Over the past few months Hull Maritime has been working closely with the East Area Neighbourhood team and residents from Ings, Sutton and the wider area on a project exploring the unique wildlife and environment of the Humber Estuary.
The group enjoyed workshops delivered by Living with Water and the RSPB and recently went on a trip to Spurn Point to take part in a ‘Unimog Safari’ with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
Pauline Beach, Neighbourhood Coordinator for Ings Ward said: “We were so pleased to be asked to get involved with the team at Hull Maritime and partners Living with Water and the RSPB giving us an opportunity to engage our residents in a quiet unique experience. The group sessions helped residents to think differently about issues such as climate change, how it affects our lives, and that of the natural world around us, culminating with an opportunity to experience something quite unique at Spurn Point.”
Nadine, one of the participants, has kindly written about the project and her experience on the Spurn Point visit below.
Visit to Spurn Point – Monday 28 October 2024
By Nadine Storrer
Across August and September, I had attended two environmental and wildlife themed workshops at Ings Library. For our third and final session, we had a visit to Spurn Point. We all had to be there for 9am and travelled to Spurn on a minibus.
It takes approximately one hour to get there.
When we arrived, around 10am we headed straight to the Discovery Centre, and then to the Unimog. Kerry was our tour guide and Unimog driver for the day. It had rained heavily the night before, and again that morning. Luckily when we arrived at Spurn, as if by magic, the sun came out. The sea breeze felt very calming and refreshing.
Our first port of call was the lighthouse. Most of us climbed to the top and admired the views. Throughout the day Pauline, the Neighbourhood Co-ordinator for Ings took pictures of our group, one outside the Discovery Centre, inside and outside the lighthouse and other parts of the peninsula.
I had been to Spurn Point twice before, but this had been as far as I’d come, but today thankfully, I got to see so much more of Spurn. What an inspiring place it is.
We all got back on the Unimog and travelled to the old military buildings. I was completely in awe of this place. Spurn Point is a haven for wildlife and while here on our visit today we spotted deer, seals and hares. We walked across fields full of rabbit holes, brambles and buckthorn. We saw the old sea traffic control tower, which has not been manned since the tidal surge in December 2013. This event washed part of the road away. It’s been replaced by a stretch of sand that is exposed to high tides.
Our final stretch of our tour took in the Gun emplacement viewpoint, and more abandoned buildings, slowly decaying away. When we finally reached the tip of Spurn, we went for a stroll on the beach, spotted some fossils and sea glass and sand dunes and followed the path back to the Unimog.
We had a lovely buffet lunch in the Discovery Centre before heading back to Hull at 2pm –and thank goodness it didn’t rain! Thank you to Hull Maritime for funding this project and for this fantastic day out – I had a wonderful time.
Hull Maritime would like to thank Nadine for her time writing about the trip and for the lovely photos; Pauline, Mike and the rest of the East and Park Neighbourhood Co-ordinator teams for all their support on this project; and Living with Water, the RSPB and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust for their fascinating talks and tours helping us to learn more about the wildlife and geography of the Humber Estuary.
