It's been brass monkey weather today, although it started out bright and sunny, there was a bitter cold wind blowing across the fields. The shorts didn't come out of the bag, and I kept my jacket on all day, mostly with the hood up to keep my ears warm. My cheeks are rosy, I have wind burn, not sun burn, ha ha.
I went over the Humber Bridge to Beverley, around the ring road, and parked on the north side at Hull Bridge near Tickton. My idea was to head towards Driffield, following some of the route I had planned on taking when I came back from South Shields in September. I didn't get as far as Driffield today, so I will have to go back again another time and do a bit more.
Hull Bridge is a narrow footbridge, it used to be a road bridge, until they built the bypass which runs alongside it.
There's the bypass bridge over there.
The Crown and Anchor pub next to the bridge.
I set off alongside the River Hull. The water level is very high, flooded in some parts. It's twice as wide as it should be.
Past the Nature Reserve, the water splits into two, I took the left channel, the Beverley and Barmston Drain. This goes in a straight line and meets up with the winding river further on. In a field near Aike I spotted these cute fellas. I say fellas, some of them could well be female, I'm not sure how you tell which is which. They saw me approaching the fence for a photo, they were curious about me as much as I was about them.
Hello guys, you look very handsome. I love talking to animals, I'm sure they understand me.
This one made me laugh, isn't he lovely.
I would love one of these in my back garden. This one is pretty.
I had a lovely conversation with this horse.
He is now my best friend, ha ha. Yes, a 'he'.
It was time for lunch, not many places to sit down so I kept going past the water works, and Tophill Low nature reserve, and arrived at Hempholme Lock, where the river joins the drain. On one side there is a weir. I sat on that low wall on the left, to eat my cheese and spinach sandwich and two boiled eggs.
On the other side are two lock gates which look as if they haven't been opened in a long time.
This view was pretty much what I was seeing all day.
A bit further along there were lots of boats moored up. This one looks as if it was wrapped up for the winter. Big 'Keep Off' notices were plastered across the entrance.
At this point I crossed over the river, so I could continue up the other side.
At Emmotland I took a track which joined a road, then turned right down another track onto the road. Then I stayed on the road past a huge camping and caravan park, next to the Water Sports Centre. Still on the road I turned right for Burshill, and headed back to the river, and then followed it back to my car. The hens look like they are having a good time in their dust bath.
I got back to the car at 5.45pm. Have checked the mileage, a bit more than last week, at 16.65. The problem with walking in this area is that there aren't enough footpaths to complete a circular walk, some road walking is necessary. Also there are long stretches of water with very few places to cross, so studying the map and planning the route is important. If you get it wrong you could end up going miles out of your way because you couldn't cross when you wanted to. It's very flat and the wind was very cold today. Some of it wasn't very pleasant, especially when it rained sideways. It was good exercise though, which I needed to do. I hope my legs are still in working order tomorrow morning, I've got to go and run 5k in the Park. If it's raining I won't go, I'm not running in the rain, I'm not that daft, ha ha.
Enjoy your weekend. Toodle pip.
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