Barmby Barrage and the Ouse floodbank to Asselby

Barmby on the Marsh sits in the fork where the Derwent runs into the tidal Ouse, and the 1975 barrage that keeps the salt out is the start of one of the best flat walks in the Vale. The Trans Pennine Trail leaves the barrage car park on High Street and follows the top of the Ouse floodbank east as a single grassy track, high enough to look over the whole marsh, with the tide sliding past below and the Drax cooling towers on the skyline behind. Drop off the bank at the Asselby end and quiet lanes bring you back through the village to the barrage. The floodbank is grazed in summer and there are no fences between the path and the water, which is fast, deep and tidal here.