Seamer walk

Seamer, why were we here? Standing in the shadow of a Morrisons superstore, on one side of the rail tracks at an unsigned car park reading a vandalised information board in the rain, the brightest thing around the graffiti on the A64 underpass?

Because a few days previously we had picked up a leaflet for a route called the Burton Riggs Trail, a new route in a 'Secrets in the Landscape' series by the recently formed NE Yorkshire Geology Trust.

The info board was courtesy of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. We left the fringes of urban wildlife and circled off round the lakes that were once gravel pits and where a fisherman dipped his rod illegally.

The ducks, geese, seagulls and coots looked hardened to this sort of intrusion, coolest of all was a cormorant that stood one-legged on an island and stretched its wings in a black, immobile pose. You can probably wheelchair this bit on the half mile of hard packed gravel.

Noise from the A64 lingered for a while as we slipped away on a nice green lane, ash leaves turning to yellow depending on the branch, magpies gleaning the stubble fields, deer dancing over the track, clusters of shaggy inkcap fungi dripping black, ditches with rushes and reeds. The Wolds rise a few miles ahead, berries red and purple in hedges trumpeting white convolvulus, and off to one side in the middle of our route - a landfill site.

Yes, a rubbish dump, but not unpleasant at our distance, this has long been an active area.

After a while we crossed New Dike and entered Star Carr, a strange zone, peat soil given over to vegetation gone wild with our route freshly mown. Here was the area of the prehistoric Lake Flixton, site of the well-researched settlement at Star Carr. My navigator played here as a child and has a sharp flint artefact.

A big raptor flew low and light over the scene under the open sky, a hen harrier, a heavy-duty killer.

The River Hertford is the southern boundary of our route, and a curious river it is too, canalised dead straight in a 'V' channel and flowing in a counter intuitive direction.

We walked it for half a mile, there was a robin at each bridge and a heron lifted. A digger was parked up on the banks, keeping this channel clear to speed the water on its way to Malton.

Then we turned north to head back, following the hedgerows, we came across a Larsen type bird trap with two live magpies inside, two dead magpies were in the adjacent ditch.

There has been a lot of maize grown hereabouts and quite a few cobs were strewn on the soil and uneaten, perhaps the birds prefer the rubbish from the tip which we had closed in on. Here there was a bit of blown plastic, the only place on the walk.

Rooks and jackdaws hung around, there's a roost in a copse. The horizon turned to shed, a good array of commercial architecture, especially a long low blue construction.

We entered the fray, passed Yorwaste, VW, Polestar, and Boyes - 'for good value'. We avoided Mercedes, skirted the Scarborough Building Society, and took another spin round the Burton Riggs lakes where the birds were evening quiet and even had time after our good value walk for some shopping.

Directions:

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

1. From car park, snickelgate by noticeboard to path, under A64, path on left and round or between lakes. Then retrace steps but fork left 50 yards before car park, gates and cross 2 railway lines, 100 yards on dead-end tarmac.

2. Left at junction to tarmac, under then parallel to A64, ignore first left, swing left, turns to track.

3. At tracks T-junction over footbridge (waymark), immediately left, 100 yards, right on cleared path through vegetation.

4. Left at River Hertford.

5. Left at bridge, 25 yards, stile on right and immediately left, 200 yards, stile on left and immediately right, 100 yards, left at corner, 25 yards, footbridge on right and straight on (faint path).

6. Gap at field corner (no waymarks), path crosses field at 11 o'clock but we went left then right, left at next field, 25 yards, right at corner and straight on, gates and cross railway line, 200 yards, into next field, stile on left and immediately right.

7. Left at field corner at fence before yard, left at next corner, 25 yards, bridge and hedge gap, left to road, corner right, left to access road to Scarborough Building Society, path by railings beyond entrance barriers, 25 yards, fork left and back via lakes.

Fact file

Distance: Five miles.

Time: Three hours.

General Location: Scarborough.

Start: Burton Riggs Nature Reserve.

Right of Way: Public and permissive.

Date walked: Saturday 22 October 2005.

Road Route: From the main road roundabout near Scarborough Building Society and Morrisons you can see the track with red/white barrier to unsigned car park.

Car Parking: Free car park.

Lavatories: None.

Refreshments: Seamer.

Tourist & Public Transport Information: Scarborough. Tel: 01723 373333.

Terrain: Flat.

Points of interest: On 1st November 2005 from 2-4 p.m. the North East Yorkshire Geology Trust will be doing a free Guided Walk, 'The Ice age and Ancient Man' around Burton Riggs area. Tel: 01947 881000 Email contact@neyorksgeologytrust.com, website www.negeologytrust.com.

Difficulty: Easy.

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

Click here to view a map of the walk

Updated: 16:44 Friday, October 28, 2005