River crossing

Barmby on the Marsh is a small village tucked in wedge of land where the rivers Ouse and Derwent meet and continue as the Ouse and then the Humber. There are no road bridges nearby, one has to approach the marsh from the east, it is quiet and quite cut off.

We arrived when the sun was almost at its highest, on the day before the weather built to record temperatures, then broke. So we felt a bit barmy on a march.

Luckily the facilities at the Barmby Tidal Barrage Amenity Site are very good, a car park, loos, and a shady lawn with picnic tables. We jettisoned all unnecessary gear, even the emergency survival bag, and we loaded up with sun cream, soaked our hats, filled our bottles, donned our shades and wandered down to the barrage.

The place was deserted except for Dennis Garner, the controller, who looks after the mechanism that keeps the polluted Ouse out of the clean Derwent. He told us that it was the wrong season for the birds.

We set off along the top of the smooth, grassed floodbanks. The Derwent was clear, fish at least looked plentiful, a shoal of four-inch, handfuls of fingerlings and many darting fry.

Two fishermen hunted them from under large green umbrellas and swallows and dragonflies competed for flying insects. A little wooden boat chugged by. The flood banking is high, so the views are long, over the river and the cornfields to a slim steeple in Hemingbrough.

Just before a reservoir we turned inland, dropped to the low-lying fields and took farm tracks. The verges were terrific, wildlife corridors with drainage ditches alongside and the air was thick with thistle seeds many of which drifted up like fluffy snow in the lee of the hedges. A cruel sun beat down on an underdressed party of labourers who were cutting iceberg lettuces and passing them into a mobile yellow packing shed.

This area, Barmby Marsh, could be a skating rink in winter before the barrage was installed. We were overheating and removed anything that did not prejudice decency (this is not the place for the topical and foolish naked walking). Shade was rare and lingered in.

The River Ouse is unlike the Derwent, much wider, perhaps a hundred yards, and was muddy with a surge of tide. From its flood banks we got a fabulous view along the river to the Drax Power Station, its cooling towers breathing out heat for the air-con and silhouetted by the bright bleached sky. A couple of canal boats rode the flow, then a flotilla of fast gin palaces powered by. A heron stood in a barley field, and a farmer collected up giant bales of straw.

Back at the barrage we had a peer from the bird hide, out over part of the internationally-important Lower Derwent wetland site. There were no birds, except on the posters in the hide.

Fact file

Distance: Four and a half miles.

Time: Two or three hours.

General location: Near Selby.

Start: Car park.

Right of way: The complete route is along public rights of way.

Date walked: Friday, August 8, 2003.

Road route: Leave A63 about one mile west of Howden, head south towards Boothferry for half a mile then right at Knedlington crossroads (signed Asselby and Barmby on the Marsh).

Car parking: Free car park at the Barmby Tidal Barrage Amenity Site, open 8am to 8pm.

Lavatories: At the car park, including for the disabled.

Refreshments: Inns at Barmby and nearby Asselby.

Tourist and public transport information: From September 22 2003, the Selby Visitor Information Centre 01757 212181, until then 01757 292323. Floodline 0845 988 1188.

Map: Based on OS Explorer 291 Goole and Gilberdyke.

Terrain: Floodbanks and flat field tracks.

Points of interest: Disabled anglers can fish here. Bird watchers can arrange to use the hide out of the hours 8am-8pm by phoning 01757 638579 the day before.

Difficulty: Moderate/easy.

Dogs: Suitable.

Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418.

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1. From car park, right, to barrage, right to floodbank.

2. A few hundred yards before large building, and at a small brick building, track on right, swings left. Ignore all side turns.

3. Right to road, 100 yards, dead-end lane on left.

4. Right at river (squeezers), floodbank path back to barrage.

Click here to view a map of the walk

Updated: 15:55 Friday, August 22, 2003