I was talking to a friend who had got caught in the tide coming in at Boggle Hole a few years ago and I remembered our adventure (not).

Boggle Hole is a small valley on the North Yorkshire coast. There is a Youth Hostel there. A couple of miles north is the pretty (but steep) village of Robin Hoods Bay.

We decided to walk along the beach to the village for a drink and evening meal. We knew we had to be back at Boggle Hole hostel before it locked up for the night. I kept saying we needed to go, and eventually we left the pub. We realised if we climbed the hill and walked along the cliff path it would take too long, so we decided to walk along the beach. This is made up of large slabs of rock and sand. The slabs slope slightly with the bits closest to the land dipping down. A stream runs out of the Boggle Hole valley and then north along the beach then out to sea.

It was starting to get dark and the tide was coming in. We walked, then started to jog. The water was now ankle height so we walked further out where the rock slabs were higher. The stream was backfilling as the seawater ran along it, and it was getting very dark. My hubby had a torch, and we decided to go on as we would never get to the hostel in time.

Suddenly the water was coming in really fast. The water was up to my waist and very cold. My hubby was wading thigh deep as he is a lot taller than me. A glimmer of moonshine showed the headland, we just had to get round it and then we would be on dry land! But the rock dipped down as we waded towards the valley. The stream bed was lower and we had to ford it…..

I was chest deep and starting to panic. Hubby was not much better off. Much more of this and we would have to swim… But the ground was rising as we waded. Soon we were out, freezing and soaking wet. We ran up the path to the hostel and got back with minutes to spare!

After drying off we slept soundly and went back down to the beach as the sun rose. The beautiful sunrise to the East was disturbed by a crashing sound…. Bits of cliff were falling off as the sun dried the earth! That part of the Yorkshire coast is notorious for crumbling. The cliffs are mostly blue mudstone called Blue Lias, where dinosaur bones and ammonites among other things are uncovered by winter storms.

We were young and healthy but I have heard of other people getting caught out at Boggle Hole, but it was a memorable visit!