Spurn Point and Back
31st July 2005 Mick
McCormick
Sounds like a nice little ramble.
Captain Rob's club run strategy was 8:00am start, 3 cafes and Bernard
(the Humber pilot) Turgoose to lead through the Hull suburbs and the
wilds of Holderness from Skidby, total 155 miles. I was on the road by
6:10am and hit the main drag to Hull. Quiet at that time on a Sunday.
With a good Northwesterly wind I was passing the Deep at 8:40am and on
to Hedon. A left here and up to the garden centre cafe near Preston,
unfortunately not open till 10:00am, so a sit down, food out the bag and
back to Hedon.
The old Holderness villages are quite nice. It was cool and overcast but
it wasn't raining. Patrington and on to Easington, which has a wind
farm which I wasn't quite sure I liked.
Spurn is a twitchers and birders paradise and they were out in force. I
"spurned" the cafe there, determined to push on to the point, and here
you get a sting in the tail, ½ mile or so of the roughest sets I have
experienced for some time, half-way down to the point. Thankfully back
onto a good surface for the final section to the coastguard station.
Motorists are charged 3 from here.
As there are no Cols to enthuse about in Holderness, here are a couple
of Spurn happenings:
In November 1930, Amy Johnson was flying North to Hedon on a compass and
dead reckoning course because of low cloud. She descended through the
clouds, finding open sea. Circling round in gathering darkness she was
getting ready to ditch the plane near a passing ship and hope to get
rescued when she saw the Spurn Head lights and landed safely on the
beach between the groynes. The coastguards helped pull the plane above
the tide line. Amy took off and flew on to Hedon the next day.
Pete Lumb told me he did a Clifton club run to Spurn Point in 1947. The
gun emplacements were still in position with ammunition and crews to
hand. Seeing a gun and nobody about they decided to take a closer look,
and even had a go at using the machinery that traversed the gun. It
could not last. A gunnery sergeant appeared and administred a very
impressive verbal dressing-down and the Clifton retreated as fast as
they could go! I wonder if it got back to HQ that a gun and ammo had
been left without a sentry?
I refuelled at the little cafe-bar and started back putting 70 miles of
headwind out of my mind. Just west of Patrington at Winestead was
another highlight - a plinth and sign denoting the Greenwich Meridian
0°East/0°West, entering the North Sea out of Holderness. The famous
Stoked up, it was Beverley bypass (it's shorter) then through to Etton a
left, then right and one of my favourite bits of road. As you climb
the rise, the rocket spire of South Dalton Church rises impressively up
before you dead centre, and the sun came out to help. Great. Quiet
roads past St Helen's Well and a sally down into Market Weighton. A
phone box call to Felicity for my ETA home then over the little climb at
Londesborough, through to Pocklington to pick up Route 66 to Stamford
Bridge. I got a respite from the Northwester as I turned down Stockton
Lane with the wind coming on to my right flank, making for quite a brisk
pace over the last five miles home.
Finished with pedals 7:00pm, 146 miles covered.
Congratulations to the Club on their 155 mile route.
Next step 300K?