It plays a very lowly secondary role to the 17th Century magnificence of the Hall at Burton Agnes but I am very worried about the village duck pond which appears to be rapidly evaporating. The resident ducks and geese along with any visiting migrating fowl stand around bewildered and anxious.
The authoratative work by Pevsner and Neave on the buildings of York and the East Riding is a bit gushy about Burton Agnes calling it "One of the most rewarding settlements in the county". This is largely because of the buildings found there including, in addition to the 1601 built Hall, a Medieval Manor house from around 1170 AD and , by comparison quite a modern Church with 13th Century but possibly earlier origins.
This remarkable collection of intact and indeed inhabited and accessible buildings has for centuries been complimented by the pond on the south side of the road to the east coast. As you drive from Driffield, the self professed Capital of the Wolds, and after the 2 or 3 mile straight of trunk road that must have taken much of the regions road building budget at the time, the A614 becomes very interesting.
At the north eastern edge of Nafferton a small traffic island is signposted with a scenic route to the left which goes up an over the shallow rolling hills. I have never seen this recommended route in much use because travelling straight on you do tend to be part of a regular convoy which started off from the large urban conurbations in West Yorkshire at quite an unsociable hour picking up further heavy laden vehicles of drowsy occupants but mildly excited at the prospect of a daytrip to the resort town of Bridlington, also known as Leeds on Sea.
From Nafferton, I really like pronouncing that place name, the road reverts to a typically hazardous British carriageway now unsuited to high volumes of fast moving traffic with inattentive drivers and distracting passengers. After a short incline there follows a switchback hairpin into a steeper sided valley with an unsightly chalk quarry contributing to a whitened tarmac surface before a left hander which requires a drop down into third gear to do it justice. Over the crest is the forelorn sight of a dead forested area. This is a large wooded copse but for as long as I have used the road, now over 25 years, it has always been devoid of green shoots and fresh growth. I speculate if it is a tax fiddle or a more worrying consequence of acid rain, another visitor to the area from the industrial conurbations of West and South Yorkshire. It is important to speculate on such matters but paying very careful attention to the road as the Bracey Bridge lay-by causes panic as a few car loads always abruptly halt mid carriageway and turn in for a stop-off, leg stretch, wee-wee or a cuppa from the catering caravan.
The more familiar motorists know that there is a MacDonalds on the outskirts of Bridlington and continue quite smugly in possession of this insider information.
Burton Agnes is soon in sight and the straightening out of the road and a good view ahead makes for an opportunity to reshuffle the convoy with a few mad overtaking manoevres to relegate the caravans to the rearguard. From in excess of 60 mph the upward slope to the village sign gives just enough rolling resistance to get to or acceptably close to the 30mph limit. It is however painfully slow and a severe test of heavy feet on accelrators and less so for a car fitted with cruise control. The first houses are a mixture of modern executive detached, inter and post war Villas and the Old Police House enjoying an open south aspect to fields before approaching the core of the village with the Pub, colour washed rendered cottages and frontage farmsteads. The houses with doors directly onto the pavement are rather grubby from the dirt and grime raised by the constant through flow of traffic. A few have small forecourt gardens poviding a splash of colour from bedding plants and shrubs.
The main street snakes sharply left and right and then steeply down. Into view comes the display signage for Burton Agnes Hall. There is always something going on from the much frequented snowdrop and bluebell walks to classic car rallies, flower festivals and craft markets. If you ignore the opportunities to expend cash and glance to the right hand side of the road you will see the pond.
Thanks to the diligence of civic minded persons there is a very good photographic record of the pond over the last 2 to 3 years and it is not in my imagination nor natural flair for exaggeration that it is disappearing.
Dr Patty McAlpin's photo taken in July 2009 shows a good water level, if rather algae tinted, with only a short depth of bouldered shoreline. Thanks to the picture taken by Pauline Eccles as recently as February this year the dramatic reduction in the level is more than illustrated. She goes on to say that the pond is fed by a spring and Mill Beck but is also concerned that the pond is disappearing. Across the width and breadth of this feature there appears to be in excess of a 1 metre or more deficit in water. We have just had an unseasonably dry winter and the climatic trends for this to persist more regularly may herald the complete retreat and eventual demise of the pond. The conspiracy theorists who have shelled out a tidy entry fee for the landscaped grounds of the Hall which include a water garden have remarked that their water levels are not compromised or depleted.
The dire situation can either be left to nature or action can be taken. My personal quest is to replenish the water level every time I pass the pond by emptying a bottle of Evian or the locally sourced mineral water into the murky shallows. Alone it will be a long project but if the population of Leeds and Bradford willingly participate in a determined effort as they wend their way to and from Bridlington I can see a happy outcome for all concerned, especially the disgruntled ducks.
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