Last interglacial coast trail. Stage 6: Driffield to Burton Agnes

A light, low cloud, not even a fog in the morning. It is a bit breezy but mild. I take the 8:21 train to Driffield. As I step out of the station, I see Swifts chasing and screeching. I walk by River Head, heading east. 

The Water Forlorns, the feeder for the the Driffield Navigation.

The beautiful mills at Riverhead the beginning of Driffield Navigation.

The buried cliff follows the railway line closely and the beginning of the walk can easily follow it, a footpath by ongoing housing developments on the outskirts of Driffield. Two Roe Deer browse on the edge of a field. They look a bit shaggy, shedding their winter coat. Shortly after, at Marksman Lane, after walking by bright drifts of Red Campion, I find a herd of eight hinds and a buck on a field. It's the largest group of Roe Deer I've seen. I often see Re Deer from the train on this area, so it's nice to watch them, unbothered by my presence. A few Rabbits feed on the edge of the same field. 

The whole herd of Roe Deer.

Some of the Roe Deer appear to already have their short, reddish, summer coat, the shaggy ones keep licking their flanks, looking itchy and uncomfortable.

The sun starts breaking the clouds. Typical landscape of the Wolds.

I see a raptor and think it's a Marsh Harrier, but it banks and shows its white rump, a Hen Harrier, it promptly disappears behind the overgrown hedge and I don't see it again. 

All Saints Church.

I'm in Nafferton. Swifs chasing and Swallows. Jackdaws and busy Starlings. A lone House Martin. The imposing church, on a rise looks over the large village pond, Nafferton Mere, previously Mill Pond. A spring feeds the pond. I walk along the side street looking for gap in the houses and a clear view. The water is clear, showing many aquatic plants. There is a busking cob Mute Swan chasing the Mallards. The female is probably hidden on her nest.

Nafferton Mill Pond, looking East.

I leave the village by Lowthorpe Lane, bounded by high flowering hedges, Orange Tip males flying up and down the lane. A colony of Tree Sparrows is a nice surprise. A Whitethroat sings from an overhead cable. I spot a very distant Brown Hare on a ploughed field. It is a great day for mammals!

Young lambs by Backcarr lane.

Tree Sparrow.

Whitethroat.

Looking east towards Lowthorpe.

I hear a wagtail calling from a small ash. I'm underneath it but to see it, I need to get closer to it. I'm very lucky it doesn't fly away. It is a male Yellow Wagtail 'singing', my first of the year.

Yellow Wagtail.

Male Yellow Wagtail singing, the song is just a beautiful note repeated at intervals.

Lowthorpe is a small settlement with a few cottages and a church. I skirt Lowthorpe Wood and then turn north on the ridge of a small valley towards the popular picnic spot of Bracey Bridge, where I stop for my lunch. I'm a bit disappointed that so little water is visible due to trees and lush vegetation, given that there is a mill pond near the path. On the way there and back, I have a close encounter with a Brown Hare.

Lowthorpe St Martin's church.

Brown Hare.

Bracey Bridge on an old arm of the lay-by on the A614. The bridge is over Kelly Beck.

Kelly Beck with Bracey Bridge on the background.

Kelk or Kelly Beck (or Foston Beck) is a chalk stream that rises near Kilham. It flows for 16 km south, to join Frodingham Beck and then the River Hull at Emmotland, north of Tophill Low. It is a part of the River Hull Headwaters SSSI and a trout stream. Current recommended management to favour trout breeding involves annual bank vegetation cutting, introduction of woody debris, adjustable weir heights, channel narrowing and riverside woodland thinning to create high water speed and gravelly areas which are spawning sites for trout. Many of this recurrent and costly management operations could be done free of charge by a family of beavers!

Pasture by Kelly Beck.

The valley bottom, Neat Holmes, is prone to flooding, and there is a herd of cows on one side.The other side looks wilder (top shot). I stop on New Road Bridge over Kelly Beck. Again, the chalk stream has clear water with large patches of bright green water crowfoot. A family of Swans leaves the bank and swims on the beck. There are also Mallards and Moorhens and a Willow Warbler sings. I would have probably been unable to cross the valley without wellies a few weeks back judging by fresh dry mud and ruts on the lane. Brooklime leaves are covered in mud, but the new flowers shine fresh. 

Kelk or Kelly Beck.

Mute Swan female with cygnets.

I climb the shallow valley crossing Neat Holmes Wood and soon arriving at Harpham. My first Red Admiral of the year flies strong over trees. A linnet feeds young and there is another colony of Tree Sparrows. 

Barn Swallow at Harpham.

From Harpham to Burton Agnes the public footpath crosses rapeseed and wheat fields. I flush my first Yellowhammer and spot a Skylark.

The public footpath across fields to Burton Agnes.

Skylark.

I find myself with 45 minutes to spare until the next bus, so I spend some time sitting on the shade by the bank at Burton Agnes Mere. The usual wildfowl, with both Canada and Greylag with young and a grown hybrid goose. Two drake tufted ducks and a Gadwall are also residents.

Tufted Duck.

I return to the bus stop and watch the entertaining Rooks on the paddock. Young Rooks have fledged and demand being fed by their parents.

Adult Rook.

Young Rook.

Young pestering parent.

A demanding young Rook.

And what about the last interglacial? The Wolds would have certainly been wooded, but with large herds of herbivores there would have been much open grassland with trees and patches of closer woodland in places. Bison, Roe Deer, Red Deer, Aurochs and Giant Elk would have grazed and browsed the Wolds, the small Roe Deer the only remaining wild deer species in East Yorkshire. Roe Deer, which actually expanded across East Yorkshire area from the 60s and 70s, after being absent or very rare for decades due to habitat loss and poaching. Now it is a ubiquitous species, common even in suburban areas. Today's featured species though, was on the opposite side of the deer size scale...

Giant deer

The Irish Elk or Giant Elk, Megaloceros giganteus, is the largest species of deer to have ever existed. Although large numbers of complete subfossil skeletons were found in Irish peat bogs, the species was widely distributed across Europe and North Asia. Fossil remains were found at Kirkdale Cave, Victoria Cave, and at Sewerby cliff (unfortunately now lost!) demonstrating both its distribution in Yorkshire during the last interglacial, and also pointing at Cave Hyenas as their predators.

 Giant Elk from Leeds city museum.

My ink drawing of a Giant Elk stag during the rut.

Can I see them?

The Irish Elk became extinct 7000 years ago, with the last populations in the Urals of Western Russia. Their closest surviving relatives are Fallow Deer, which share their palmate antlers, and can be seen in some parks like Sewerby Hall and East Park.

Walk details. Distance: 13 km. Train to Driffield, bus 121 back from Burton Agnes to Driffield. Relatively easy terrain, with tarmac, country lanes and across arable fields. Vary little incline, with he minimum heitght is 14 m near Driffield, the maximum 25 m at Burton Agnes. There is a little cafe at Bracey Bridge for refreshments.

More information

Boylan, P. J. A new revision of the Pleistocene mammalian fauna of Kirkdale Cave, Yorkshire. Proceedings- Yorkshire Geological Society 43, 253–280 (1981).

Delany, M.J. 1985. Yorkshire Mammals. University of Bradford. 256 pp.

Lamplugh, G. W. Report on the buried cliff at Sewerby, near Bridlington. Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc. 9, 381–392 (1887).

TetZoo article: The Life Appearance of the Giant Deer Megaloceros — Tetrapod Zoology.

Hiking loop from Nafferton. https://www.komoot.com/smarttour/16879972.