Holderness: Burstwick and Burton Pidsea

A sunny, warm day with little wind, I take the 75 bus to Burstwick and leave the bus just before the village to have a look at the pond south of it. Two Emperor Dragonflies are hunting over the water and along the hedgerows. Domestic Geese, Mallard, a juvenile Black-headed Gull and Pied Wagtails is all I see. I walk across the village and take the public right of way along Burswick Drain. By the bridge over the drain there is a small patch of long grass and I do some recording of butterflies and grasshoppers. A pair of Common Blue butterflies are nice and also some Roesel's Bush-cricket. All along the drain in the stretch along the golf course, there are plenty of butterflies. As I get to Thack Carr Bridge, I see a Brown Hare running top speed towards me. I freeze and the hare seems to realise I'm there, does an incredible U turn and runs away. Later I spot two hares on the fields of the Carr. A Curlew flies away and lands beyong that field. The heat haze is strong and the photos not great, but there are about 9 Curlew feeding at Thack Carr. 

Juvenile Black-headed Gull.

Common Green Grasshopper.

Female Common Blue Butterfly.

Male Roesel's Bush-cricket singing.

Brown Hare.

Ruddy Darter.

I get to Braemere Drain and cross the new bridge. Six bay horses feed on the paddock, one of them watching me intently. I reach Fielden Lane, a busy road and turn right towards Burton Pidsea. A huge flock of Rooks and Jackdaws takes flight, apparently spooked by a hunting Buzzard. I take Back Lane and walk to St Peter and St Paul church, a 12th century, Grade 1 listed, building, the construction with cobble and stone dressings and some brick. There is a small park by the church, with wildlife garden features. It's time to turn round, but to make it more interesting I walk back by Greens Lane and then join Burstwick Drain by the golf course and make my way back to Burstwick bus stop.

Horse at Braemere Farm. 

A large flock of Rooks and Jackdaws flew up and away from...

...a Buzzard.

St Peter and St Paul church at Burton Pidsea.

A pair of Swan Geese and two goslings was an odd sight at Burton Pidsea.

Mill at Burton Pidsea. 

Yellowhammer.

I had never seen a field planted with Fennel.

Linnet.

Curlew at Thack Carr.

A Swift over Burstwick.

Holderness: Burstwick, Elstronwick and Danthorpe

A mild day with light cloud and brief sunny spells, I take bus 75 to Burstwick. I walk east along Pinfold lane to take the public right of way by Burstwick drain. A blackthorn is in full bloom, its branches packed with blossom. Several Small Tortoiseshells bask and flutter on the banks of the drain, which are peppered on flowering Lesser Celandines. Skylarks sing over the fields. I walk north on Hedon road by the golf course, and then take the right towards Windy Hill, where I leave the busy road for the footpath towards Lelley Grange. Siskins sing from an alder and a hare bounds away. A sprinkle of Linnets. Rooks fly over towards the rookery at Daisy Hill farm. Ditches, hedges and arable fields make most of the landscape, which is undulating. Right beyond the crossing at with Bownhill lake there is a grassy hollow, the ditch that runs through it and a local hill give away that this used to be a mere: Braemere. It is now horse paddocks, but there is open water, and judging by the position of the fences the area has flooder overwinter, overtopping its banks. Greylags, Mallards and a Moorhen feed or rest around it. Flocks of starlings fly overhead. Later, on the way back, I see two Curlew by the water's edge.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Rook.

Brown Hare.

Siskin.

Rookery at Daisy Hill farm.

Rookery.

Roe deer by Fox Covert.

Roe Deer.

Clumps of primroses flower on churchyards and on innaccessible banks, refuges for this species.

The crossing with Bownhill Lane.

Elstronwick is an elongated village from East to West between Front street and Back street. The houses and cottages are spread out, and the village has a very rural field, out of the busy roads. Chickens feed on the street. I have my lunch overlooking North Field. Afterwards, I continue along Back lane and then cross to Front lane, where I visit the churchyard of St Lawrence's Church. A Chiffchaff sings. The church sits just by Humbleton Beck, which is running gingerly (top shot) and drains its waters to Burstwick Drain after joining Braemere drain. I continue on the public right of way towards Danthorpe hamlet. A pond with domestic ducks has a pair of Shelduck, I assume wild by their alert stance, and a barnacle goose of doubtful origin. A group of cheeky lambs comes to have a closer look, while a Pied Wagtail feeds on the grass behind them.

Robin.

St Lawrence's church.

Shelduck.

Curious lambs.

A crossing on the edge of Elstronwick.

