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Yesterday we took Saturday off and, by train from
Beverley where we were staying, visited the centre of Hull, where we did a little shopping and
struggled to find a decent restaurant to eat in pouring rain (many places having
closed down). There were some
interesting buildings in the centre and flowery squares, with monuments to
Queen Victoria and William Wilberforce.
We walked through one park where there was a concert in aid of Refugee
Week, but the rain had rather spoiled the turn-out. The streets were full of teenagers and
there was a strong police presence.
This morning we parked at Withernsea,
close to the ornate castellated gateway facing out to sea that was once the
entrance to the Grand Pier. The rest
of the pier did not last more than a couple of decades in the late C19th
because ships kept crashing into it! The
tide was high, so we set off along the promenade, past a pool with mallards
and fishermen, until the way was blocked by new housing and we had to use
various major and minor roads, past a caravan park and several farms and
fields, until we reached a footpath beside a stream to the coast. The cliff-path had long vanished over the
edge but we could make our way at the edge of fields through the seaward bit
of Holmpton and then meadows of clovers, Yorkshire
fog and bristly ox-tongue (and the odd common spotted orchid) to Cliff
Farm. There we had to struggle around a
deserted farmhouse through long wet grass between the cliff-edge and a field
of barley. We reached a wind farm
where the crops had been cut to stubble, making passage easier but very muddy,
given the persistent rain. More long
grass followed until we reached a road, where looking back we read a sign
saying “Private property – no admittance – BP oil exploration area”! (Sorry BP – we saw no sign of oil.) Across the road was the BP Gas Terminal,
which we found out later from our taxi driver was one of the major ones in
the country and a target for terrorists.
This explained the frequent presence of police patrol vehicles taking
a decided interest in our presence from here to the other side of Easington,
which adjoined the terminal on the south side. A large force is permanently employed
guarding the facility. The road took
us through the terminal (behind high fences) and into the centre of Easington. A pub on the way towards the coast provided
a chance of a late lunch and a welcome break from the rain. At the coast the road, as usual, vanished
over the edge of the cliff in a jagged ruin, but a new ramp had been
bulldozed down the cliff, enabling us to reach the beach at last. This was just before the cliffs ended and
the beach was topped by a narrow strip of dunes with marram, sea holly and
sea bindweed. Beyond this were large
lagoons, the further ones being part of a conservation area, roped off
because it was used for nesting by various terns and waders. Here we saw sandwich, common and little
terns, oystercatcher and ringed plover.
A hide gave close views of the little terns, which are very pretty with
their bright yellow bills, black caps and white foreheads. A pair of dunlins was being chased off by a
ringed plover. We continued along the
beach to Kilnsea, where there was a brief resurrection of the red clay cliffs
and a tumble of fallen buildings. We
found a way of climbing up this rubble of brick walls, floors and ceiling
cornices to the top of the cliff, where a caravan site was teetering on the
brink and signs warned to keep away.
One building overhanging the beach was obviously ready to fall in the
near future. Two caravan plots in a
prime position (you could not get closer to the sea) had been vacated a third
had a rather hopeful “For sale” sign.
A rough path led to the road crossing the narrow Spurn peninsula. At
the end of the road (passing a brown hare in a field) we phoned for a taxi
from outside the Crown and Anchor.
After
a night of heavy rain we woke next morning to a dire forecast, and warnings
of roads closed by flooding. We
reluctantly drove straight home down the M1, only just keeping ahead of the
wall of water which was to close the motorway later that morning.
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Withernsea Pier - all
that's left
Sea holly
Little tern nesting site
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