By Liz Todd.
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What to do to celebrate a 60th birthday? Indulge on a spa weekend, or maybe complete a parachute jump?
My mum fancied something closer to home and asked for a seaside holiday revisiting her youth - building sandcastles and taking in the sea air on North Yorkshire’s picturesque coastline.
Children and grandchildren had to be invited of course, so three generations headed to the little town of Filey and its vast sandy bay.
A Yorkshire classic: The seaside town of Filey is where Liz's mum used to holiday
Bigger, brasher Scarborough is just to the north with noisy amusement arcades and fairground rides to please the masses - but Filey prides itself on a more relaxing pace of life. It’s been a seaside destination since Victorian times and visitors today still stroll along the Crescent, the Georgian style terrace perched on the cliff top that was built by a Birmingham solicitor with a vision of turning the fishing village into a grand resort.
One hundred years later Butlin’s developed one of their giant holiday parks close to the town, no doubt seduced by the five-mile stretch of sands protected by Filey Brigg, the natural rock promontory to the north.
Today there are still the essentials - crazy golf down by the seafront, donkey rides along the sands and even a boating lake filled with pedalos on the cliff top.
It’s not just about nostalgia though. A walk along the promenade takes in coastal-themed sculptures and a fun hunt for 50 pretty silver ‘flithers’ set into the pavement - the local name for limpets or other shellfish used as fishing bait.
There’s also sculptor Ray Lonsdale’s imposing 12ft-tall artwork, ‘A High Tide in Short Wellies’. The £50,000 steel fisherman was recently purchased for the town by a local philanthropist - clearly Filey evokes real passion amongst its visitors.
Keeping it in the family: Liz celebrates with her mum and dad by the colourful beach houses of Filey
We were just as keen to reach our destination, an immaculately converted holiday cottage in the centre of town. Ravine House is one of four properties which used to be the Royal Crescent Vaults, a disused pub on the clifftop. The development was shortlisted for best conversion in the Northern Design Awards when it was completed at the end of 2011 and it was not hard to see why.
The open plan ground floor living space felt light and airy with plenty of space on the leather sofas for our party of six adults, one toddler and a baby. Three stylish bedrooms easily fitted travel cots, and we were wowed by the fancy bathrooms - fully tiled wet rooms with rain showers that were certainly posh enough to qualify for any spa weekend.
Mum voted for a weekend off cooking in honour of her celebrations (and Dad said he would keep her company) so my brother and I - ably assisted by spouses, and not so ably assisted by 15-month-old Catherine and eight-month-old Amel ie - mucked in on family feasts. The kitchen was spacious with an impressive range cooker although we were embarrassed to find we’d bought so much food we struggled to fit it in an under-the-counter fridge.
Home from home: Ravine House has been immaculately converted into a holiday cottage that suits all members of Liz's family
We cheated a bit on the catering with a trip to the Brown Room, one of Filey’s excellent fish and chip shops, and made the most of the bright weather with a barbecue in the private courtyard which Ravine House shares with its three neighbours. Our party only took over one of the properties but a larger extended family would have space - and privacy - if they rented two or more properties.
We rented out a little extra space in the form of a beach hut on the Royal Parade. For the unbelievably bargain price of £11.85 per day we secured our own slice of beach life, complete with table and chairs, deckchairs, water supply and kettle.
Our day on the beach was declared one of the ‘best ever’ as we pottered back and forth building an enormous sandcastle. The RNLI lifeguards were patrolling the sands and generously handing out those all-important mini flags to decorate our fortress.
Amelie was content to sit eating the occasional handful of sand as she watched elder cousin Catherine toddle back and forth in sun-warmed paddling pools, while the 60th birthday girl reclined on a deckchair and earned her much-deserved break.
Travel Facts
Ravine House (www.coast2coastholidays.co.uk 01274 851764) sleeps up to to eight people and one week’s accommodation costs from £418 per week. Prices for the other holiday cottages start at £324.
Europcar (www.europcar.co.uk) offers a free delivery and collection service.
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