Heading to Hull from Barnetby-le-Wold

April 30, 2024

after a train ride north from Lincoln

My two suitcases arrive after a week. They're full of pottery that I'm selling on eBay. That gets posted once it's sold. By then I've got itchy feet.

The thing is England's late April weather has been unseasonly cold, with the mercury hovering around 10°C or 12°C, but the sun has appeared and the forecast for the next few days is pretty decent, so I decide to set off for York to see my son. I'm hoping for a few days' of fairly laid-back cycling.

From Dave's, it's five kilometres to the train station in Lincoln and the riverside bike path there is one that I know only too well. There's a departure at 9:35 that'll take me roughly 40km north to a place called Barnetby-le-Wold in 30 minutes. This cuts out some familar terrain and makes getting to the city of Hull at a decent time much easier. I've bought a senior citizen rail pass, which gives me 30 percent discount, knowing I'll soon get my £30 back.

There's enough time once at the station for me to go into Costa Coffee on Platform 1 for a hot frothy one. My touring begins.

Riding west from Dave's house to Lincoln train station on the familiar bicycle path

Barnetby-le-Wold is a small place - too small to be called a town - but it has a post office and that's where I head because I've a small package to mail after selling my last piece of pottery on eBay. It takes me all of two minutes to get there from the deserted station.

During the long planning stage of this trip, I looked at a website of Listed Buildings, then checked some out on Street View. A couple of early 19th century cottages on Barnetby's Old Post Office Lane sounded interesting, but the Google Guy hadn't seen them as it's a short, dead-end lane. I hope to get a snap of them.

As I ride down the lane, a couple in their 60s tell me it doesn't lead anywhere and as I look around for the two old cottages, another elderly couple come out of their house to see if I need any help. They soon tell me the pair of cottages are behind their hedge, mostly obscured from view, but that the current owner has totally ruined them. They say he managed to have them de-listed, then totally erased what charm they had. I ride off without taking my camera out.

Another aspect of my planning involved Googling old photos. The idea is to vist the locations to see how much is still there, just to give the tour some focus. I came across a few of Barnetby, with one taken in the early part of the 20th century showing a man on a horse as well as a motorcycle and sidecar. As the post office is on Victoria Road, I cruise further down it and soon spot the location.

Some houses have been demolished and what were originally a couple of shops have become homes. I try and replicate the scene as best as I can before cycling off and climbing a short but testing hill to reach the country lane that'll take me due north through fertile Lincolnshire farmland.

Victoria Road in Barnetby-le-Wold, now and back then

The sun is toasting me and my red jacket comes off once the road levels out, giving me views of fields, with gentle hills forming the horizon. Clumps of bluebells add colour to the grass verges. There's very little traffic and it's no surprise when I eventually spot a yellow-painted, cast iron marker telling me I'm on National Cycle Route 1. It's all very straightforward... just keep riding north. There are no villages to speak of, just hamlets that consist of barely a handful of houses.

There's a farm that's been turned into a garden center with a cafe housed in a barn that's called Bike & Beans and I decide it's time for a break. It's a surprisingly popular spot and there's just one table empty - it becomes mine - and is called 'Comfy Chairs'. I sit in one of the worn leather wingbacks and wait for my coffee, soup and pudding, feeling like my luck is in.

After my nosebag, it's just a few kilometres more to reach the town of Barton upon Humber.

One of numerous screenshots showing my route that are stored on a 7" tablet

Bluebells line the quiet route north of Barnetby-le-Wold

Riding to Barton upon Humber on a section of the National Cycle Network

Lunch break at Bike and Beans Cafe in Deepdale, sat at a table named 'Comfy Chairs'

I came across several old photos of the town online and it's easy to find their locations, as the market square hasn't really changed that much, apart from a few buildings having been replaced and the road made wider.

After replicating one of the old photos, I visit a few of the listed buildings and take photos of them. Clearly there was money here a century or two ago, evidenced by several fine Georgian homes, such as Cob Hall.

Barton upon Humber now minus a couple of buildings

Cob Hall at 24 Priestgate in Barton upon Humber was built around 1766 - it's listed

Old wooden doors on a backstreet named Castledyke West

There was also a bicycle company here, originally called North Lincolnshire Cycle Works. Back in 1880, it was located in a blacksmiths, but soon expanded. By the start of WWI, it was employing some 400 locals and exporting bikes around the british Empire. It went bankrupt in 2000.

Barton also used to have a ferry terminal, but that's gone, replaced by the Humber Bridge. When it opened in 1981, it was the world's longest. I've been across it several times and have always been rewarded with lots of fresh air, with sea winds gusting up the wide estuary.

At the bridge's northern end is Hessle and after making my way through its centre, it's a case of cycling along the designated section of the busy road leading into nearby Hull. I arrive there at around five o'clock and after taking a few photos, get to the hotel I've pencilled in. A single room is £75.

Humber Bridge is invariably a windy experience and today is no exception

Hessle is on the north side of the Humber Bridge

One of several blocks of almshouses on Hessle Road built in 1914

Rare wall-mounted WWI 'street shrine' on Eton Street that was unveiled in 1916

The Tower Cinema in Hull opened in 1914 and closed in 1978

My humble £75 room in Kingston Theatre Hotel

The Kingston Theatre Hotel suits me as its just around the corner from the city's History Centre, which has copies of the local newspaper on file. I plan to visit the centre in the morning to see if my late father is featured in any of the match reports for three games he played in for Hull City as a 'guest' while stationed nearby with the Royal Air Force in late 1944.

I check the location on Google Maps and it tells me the centre will not open till Wednesday. This throws me. It means spending an extra night in the hotel, so I decide to walk there to check it out. A notice on the glass door says it opens at 10 on the third Tuesday each month due to staff training. I'm confused.

There's a woman stood outside the adjacent pub having a cigarette and I ask her if she knows any more. She says some people do get confused about when the centre opens. I decide to go inside the pub and have a beer and it turns out she's the barmaid. I ask her if this is the third Tuesday of April and she tells me there are five this morth: Can that be right? I'm getting more confused.

After a brief discussion, she asks me if I know that it's Tuesday today. I insist it's Monday. The conversation becomes more surreal until I realise she's right. I feel a proper idiot, but at least the History Centre will be open tomorrow morning and I'll likely be the first one through the door.

Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 86 km (53 miles)

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