Day 115 – Hessle to Killingholme Port

A good night’s sleep for all, despite John’s observation that there were seven pillows/cushions too many on the bed. Breakfast is available at 7 o’clock and, on our way from Hessle yesterday evening, we ordered another Foxy Cab for 8 o’clock today. It arrives 5 minutes ahead of schedule – and 4 minutes before Ben – so we’re back to the Hessle slip road and the bottom of the steps at 8:15. We’re able to continue a short distance along the grassy track before having to walk through a small business park and then on a narrow road alongside the estuary. This leads to a viewing point close to the Humber Bridge, and an alley between houses brings us to a pedestrian bridge over the A63 and some roads/pathways which take us to the northern approach to the Humber Bridge. Ben has already decided to catch a bus to make the crossing, and Mike says that he will join him in order to rest a slightly dodgy knee. They walk off in what they take to be the general direction of bus stops, while John and Gary climb some steps onto the bridge. Signs on the approach have warned “Danger High Winds” and, whilst it’s certainly a bit breezy, it’s nothing to cause concern. Indeed, a cyclist passes us shortly after we set off. The wind is coming from the west, so the decision is made to walk along the east side in order to obtain maximum cover. It has to be said that both of us are quite keen to stick to the inside of the footpath, but the only places we can feel any real effect of the wind are around the towers of the bridge. It takes nearly 25 minutes to cross and is a great experience. Two buses pass by on the way over, and it is assumed that Ben and Mike will be on one of them. A phone call shortly after John and Gary leave the bridge confirms this, and the four of us are reunited around 9:45 by a Tesco store near Barton-on-Humber railway station. From here it takes 15 minutes to get to the embankment path on the south side of the river which, for the most part, we’re able to follow for the next 10 miles. The only instances where we have to divert inland are to get round/over a couple of inlets and to get through New Holland Dock. Shortly after New Holland, the river begins a sweeping right hand bend which leads Ben to discover and point out the interesting fact that we are currently further north than our starting point yesterday. All in all a pretty comfortable walk, made easier by the fact that the wind – which seems to be stronger in Lincolnshire than in Yorkshire – is behind us. We reach our destination, Killingholme Port, via a path which passes a vast lorry/container park. It’s 1:50 and we’ve done 16.7 miles today, but we’re still faced with a further walk to get to the Black Bull Inn at East Halton where we’ve arranged for a cab to collect us at 3:15. According to the logger, this is a distance of one and a half miles, but the route on the ground is slightly longer – a tad over two miles. After surviving the traffic on the road leading to the port and crossing several fields, we reach the pub at 2:35. Pre-ordered sandwiches (with crisps and cake) are waiting for us, along with a landlord who is keen to supply us with information about the pub, in case we want to return. On a second circuit of the country perhaps? A couple of ciders/lagers accompany the food and, although our cab arrives 10 minutes early, we ease our way through the drinks and leave at the appointed time. Like the landlord, our driver likes a bit of a chat – in his case about the tensions felt by North Lincolnshire folk at being reorganised with (he can hardly bring himself to say it) East Yorkshire into the “county” of Humberside in the mid-1970’s, and also the wartime history of Killingholme. Indeed, whilst explaining the reasons why a railway station was built at Habrough rather than in Killingholme, he stops to drop us at Habrough station rather than at our intended destination, Barnetby. Fortunately, this doesn’t delay us unduly and we get to Barnetby a good 10 minutes before our train to Doncaster and Sheffield leaves. It transpires that we’ve only exceeded on three occasions the 36.7 miles which we’ve completed over the last couple of days. A good way to end our walks of 2018.