Days 151-154: Hull to Hornsea

Yorkshire is the setting for my final walk of the year. After travelling up to Hull by train, the few remaining hours of daylight give me the opportunity to follow the Victoria Dock Heritage Trail, enlivened with the occasional sculpture. Unfortunately, there is an unavoidable grim road section to Paull, servicing the typical industrial landscape surrounding a port city.

I make it back to the Travelodge in the city centre before nightfall, my base for the next three days. Armed with my CAMRA guide, Hull is becoming familiar at night, especially the narrow cobbled streets of Old Town.

Thursday

Standing in the dark with the factory workers, stamping our feet to keep warm, I wait for the first bus to Paull to begin my long hike along the River Humber to Skeffling.

It’s freezing stepping off the cosy bus, immediately hit by a chill wind blowing down the river. I’m cocooned in four layers, which does the trick although I need to keep moving, climbing up the exposed embankment and leaving the chemical works behind, steam billowing into the cold winter air.

A pair of lighthouses flash their cute eyes in the pre-dawn light.

The welcome warm sun on my face as I crunch across the frosted grass. A breeze stirs the rushes. Small groups of deer leap across the fields. The embankment path snakes over the horizon.

Nearing the end of the day, I have to negotiate Patrington Channel and despite the negative reports from other coastal walkers, I try to cross at the pumping station. Not a chance — easier to escape Colditz! There’s a small bridge at Outstray Farm a little further inland, although it does require climbing a couple of locked gates.

I’m tired when I finally make it back to Hull for a warm curry — the cold saps your strength.

Friday

I’m looking forward to today, which includes a circular walk round Spurn Head, although I’m pushing it a little to make it to Withernsea. Another pre-dawn bus to Easington. The sky is clear and it’s -2C. Four layers and a snood this time. The initial walking is treacherous along a deserted cambered country lane, coated with black ice. I walk on the verge where I can.

The Spurn National Nature Reserve is only accessible at low tide. It’s three miles long, projecting between the North Sea and the Humber Estuary. There are old railway tracks and a tiny wooden emergency hut in case the rising tide traps you.

The 1895 high lighthouse, now decommissioned, watches over the 1852 low light.

It’s only after pushing through the bushes surrounding the new lighthouse that I read a warning sign:

“In the scrub around the base of the lighthouse … you may notice what look like tents stretched between branches, which are in fact the overwintering silk tents of the brown-tail moth caterpillar. Whilst for many these caterpillars are harmless, they can cause itchy allergic skin reactions or respiratory issues for those with asthma or hay fever – so please don’t touch the caterpillars or the tents.”

Yikes! No wonder there’s a warning sign.

A lovely Yorkshire Wildlife Trust cafe offers pretty views and an all-day cooked breakfast with a pot of Yorkshire tea. Several cups later I’m warmed and restored for the coastal trek north. There’s no marked footpath, so I’m hoping to use the beach all the way to Withernsea before high tide.

Passing below a natural gas terminal, Dimlington Cliff stretches far ahead on my OS map. The tide is coming in and there’s less than an hour until sunset. I really hate these short days. Roll on the winter solstice. I don’t fancy trying to clamber up clay cliffs in the dark and they only get higher so time to scramble up now.

Scaling the cliff top, the fields are bathed in golden light. There are signs of erosion everywhere. Better to be up here than below in the cold shadows, the waves lapping at my feet.

There’s no footpath, so I skirt the fields, as close to the edge as safely possible. What a gorgeous evening — the light transforms an ordinary scene.

Cliff Farm looks run down, silent behind grimy windows, rather ominous and gloomy in the fading light. Am I trespassing? I squeeze between an old parked car and the door to the farmhouse. I’m waiting for a barking dog but all is quiet, and I stride quickly into the fields beyond.

Eventually, I’m forced inland at Holmpton by impenetrable bushes.

The temperature is dropping and I’m relieved when the bus arrives on time to take me back to Hull. A beautiful day but not one for lingering outdoors.

Saturday

My final day of walking. The bus drops me off at Withernsea before dawn, with the sun struggling to break through the cloud. Once again, I’m hoping to walk along the beach all the way to Hornsea, as the tide times are in my favour. A very friendly turnstone (I think) sees me off

The beach is deserted and rather haunting, with the mist drifting off the sea and the sun pulsing weakly through a soft grey veil.

This is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe with the boulder clay receding at an astonishing two metres per year.

There are very few places to exit the beach without a climb so definitely a stretch to check the tide times carefully. I don’t meet another soul for miles — truly a wild place. Only the sound of the waves. Eventually, I hear the ching ching of rock hammers and come across a couple of fossil hunters. They are engrossed with their task and don’t look up, which strikes me as strange given we are the only people on the beach.

I reach Hornsea in good time, well before sunset and high tide, enjoying the Seawall Art Gallery.

A very enjoyable, if chilly, few days in Yorkshire. It’s been a wonderful year for hiking and I’m excited about 2023. We have a family road trip through the Canadian Rockies, delayed a few years due to Covid. My coastal walk will resume at fabulous sections in Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire. I’m also considering the 82-mile East Highland Way in winter.

From “100 Hikes of a Lifetime”, I’m planning two iconic backpacking trips. The famous volcanic Laugavegur and Fimmvorduhals 48-mile combined trek in Iceland and the 85-mile circular “O-trek” round the Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Walk distance: 61 miles.

Total distance: 2,488 miles.