![Hull RJD 37](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Hull_RJD_37.JPG)
The Humber is a large
tidal estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
on the east coast of
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
. It is formed at
Trent Falls
Trent Falls is the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent which forms the Humber between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire in England.
Location
The River Ouse flows to the east where it turns into the Humber, and the R ...
,
Faxfleet
Faxfleet is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Brough, and at the start of the Humber, on the north bank, where the River Ouse and the River Trent meet.
With Yokefleet and Bellasize, Fa ...
, by the confluence of the
tidal river
A tidal river is a river whose flow and level are influenced by tides. A section of a larger river affected by the tides is a tidal reach, but it may sometimes be considered a tidal river if it has been given a separate name.
Generally, tidal ri ...
s
Ouse
Ouse may refer to:
Places Rivers in England
* River Ouse, Yorkshire
* River Ouse, Sussex
* River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia
** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse
Other places
* Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...
and
Trent
Trent may refer to:
Places Italy
* Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom
* Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany
* Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States
* Trent, California, ...
. From there to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, it forms part of the boundary between the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
on the north bank and
North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...
on the south bank. Although the Humber is an
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
from the point at which it is formed, many maps show it as the River Humber.
Below Trent Falls, the Humber passes the junction with the
Market Weighton Canal
The Market Weighton Canal ran from the Humber Estuary to its terminus near Market Weighton. It gained its Act of Parliament in 1772 and opened in 1782. The closest to Market Weighton was abandoned in 1900 and the right of navigation through ...
on the north shore, the confluence of the
River Ancholme
The River Ancholme is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the Humber.
It rises at Ancholme Head, a spring just north of the village of Ingham and immediately west of the Roman Road, Ermine Street. It flows east and then north ...
on the south shore; between
North Ferriby
North Ferriby is a village and civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
History
Humber Estuary
"The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of international importance, and include ...
and
South Ferriby
South Ferriby is a village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary and west from the Humber Bridge. North Ferriby is directly opposite on the Estuary's north bank. Village population was 651 in ...
and under the
Humber Bridge; between
Barton-upon-Humber
Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...
on the south bank and
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
on the north bank (where the
River Hull
The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...
joins), then meets the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
between
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
on the Lincolnshire side and the long and thin headland of
Spurn Head
Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent co ...
to the north.
Ports on the Humber include the
Port of Hull
The Port of Hull is a port at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Seaborne trade at the port can be traced to at least the 13th century, originally cond ...
, the
Port of Grimsby
The Port of Grimsby is located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. Sea trade out of Grimsby dates to at least the medieval period. The ''Grimsby Haven Company'' began dock development in the late 170 ...
and the
Port of Immingham
The Port of Immingham, also known as Immingham Dock, is a major port on the east coast of England, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary in the town of Immingham, Lincolnshire. In 2019, the Port of Grimsby & Immingham was the largest ...
; there are lesser ports at
New Holland and
North Killingholme Haven
North Killingholme Haven is a water outlet on the south bank of the Humber Estuary in the civil parish of North Killingholme, to the north-west of the Port of Immingham.
The area was used at the beginning of the 20th century for clay extraction ...
. The estuary is navigable for the largest of deep-sea vessels. Inland connections for smaller craft are extensive but handle only a quarter of the goods traffic handled in the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
.
History
Although it is now an
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
, the Humber had a much longer freshwater course during the
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
, extending across what was the dry bed of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
.
The Humber features regularly in medieval British literature. In the
Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...
, the Humber is one of the three principal rivers of Britain (together with
the Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
) and is continually mentioned throughout the
Brut y Brenhinedd
''Brut y Brenhinedd'' ("Chronicle of the Kings") is a collection of variant Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. About 60 versions survive, with the earliest dating to the mid-13th century. Adaptat ...
as a boundary between the southern kingdom (
Lloegyr
Lloegyr is the medieval Welsh name for a region of Britain ('' Prydain''). The exact borders are unknown, but some modern scholars hypothesize it ran south and east of a line extending from the Humber Estuary to the Severn Estuary, exclusive o ...
) and various northern kingdoms. In
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...
's 12th-century chronicle (), the Humber is named for "
Humber the Hun
Humber the Hun was a legendary king of so-called "Huns" who, according to Gafridian legend, invaded the British Isles in about the 12th century BC. His people successfully conquered Scotia but he himself was drowned during his campaign against S ...
", an invader who drowned there during battle in the earliest days of the chronicle.
The Humber remained an important boundary throughout the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
period, separating
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
from the southern kingdoms. The name ''Northumbria'' derives from the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
(plural) = "the people north of the Humber".
