Humber
Humber | |
---|---|
Barton upon Humber, Cleethorpes | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Trent Falls |
• coordinates | 53°42′03″N 0°41′28″W / 53.7008°N 0.6911°W |
freshwater inflow[1] | |
• average | 250 m3/s (8,800 cu ft/s)[1] |
• maximum | 1,500 m3/s (53,000 cu ft/s)[1] |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | River Ouse, River Hull |
• right | River Trent, River Ancholme, River Freshney |
Designation | |
Official name | Humber Estuary |
Designated | 28 July 1994 |
Reference no. | 663[2] |
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The Humber
Below Trent Falls, the Humber passes the junction with the Market Weighton Canal on the north shore, the confluence of the River Ancholme on the south shore; between North Ferriby and South Ferriby and under the Humber Bridge; between Barton-upon-Humber on the south bank and Kingston upon Hull on the north bank (where the River Hull joins), then meets the North Sea between Cleethorpes on the Lincolnshire side and the long and thin headland of Spurn Head to the north.
Ports on the Humber include the
History
Although it is now an estuary, the Humber had a much longer freshwater course during the Ice Age, extending across what was the dry bed of the North Sea.[5]
The Humber features regularly in medieval British literature. In the
The Humber remained an important boundary throughout the
The Humber is recorded with the abbreviation Fl. Abi (The Abus river,
In the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe, the eponymous protagonist leaves England on a ship departing from The Humber.
On 23 August 1921, the British airship R38 crashed into the estuary near Hull, killing 44 of the 49 crew on board.[9]
From 1974 to 1996, the areas now known as the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire constituted the county of Humberside. The Humber, from 1996, forms a boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire (to the north) and North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, to the south.
Crossings
The estuary's only modern crossing is the Humber Bridge, which was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world from its construction in 1981 until 1998. It is now the twelfth longest.
Before the bridge was built, a series of
The line of the bridge is similar to an ancient ferry route from
Defences
The
Fort Paull is further upstream, a Napoleonic-era emplacement replaced in the early 20th century by Stallingborough Battery opposite Sunk Island.[17]
Crossing on foot
Graham Boanas, a Hull man, is believed to be the first man to succeed in wading across the Humber since
Crossing by swimming
On Saturday 26 August 1911, Alice Maud Boyall became the first woman to swim the Humber. Boyall, then aged 19 and living in Hull, was the Yorkshire swimming champion. She crossed the Humber from Hull to New Holland Pier swimming the distance in 50 minutes, 6 minutes slower than the existing men's record.[19]
Since 2011, Warners Health have organised the 'Warners Health Humber Charity Business Swim'. Twelve swimmers from companies across the Yorkshire region train and swim in an ellipse from the south bank to the north bank of the estuary under the Humber Bridge over a total distance of approximately 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km).[20] Since then, an organised group crossing at the Humber Bridge has become an annual event, with a small number of pre-selected swimmers crossing in a 'pod' which remains close together, in aid of Humber Rescue.[21]
In 2019, Hull-based competitive open water swimmer Richard Royal became the first person to attempt and complete a two-way swim across the estuary,[22] beginning and finishing at Hessle foreshore, with Barton on the south bank as the mid-way point, fulfilling the land-to-land criteria, covering a total of 4,085 m (4,467 yd). Royal holds the record for the fastest one-way swim across the Humber (35 minutes 11 seconds) and the fastest two-way swim (1 hour, 13 minutes, 46 seconds), certified by Guinness World Records and the World Open Water Swimming Association.[23] He raised over £900 for Humber Rescue, who provided safety support during the swim.
Etymologies
Most European
The name Humber may be a Brittonic formation containing -[a]mb-ṛ, a variant of the element *amb meaning "moisture", with the prefix *hu- meaning "good, well" (c.f. Welsh hy-, in Hywel, etc).[24]
The first element may also be *hū-, with connotations of "seethe, boil, soak", of which a variant forms the name of the adjoining River Hull.[24]
The estuary appears in some
Ecology
Many fish live in and also migrate along the Humber when returning from the sea to their spawning grounds in Yorkshire,
In 2019 the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the University of Hull re-introduced the river oyster into the Humber after a sixty-year absence.[32]
See also
- Industry of the South Humber Bank
- North Wall, Lincolnshire
- Humber, the name of one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast.
- Lagoon Hull
- River Hull
- River Trent
- River Ouse, Yorkshire
- River Don, South Yorkshire
- Aire and Calder Navigation
- River Ancholme
- Market Weighton Canal
References
- ^ a b c d e Cave, Rachel (2002). "The Humber Catchment and its Coastal Area" (PDF). University of East Anglia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
- ^ "Humber Estuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "Get-a-map online". Ordnance Survey. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "Department of transport figures for 2009. See table 2-1". Department of Transport. Archived from the original (Excel) on 4 May 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- OCLC 11368522.
- ^ "Northumbria". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
- ^ Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
- ^ Ptolemy, Geography, 2.3.6.
- ^ Historic England. "Airship Memorial in Hull (1512866)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013. Entry includes considerable details about the ship, flight, and crash.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Hull Corporation Pier station (498352)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "New Holland Pier station (498365)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "Barton Ferry (79005)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1848). A Topographical Dictionary of England. London: Samuel Lewis & Co. pp. 164–168 'Barton, St Michael – Basing'. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
The ancient ferry to Hessle, across the Humber, which is here about a mile broad, is appurtenant to the manor, which is vested in the crown...
(entry for Barton-upon-Humber) - ^ Historic England. "Bull Sand Fort (915963)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "Haile Sand Fort (1429147)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "Fort Godwin (929478)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Historic England. "Stallingborough Battery (1429224)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Humber crossing after 1,000 years". BBC News Online. BBC. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
- ^ "Annual Humber Swim". Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer. 28 August 1911. p. 5.
- ^ "Business people to swim the Humber for charity challenge". Hull Daily Mail. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ "Countryfile star takes Humber challenge". BBC News. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ "Man from Hull completes 'first swim across the Humber and back' in aid of rescue charity". ITV News. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ Winter, Phil (27 July 2019). "Hull man becomes first to swim solo across River Humber and back". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ a b James, Alan. "The Brittonic Language in the Old North" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ISBN 9780713420777.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Beda. "De Temporum Ratione". CAPUT LXV, number 269. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Salmon are spawning along the River Burn in North Yorkshire for the first time in 100 years". The Rivers Trust. 21 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- OCLC 182887652.
- ^ "Humber Management Scheme Fact sheet: Wintering and passage birds" (PDF). humbernature.co.uk. p. 2. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ "Humber Management Scheme Fact sheet: Breeding birds" (PDF). humbernature.co.uk. pp. 4–6. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-1405335126.
- ISSN 0963-1496.
External links
- River Humber Ferries—Private web site about the Steam era ferries
- www.humber.com—Associated British Ports, Humber group. Includes daily details of major shipping movements
- www.humberpacketboats.co.uk—Extensive private web site about history of river trading in Humber and tributaries.
- D'Orley, Alun (1968). The Humber Ferries. Knaresborough: Nidd Valley Narrow Gauge Railways.
- Storey, Arthur (December 1971). Hull Trinity House: Pilotage and Navigational Aids of the River Humber, 1512–1908. Ridings Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-901934-03-1.