Boggle Hole: The curiously-named Yorkshire cove which was a haven for old smuggling gangs

At high tide the walking route is along the clifftop on a path which carries the Cleveland Way and new King Charles III England Coast Path.

The name Boggle is related to the feeling of bafflement people say they experience as the result of an unusual spectacle or event.

Long ago, it was used to describe being overwhelmed by supernatural forces and was probably derived from the old British dialect noun “bogle”, meaning a goblin, spectre or any sight that aroused fear.

It is linked to the widely used word “bogeyman”.

Thus, Boggle Hole appears to have been named after a type of small bogle known as a hobgoblin which were reputed to live in caves along the Yorkshire coast.

According to local legend they had magical healing powers, and mothers may have brought sickly children down to Boggle Hole to be cured.

Today parents bring their children to the shore in front of Boggle Hole, where at low tide they fish in rock pools for red-eyed crabs, shrimps and gastropod molluscs.

An old corn mill in the ravine was occasionally used as a refuge for shipwrecked sailors, and during World War II it served as a billet for soldiers on coastal defence duties.

Today the building is one of the Youth Hostel Association’s most loved hostels, although access is by foot only from a car park higher up.