The Humber is recorded with the abbreviation ''Fl. Abi'' (The Abus river, grc, Ἄβος) in
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's
Geographia
The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...
, discharging into the German Ocean (the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
) south of
Ocelum Promontorium
Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit (landform), spit with a se ...
(Spurn Head). Ptolemy also gives the
Iron Age tribes of the area as the
Coritani
The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...
south of the Humber and the
Parisi to the north.
In the 1719 novel
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
, the
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
ous
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
leaves England on a ship departing from The Humber.
On 23 August 1921, the British
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
R38
The ''R.38'' class (also known as the ''A'' class) of rigid airships was designed for Britain's Royal Navy during the final months of the First World War, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea. Four similar airships were ...
crashed into the estuary near Hull, killing 44 of the 49 crew on board.
From 1974 to 1996, the areas now known as the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
,
North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...
and
North East Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire is a Unitary authority area with borough status in Lincolnshire, England. It borders the borough of North Lincolnshire and districts of West Lindsey and East Lindsey. The population of the district in the 2011 Census was ...
constituted the county of
Humberside
Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...
. 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
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
in the world from its construction in 1981 until 1998. It is now the
eleventh longest.
Before the bridge was built, a series of
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
s operated from the
Corporation Pier railway station
Corporation Pier station was the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's booking office for their ferry service between Corporation Pier, Hull and in Lincolnshire. It was not rail connected, but served as a ticket office and wait ...
at the
Victoria Pier in Hull to the
railway pier in New Holland. Steam ferries started in 1841, and in 1848 were purchased by the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...
. They, and their successors, ran the ferry until the bridge opened in 1981.
[ Railway passenger and car traffic continued to use the pier until the end of ferry operations.
The line of the bridge is similar to an ancient ferry route from ]Hessle
Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...
to Barton upon Humber
Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is so ...
, which is noted in the ''Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' and in a charter of 1281. The ferry was recorded as still operating in 1856, into the railway era. The Humber was then across.
Defences
The Humber Forts
The Humber Forts are two large fortifications in the mouth of the Humber Estuary in northern England: Bull Sand Fort () and Haile Sand Fort ().
History
The two forts were planned in 1914, at the start of the First World War, to protect the s ...
were built in the mouth of the river for the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Planned in 1914, their construction started in 1915 and they were not completed until 1919. A coastal battery at Easington, ''Fort Goodwin'' or ''Kilnsea Battery'', faced the Bull Sands Fort. They were also garrisoned during the Second World War, and were finally abandoned for military use in 1956.
Fort Paull
Fort Paull was a gun battery situated on the north bank of the Humber, near the village of Paull, downstream from Hull in northern England.
History
Batteries have been built at Paull by Henry VIII, Charles I during the Civil War during th ...
is further upstream, a Napoleonic-era emplacement replaced in the early 20th century by ''Stallingborough Battery'' opposite Sunk Island.
Crossing on foot
Graham Boanas, a Hull man, is believed to be the first man to succeed in wading across the Humber since ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
times. The feat, in August 2005, was attempted to raise cash and awareness for the medical research charity, DebRA
Debra is a feminine given name.
Debra may refer to:
People
* Debra Adelaide (born 1958), Australian writer
* Debra Allbery (born 1957), American poet
* Debra R. Anderson (1949-2022), American politician
* Debra Austin (born 1955), American bal ...
. He started his trek on the north bank at Brough; four hours later, he emerged on the south bank at Whitton. He is tall and took advantage of a very low tide. He replicated this achievement on the television programme ''Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' (Series 10 Episode 6) when he beat James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from ...
who drove an Alfa Romeo 159
The Alfa Romeo 159 (Type 939) is a compact executive car manufactured and marketed by Alfa Romeo between 2004 and 2011. Introduced at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, as a replacement for the 156, the 159 used the GM/Fiat Premium platform, sha ...
around the inland part of the estuary in a race without using the Humber Bridge.
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.
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 river under the Humber Bridge over a total distance of approximately . 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.
In 2019 competitive open water swimmer Richard Royal became the first person to attempt and complete a two-way swim across the river, beginning and finishing at Hessle foreshore, with Barton on the south bank as the mid-way point, covering a total of 4,085 m. 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). He raised over £900 for Humber Rescue, who provided safety support during the swim.
Etymologies
Most European hydronym
A hydronym (from el, ὕδρω, , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a ...
s are Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
in origin and numerous Celtic or Pre-Celtic
The pre-Celtic period in the prehistory of Central Europe and Western Europe occurred before the expansion of the Celts or their culture in Iron Age Europe and Anatolia (9th to 6th centuries BC), but after the emergence of the Proto-Celtic languag ...
derivations for ''Humber'' have been suggested.
