Filey

North Yorkshire


Filey is a seaside town in the Scarborough former district of North Yorkshire.

Filey is a quiet and peaceful family resort with a fine expanse of beach and offering plenty of holiday accommodation.

Murray Street, FileyRoyal Parade, FileyMusic adds to its friendly atmosphere when there are musicians at the Filey Folk Festival, normally held in May, and Filey Music Festival, usually held in September.

Filey also offers a warm welcome to walkers and cyclists. It is at one end of the Cleveland Way long-distance walking trail starting in Helmsley, going around the edge of the North York Moors and then along the coastal path to reach Filey. In the opposite direction it is one end of the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way walking trail to the Humber Bridge at Hessle.

Filey is also the finish of the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride, a 70-mile charity event starting in Wetherby. Although cancelled in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions, it is due to return on June 18, 2022.

Extending from the northern point of the beach is the long rocky headland of Filey Brigg, at one time the site of a Roman signal station. The Brigg is the venue of the annual Filey Fishing Festival held at the start of September. The beach at Filey has a Keep Britain Tidy Seaside Award. In 2018, Filey won The Sunday Times 2018 Beach of the Year award.

The resort has a regular train service on the line between Scarborough, Bridlington and Hull.


 Town features


Filey has a sandy beach.
Filey is on the Cleveland Way long-distance trail, a 110-mile waymarked hiking path around the edges of the North York Moors and North Yorkshire coast with Helmsley and Filey at its end points.
Filey is on the Yorkshire Wolds Way long-distance trail, a 79-mile hiking trail with the Humber Bridge at Hessle and Filey at its end points.
The town has a rich variety of traditional shops. Filey offers bakery goods, butchers, antiques, crafts, furnishings, gifts, an outdoor market (Friday at The Three Tuns car park).
The town has a Post Office.
The town has pharmacies.
Filey has a number of pubs to choose from.
Restaurant dining and cafes can be found in Filey.
Takeaway food outlets in the town include fish and chips, chinese, pizzas, burgers, kebabs, sandwiches.
The town has a library.
Filey has a museum.
Filey has a theatre.
Filey has a community centre.
There are public toilets in the town.
Locations of toilets and opening times can be found at this North Yorkshire Council - Public toilets web page.
Places of worship: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist.
Filey has tourist information.
Places to stay in Filey include hotel, guest house, inn, caravan, camping, holiday centre accommodation.
Filey was in the historic East Riding of Yorkshire.

Travel

Filey station

Station managed by: NORTHERN.   Operator/s: NORTHERN.

NATIONAL RAIL - Departure and station info
External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).

Bus travel

The town has a bus station with services to neighbouring towns and villages.

Road travel

Filey can be reached via the (A165) A1039


Places to visit


Heritage coast

A few miles south of Filey is spectacular chalk cliff headland of the Flamborough Heritage Coast, where there is one of the most important colonies of seabirds in Europe. The Flamborough headland's chalk coast features include stacks, caves and coves. The headland also has an early 19th century active lighthouse and an old chalk tower from the 17th century which is the oldest full lighthouse remaining in the country. For more see our Heritage Coast page.

Bempton Cliffs

At the northern end of the Flamborough headland are Bempton Cliffs where the RSPB has an accessible nature reserve with cliff edge viewing platforms and a seabird centre. Through the spring and summer the cliffs are alive with around a quarter of a million nesting birds, including the only mainland gannet colony in Britain. The cliffs also have a large colony of kittiwakes and are home to puffins between April and July.

Filey Museum

8 to 10 Queen Street, Filey
Filey Museum is a small museum run on a voluntary basis and is open from Easter to the end of October. The recently refurbished museum has displays arranged in seven themed rooms, including exhibitions on Bygone Filey, Victorian times, rural crafts, lifeboats and the seashore.

Scarborough Castle

Scarborough Castle

Castle Road
In its clifftop location on the headland between North and South Bays, the ruined castle is the centrepiece of Scarborough. The castle includes ruins from a 4th century Roman signal station and medieval chapel, but its most dominant feature is the half-ruined keep. The tower was built by Henry II between 1159 and 1169 and was used as a grand residence. Half its 12-foot thick walls were damaged during an English Civil War siege in 1645. The castle also has a rebuilt barbican gate tower and bridge from 1243 and remains of a royal lodging dating from the early 13th century. King John and Henry III invested heavily in the castle. In more recent history Scarborough Castle was one of the targets of the World War I bombardment of the town of Scarborough by German battlecruisers on December 16, 1914. Scarborough Castle is now managed by English Heritage.

More information at the  English Heritage - Scarborough Castle website.
Find on map:  Scarborough Castle


North York Moors National Park

Stretching inland from the coast to the north-east of Scarborough is the beautiful scenery of the North York Moors National Park, which covers 554 square miles (1,435 square kilometres). Within its area are moorland and coast, historic stateley homes, remains of castles and abbeys and attractive villages including  Goathland, famous as the location for TV's Heartbeat, and  Grosmont, location of the locomotive sheds of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. For more information see our page dedicated to the North York Moors.


Emergency services

North Yorkshire Police  North Yorkshire Police website.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service  North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust  Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

HM Coastguard  Coastguard - Coastal safety webpage.


Local government


Civil parish council

Filey Town Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:  Filey Town Council


Unitary authority

North Yorkshire Council

The North Yorkshire Council is a new unitary authority formed from the previous County Council from April 1, 2023. It covers the existing county duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning over an area of 3,109 square miles while also taking over the responsibilities of the seven huge district authorities also created in 1974 — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — these including local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets serving a population of around 615,500*.

Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. There have been a few by-elections to fill councillor vacancies since then.


Places in  North Yorkshire
Link to council website:  North Yorkshire Council

^ Area figure from ONS Standard Area Measurements 2022 (converted from hectares).
* Population figure from Census 2021 (combined total of former districts).
Contains public sector information licensed under the  Open Government Licence v3.0.

Political composition:

453CI 1311 NY Ind92 LC421
90 members

CI = Conservative & Independent    NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group   LC = Labour & Cooperative
Composition and groupings - source North Yorkshire Council (February 2024)

Strategic authority

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created in December 2023 combining the unitary authority of York and the unitary authority of North Yorkshire — that created in April 2023 after the abolition of the county authority and its seven district authorities. The combined authority will run some functions under the new mayor elected in May 2024 as part of the government's so-called "Devolution deal" which ties the availablity of funding to the new governance arrangements. As well as having powers over housing development, transport and boosting skills and education across the 3,214 square miles of York and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor also takes on the role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner across the area.

Elected mayor: David Skaith Labour & Cooperative
 York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority website.


Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire
Covers the county of North Yorkshire and  City of York. This role is being transferred to the new elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire in 2024.
 Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.


Parliamentary constituency

Thirsk and Malton
Elected MP: Kevin Hollinrake Conservative

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

North Yorkshire



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