I live in the north of Lincolnshire. I like Lincolnshire but I like Yorkshire even more. Lucky for me then that it is only a thirty mile drive to cross the Humber Bridge and arrive in the East Riding.
School holidays mean visiting grandchildren so to save the house and garden from being trashed I booked a few days away in a holiday home (caravan) in a part of Yorkshire that I have so far never felt inclined to visit. Tucked away in the south east of the county is a stretch of coastline between the city of Hull and the town of Bridlington and this was our destination. A holiday park at Skipsea Sands.
The UK was enjoying bizarre weather and an unexpected heat-wave as hot air swept up from North Africa and we set off with high expectations of a gloriously sunny week with the promise of record breaking temperatures and as we approached our first destination we were not disappointed.
I first visited Hornsea in February 2017 and I liked it so much that I vowed to return. This is what I said about it then…
“On arrival I was immediately impressed. I live near the resort town of Cleethorpes but although it is a popular holiday resort it has to be said that it is just a muddy estuary where the sea is barely visible for long periods of the day but this was real North Sea coast with a raging sea, barnacled groynes, pounding surf, churning water and a pebble beach clattering away as it was constantly rearranged by the tidal surge.”
It was different today of course as the midday temperature soared through the thirties, the sea was calm and warm and the beach was as busy as Benidorm in July.
We started the visit with fish and chips because there is nowhere like Yorkshire for fish and chips, cooked properly in beef dripping and crisp crunchy batter, a real treat. I lived for a few months in Richmond in North Yorkshire and would quite happily eat fish and chips every day.
Next we went to the beach. I wasn’t so keen on this as the children. I have just bought a new car and I didn’t want it filled with sand that is difficult to vacuum up but I had to give in of course and accept the consequences.
The beach was busy and a few yards away were a family of louts who were ignoring the summer beaches dog-ban rule with a scruffy animal that was causing mayhem. I just hate dogs.
After half an hour or so they packed up and left but didn’t bother to take their litter with them, several beer cans and empty crisp packets and just wandered off with their obnoxious beast. Kim was outraged and went across to where they were sitting and picked up all of the mess that they had left behind. I was impressed by that.
And so with sandy feet and muddy clothes we left the beach but then ran into the moron beach littering family. Kim couldn’t help herself and walked across to them and handed them the bag of cans and bottles. I knew that this wasn’t a good idea. The youth (obviously unemployable and living on benefits) was a tattoed yob (paid for by people like us who pay taxes) who clearly couldn’t be reasoned with or could see no wrong in his actions and responded with a tirade of abuse which shocked the passers-by. I pulled Kim away but he followed and continued with his foul mouthed response until we were out safely of ear-shot.
Anti-Social behaviour and littering is a real problem in the UK as people seem to think that it is acceptable to dispose of rubbish in any public place and I find that so distressing.
After we had walked the length of the seafront we returned to the car park and continued our journey to out holiday home (caravan) destination at Skipsea Sands. Caravan allocation is a bit of a lottery, sometimes you get a good one and sometimes you don’t. This time we struck lucky with a van on the edge of the park overlooking a field of golden corn and the blue sea beyond. It was quite perfect.
I have visited these caravan parks before and I am certain that the company keeps a database of clients and how they leave the accommodation when they leave. I try to leave it in really good order and I am convinced that this results in an upgrade for the next visit.
As the girls moved in and chose their bedrooms Kim and I sat on the balcony and watched the monochrome kaleidoscope of grass as the breeze choreographed shifting patterns in the field of golden wheat. We opened a bottle of wine and congratulated ourselves on our good fortune.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Brave move to hand their rubbish back, they’ve gotta learn sometime
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I doubt they learned this time. Thanks for stopping by.
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Not a great start to your little holiday (the beach yobs) but I suspect it improved considerably for the remainder. An idyllic end to the day though sipping wine on a balcony overlooking corn fields, how lovely. 🙂
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Anti-social behaviour remains a real problem in England but yes the holiday did improve after that!
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I agree. I once watched a couple dump all their McDonalds packaging into the carpark. I took a photo of their numberplate but then decided I was being petty so didn’t do anything about it.
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Agree totally about Yorkshire Fish & Chips, all London has is its EU French fries everywhere. You need 10 FFs to make ONE Yorkshire chip and pay 5x more for the privilege! Well done on the yobs, their response was predictable, so next time have your phone ready and record the abuse, take it round to the cop shop and register a verbal assault complaint. If you had an Asian wife like mine ….. “it becomes a racist hate crime”!
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Good advice but I am hoping that there won’t be a next time!
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Tell Kim!
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I have given her a yellow card!
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How will you impose a red? Keep digging!
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You make Yorkshire sound wonderful – or at least the part in which you were holidaying. Never been there but the fish and chips are certainly tempting me.
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It is my favourite county for sure!
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I am simultaneously salivating over fish and chips and cheering Kim; creating quite a spray
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We both get upset about the littering epidemic in our society but I am not sure that it is wise to take unofficial enforcement action.
We walked quite a bit on this holiday and were appalled to find country roads and lanes full of discarded bottles, cans and fast food packaging. I just can’t help wondering what makes people think that this is acceptable. Is it the same in the Forest?
