Hessle to Welton

We very much enjoyed our first short leg on the Yorkshire Wolds Way. The weather was a bit cold and breezy, but it didn't rain, and we enjoyed fresh green woodland and excellent views over the Humber Estuary. First of all we had to get back to Hessle, which we had left after finishing the Viking Way at the end October. We walked to Downham Market and caught the 9.42 to Ely, then on to Peterborough, Doncaster and Hessle. The trains were all rather busy (it was a bank holiday weekend) but the journey was very straightforward and we reached Hessle station around 1.30pm.

Finding the start of the Yorkshire Wolds Way was more challenging. First of all we walked across the station car park, only to find the gate at the other end locked. Walking around was not a problem and we then crossed the main A63 and took a minor road past the cricket club. We walked through a car park and down to the Humber Estuary, close to Hessle Haven, which we thought was the starting point, but there was no sign of the National Trail marker we were expecting. We walked west along the estuary, and found the marker closer to the Humber Bridge, with lots of people, cars and two ice-cream vans!

We passed underneath the Humber Bridge and overtook a family with three girls who appeared to be triplets - rather them than me! To our surprise, the path went down onto the estuary edge and we passed a family out metal-detecting. Soon we climbed onto firmer ground, and for the next couple of miles we just followed the northern bank of the estuary, with the train line alongside us for most of the time and good views back to the Humber Bridge. Our route was shared with the Trans Pennine Trail and there were a fair number of cyclists and walkers about.

As we approached North Ferriby, the railway and cycle route veered off to the right, whilst the walkers route stayed closer to the estuary, though an attractive park. Then we reached the point where the 'low water' route went back down onto the estuary. This looked like difficult walking, so we opted for the high water route, up a path past a reed bed, then through North Ferriby, a surprisingly sleepy village with a number of shops most of which seemed to be shut. We noticed that many houses had 'Save North Ferriby' signs. From what? We eventually realised that the apparently mortal danger was the building of 160 houses...Given the des. res. nature of the houses we were walking past, we began to appreciate the perceived threat.

We crossed the A63 at a junction (getting over the slip-roads might have been a problem had the roads been busier, but everywhere was very quiet) with good views back over the Humber Estuary, then we entered the attractive woodland of Terrace Plantation and climbed. We crossed a road near a quarry and cement works, but it was much more attractive than this makes it sound. We continued through the woods, past a scout camp where lots of scouts were doing the sorts of things (sitting around campfires, chopping wood) that I remember from guide camp when I was young (no girls in the scouts 40 years ago!), though most of the tents were rather more modern. There were again excellent views as the path meandered its way down to Welton.

We left the path and walked through the delightful village, past the church and the mill stream. We easily found the Green Dragon Pub, famous as the place where the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin was arrested. This was where we were staying, and we were pleased to find the pub open, even though it was only 4.15pm; there were several families still eating lunch. Our room was in a separate block and I spent the next couple of hours writing statements of support for colleagues' promotion cases. In the evening we had a meal with my friend David who works at Hull University, with conversation ranging from social chit-chat to discussion of thermodynamics and the force concept inventory! It had been a lovely day.

Following day