The Beverley 20
13.10.07
In the East Yorkshire area the Beverley 20 has become synonymous with the walking experience, partly due to it being one of the first established paths and party due to it being classed as an achievement in its own right, twenty miles is tough whatever the terrain.
I had been itching to do this walk for months and decided to cement it onto my calendar regardless of any excuses that may crop up, as such I did the walk for charity, Herib institute for the blind in Hull.
On an overcast, misty morning, my girlfriend dropped me and two of my friends off on Hessle Foreshore at the starting point of the Humber Bridge. Wearing Herib t-shirts, we posed for pictures before setting off into the early morning drizzle along the North bank of the Humber towards North Ferriby
I had forgotten to check the tide times, and as such we begun our walk at high tide. Though the high water added to atmosphere of the walk, with the mist clinging to the river, it did present a problem where the path was concerned. Two paths lead around North Ferriby, the high tide path and the low tide path. The high tide path leads you through the village and alongside the A63 to the crossover point, whereas the low tide path leads you along the river and through a plantation; this is the classic path and the one I most wanted to follow. At the junction of the path, it was clear that the water was still too high to follow the riverside path, but we decided to carry on regardless and scramble over the flood defences, basically piles of rocks and boulders. We continued in this haphazard way for perhaps 200 yards before arriving at Bow Plantation, the first of many woods the path would go through.
Some major road alterations to A63, immediate after Bow Plantation, had previously caused the path to be severely diverted through the villages of Melton and Welton. I was anxious to see if this was still the case, as the diversion would add a couple of needless miles to an already long route. It was good to be walking through woodland, even if the mist and gloom was making photography difficult, but I was relieved to find the diversion had ceased and the original path had been reopened.
After the silence of the wood and stillness of the river, the A63 came as somewhat of a shock, but the crossing was well marked and after a few minutes we were in the coolness of Long Plantation, which is home to a scout camp, though we found it empty. We followed though this wood for perhaps a mile, keeping our eyes open for any deer, before emerging alongside Melton Quarry and yet another wood, Terrace Plantation.
This part of the walk so far had followed the same route as the Wolds Way, but here the paths separate: the Wolds Way to go into Welton and the Beverley 20 to follow Terrace Plantation to Waudby. I was disappointed not to get a look at the quarry, as I had heard that it was something special to look at, but a sign saying that there was blasting in the area was all that I managed to see of it, a high fence and bank of earth stopping the view.
It was here that we saw the first of the Beverley 20 waymarkers, orange stickers about two inches square with a little image of Beverley Minster on. As far as waymarking went, the route was well signposted, but these little stickers were easy to miss and we had to keep our eyes peeled for them.
After Terrace Plantation, the route joins the Wolds Way again for a short time and heads into farmland as it passes Waudby manor, with its pleasant private chapel. The route here towards Skidby is largely non-descript, as we followed bridleway after bridleway, and clung to the edges of fields and hedgerows, but close to Skidby we begun to pass large electricity pylons and for some time we had to listen to the hiss and crackle of the electricity as it surged along the wires. Maybe it was due to the lack of scenery or anything really interesting to look at, but these pylons captured my interest, especially as they stretched away in a long line into the mist, and I enjoyed taking pictures of them.
We decided to take a break at the halfway point after we had passed through Skidby, we were going to stop here for a coffee, but it meant a detour of some two miles to get to the nearest coffee stop. Instead we stopped near another hissing pylon, but away from the stacks of mouldy smelling bales of hay.
The route between Skidby and Walkington was again mainly following farmland, but we had to occasionally follow a road for a little way, but it wasn’t until we reached Walkington that the scenery improved as we walked into a pleasant dale on the outskirts of the village. Aching feet and tired limbs kept us moving and we were anxious to reach the Minster in Beverley and journey’s end. We passed though another delightful plantation on the outskirts of Beverley and passed the first walkers we had seen all day.
A footbridge over the Beverley bypass took us to a path the led to Westwood Common, where I would often play as a child, and then we could see the whole of Beverley spread out below us and the Minster standing grand on the horizon. At this point it felt like downhill all the way as we positively marched to the ending of the walk, at the main entrance to Beverley Minster. We posed for some pictures and then went to the real journey’s end at a local pub for a much deserved pint of Guinness.
Me and my fellow walking companions at the start at the Humber Bridge
The high tide path
Close to Welton Dale
Welton Dale
Towers in the Mist
I became a little over-excited with taking photos of these pylons, maybe because there was nothing else to see, but I liked 'em.
A little quirky this one, but I like it.
Approaching Beverley
Journey's end, us outside Beverley Minster, with aching feet and big smiles!
The real journey's end - in the pub!