#20 "Why is the River Ouse so dirty?"

"Why is the River Ouse so dirty?"

This is the question I was asked during our Geography topic on Selby, the closest town to our school. My geography A-Level has taught me many things about physical geography, one of which was that tidal rivers often appear mucky because of the sediment that is churned up and down stream with the daily tides. It's where that sediment comes from which makes it particularly interesting...

Forty miles away, the East Coast is disappearing. I'm not talking about the stretch from Bridlington northwards. That remains intact (apart from the spectacular demise of a hotel in Scarborough almost thirty years ago). No, the North Yorkshire coast attracts millions on tourists a year to its resort towns, quaint fishing villages, and stunning coastline. Its the coast of the East Riding which is disappearing into the sea.

I'm very familiar with the Yorkshire Coast. I know every town and have visited all significant villages from Whitby to Spurn. But I have never been to Old Kinsea, Ravenser Odd, Sisterkirk, Minkwell, Great Colden, Hartburn or Wilsthorpe. Why? Because those towns and villages have vanished into the sea. Indeed, since Roman times, 4km of this coastline has gone - hundreds of square miles of the East Riding have been lost forever.

You only need to spend a few hours in this part of the world to realise that this is the land that the authorities have given up on. I have just returned from a weekend break to Skipsea Sands, a Park Resorts caravan site. To get to this large site, you have to take the road from Skipsea to Ulrome. The problem is, the road is hanging over the edge of the sea, and is no longer passable beyond the caravan park. By the side of the road, metres away from the cliff edge, is a fish and chip shop, defying gravity. Its owners, unlike scores of other seaside businesses around, are defiant in their battle with the sea. As long as they can sell fish, they will.

Road to Nowhere

The caravan site itself is busy, but you can't help wondering if Park Resorts may manage the decline of Skipsea Sands. After all, each year, another row of caravans is threatened from going over the edge. What's more, the glorious sandy beach, from which the site takes its name, is no longer accessible for safety reasons. Strangely, for a caravan park that is as close to the beach as it can possibly be, the nearest beach is ten-minutes drive away,

These will be the next to go - not if but when

The local councils have created huge coastal defence schemes further up the coast at the big towns and resorts, such as Scarborough, Bridlington and Filey, but this stretch of coastline has been forgotten about. Neglect is setting in. It has an 'end of world' feel to it, or 'the seaside town that they forgot to close down', as Morrissey put it. Even the tourism board have given up on this stretch of coast. The highly successful 'Welcome to Yorkshire' tourism agency have brought millions of pounds and tourists to the county, You won't find any evidence of it here. In a couple of months, the eyes of the cycling world will be on the Yorkshire coast as the Tour de Yorkshire takes place, but the peloton will head north out of Bridlington, and not visit these often forgotten communities.

That's not to say that there is nothing of value or interest here. Skipsea Castle, an English Heritage site, was built by William the Conqueror in 1086 and dominated the coast until it was left to ruin.

More recently, the coast was seen as a Frontier in World War Two - the accessible sandy beaches and low cliffs made it ideal for a German invasion. All along the coast, pill boxes and sentry boxes are sited, the narrow gaps in their concrete walls pointing out to sea. Some of these have slipped over the edge and lie intact, submerged in sand on the beach. It's difficult to imagine machine guns waiting in readiness for German landing craft on this sleepy coast.

Going back much much further, these beaches are amongst the best places in the country to find fossils, largely because of the way the sea is chipping away at the cliffs bringing down the rocks and earth.

Rocks and earth.

Here lies the answer to the question from the start. The land being eroded is boulder clay, an easy target for the predatory instincts of the North Sea. The process is heightened by the coastal defences further north. The brownish earth is broken down into mud and silt; drifts south towards the Humber Estuary where at high tide, it makes its way up the River Humber and then up the Ouse until it reaches Selby. The River Ouse in Selby is dirty with the history of the forgotten Yorkshire coast.

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