding of Yorkshire next year.
Until then,
TTFN
The Miss Elaineous.
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