The name ''Humber'' may be a Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
formation containing ''- b-ṛ'', a variant of the element ''*amb'' meaning "moisture", with the prefix ''*hu-'' meaning "good, well" (c.f. Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
''hy-'', in ''Hywel'', etc).
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
The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...
.
The estuary appears in some Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
sources as (A name used by Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
in ''The Faerie Queene
''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...
''). This is possibly a Latinisation of the Celtic form (Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
for river mouth or estuary) but is erroneously given as a name for both the Humber and The Ouse
The Ouse is a tidal estuary in northern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape to its current geometry. The Ouse is fed by small rivulets and upland springs that rise on the ...
as one continuous watercourse. Both and may record an older Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...
word for water or river, (as in the 'Five Rivers' of the Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
). An alternative derivation may be from the Latin verb meaning "to hide, to conceal". The successive name ''Humbre''/''Humbri''/''Umbri'' may continue the meaning via the Latin verb also meaning "to cover with shadows".
Ecology
Many fish live in and also migrate along the Humber when returning from the sea to their spawning grounds in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
and Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. Salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
, sole, cod
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...
, eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
, flounder
Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries.
Taxonomy
The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...
, plaice
Plaice is a common name for a group of flatfish that comprises four species: the European, American, Alaskan and scale-eye plaice.
Commercially, the most important plaice is the European. The principal commercial flatfish in Europe, it is al ...
, sprat
Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus ''Sprattus'' in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish (''Clupeoides'', ''Clupeonella'', '' Corica'', ' ...
, lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
and sand goby
The sand goby (''Pomatoschistus minutus''), also known as a polewig or pollybait, is a species of ray-finned fish native to marine and brackish waters European waters from the Baltic Sea through the Mediterranean Sea and into the Black Sea where ...
have all been caught within the estuary. The Humber is also a good place for over-wintering birds and is a good breeding ground for bitterns, marsh harrier
The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily. They are medium-sized raptors and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding ...
s, little tern
The little tern (''Sternula albifrons'') is a seabird of the family Laridae. It was formerly placed into the genus ''Sterna'', which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of ''Sterna'', "tern". The specific '' ...
s and avocets
The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) ...
. It forms part of the Severn-Trent flyway
The Severn-Trent flyway is a migratory route, or flyway, used by birds crossing Great Britain from the Humber estuary to the Severn estuary or vice versa. It follows the Humber and its tributaries the rivers Trent and Tame, then the River Seve ...
, a route used by migratory birds
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...
to cross Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
.
In 2019 the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is a charitable non-governmental organisation, one of the UK's 46 county-based Wildlife Trusts. It's focus is nature conservation and it works to achieve a nature-rich Yorkshire with healthy and resilient ecosystems ...
and the University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...
re-introduced the river oyster into the Humber after a sixty-year absence.
See also
*Industry of the South Humber Bank
The south bank of the Humber Estuary in England is a relatively unpopulated area containing large scale industrial development built from the 1950s onward, including national scale petroleum and chemical plants as well as gigawatt scale gas fired ...
* North Wall, Lincolnshire
* ''Humber'', the name of one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. ...
.
*Lagoon Hull
Lagoon Hull is a proposed £1.5 billion development on the Humber Estuary foreshore between Hessle and Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The proposed lagoon would be formed from a stone causeway and will provide ...
Navigable tributaries and connections
*River Hull
The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...
*River Trent
The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...
*River Ouse, Yorkshire
The River Ouse ( ) is a river in North Yorkshire, England. Hydrologically, the river is a continuation of the River Ure, and the combined length of the River Ure and River Ouse makes it, at , the sixth-longest river of the United Kingdom and ...
*River Don, South Yorkshire
The River Don (also called River Dun in some stretches) is a river in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It rises in the Pennines, west of Dunford Bridge, and flows for eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone, ...
*Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the ...
*River Ancholme
The River Ancholme is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the Humber.
It rises at Ancholme Head, a spring just north of the village of Ingham and immediately west of the Roman Road, Ermine Street. It flows east and then north ...
*Market Weighton Canal
The Market Weighton Canal ran from the Humber Estuary to its terminus near Market Weighton. It gained its Act of Parliament in 1772 and opened in 1782. The closest to Market Weighton was abandoned in 1900 and the right of navigation through ...
References
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.
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Estuaries of England
Landforms of the North Sea
Ramsar sites in England
River navigations in the United Kingdom
Rivers of Lincolnshire
Rivers of the East Riding of Yorkshire
Natural regions of England