Exploring the Humber
As the Chair of the Friends of the Trans Pennine Trail, we were alerted that the rail trail from Hull to Hornsea, the eastern terminus of the trail, was not in as good a shape as it could be.
So we decided to take an inspection ride and this is what we found. The next day I rode from Hull down to Market Rasen on NCN1 and you’ll find my description of that ride here as well.
Hull to Hornsea Rail Trail
An early start for me in Sheffield as I had to get to the station for the 07:57 to Hull. Imagine my dismay when the guard said he couldn’t get me on as he had 6 bikes on already (these Class 170 units don’t even have a demarcated bike space!) Fortunately one of the cyclists had a folding bike and once she’d kindly folded it up we were able to squeeze my bike on. Most passengers were getting off at Doncaster and after that the journey was pleasant and uneventful. We disembarked at Hull and the train continued its journey up the coast to Scarborough.
Our little band of cyclists drifted into Costa apart from a certain party who shall be nameless and who had foolishly decided to come by car and was having trouble parking. No names no pack drill, if it hadn’t been for that kind person with a folding bike it could have been me.
We had a range of bikes, from me on a touring bike, Malcolm on a Brompton, Andy on a Trek e-bike and some hybrids,
A little later than planned we set off and our first stop was at Hull Welcome Information Centre to ask them whether they knew the way to get onto the TPT. In 2012 we visited the Tourist Information Centre to ask the same question and they didn’t have a clue. This time, however, the staff were a bit more genned up.
Despite some confusing signing on the way we soon got onto the off-road route.
This route has the potential to be great - a traffic-free route to the seaside, what’s not to like. But the urban section through Hull has an outdated design, with chicanes that don’t allow non-standard bikes through and make it difficult for people with disabilities. Tree root damage was evident in many places and the bumpy tarmac continued through to the A614 Crossing. Our doughty rangers, David and David, engaged in some tree clearing on the way.
As we continued some sections had been resurfaced with a loose material yet to bed in but showing an improvement. Other sections were very narrow with insufficient room for two riders to pass or to ride two abreast, a particular problem was the ramps up to road crossings, some such as the Ellerby Road crossing badly degraded, lacking dropped kerbs to cross the roa and not accessible for non-standard cycles or mobility scooters. The A165 is the main coast road and can be very busy - a signalled crossing is needed here. Although there hadn’t been significant rain for some time, a few sections were very muddy and wheels were starting to slip. Worst of all, some large holes had appeared in a tarmac section, possibly caused by badgers or similar, that you could seriously come a cropper in. We know that there is a balance to be struck between maintaining the environment and providing a good quality route but it seemed to me that the balance had swung just a bit too far away from route quality.
With a stiff headwind as well it wasn’t a particularly fast ride - my Garmini says we averaged 8.5 mph. The two Davids had a discussion about why you would use kilometres on your tracking device rather than miles. (I suspect because you get more k’s for the same effort) I said I agreed with David but I didn’t say which one!
Andy had a puncture on the approach to Hornsea despite having the fattest tyres of all of us!
Things improved as we arrived in Hornsea. The sections into the town shows what can be done, with a good quality surface, a safe crossing of the busy B1242 albeit marred by “cyclists discount” signs and clear signage to the end of the trail.
The sea breeze was bracing as we gathered around the seamark that denotes the end of the trail.
It seems a pity that having completed the 215 mile challenge, the last 15 are somewhat disappointing. I feel that the great city of Hull and the East Riding could do better.
The leisure centre provided us with sustenance and we made a faster journey back with the wind behind. The urban section was a lot busier with commuters and mixing with the traffic on the way through Hull wasn’t great. It strikes me that Hull should be like Rotterdam with people whizzing about on safe segregated bike routes but it really isn’t, despite a higher proportion of people using bikes than many UK cities. I did notice a lot of use of “wands” - flexible bollards - to give a bit more protection to the bike lanes.
Any took us to see the regenerated dock area using the 'Murdoch's connection' bridge named after Hull's first female GP, crossing a massive road building scheme, a tiny fraction of the cost of which would have paid to improve the Hornsea trail. We finished off with a drink and a chat in the Minerva pub before going our separate ways, myself staying over to continue south the next day on NCN1. (see below)
A most enjoyable day with good company, despite the issues which after all is what we had come over to see for ourselves.
Day 2
Having stayed over in Hull at the Travelodge I enjoyed a breakfast at Caffe Nero (great porridge) and headed for the Humber Bridge. The TPT winds its way west out of the city and I found it easy to follow. In the Humber Bridge Country Park I got ready for the trip across the bridge which was as spectacular as ever, made even more pleasant by a strong following wind.
I had a coffee in the Viking Way Cafe Bar before heading into North Lindsey.
Now the UK is not generally associated with somewhere you can bowl along on a bike and hardly see a soul, but this area of rolling hills has that in spades. Soon Barnetby was in sight, with trains and rolling along.When I stopped for a minute I was struck by the force of the wind that was pushing me along.At Barnetby Wold, where there is a useful self-service coffee stop and shop attached to the campsite, the route becomes a bridleway - it’s a lovely route and in pretty good condition but it does slow you down and that’s worth bearing in mind if you have a train to catch at Barnetby.
At the southern end there’s a Very Large Puddle and you have to detour through the woods to avoid it.
Then you’re back on the road to Great Limber where there’s a shop and an Inn (rooms available) and I sheltered to avoid a heavy shower that was coming through. Following that the sun was out again and I followed through on quiet country roads, but I was starting to flag and considering terminating at Market Rasen - there’s a stiff climb at Thoresway.
I reached the point where you come off the Wolds and could see rain storms sweeping the valley like an alien force from War of the Worlds.
The run down through Walesby lifted my spirits but unforeseen circumstances meant I had to head home anyway, so I took the train from Market Rasen, joining a couple of cyclists who had presumably ridden out from Lincoln and changing to the reliable Northern Rail service back to Sheffield, travelling through those rain storm I had seen from the hills.