A walk taken this afternoon following a very familiar circular route from the Humber side car park just south of Paull village, alongside the Humber following the footpath seen above to near the two old lighthouses (s.p.b.s), then north along a footpath with arable field on one side (oilseed rape in flower but some seed pods already formed) and the Camerton Marsh area of managed retreat on the other. Then along the road to Paull church and a bench under the avenue of young trees between the entrance gate and the north door. Along the road again and back down a lane to the car park.

The photo shows small colonies of hoary cress in flower along the base of the embankment at Fort Paull. Hoary cress is a perennial plant with sprays of small white flowers at this time of year. In that sense it is similar to cow parsley with its lovely white flower heads this time of year; however the cow parsley is much taller and of the umbellifer family, whereas hoary cress is of the wallflower family. Hoary cress is classed as a noxious weed as it can be mildly poisonous to grazing animals and it is very invasive, spreading usually by spreading root systems. It has the capacity to smother out other native flora, although in my experience that does not seem to happen.

Hoary cress is not a wetland loving plant but in my experience I have only found it near river or here the Estuary. Going back a couple of decades it was dominant along the River Hull bank in the Oak Road playing fields area, but now seems to have almost disappeared.

Section of Immingham Dock in the distance seen above.