Day 81 Grimsby  to Little Weghill (Hull)

 

 Date: Sunday 10^th July  2011   Distance: 35.97 Miles (At least)

 

Lovely start to the day- 2 bowls of porridge and we left in good time on the quiet industrial roads. Suddenly after 10 minutes Bob stopped and we had to search everywhere for the bike lock keys. We back tracked to the Premier Inn scanning the verge as we went. At reception the girl waved the keys at us and we were back on route over the railway lines again and then it was away from traffic, not that there was much that early Sunday, and despite all the heavy industry we took another bridleway right at the coast’s edge.

Beside the estuary along the sea wall there were curlews and, on the other side, cornfields in between the industrial plants. Dog walkers and other cyclists were out. The chemical plant was a bit smelly and warning signs told you to leave the area when the siren sounds, making sure you avoid the gas cloud. Just after this we had to turn away from the sea through trees and out by yet more industry. We passed a refuse dump decorated with containers of flowers- Prettiest dump we’ve ever seen!

 

As we went over the bridge into Immingham there were more and more displays of flowers. It certainly took its “in bloom” sign seriously and we hope they win a prize.

We got to North Killingholme after a short rainburst and shelter in a bus stop. A nearby small hotel provided coffee.

 

English Heritages Thornton Abbey is very impressive with numerous nooks and crannies to explore in the massive gatehouse. Behind the gate is the entrance where you pay a fee to go up and then you can visit the peaceful ruin on the green. We just stayed the other side not having time to justify the £10.

 

At Barrow upon Humber Bob was taken with a yellow thunderbirds car and then we cycled by the side of the main road through squadrons of storm flies. Bob ate the most!

 

Ready for a coffee at Barton upon Humber we stopped at Tescos but we never found the promised coffee shop. There was a really nice bike shop here, though; housed in an old Methodist church building and we bought 2 inner tubes after losing faith in the durability of our Kevlar tyres. We never found the eating places they recommended over the Humber Bridge, where we had extensive views of the river and estuary and the cycleway over was very well used. Over the other side was a country park and many people were enjoying the blazing sunshine.

 

We took the brown signposted bridleway down to the water’s edge where it looked like a fishing competition was going on. We then followed the Trans Pennine trail towards Hull until we saw a sign for the Village Hotel. A passing cyclist said “yes the food is good” so though it looked to be in the middle of a business park we stuck with the signs and eventually arrived at a bike park and a fairly swish establishment. The food was really good- 5 courses at £11.95 for all you could eat of smoked salmon, prawns, salad, soup, charcuterie, pasta, roast dinner, profiteroles........Mmm!

It was well into the afternoon when we left through Hessle and then Hull- marina and then some old town. We found the Blue Bell pub, an old haunt of Bob’s. At the Golden Horseman we looked at what we could of the Victorian Gents toilet admiring its architecture and ornateness. Bob used it in the 1970s when he was at Hull university and said it had a glass cisterns.

There are 3 public loos like this in Hull that also serve as a tourist attraction- Nelson St, Market Place and Queen Victoria Square, but it seems they are not used today.

Another curious feature of Hull is the white telephone boxes. They have their own phone system ran by a separate company with shares owned by the council and cheaper than British Telecom.

 

Only Bob’s navigational skills got us out of Hull, the cycleway signs were too few or misleading. Then we took the old railway route away from the city where there were less and less houses and it was quite brambly ending in farmland. Then it was through Preston village for a mile and a half to Little Weghill Farm. We had an en-suite room in an old barn and were welcomed with tea and cake. We watched as the sun went down and in the right conditions sunset could be spectacular here.