I take the road to Burton Pidsea, a village I still need to visit, but I have no time today. I walk along the road and turn right on Fieldend lane towards Lelley Grange and soon I reach the public right of way along Burstwick Drain.

Rabbit.

Curlew by Braemere ditch.

Linnets.

Buzzard at Bridge Farm.

Mature poplars on the edge of Bridge Farm.

A Roe Deer buck in full run.

A new bridge over Burstwick drain.

A woodpecker near the golf course was a nice surprise.

All Saints' Church in Burstwick.

Jackdaw.

As I enter Burstwick, children, the village is busy with the school run. I wait for the late bus at Station road to go back home.

Holderness: around the Lambwath valley

A breezy, but mild day with sunny spells. I take bus 24 to Skirlaugh. After leaving the bus, I cross the road and take Church lane.  The walk today takes me around the middle section of the Lambwath valley, at the site of the medieval Lambwath Mere. We have met the Lambwath Stream in this Holderness series before, in the Skirlaugh to Wawne and the Skirlaugh to Hornsea walks. The Jackdaws and Rooks calls put the background sound around the pretty St Augustine's Church. I walk around the church. There are signs for a woodland walk and also educating the public about the efforts to grow a meadow amongst the old headstones. The Lambwath Stream runs just by the church, although it is barely running. Its banks are lined with mature trees and bushes. After leaving the church, I follow the lane and then take a public right of way on the edge of the village. Soon, I rejoin the stream, although it is hidden in its deep banks. There are some large ashes lining its course. 

Skirlaugh's St Augustine's church.

Woodpigeon at Skirlaugh Church.

A Grey Squirrel looks down from its tree. They don't appear to be common in Holderness.

A pair of Rooks was checking the nest.

The Lamwath Stream by the Church.

Red Admiral.

The public footpath goes up the side of the gentle valley along a copse and then on the southern flank of the Rise estate. The path follows Wood End Farm track and then I continue on the road towards Withernwick. There is steady traffic every few minutes. At Whitedale, I cross the Trans Pennine Way.

There was no bull to be seen.

A large Ash stump with Dryad's saddle.

The footpath follows the Lambwath for a while.

The restored Whitedale Station building.

Several Rooks were feeding in the garden of the station house.

The Yew lined walk theough Whithernwick Churchyard.

St Alban's Church at Withernwick.

After a quick stroll around the village and the church, I take a right of way from Straits Farm that takes me towards the Lambwath meadows. A tractor is tilling a field, followed by a cloud of rooks and gulls. I spot a Wheatear on the field, they are migrating now. I cross a hedge and get a sweeping view across the valley giving broad views of the meadows. Perfect spot for lunch!

The approximate extent of the Lambwath Mere. Note that it was longer, and of a similar width to Hornsea Mere, the last surviving mere of Holderness.

The old Lambwath Mere

The source of the Lambwath Stream is east of the village of Aldbrough, a few meters from the beach, on the soft boulder clay cliffs 20 m in height. The incline of the Holderness landscape means that the stream flows west, skirting the village. The stream forms a narrow and sinuous valley 10 m deep over the sea level, which soon widens in a long basin, what used to be Lambwath Mere (see image above). As other meres in Holderness, this mere formed after the ice melted, as a proglacial lake. A layer of peat lies under its sediments as in other meres. In historical times it provided fish and reeds for neighbouring villages.  It is likely that drainage patterns downstream contributed to the draining of the mere in medieval times, although changes in sea level might have also contributed. The mere became silted and simply, disappeared. However, and despite the many parallel drains now in existance, the fields still are seasonally flooded, and several of them are managed traditionally as flower rich hay meadows, with some formerly arable fields in the basin being restored as neutral, species rich wet meadows. Part of the old mere basin, is now a SSSI, just south east of Withernwick. This area seems to call for stream restoration measures to elevate the course of the stream and connect it with its floodplain and slow the flow, blocking drainage ditches. We might be a long way to reintroducing Beavers in East Yorkshire, but these ecosystems engineers would be ideal to bring new life to these ancient meadows.

A Wheatear on a just tilled field.

A footpath sandwiched between ditches and hedgerows crosses the valley. It has flagstones at some point.

The Lamwath stream with the meadows on its floodplain.

Small White.

I climb to the rim of the valley again and walk on the road along Marton and New Ellerby, then I take the Hornsea rail trail and make it to Skirlaugh with some time for a coffee at the Lazy Bean before my bus back home. 

More information

Sheppard, J. A. (1957). The medieval meres of Holderness. Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers), (23), 75-86.