Holderness: Bilton, Ganstead, Swine and Wawne

 

I take a bus to Holderness road by Saltshouse Road, and make my way to Bilton, and then across the fields to Ganstead. There is a pedestrian crossing across the busy A165, but afterwards it's tricky to follow the right of way north of Ganstead, first a narrow path between garden fences, then by a farm as the wooden bridge over a drain is almost totally collapsed. It is not a deep drain and I decide to cross it by balancing on the only remaining beam. It is a sunny day, cold and a bit breezy. A Buzzard rides the wind to a telegraph pole.

Blackbirds at Bilton.

The view towards Bransholme.

A mature tree with a rope swing south of Ganstead.

The path crosses a field with medieval ridge and furrow just south of Ganstead.

Grey Squirrel at Ganstead.

Buzzard.

Most of this route is alongside arable fields, with a few pastures. Fields are low-lying and prone to flooding, the land flat or slightly undulating, less than 5 m OSL. Most fields are bounded by ditches or ditches and hedgerows. The toponym 'Carr' occurs several times: Swine Carr, The Carrs and Turf Carr, indicating waterlogged woods in the area, before widespread drainage started. I reach the Hull to Hornsea rail trail, an abandoned railway line now used as a public right of way and cycle track. As I approach the trail, flocks of Fieldfares, Redwings and Blackbirds explode from the Hawthorns. A local birdwatcher I meet there, Peter, tells me about a Little Owl spot and a local Peregrine.

Fieldfare.

The Hornsea Rail Trail.

Old Swine station, now a private dwelling.

 I follow the road onto the small village of Swine, with its spectacular Priory Church, St Mary's, the only remaining building standing from its old Nunnery (top shot), although there is a protected archaeological site with the remains of moats, fish ponds and buildings nearby. From then onwards, the road only serves as an access road to a few farms, so there is very little traffic. Near Woodhouse farm, I flush a group of Grey Partridge.

Main street at Swine. The Dancing Lane caught my eye.

Rook calling.

One of four Roe Deer.

Yellowhammers. Pairs are dotted along the road between Swine and Benningholme.

A calling Buzzard.

More Roe Deer on a fallow field.

I get to Fairholme double bridge, where three large drains merge: the Monkbridge Stream, the Lambwath Stream and the Kelwell Drain.

Fairholme Double Bridge.

The merged Lambwath and Kelwell drain.

The Monkdyke Stream and the pretty Fairholme House Bridge.

I have some trouble finding the right of way when I realise that it actually is in between two hedges close together, and it's a delightful change of atmosphere, the winter sun filtering across the branches, and the alarming Redwing and Fieldfare overhead.

The lane to Wawne from Fairholme, Common Lane.

Redwing.

Some Pink-footed Geese fly overhead.

I emerge from the enclosed lane, and hear a distant chatter. It's a flock of Linnets singing, a Linnet chorus. A Kestrel hunts nearby. I'm very close to Wawne, the end of today's walk. I cross the Holderness Drain and follow Common Lane to Grange Croft, and wait for Stagecoach 10 to take me back to Hull.

Linnets singing.

An impressive polypody growing on a long-forgotten hanging basket.

Wawne Church.

Today's walk. 

Holderness: Skirlaugh to Wawne

The sun came out after a couple of weeks of gloomy cloudy cover. I took the East Yorkshire bus 24 to the village of Skirlaugh and then walk eastwards towards Benningholme along the Lamwath stream. Skirlaugh sits on a rise, about 13 m OSL. The meandering course of the stream runs through the north side of the village, lined with trees and bushes, and forming a wider flat bottom course as it leaves the village. So far, the stream had followed its natural course, and due to the incline of the land and the depth of the bed of the stream it was not embanked, however, it has very steep banks, and looks heavily deepened (top shot). A couple of Rabbits groom and sun themselves on the edge of a field, whilst a Fieldfare calls from atop a bare ash.

