Tuesday, 25 March 2025

Holderness: Patrington to Patrington Haven

I take the 8:00am X7 bus at Hull city centre, and I'm at Patrington at 9:00. It is a bright, mild day with barely a breeze. I wander around the streets of the village, recording birds and plants. Rooks are busy at their nests, a Chiffchaff sings. St Patrick's Church, 'Queen of Holderness', a Grade I listed building, looms large in the village and is a great landmark, visible for miles in this flat landscape. I make a quick stop at the Greenwich Meridian, just outside the village, on Welwick road. A flock of Fieldfare, Redwing and Starlings are feeding on a ploughed field. I take Saltmarsh lane, an unsurfaced lane, with plenty of puddles, but it has been dry lately, so I don't get too muddy. Skylarks and a Yellowhammer sing. a Kestrel lands on a pile of straw bales. I turn right onto the footpath crossing South Field, fortunately it is along farm tracks. The landscape is mostly flat and arable farmland, but there is a little rise, which means there are not as many ditches as in other areas of Holderness. Skylarks sing at both sides of the path. In front of me, there is a resting roe deer by a hedge, when it stands, I realise there are three others. I soon get to Patrington Haven, which used to have a navigable canal to the Humber, long silted up. Bees feed on Red deadnettles, including Hairy-footed flower bee males. I take a permissive path by the caravan park which leads to Enholmes Farm. I flush a Great Spotted Woodpecker. There are several linear plantations in the distance, some with rookeries. I turn right at Enholmes Farm. Woodland plants are flowering at Cherry Plantation. I'm soon back at Patrington, where I treat myself to a lunch at the cafe.

Rooks at Patrington.
Fieldfare.
Meridian stone.
Saltmarsh Lane.
A chair with a view, Patrington church on the horizon.
Kestrel.
Yellowhammer.
Two of four Roe Deer that were resting by a hedge.
An original wind vane at Patrington Haven.
Chapel at Patrington Haven.
Newly planted hedge at Enholmes Hall lane.
Ground Ivy at Cherry Plantation.
Today's route, 10 km, which starts and finishes at Patrington High Street.

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