Howden Dyke Island

Howden Dyke Island is a 19-acre island in the River Ouse, Yorkshire.[1] More accurately a shoal between seasonally varying flows, the area regularly above water (and covered in trees and vegetation) is roughly 420 metres by 270 metres.[2] A larger example of this same feature is visible where the Ouse widens into the Humber Estuary, 12 miles downstream at Faxfleet.

The island has also been known as "Hook Island" or "Silverpit Island", and was formerly used for agriculture, and connected to the riverbank. However, this land use combined with the digging of a fishing pond in the 1920s, eroded a channel to make an island in the 1950s,[3] subsequently washing away soil until the island was inaccessible and, at high water, less than half its current size.[4] Today, vegetation on the island and the riverbank opposite help to protect against erosion. The land has been used for wild-fowling, and is home to a wide range of birds and other wildlife.[5] It forms unit 65 of the Humber Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest, and a 2010 report described its condition as "Unfavourable, declining" due to "Inappropriate scrub control, Inappropriate weed control".[6]

In 2009, the Island was marketed as land available for private development, at a price of £100,000.[7][8] At the time the island was only accessible by boat, and a tidal range of up to six metres would inhibit habitation, other than on a special stilted construction.

In 2014 the island was bought for £47,500 by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to protect its wildlife habitat.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Howden Dyke Island and the Ouse Bridge:: OS grid SE7526 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!". Geograph.org.uk. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Briden, Colin. "Tidal River Ouse". Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  3. ↑ Beardsall, Jonny (10 June 2009). "Buy Your Own Island". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Porteous, John Douglas (1989). Planned to Death: The Annihilation of a Place Called Howdendyke. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 18. ISBN 0719028310.
  5. ↑ "Video on Hook Island". BBC News. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Humber Estuary - Unit 65". SSSI unit information. Natural England. Retrieved 16 September 2012. Includes link to map
  7. ↑ "Your own private island for £100,000". Savills.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Buy your own island in Yorkshire". BBC News. BBC. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Private island is bought by RSPB for £47,500". BBC News. BBC. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 53°43′28″N 0°51′44″W / 53.724367°N 0.862262°W / 53.724367; -0.862262

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