Oh, go to Hull!

Finding ourselves in Hornsea with our bicycles, we decided to go to Hull. National Cycle Route 65 starts here as the eastern end of the Trans Pennine Trail. The other end is in Southport. The cycle route runs on the old trackbed of the former Hull & Hornsea Railway which was opened in 1864. The construction of this 13 mile line had been heavily promoted by a local businessman, Joseph Wade, and although the company never recovered from the initial cost of construction and was merged a few years after opening with the North Eastern Railway, the railway transformed the town of Hornsea.

Hornsea Town Station,
now the beginning of the cycle route.

In the nineteenth century the town was a seaside resort where the well-to-do would come and stay for several months to 'take the waters' and sea bathe. With the arrival of the railway came day trippers from Hull. Inexorably the facilities of the town adapted and traders established themselves in the town to satisfy the passing diurnal demand. There existed even a commuter population who moved to the seaside to enjoy the healthy air and travelled in to Hull every day to work. It could not last forever and Dr. Beeching finally finished off the line in 1964.

The well known Hornsea pottery was also made in the town from 1949-2000. You can find some in the museum.