Market Weighton to Beverley 18/05/15

12.2 miles, via Kiplingcotes and Cherry Burton (The Hudson Way)

It's raining, but the fortitude of the hardened walker has me setting out regardless (and wondering when that became the norm), with My Parents dropping me off at Market Hill in Market Weighton for a 10am start, and after a brief tour past the Londesborough Arms and All Saints church, the path is set to the site of the old railway station, where four lines of the NER once converged and now nothing at all remains. The ongoing route to Beverley does endure however, once the 1865 NER line, and in use for 100 years exactly, now forming the multi use Hudson Way, named after George, the infamous railway entrepreneur, MP and criminal, even though this line was constructed long after his fall from favour. Once away from prosaic redevelopment of Aspen Close and its public park, we have a rail trail to follow for most of the day's trekking, immediately setting off into the shade of trees, ideal for keeping the worst of the rain off, and rising gently along Goodmanham Wold, the change of scenery becoming immediately apparent when we meet the Red Lane overbridge. Even a gentle rise feels challenging after 20 miles of level walking, and so note is regularly taken down to Mill Beck and up to the rising Wolds as we pass the natural spring at St Helen's Well and cross over the Wolds Way at the missing underbridge on Goodmanham Dale Road. Tree cover passes, replaced by dense hedges, not offering any view at all of the route previously travelled, but rising hills of rough grass immediately shows up the Wolds profile, feeling like moorland even though we are nowhere near even the 100m contour, and the going distance becomes hard to perceive through this terrain, my inability to check my map because of the rain not helping matters any. Exposed chalk in the Kiplingcotes quarry nature reserve puts some more of the landscape character on display before lamenting the loss of the Southwold farm underbridge and not being able to get any kind of profile on the towering bridge over Goodmanhan Dale Road, but disappointments are put aside once we meet the site of Kiplingcotes station. The planning of the line took so long because of the stalling of the landowners at Dalton Park, only agreeing to its construction after accepting the offer of having their own private station, and thus this halt in the middle of nowhere came into being, still with all station buildings and fixtures, goods shed and signal box intact, a small scenario that really deserves a better day for photography.

Enthusiasm is renewed as the drizzle continues, finally getting a lofty view on the fringes of Dalton Park, and then sheltering under Chalk bridge as the worst of the day's rain comes on, soon pressing on to meet some infilling on the track where a new road has been cut to the boringly named Wold Farm, leaving its old access bridge heavily clad in ivy. Taking an interest in the occupation bridges and watching the worst of the rain pass occupies me up to the missing Gardham Road bridge, and then looking for a lunch spot becomes priority, but benches seem to be a rarity in the latter parts of this track. Spot a village looming off to the north, later identified as Etton, and it's a long straight walk along the cutting to finally find shelter at Etton Road bridge, just past Mill Hill and its farm with the ruined windmill, pressing on after feeding as the cloud finally breaks up to give us hints of sunshine. The bridge over the B1248 is missing, requiring a long descent to play with traffic at road level, rising again to meet Cherry Burton station, still showing the NER stylings seen on my previous walk as well as the contemporary desire for enlargement, and the goods yard may have been claimed as a modern close of houses, but we have been granted a picnic area as well, too late on the trail to be useful for me. Push on as the last couple of miles of the railway offer no real indication of where I came off the Wolds or any high view over Holderness, and I'm not even sure where the line crossed its summit of only 60m or so, and all the way past the Miles Lane and Driffield Road bridge, I get no sense of proximity to my destination. Only when we are nearly upon Beverley's Northern relief road do we get sight of the towers of the Minster and St Mary's church, and it's heartening that once over the footbridge, the railway alignment endures as a cycleway between the 1980s housing developments and alongside the playing fields, allowing for hope that this is one line that could be revived. Press on right down to the site of Beverley Junction, where the path abruptly ends with Beverley RUFC not permitting access across their fields, so a way has to be made through the confusing mess of closes and lanes that go nowhere to find my way to Norwood road, which leads me to Mill Lane and the passage down to the immaculately maintained (and still active) Beverley station. Finished at 2.55pm, within the 5 hour window I had told My Parents to expect, but my ride away isn't here, it's to be found at Tesco, a short distance away on New Walkergate, where my folks have retreated to the café in search of coffee and free Wi-fi.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1657.9 miles
2015 Cumulative Total: 255.7 miles
Up Country Total: 1531.5 miles
Solo Total: 1418.9 miles

All Saint's Church, Market Weighton. Another gem among East Riding churches,

with features dating back to Anglo-Saxon times. I'd liked to have offered a shot

of the old station site, but its total obliteration is too depressing to illustrate.

Red Lane Bridge. No longer do we have to endure a completely flat landscape
in the Vale of York, a dozen miles across the Wolds has us following a rising
landscape groove which finally gives us some old railway furniture to admire.

Goodmanham Road Bridge. Only portions of the abutments remain, but the Wolds Way

descends the lane, on the way to the end of it's second leg, and even through I've not spent

much time in the Wolds, I already have the feeling that I might be back soon.

Kiplingcotes Quarry nature reserve. Exposing the chalk which forms this long range

of hills that stretches from the Humber estuary to Flamborough Head, and now providing

a place to contemplate nature and wildlife now that the industries have moved on.

Kiplingcotes Station. Constructed to service the needs of a single family, and possibly

still enduring to service a single family too. How many other people can maintain an art studio

 in their signal box? And did the owners of Dalton Park really need their own goods shed?

Michael's Bridge, Wold Farm. This is what our works will look like once we finally stop

taking care of them, looking like nature has wholly reclaimed them within 50 years.

Gardham Road bridge. I will curse BRB (residuary) or the local farmers

for the loss of the bridges on this line, we are honestly in the middle of nowhere

up here, who could these structures have been inconveniencing, exactly?

Mill Hill farm, Etton. Like Norfolk, the East Riding was once an empire of Windmills,

and thus, it's a pity that the only one that I have encountered so far is in such poor condition.

Presented here as the best surface on the trail provided possibly the least interesting going.

Cherry Burton station. A pretty name for a village that I haven't actually seen, but the

only settlement of note anywhere near the Market Weighton – Beverley line, and the

NER really did keep that pattern book going for a good few years, didn't it?

Driffield Road bridge. Showing up that NER wide profile, but is it built in brick because

of a design choice or by the lack of availability of good stone in the East Riding?

The Hudson Way enters Beverley. The survival of the whole alignment of this line would

make it a prime case for revival, not just to benefit the locals, but it would make the Wolds

accessible to the casual visitor such as myself, rather than needing a holiday to come out here.

Beverley Junction. Accessible path leads me all the way to the current line and the edge

of Beverley RUFC's playing fields, which is an odd choice when no further progress can

be made. Still preferable to walking through an 80's housing estate though.

Beverley Station. An absolute Gem of NER architecture, I'm racking my brains

to try to think of another small town that still has an enclosed station and am drawing

a total blank. A look at this has you realising just how much Market Weighton lost.

Next Up. By River & Canal, Field & Road, through Holderness on the final push to the Sea.