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You are right to question the wisdom – but I still admire Kim
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I guess louts exist in every country. Good for Kim!
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And on the plus side she didn’t get punched!
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There’s a fun story in a book by Carl Hiaasen I believe about an ex-governor of Florida who has gone a bit rogue and lives off the land. He is always after the bad guys that are trashing his state of Florida in one way or the other. Anyway, he sees these guys driving a convertible and throwing beer cans out of it. So he gets their license plate, determines where they live, fills a dump truck with trash and unloads it into their convertible. I often fantasize such things. Hooray for Kim!
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Sad thing is Curt that they probably just dumped it again!
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No doubt. But it would still be a fun bit of revenge, especially if you were able to watch them make the discovery… from a safe distance with binoculars. 🙂
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Nice gallery . . . as for the rubbish family, would you agree we would be better off if they were excised from the gene pool?
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That would certainly thin out the population!
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. . . and we’d all be the better for it.
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Brave Kim! I’d have been outraged too, but probably wouldn’t have done anything for fear of what she got (or worse). My friend, a former head teacher, used to get parents complaining that their little darlings had been told off for dropping litter. Wasn’t that what the janitor was there for, to pick it up? What hope have the kids got, being brought up with that attitude?
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For many people it is unfortunately seen as acceptable behaviour. I cannot understand people littering from cars when they can take it home and bin it properly.
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I get so irate when I see people throwing stuff out a car window.. I hoot normally and if one sees me through the rear view mirror you’ll know why I am hooting.. 😉
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Great photographs Andrew and messy yobbos should be towed out to sea and sunk.
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Now, that is an idea!
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Way to go, Kim!! Also, good call on ending up at the beach on a hot day. I’m sure the kids were thrilled and I’ll bet you are right that you didn’t stand a chance to keep the car away from the sand. Those fields are gorgeous. If it’s true that the company keeps track of the behavior of campers, then I support the practice 100%. I’m all about using carrots to get desired results.
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My youngest granddaughter said she was disappointed not to see a real fight!
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Pingback: East Yorkshire – Hornsea and a Litter Pick | Have Bag, Will Travel
Looks glorious Andrew. So brave of Kim and I probably would have done the same buy my husband would have stopped me. They could have been on drugs and it might have turned violent! Lucky they weren’t in the next caravan to you! You have to be careful these days, you want her on your blog not front page news
Concerned fellow blogger 🙂
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Good advice.
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I bet your grand-children love coming away with you. Kudos to Kim for tackling the unsocial family.
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Patsy said she was disappointed that there wasn’t a real fight.
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Kids!
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Mind you, if there had been, my money would’ve been on Kim.
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I have the bruises to prove it.
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😂
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Another great blog post on a very under-rated area of the country. Well done, Kim, although what she did was quite dangerous. Sad to say, this coiuntry has always had this underclass of what the Americans call “white trash”. The problem is that if things such as benefits were cut off, they would undoubtedly turn to crime….street robberies, drug dealing, burglaries and so on. That would impact much more on the middle classes, so we are paying them, ultimately, not to rob us.
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Thanks John. Oddly your comment dropped into spam.
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Well worth reading again. An excellent gallery and enjoyable writing, especially the Cleethorpes beach description.
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Thank you Derrick. Cleethorpes is a curious place rather like Southend on Sea which I call Southend on Mud.
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Another great blog post on a very under-rated area of the country. Well done, Kim, although what she did was quite dangerous. Sad to say, this country has always had this underclass of what the Americans call “white trash”. The problem is that if things such as benefits were cut off, they would undoubtedly turn to crime….street robberies, drug dealing, burglaries and so on. That would impact much more on the middle classes, so we are paying them, ultimately, not to rob us.
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Good for Kim. I am always shocked at the British holidaymakers who leave their garbage everywhere here in Spain. I thought they only did that when they were away, but not in their own country. Guess I was wrong. it does look like a great spot to take the grandchildren. Fish and Chips in Yorkshire are always a treat. We had some in Scarborough that were to die for.
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Dumped rubbish is a UK problem. So sad.
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Good for Kim, Andrew. Please tell her Peggy would do the same thing! –Curt
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Two eco warriors.
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You bet! There is a humorous Florida writer, Carl Hiaasen, who writes books that always keep me laughing. One of his characters is a Governor who goes rogue and lives out in the swamps and likes to terrorize polluters. I one, some people drive by in a covetable and throw their empty beer cans out. The governor gets their license plate number, He then fills a dumbstruck with trash, drives to their home, and empty the dumbstruck into their convertible.
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I know it’s not uniquely British but we do seem to have a greater number of ignorant individuals who seem to have grown up without ever being taught what constitutes anti-social behaviour. It’s just appalling and we’ve all witnessed scenes like this one (though not all been as brave as Kim). I don’t know how we could ever correct it now. It’s depressing.
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Sadly, yes it is. The worst place for me was Turkey. Just an open landfill site.
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I am enjoying your trip around England. It is rather a change from all your trips around continental Europe. Very sad about the letter very happy about Kim
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She is an eco warrior.
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