At Benningholme, at about 4 m OSL, banks appear on the sides of the at times straightened stream course. It is here that the Lambwath leaves its well defined valley and as the pattern of drainage becomes less clear. The monks of Meaux, the Lords of the Manor of Sutton and the Nunnery of Swine contributed to the drainage of the area by cutting ditches and drains. As early as 1210-1220, a channel was cut from the Lambwath between Arnold and Benningholme to Meaux Abbey. This, so called the Monkdyke, was navigable and also fed a water mill, and directly communicated the Lambwath with the river Hull. This drainage appears to have led to the disappearance of Lambwath Mere upstream.

I flush two Grey Wagtails by Lambwath bridge near Benningholme Hall.

The stream by Lambwath Bridge.

Later, on the gardens of the cottages before Benningholme Grange, there are Tree Sparrows. The thin, urgent call of a kingfisher comes from under the bridge, I can't spot it, but two Mallard watch me in the distance.

Tree Sparrow.

I walk along the road towards Meaux. Flocks of Redwing and Fieldfares are flushed from the hawthorn hedges. 

The pinkiest Howgeed I've even seen.

Drewery Sock Dyke.

A Grey Heron fishing at Drewery Sock Dyke.

Buzzard.

I was planning to get nearer to the old site of Meaux Abbey, but there is no public access and the road passing by it is busy, so I have to skirt around it. Two Buzzards call from trees on the edge of the site.

Meaux, hamlet.

From then onwards I walk quickly on the busy road towards the village of Wawne. It's a relief to leave it and take a public right of way shortcut to the village. I'm getting hungry and this was the end of my walk, but instead of getting the bus here I walk to the river by Greens Lane and sit on the river bank to have my lunch in the sunshine.

A young  nursery web spider basking

The river Hull at Wawne.

It is such a beautiful day that I decide to walk by the river to Beverley road to get my bus home. I am rewarded by a male Stonechat by the river bank.

Male Stonechat.

Holderness: Hollym to Withernsea

This is the first of a new series on walks around the villages of Holderness. Given the lack of trains in the peninsula, as both the Hornsea and Withernsea railways were discontinued in 1964, I will take buses and design circular walks around the villages, recording wildlife. I'll try and visit all the towns and villages of Holderness, prioritising those not by the Humber or the coast, which I have visited as part of other routes described in the blog (Walking the Humber and Walking Spurn Head to Filey Brigg). This morning, a mild, still and grey day, I take East Yorkshire bus 75 to Hollym, and weave my way by the lanes and paths to The Runnell, on the coast, and then follow the coast to Withernsea, and briefly visit the Millennium Green.

An old cabin or shed on a back garden at Hollym.

A Roe Deer buck and a pheasant.

Roe deer doe with two fawns. The wind was towards me and they didn't notice me until the mother eventually did, and she stood leg raised for a few moments, then she jumped through the hedge and they bounded, with their rump patches raised in alarm, across the field.

Buzzard.

I cross a ditch via a narrow foot bridge and a path by the houses on Holmpton Road. I hear the chirps of Tree Sparrows, and after some trying, I manage to get a few photos of one of them.

Tree Sparrow.

When at the top of the cliff, near the Runnel, I manage to find some steps cut into the cliff, so that I can cross the Runnell. I continue on the beach. The tide is almost low now, the beach expansive.

The Runnell.

I keep looking to the cliff, trying to find a way up. Finally, I find a quick way up by the sewage works. There are four small birds on the barbed wire fence, grooming after a bath. I'm pleasantly surprised to find they are Twite, a lifer for me! I might have seen flyover Twite, but not a proper view, so this is the highlight of today's trip.

Twite, their buff throat patch, tiny yellow bill and cream wing bar distinguish it from its relative the Linner. Twite are upland birds during the summer, but in the winter they can be found on bare ground on the coast.

There has been a lot of erosion in the area, and the path continues on a fallow field just before Intack farm.

Rabbits share a field with a flock of Starlings and a Meadow Pipit.

Meadow Pipit.

A Magpie atop a sign warning of the receding cliff. The cliff is very close to the road, There have been some defences built just south of the promenade, to defend the road.

A juvenile Mute Swan fly over.

Withernsea towers decorated with crocheted poppies.

I have my lunch, a jacket potato and coffee, at the Castle Cafe. Afterwards I have an hour to spare until my bus back, so I walk along the old Withernsea railway line. Flocks of Redwings fly over.

Redwings.