Migrants Way. Stage 6. Tunstall to Garton

A cold day, the temperature barely rising over 11 oC, and feeling colder in the northwesterly wind, especially on the exposed coastal path. It is mostly overcast, with brief sunny spells. I park at Tunstall, by the public right of way near Manor Farm, which I take until Monkwith, where I follow the cracked clifftop path on a grassy field. I have driven through Roos, and I am reminded of the Roos Carr figures at Hull and East Yorkshire Museum, which I saw a few months ago.

Roos Carr Warriors

These wooden carved figures were found in 1836, by labourers clearing a ditch. They excavated them and retrieved five figures and a wooden boat carved in yew wood with small pebbles for eyes. Carbon dating established they are 2,600 years old, from the late Bronze or early Iron Age. They are fascinating to watch.

The Burton Constable Whale

Another local celebrity is the Burton Constable whale, a bull sperm whale found beached at Tunstall in 1825. It was dissected by a Hull surgeon, James Alderson. The whale's skeleton was preserved and taken to join the cabinet of curiosities of Sir Thomas Constable, which was the righteous owner of anything found on the local beaches, and was displayed at the parkland at Burton Constable. In 1995 what remained of the skeleton was moved to a barn (where I photographed it in 2013) and there is a recent call for anybody who is in possession of any of its missing bones to return it to Burton Constable as there is a plan to mount the skeleton for display. The fame of the whale stems from the fact that the author Herman Melville provides a detailed account of this whale in his book 'Moby Dick', published in 1851, suggesting that he had seen its skeleton: "At a place in Yorkshire, England, Burton Constable by name, a certain Sir Clifford Constable has in his possession the skeleton of a sperm whale … articulated throughout; so that, like a great chest of drawers you can open and shut him, in all his bony cavities – spread out his ribs like a gigantic fan – and swing all day upon his lower jaw."

I can't linger on the Tunstall coastline, as there is no access to the clifftop path by the Grimston estate, I have to take a detour through Hilston, moving away from the coast at Hogsea Lane. Skylarks and Whitethroats are on evidence all through the walk.

Gills Mere

I was quite interested to see the small mere, 'Gilderson Marr' or 'Gills Mere', which lies in a hollow by fields by Hogsea lane. This unassuming basin was formed as a 'kettle hole', a fragment of ice left in the landscape after a retreat of the front of a glacier, which becomes covered with sediment and, when the ice melts, leaves a depression in the landscape that fills with water. Gills Mere contains over 6 m of sediment deposit from the Late-Glacial to part of the Holocene and have been analysed for its long pollen record. I was very pleased to see that it holds a small lake (photo above), fringed by willows, reeds and brambles, with yellowflag irises in bloom. As I approach to have a look, two Mallard fly off and a Moorhen hides on the marginal vegetation. A Reed Bunting sings. It is a beautiful spot. Unfortunately there is a lot of manure by the basin it and miscellaneous soil, rubble and litter. Last winter the lake must have been much larger in extension as the neighbouring field crops has marks where a recent shore had been (photo below), visible as I walk to the next ridge at Hogsea Lane.

Looking back to Gilderson Marr from the hill at Hogsea Lane.

A migrant hoverfly, Scaeva pyrastri, my first this year.

Yellowhammer.

Hilston
From Hogsea Lane I move to Hilston, a small village with pastures nearby, with horses, on ridge and furrow fields. The village feels very green, with plenty of trees and hedgerows.

Spotty horse.

Some of the horses laying down on the way back. Note the ridge and furrow.

This crumbling tower, now owned by Jackdaws, is Admiral Storr tower.

Not long after watching the tower, I join the Alkbrough road. I walk fast till Garton and reach the Church. I walk near Grimston Park, one of the few wooded areas by the East Yorkshire coast, unfortunately is not very accessible. Without much ado I return the same way. A Buzzard is mobbed by crows by Admiral Storr tower. A Monkwith, sitting at the top of the steps cut on the clifftop by fisherme, I have my lunch. A pair of Meadow Pipits are nesting nearby, as one of the pair is carrying insects in its bill, then fluttering overhead nervously. A hare by Manor Farm as I arrive to Tunstall is a nice end to the stage.

Featured bird: Yellowhammer
There were Yellowhammers everywhere today. The landscape is arable and mixed, with large hedgerows of hawthorn, blackthorn, gorse and even wild privet, which is their favoured habitat. Yellowhammers are resident birds relying on seeds during the winter. They have undergone sharp population declines since the early 90s and are red-listed in the UK. As with other farmland birds, intensive agriculture seems responsible for the decline in Yellowhammer populations, with less winter stubble, replaced by autumn planting of crops, pesticide use and efficient harvesting.

Walk information
13 km circular. Start: Tunstall Seaside Lane TA307317, end Garton church. No access to coast path by Grimston estate. No toilet facilities.

More information
Tweddle, J 2000. A high resolution palynological study of the Holocenevegetational development of central Holderness, easternYorkshire, with particular emphasis on the detection ofprehistoric human activity. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield.